Looking at the online brochures, it looks like the 6th gear in the S is about 3.1/1 vs about 3.5/1 in the Cooper. I seem to recall that before the top gears were about identical ratios. Is there a difference in final drive ratio that evens things out, or is a cooper going to be pulling higher rpm than S at equiv. fwy cruise?

 

My 04 was considerably higher in RPM at 70mph than my 05 S. Maybe 700 RPM, IIRC. The S has 2 final gear ratios, one for each transmission shaft.

 

Thanks - have you been able to check as to whether the lesser rpm at fwy speeds translated to better mpg? One of the reasons I'm on the fence as to whether to go with S or coop in an '05 is mpg - I'd really like to get at least 30 mpg on fwy commute.

 

You can pull that off on an S without a problem. If I keep off of the throttle, I average about 35MPG, according to the computer. My total average is just under 30MPG with lots of spirited driving, this is with 1400 miles so far. I'm pretty happy with the results.

On the other hand, my Cooper was getting in the range of 37MPG everyday.

 

The new '05 MCS gearing is a bit revvy, IMHO. I'm turning 3,000RPM at about 70 MPH, which is relatively high, even for a sports car.

It's the only complaint I have about my new MCS. Too bad the final drive ratio isn't about 10-15% lower.

Oh well, it will be easy to get used to!

 

Don't drive a Cooper, then!

 

Thank you, iamwiz82, for the intelligent and useful advice!

 

I did test drive 05 and don't feel much different at all. I like my 04 MCS ratio better. I can pull 1st gear up loanger than new revised 05 gear ratio...same great cars anyway.

 

I'm confused by the above statement. Could someone please explain?

Thanks!

 

Don't be a jackass. I meant a regular Cooper, not an S, because a regular Cooper runs even higher than an S at 70mph.

 

Sure. There are 2 output shafts on the S 6-spd. 1, 2, 5, and 6 all share one output shaft and it's final ratio. 3, 4, and R all share the other output shaft that has a different final ratio. This makes the transmission smaller, physically.

 

Hey Iamwiz, since you've resorted to name calling, I don't think there's any confusion here about who's acting like a "jackass".

Please, try to refrain from :smile: flaming here. We're all trying to learn, so be nice!

 

Hmmm. I rebuilt a couple of RWD gearboxes a long time ago - MGA and Austin Healey - so I understand how those things work, but I guess I still don't really understand FWD. These two output shafts - do they feed into some sort of final drive? (I'm trying to make an analogy to a rear-end, I guess.)

Thanks for your help!

 

Never mind - I found a great explanation at MINI2. It's actually starting to make sense!

But thanks for replying in the first place!