I'm coming from a big jeep compass to my little 08 cooper(non-s) .... GPS' speedometer matched the jeep's pretty well... But in the mini, the GPS shows 5-6 MPH slower than the MINi's speedo... ie - mini says im doing 80, gps floats around 74-75... Mini dealer said it was normal, but I just wanted another opinion to this... any thoughts?

 

Yep, normal!! The dealer will give you 100 and 1 reasons why, but none will make sense. That's just the way they are!!

 

but which is right?

 

Oh...sorry. Your GPS is correct!!

 

interesting. explains why folks were passing me left an right on the highway... Wonder why the MINIs isn't more accurate.

 

my Tom-Tom is usually 3 mph lower than speedo. i would be on the Tom-Tom

 

At 60MPH on GPS the MINI shows 63. I have tried multiple GPS's and they are all the same. At 70 on GPS MINI shows 74, at 80 the mini shows 84. Im going to be changing out my runflats and am going to try and increase my tire size. I hope that helps bring it in a little bit and make it more accurate.

From what I have read there is no way to adjust the speed-o so just know how off it is and roll with it.

 

My speedo is also higher than my Garmin. Two days ago speedo read 130 MPH Garmin read 126 MPH.

 

There has been lots of discussion on this subject here on the forum. The reality is that under the laws of most European countries there is a specification as t the accuracy. It states that the speedo can not read slower than the actual speed but can read up to 10% +2.4KPH. No such Federal Law exists on the accuracy that i have been able to find here in the USA.

Is that a good reason for the speedo in the MINI to be off by as much as it is. NO, but they get away with it.

One other thing to note is for a set of average 17" tires there will be a speed change of approximately 1.2% over the life of the tires due to wear and the overall diameter changing.

 

Isn't it great to have 2 speedos, digital and analog, and both are incorrect

Different tire size will make a difference. If it bothers you and you can figure out the wiring, you might be able to install a "Yellow Box" or "Speedo Healer" to correct your speedo reading. Or using a GPS, just know that your speedos read 3(?) mph higher than true speed.

Some people also use one of these...not to speed of course, because we would never do that

 

It all comes back to European regulations. If a car comes out of a factory and the speedometer reads lower then actual the manufacturer gets hit with big fines. So, to avoid that the manufacturers inflate their speedometer output, so that if one is off on the low side, it will still be above actual speeds. You'll find this on many European autos.

 

With programming you can correct the speedometer display, but that is a lot of trouble. The computer knows the actual speed because when I my OBD gauge it is only 1 MPH different from my GPS. The displayed speed is over estimated. Honda was sued because of a similar issue because their odometers were also reading "fast" causing a 10% reduction in the warranty in each vehicle. That adds to a huge money savings very fast! I don't think BMW/MINI odometers do this however.

 

Mine too.

 

I was just about to asked the question if the MINI's speedos are accurate. Where i live there are a lot of those speed tracker in and around school zones, and my MINI's speedo always seems to be 2-4 mph slower :edit: i meant faster (confused ).

 

Does this mean the MINI's odometer (not speedometer) is also not accurate? This could lead to false miles and mpg.

:edit: are the speedometer and odometer linked together electronically or programmed individually?

 

thanks all for the insight. i just might get the next size up on tires when they're due. i'm always a stickler for detail when it come to little things like this... but also a cheap bastard at the same time.

 

Although the speedometer is usually about 5-10% low, the odometer is
usually very close to the correct value.
You can also program the odometer display to read speed as test#7.3 in km/hr
and I think that's usually more accurate than the speedo.
See this link - (it works for gen 1 cars - don't know about gen 2):
http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?faq=faq_interior
and go down about 2/3 down the page to:
"How to show rpm, fuel level, speed and more on your odometer digital display."


I also found it helpful for following coolant temps when my radiator fan low speed was out,
since the dashboard coolant temp level stays exactly on 1/2 scale anywhere from 75C to 125C.

Setting it to fuel consumption (liters per 100 km) can be educational, as well.
No fuel use coasting in gear with over about 1600 rpm, but below that it kicks in to prevent
stalling at idle speed.

 

Instead of 205/45/17's I went to 215/45/17's when I replaced my tires last August. Now my spedo is only ~2 MPH off from my GPS because the 215's are ~1/3" larger in diameter than the 205's.

 

It's not just MINIs. BMWs and Porsches are the same way. Figure that the speedometer reads 5-10% high for the reasons stated above. The odometer is fine.

 

Forget about the odometer trick I mentioned a few posts back. I checked it out and it actually reads
about 3 km/hr slower than the speedo, which is even further off than the speedo.

 

WOW! I still haven't had the B@##S to hit three digits to see if the MC will do it! Everytime I think about trying to open her up, I usually see a State or local cop.

 

My speedometer says 80mph and my GPS will read 78MPH. I think that Mini justs has one gear or chip for the speed-o-meter and it depends on what tires you have weather it will be close to what the GPS says.

At least with a GPS you know when you are speeding.

 

My speedometer says 80mph and my GPS will read 78MPH. I think that Mini justs has one gear or chip for the speed-o-meter and it depends on what tires you have weather it will be close to what the GPS says.

At least with a GPS you know when you are speeding.

 

My speedometer says 80mph and my GPS will read 78MPH. I think that Mini justs has one gear or chip for the speed-o-meter and it depends on what tires you have weather it will be close to what the GPS says.

At least with a GPS you know when you are speeding.

 

An analog and a digital, yet you need a GPS to get the accurate speed. Borrowed a friend's GPS to get a better reading, mine is between 3-4 at 70mph and above. Decreases to 2-3 at lower speed it seems which i'm hoping is not the case and just my mind playing tricks on me. I don't mind it, i'll adjust, it would be easier though if i don't have to adjust at variable speeds. I swear, if this car wasn't zippy and as fun to drive (at any speed) and quirky beautiful in the interior and the exterior, i wouldn't think twice of dumping her.