Anybody else see in a new Motor Trend report that the 05' MCS with LSD pulled a 6.4 0-60 time! Their previous MCS only pulled a 7.2 0-60 time.

I know it has a 5 hp bump, better ratios, and the LSD, BUT WOW! Two of the hardest things to gain time on is 0-60 and 1/4 mi. So, for it to gain almost a full second is pretty incredible.

I can't WAIT for my 05' now

 

I don't buy it. I think MINIUSA sifted through a whole lot and gave the press "The Hot One" (the opposite of The Dog) [and also secretly put a JCW kit on it]

 

I agree..I spoke with a friend of mine and we think they put in a ringer or hot mcs because the 5 hp gain does not justify a 6 mph pickup in the quarter mile. Unless they are rating them low but that doesn't seem to be BMW's practice.

 

unless MT used R-compounds and VHT during a below freezing day with 100 octane fuel and were able to hookup with a redline clutch drop. ...but that would be cheating.

 

Then I would expect all of the cars to be higher...the Mazda 3 was 16.1@86mph.

P.S. cheating? no way!

 

I have a 05, my cousin has a 04. He drove my car and...now he wants a 05. I dont have LSD but he definately told me he feels a huge difference.

 

You should tell your cousin to MTH his MCS. The difference is huge. I now have torque steer under heavy acceleration..something I rarely had when it was stock. Now, I am wishing I had lsd.

It takes a bit more then 5 bhp to gain that much time in the 0-60 and quarter mile. So either it has a lot more hp then they stated or the times were done by a ringer MCS.

 

Use this website to get a rough calculation of the hp. Use the weight of the car with the driver with fluids.

http://www.dsm.org/tools/calchp.htm

I put in 2850lbs for the cooper s with a et of 14.8@95mph. Here are the results. It's a rough estimate so you can play with the weight a little.

Using the ET method, I come up with 174 horsepower
Using the Speed method, I come up with 191 horsepower

Adjust a little for the difference in drivetrain loss.

It's also possible that the previous cars were overrated.

 

no, '02-'04's were about spot on with advertised power and torque.

 

I have yet to test my own '05, but I wouldn't be surprised if Motor Trend's results aren't common. My car goes very fast.

 

I have not yet driven a '05 MCS hardtop, but a member of our club did recently and he said that the car accelerates much faster and stronger than his '04 MCS which is about the same as mine (He has done some airflow/intake mods but still running on stock pulley).

He now wants the '05 and LSD. I am planning on taking a test drive sometime this week and if I like what I "feel" and hear I maybe placing an order for an '05.

Honestly I don't have any complaints about the way my '04 accelerates (I did not get a "dog") but if it is even better now, why not?

 

Another thing to note about the test car was that it was an absolute, no-option car (didn't even have the MFSW), so it was as light as you can make an MCS in factory trim. I doubt that there previous test car was configured this way.

 

Am I mistaken or wasn't the gearing changed slightly for 05? I drove one and was impressed by it's low end grunt (and the awesome exhaust pop!).

 

The quicker times can be attributed more to gearing than 5hp. Still almost a full second seems unlikely. Perhaps the test conditions were vastly different?

 

It is very interesting to see those numbers for the new MCS. I have a new MCS with the 19% pulley and the works upgrade package (injectors, CAI and ECU flash). It performs really well. I had a 325i, 5 speed before (7 sec. 0-60) and it is MUCH faster. Before the BMW I had a modified '91 Eagle Talon AWD turbo which could do approximately 5.5 sec. 0-60. From my butt, I would say that my MCS is in the low 6 sec. range.

 

And weight.

My '05 owner's manual says "Curb weight with all optional special equipment with manual transmission... MINI Cooper S... 2678 lbs." (My boldface added.)

Some time in the last month or so, I read a comment that the MINI's advertised weight conforms to the European requirements for specifying curb weight, which I think include all fluids, a full tank of gas, and a 75 kilo (165 lb) driver. So that 2678 lbs. includes sunroof, HK stereo, auto A/C, etc.

Using this weight in the website mentioned above (cool - thanks, meanboy!), I get 163hp and 179hp, nicely straddling the '05 MCS's reported HP of 170. According to cincymcs, the test car had no options on it, so it may have weighed quite a bit less. (And if MINI was smart, they probably gave MT a car with the lightest wheel and tire combination available, too.)

I've only driven one other MINI - an '03 MCS equipped pretty much like mine, back in October. (The only differences I recall were the leather seats and cold package on the test car.) I only drove it about 20 minutes, but when I got my '05, I was really impressed with how freakin' fast it is! Now I'm trying to remember the '03 I drove. Is my '05 a lot quicker? It might be!

 

I have driven a stock 05 MCS against a stock 03 MCS (and a stock 02 MCS) and there's no question that the 05 is quite a bit quicker off the line and up to 60 MPH than the 03 (or the 02). I'm not sure if the Motor Trend numbers are real, but I definitly give the edge to the 05 due to its lower gearing and slight increase in HP. Whenever we run the cars side-by-side, the 05 always pulls away off the line (even when we switch the drivers).

Personally, I'll take the 05 any day due to the way it feels in everyday driving. The car just feels more responsive in the low end of the RPM band and I don't feel like I have to rev it near as hard as I do with the older MCS cars just to get the same performance. They're all really fun to drive though.

Interesting...

 

I drove an '04 and an '05 back to back. Same day, same route. There is a noticable difference between the two. That's a noticable difference without the LSD. So with the LSD I can see there being a big difference. Would it be 0.8 faster to 60? Maybe?

I've autocrossed off and on since the mid 80's and two of the mods that always make a car quicker are an/LSD and a tranny with the right gear ratios. Both mods are expensive, but can totally transform a car. The '05 gets both plus the extra 5 HP. If the '05's aren't faster something is very wrong.

At any rate, it won't be long until the '05 w/LSD start arriving and we can put all rumors and speculation to rest.

 

I had an interesting discussion with Ian Cull at MoP one day, after he had recently driven an '05. His '04 has the JCW package, and he said unequivocably, that the standard '05 MCS felt just as strong as his '04 with JCW (and a tad smoother as well). He was impressed.

Now, I'm not saying a Butt Dyno is completely accurate (Remember, In God we Trust, for all others -- BRING DATA), but his feelings seem to line up with several of the comments here.

Whether or not the 5 bhp and gearing can account for this MT results, I don't know, but it does say something about MINI getting better and better, which is what all of us should hope for.

BB

 

By the way, was the MT test car BRG, by any chance ???


BB

 

How exactly the LSD can improve off the line performance?

 

It was LY but I can't remember the color of the top.

Maybe, the gearing change permits the car to stay longer in third gear(I know I am grasping here). I can hit 70 mph in second (done in twice on highway on ramps and it was still pulling hard) so anything is possible.

 

Each tenth is usually about a car length in the quarter mile so that means a 05 should put about 5-6 car lengths on previous year cars. So how does the previous gear ratios compare to the previous models. Does anyone have a side by side comparision, including the differential gearing?

 

On the improved performance alone, I think it is well worth it upgrading from a '04 MCS to a '05 MCS. From that perspective, I suspect in the future a '05 MCS with LSD will be a much coveted car in the used car market.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1

C&D seems to have had a 03 MCS that's almost comparable to the M/T 05 one and they pulled 92 or 93mph in the quarter and it seems that this is comparable car. So the combination of slightly less weight with the gearing changes produced a 2mph change or so. This makes much more sense to me now.