My poor MINI has been sitting outside for two whole days
since the garage is full of new kitchen cabinets.

This morning, I went out to this:

The car started right up, and it ran for abot 1 minute while I brushed the snow
off the car, and I started driving.

It stalled once just as I pushed in the clutch backing down the driveway.

It started right back up, and everything was great.

The transmission didn't even feel stiff. That really surprised me.

It warmed up soon afterwards, and I had a nice -10 degree F drive.

So, this 02/02 build MINI Cooper 5-speeds is super in the cold.

 

well, it hasn't gotten that cold here, but we've still had our share of -5F weather. I've been very impressed with MINI's ability to shrug off the cold. It always starts no problem and goes on it's way. It also heats up reasonably quick for a small displacement engine. Two thumbs up in this category

....now if only my nose would thaw

 

Trippy,

Wait a minute….where are your priorities?

The MINI has to sit outside in the cold while the new kitchen cabinets get to sit in the garage.

Shouldn’t you re-evaluate that situation?

 

with 30k on my '03 MC I find that it starts up in ANY conditions, including -18f. When very cold I need to warm up the engine for about 3-5 minutes or it wants to stall when you try to drive away. Drove the car in -24f conditions and the sterring felt a little stiff bu otherwise perfect and I was nice and warm inside, not even weraing a coat! Really. My car had never resided in a garage...always outdoors.

 

I would think that at those such low temperatures, you would have to let the engine warm up at least 5 minutes before driving away.

today here in Miami it is a COOL 66F, not a cloud in the sky, sunny and windy day..love it!

 

You want REAL cold weather testing??? Come to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Today was -32 Celcius, with a high wind chill - making it feel like -50! No Joke.

My MCS stays in my garage overnight and starts fine in the a.m., but it resides outdoors at work. It was outside from 9a.m. til about 3p.m. when I went out to start it & let it run (just in case), cause I was going to be working late til about 7p.m.

Let me tell you right now, it's the nastiest thing you ever want to hear coming from your car. It started with a slowwww chugga-chugga, then caught, then made some really weird high pitched noise, then ran real rough for about a minute. It settled into it's normal running sound after that.

There is no block heater on the car, and for most temperatures I would say it's fine. Anything -20 and below, you don't even notice in the engine department. But colder than that I think they should have one available.

That being said, I'm thinking of buying a beater for winter next year. It doesn't even have to do with the cold starts. It's the crappy driving conditions. I bought my car in July and FLEW everywher until December when the snow really hit. Now it's too damn icy to go even near the speed limit. The traction control is great, but man, I feel the need for speed when I'm in this car! If I had a beater, I wouldn't crave it as much I'm sure.

The main reason I'm thinking of a beater is because my good friend got his MCS smashed into by some truck driving idiot who apparently didn't see the need for reduced speed on a very icy highway. His car is fixed now, but man I wouldn't want that to happen to me. Especially if I put more cash into it in engine mods.

Anyways... gotta go workout - keep the blood flowing on this freakin' cold day!

Hope my mini starts!

I'll have to take a pic of the temp gauge!

 

Last sunday was our first ice storm,about +1 inch.tems got down in the 24-22 range.While starting was not an issue,getting my door open was! Darn freezing rain! by the time i got home from work..BOTH doors would not open!lol..i had to clime out the "boot"!

 

Block heaters. Yeah I remember when I was in the Air Force at Minot N.D. my old Volvo 544 Coupe had to be plugged in at night when the temps got very low. Coldest night I can remember up there was 45 below with the wind chill.

There was one night I forgot to plug in the heater and tried to start the Volvo. It was a no go. Oil just to thick to turn over. Now that I think back on that time in my life, I know now why I really love Hawaii.

 

Brrrrrrr.

 

Here, see if I can get this to work...

<IMG SRC="http://www.nuancedesign/temp.jpg">

 

Here we go!



Notice that it's in Celcius. We had a minus 50 windchill, all schoolbuses were cancelled

It's like driving on square tires!

Had to start my car every 4 hours and let it run 1o minutes. My friend left his for 12 hours at work and when he tried to start it, it turned over a couple times but then quit. He had to boost it the next day. BMW roadside service said it was about a week wait due to the weather, and they were only taking emergnecy calls at this time.

 

Crap! ok got it this time...

Sorry!

 

>>I would think that at those such low temperatures, you would have to let the engine warm up at least 5 minutes before driving away.
>>
>>today here in Miami it is a COOL :smile:

 

Yes it does warm up faster and is better for your car, but in extreme cold such as mine, you absolutely must let it sit for a couple of minutes, just to get everything moving. You have to hear how it sounds when it's bone-chilling cold. It's not pleasant. Plus everything is ROCK solid and I like to give it at least 5 minutes to take the chill out of my seat (seat warmers) :smile:

It's a balmy -17 C this morning

The highway finally had some sun yesterday and melted the thin layer of ice that's been on it. I actually got some speed, which I've been craving like mad. GOd I can't wait til spring. I think that's the biggest reason to get a winter beater - so you don't have the craving for a real drive every day, only to be drving in ice & snow, making it impossible.

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Stock MCS, Indy Blue with white & white rims, sunroof, climate control, steering controls, heated seats