Alright all you miniacs!! I have an issue that I've notice in Lili. Most days motoring, when she hits about 2200 rpm she seems to get a bit sluggish (rpms stay constant with no more increase for about 3 seconds). When trying to prove to a meat-head in an Escalade that being smoked by a clown car is emasculating this REALLY becomes an issue!! Any ideas? She only has 1600 miles and I'm worried!!!
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

 

Might have the dealership take a look. That don't sound right, at all. On occasion I get a little turbo lag on first stomp, but it aint 3 seconds. After that initial push the turbo is spun up solid and delivers without delay, regardless of rpm.

 

I agree sounds very odd. I do notice that somedays MY car runs SUPER strong and other days its just fast. There seems to be inconsistancies in the power....Boost?, but usually when its warmer to hot.
Maybe you just need to blow the carbon out after the brake in period

 

I've also noticed this sometimes. My observations suggest that it is a combination of hot weather and sitting at a light for a few minutes. The throttle response seems to go into some sort of 'standby' mode and then there's a lag both at take-off and as the turbo spools up. Good advice to have the dealer take a look or you can just hit the sport button.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of turbo intercooler heat soak...

I don't have any direct MINI S experience but given the new car uses a turbo and a front mounted intercooler, right? ; even with a front mounted IC there can still be issues on a hot day with the intercooler being able to keep the intake charge cool enough.

This doesn't really hurt the engine, just reduces power (a hot intake charge is less dense, the entire reason why you have an intercooler as compression of the intake air heats it up) and will also result in some lag.

I have a Mazdaspeed Miata with a FMIC (front mount intercooler), these cars are known for having undersized intercoolers as stock. On a hot day you and really tell the engine has less power and just feels laggy. On a cool, crisp Fall day, the car really comes alive and feels much more "frisky".

This is called "heat soak" and is what happens when the intercooler can no longer keep the intake charge cool because of the high ambient temperature outside.

If the OP's car is an "S", given it's September and they are in Memphis this sounds like a heat soak issue.

If the intercooler is top mounted on the engine like a Subaru that makes the problem even worse as it is inside the engine compartment and not in the clear air in the front, as heat rises it surrounds the intercooler and stays trapped under the hood.

The reason why Subaru turbos have that giant hood scoop is to feed cooler air to the top mounted IC.

Analogeezer

 

Ah, is this why I can rev the engine to 2kRPM in neutral a couple of seconds before the light changes and have the response be normal (i.e. no sluggishness or hesitance)?