My wife is looking seriously at the Mini Cabrio S but with the auto trans. I know some of the older autos were problematic and was wondering if the new ones have proven solid even with the torque of the S. Also, noticed that some have ranked the Mini S as less reliable then the non S and was wondering what issues they were referring to. I know the new S is tweeked fairly tight as a matter of fact the Mini S has more power per liter then the BMW M3.

 

The new auto is great. It can sure take a beating and not many failure that I have read on here. I would drive both and S and a non S and see what you need. A non S will suit you just fine and provide tons of "smiles per gallon" ad the S, a few more. For me a non S is fine in a stick configuration, the auto needs a little extra time to feel "peppy", but the S is just fine in an auto. As you can tell from my sig I have a non S stick and an auto S.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I would get the stick however, my wife after driving a stick when younger, enjoys not having to shift when not wanted. I can not get too much torque so an S is going to a must. Just wondered if the auto was beefy enough for the torque of the S. I tend to keep my cars a good while.

 

The Asin F21 automatic transmission that MINI uses is also used by Toyota, it is pretty bullet proof.

Dave

 

I really love my '11 MCS with the 6-speed Auto. It's very flexible in any kind of traffic. I bought the auto instead of manual because I commute in heavy traffic quite often and a clutch would be sheer torture (BTDT) and my wife doesn't drive standard. The manumatic combined with the paddle shifters comes fairly close to a manual in terms of up/down shifting.

 

Thanks for the input. That is what I was looking for. Did not realize that the Asin F 21 was also used in the Toyota. This seems like a big step forward compared to the past models' auto

 

i wonder if the auto transmission will be 'radioactive' with all the terrible news of nuclear issues in japan

 

I hate driving stick, but in addition, I see much talk about clutches failing around the boards here...

 

Ah!! But they improved the clutch in the 2011s. It is even self adjusting!!

 

We have an 09 Justa automatic.

I wanted a stick. I had waited years to be able to buy a new Mini and I really wanted a stick.

My wife wanted an automatic.

We bought an automatic.

After nearly 30K miles, I have to say that if I went out to buy a new Mini tomorrow, it would be an automatic. But it would have the paddle shifters like the ones on the "S".

 

MINI have always used the Aisin transmission in the S autos. It was only the non-S CVTs that had problems in the past. The Aisin has been solid throughout the line from the time they introduced it (I think the 05 S was the first to have the 6-speed Aisin box). Both my 06 and 09 MCSa's have been flawless.

 

I prefer manuals myself, but the auto in the R56/55/57/60 MINI is the is best auto I have ever driven. I love the sport shift (and the temp paddle override) program.