Maybe I'm just doing it wrong but when I hit the traction control button on the dash nothing seems to change, no lights come on and traction control still cuts all power when I'm taking a short hot tight turn...

What am I doing wrong??

 

Hold it down or up for a second and see if the light clicks on. If not try it with the engine off but acc on

 

Are you talking about an R53? This is the first gens forum, we have our ASC/DSC toggle switches on the toggle bank in the center console. Just a quickly flip up or down will turn the system off and light up the DSC light in the speedo.

 

Really appreciate the advice and yes it's a 2005 Cooper S, I'll double check in the morning and report back

 

Light on means traction control is off

 

Thanks guys it worked and with the traction control off the car feels substantially more powerful without all the wonky power loss issues when taking off or cornering. Is there a way to disable the traction control so I don't have to turn it off every time I get in?

It seems like a hokey system and unnecessary on an R53 with a few bolt ons, I wouldn't drive my new Z06 vette without traction control and it seems to keep things safe, the massive power loss on the R53 when it kicks in just seem completely unnecessary and sloppy.

 

Glad you got it. I can't get my tires to grip

 

The MINI's DSC is certainly very primitive by comparison. If you can find a vendor or private seller that has Ian Cull's V7 module in stock, grab one. It will allow you to automatically disable DSC every time you start the car in addition to auto-up windows and other features.

 

This. I have the Ian Cull's module with the DSC defeat on, as well as the auto-up windows. Never really bothered with the other functions as I'm happy with this.