i'd like a manual myself but my wife doesn't like a stick shift or rather doesn't know how to drive a stick.i know it doesn't come on the S,but on the regular cooper,how do you like it,is the shifting mode at least fun?how do the non-gears fill while driving?would you buy another with this setup?thanks for any replies.

I have a CVT and I love it. I live in a city and spend alot of time in rush hour traffic so I am thrilled to have the option of being automatic. It works much better than a traditional automatic and is much peppier than I expected (I am mostly used to automatics though and barely can drive stick myself.) The steptronic is a little tricky at first but when you get used to it, it is fun. Good pick-up, not a standard stick shift feel though.
Definitely worth test driving! My boyfriend who swears by a manual tran thinks it is very nice.

Cheers!
L.Mini :smile:

If you're going to be commuting in heavy traffic a stick is a real pain. The CVT is as good a transmission as I've driven, and as I don't like changing gears every few seconds it's great. When I was a kid I thought zooming through the gears was the thing to do, now that I'm over 30 the CVT will do just fine.