MINI of Charleston and Kumho tires are auto crossing MINIs here in Charleston today. You can drive three different MINIs with three grades different tires to see the handling differences.

Really interesting, especially since they were automatic Coopers. An interesting change from my Cooper S!

It was a blast going around the course, and the cool to be able to really test the differences in the tires and see what that did to your driving style and time.

If anyone is near Charleston today, they are at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island. I was lead to believe that Kumho will be doing this with various dealers all over the country.

Michael

>>Really interesting, especially since they were automatic Coopers. An interesting change from my Cooper S!

Michael,
Just out of curiosity, what did you think of the CVT Cooper?
Did you use it in the steptronic mode? (where you shift through the 6 imaginary "gears&quot
How do you think it compared to your S?

TIA,
Shawn

I actually liked the CVT. I ran the course multiple times in both automatic and non-automatic mode, and my times were noticably faster when I was not going the automatic route.

A comparison to my S is hard because of both transmission and supercharger, but I will tell you that I was suprised by how nimble the car was. I really expected the automatic to take more of a toll than it did. The worst problem was that I kept stomping the floor to find the clutch! That and forgetting that my foot had to be on the break, not the gas to put it in gear.

Overally, I would not hesitate to recommend the Cooper with CVT to non-shifting types.

Michael

:smile:

My future Cooper will most likely be a CVT. When I test drove both the S and the CVT I was surprised at how nimble the CVT felt once it got rolling.

Thanks for the input.