The CC in our Cooper CVT is OUTSTANDING. Very precise speed even in uphills and downhills. I think the MINI's CC works much better with the CVT transmission programming than on either manual stick shift model. Like I said before, I haven't had an opportunity to try the CC on my '04 MCS with 3,700+ miles, but will do a head to head comparison between the two cars this coming week.

Stay tuned.

 

>>The CC in our Cooper CVT is OUTSTANDING. Very precise speed even in uphills and downhills. I think the MINI's CC works much better with the CVT transmission programming than on either manual stick shift model. Like I said before, I haven't had an opportunity to try the CC on my '04 MCS with 3,700+ miles, but will do a head to head comparison between the two cars this coming week.
>>
>>Stay tuned. :smile:

 

I know this thread has been dormant for a while. Has anyone found a solution. My '03 S is at the dealer for it's first service & this is on my list to be fixed. They said nothing showed up in the software to indicate a problem. I mentioned that my problem wasn't unique, the service guy asked if anyone on the forums had found a solution.

It is not a problem of power - just the opposite of what you'd expect. Too much speed at the top of the hill and too slow at end of the down grade. I've driven the same route for the past 17 years and none of the cars have deviated anywhere nearly as much as the MINI. My wife's VW beetle holds speed exactly, my previous car ('00 Accord 4cyl) would loose a little speed on the worst of the upgrades but otherwise was dead on.

Any ideas?

 

I know this thread has been dormant for a while. Has anyone found a solution. My '03 S is at the dealer for it's first service & this is on my list to be fixed. They said nothing showed up in the software to indicate a problem. I mentioned that my problem wasn't unique, the service guy asked if anyone on the forums had found a solution.

It is not a problem of power - just the opposite of what you'd expect. Too much speed at the top of the hill and too slow at end of the down grade. I've driven the same route for the past 17 years and none of the cars have deviated anywhere nearly as much as the MINI. My wife's VW beetle holds speed exactly, my previous car ('00 Accord 4cyl) would loose a little speed on the worst of the upgrades but otherwise was dead on.

Any ideas?

 

>>The mini's engine lacks the power and engine braking capabilities at low rpm to maintain a constant speed when ascending and decending grades.
>>
>>It's in the manual. :smile:

I can set cruise at 65mph in Reno and it will run rock solid at that speed up Donner Pass and then down the west slope to Sacramento. Maybe the answer is that it's not doing it at low rpm, but then again what is low? I'm usually seeing just a little over 3000rpm on the ascend and decend while in 5th gear.

 

My 04 MCS only deviates SLIGHTLY when going up/down hills. Other than that it remains fairly constant on flat highway. Just used it on a 500 mile road trip and was pleased.

 

I had a chance to drive a 04 MCS for about 800 miles on the freeway and was pleased with the cruise control. There is only a very slight speed fluctuation on hills (+/- 2mph max).

The MINI is so stable at legal freeway speeds that I will be very happy that the MCS I ordered has cruise control. I was going 75 mph and I felt like I was parked. These cars are capable of some serious speed while maintaining good control. With out cruise and HK Stereo for freeway "cruising" I would be in trouble with the law in short order. Thank God I know a lot of back roads where I can drive "briskly".

 

Most of my MINI driving is pushing it pretty hard in the twisties, but I use the C.C. quite a bit when going to and from the twisties. I set it to match the traffic flow on the freeways and at the speed limit +5% on surface streets. I also drove most of my break in on freeways with the C.C. - - bumped it up or down 5 mph every couple of minutes

On my ‘04 JCW MCS the C.C. holds the speed, with one exception, as well as any other car I’ve driven. If the engine rpm is below about 3,500 the speed will fluctuate plus and minus 2-3 mph on hills.

My only complaint is that each bump on the + or - button is one kph instead on one mph - - which means 16 clicks instead of 10 when the speed limit changes 10 mph. My Z3 has the same speed change increments.

 

Just had another thought about the dissatisfaction many of you are experiencing. If you are accustomed to the cruise control on a higher powered car with an automatic transmission you may be dissatisfied with performance with a manual transmission. Most cruise controls on automatics will shift gears as needed for additional braking on downgrades and additional torque on upgrades. Obviously this will not happen with a manual transmission.

 

I have V36 on my car, the cruise control isn't that good. I had CC on a 1.6L VW Golf last fall (South Africa spec), and it was certainly better.

I find when I set the cruise at 78MPG, it will vary between +/- 3MPH (sometimes more on real steep hills- tho I don't fault the car for this). A/C seems to make matters a bit worse. In comparison, my old winter ride- 2002 Chevy Prizm 4 speed auto, could keep it's speed on the same hills no problemo. Perhaps a 1 or 2MPH (max) variation on speed.

It works, but it isn't good. In comparison, I've driven a 2002 325 (base) with an auto and it's cruise control was spot on... Same with a 2004 528 I drove last summer... Tho those have straight 6ers, which have no problem with torque at low revs.

 

I have to agree with Nick T about the automatic tranny Just reading the thread it sounds like that is what you all are saying

 

While every cruise control problem may not be related to the manual transmission, most are. As was stated earlier, an automatic can shift gears to maintain speed while cruise is on, a manual can't. Cruise increases the throttle position as speed drops off but it's can't overcome the need for a downshift to hold speed near exact. If it tried too hard to control the exact speed on anything but flat ground it would cycle between throttle wide open and throttle fully closed. No one would like this.

Still, my 5-speeds cruise works pretty well.


R.E.

 

My 03 holds the speed very well, but sometimes does not respond quickly to taps to slow down.

regards,
Red

 

After a few upgrades, my car no longer has the problem maintaining the speed.

_________________

 

It is not a power problem - the car actually gains speed on the upgrade, overshooting the set point (my varies so much that I really don't know where it is set). On downgrades it retards the speed below the set point. The max speed of the set range is at the top of the hill, the lowest is at the bottom on the other side. These are not mountains but the normal rise and fall of the mid-Tennesse landscape. The last car I drove daily on this route was a 4cyl Accord automatic and it did loose a little speed on the upgrade but overall did not vary like the MINI. My wife's new beetle convertible (turbo 5speed) does not vary at all on the same road.

The car is supposed to come back today from it's first service. My last conversation with the service tech is that maybe 3.6 will help. If that doesn't they'll try something else.

 

>>It is not a power problem - the car actually gains speed on the upgrade, overshooting the set point (my varies so much that I really don't know where it is set). On downgrades it retards the speed below the set point. The max speed of the set range is at the top of the hill, the lowest is at the bottom on the other side. These are not mountains but the normal rise and fall of the mid-Tennesse landscape. The last car I drove daily on this route was a 4cyl Accord automatic and it did loose a little speed on the upgrade but overall did not vary like the MINI. My wife's new beetle convertible (turbo 5speed) does not vary at all on the same road.
>>
>>The car is supposed to come back today from it's first service. My last conversation with the service tech is that maybe 3.6 will help. If that doesn't they'll try something else.

Yep, I agree, it's definitely not a power problem, and I also notice the overshoot on uphill and over-retard on downhill. It's just poorly written software (or poorly set parameters for the feedback control in the software). Should be easily fixable - theoretically.