I just took delivery of my new '03 MCS and found what I feel is an interesting change from the '02 models. In August I rented (from Budget in Los Angeles) a new (2000 miles) "02 MCS to see if I'd enjoy it enough to buy one. I drove it 500-600 miles over 3 days and drove its wheels off. I loved it except for one thing......the 1st gear to 2nd gear spacing seemed too great, and it felt like the car would actually slow down slightly for a second as you went into 2nd gear. My new '03 does not have that sensation. It's as if the gear spacing has. closer ratios....it drives much more smoothly and shifts like butter.....with 7 miles on it at delivery! I wonder if this has to do with software improvements and shifter improvements, or if there has been a gear change! Any thoughts? I loved the car I rented 5 months ago, but this new car is truly a dream to drive!!! I cannot believe just how smoothly it drives. I drove it to work Saturday morning and had it for about 2 hours, then I took it home to leave for my wife to drive for the rest of the day....I'm not sure she is going to let me use it again!! She loves it as much as I do! It will be a shared car.

 

Very interesting question.

I'd suggest that you find a fellow MINI owner who has a 2002 MCS and drive that car for comparison. That way you'd be increasing your sample size and factoring out what may have been an abused rental car. Even at only 2000 miles, someone could have tortured the car enough to account for a different feeling tranny.

On the assumption that there truly is a difference between 2002 and 2003 six-speeds, I'd have to guess that it's a software change in throttle response (in the drive-by-wire sensors). And if THAT's true, then it's definitely something we'd all want to know about so that we could find out when we could get our 2002 MCS's software updated!

Let us know what you find out.

 

The difference is REALLY noticeable.

 

There is a huge gap between 1st and 2nd on the MC 5-speed. I am surprised the Budget had an MCS, I thought they only had MCs.

As mentioned above, it could be the SW change. You might also try driving a regular Cooper to see if that feels more like you remember.

 

Hummm...did the rental have the same size and style of wheels as your 2003? Also, did it have DSC just like your car...or if you don't have DSC, did the rental not have DSC? But either way, wheel weight, DSC, and software generally impact the feeling at launch (1st gear)...and not so much the "spacing" between 1st and 2nd. If the feeling is really, really different, I'm very much thinking that there was something wrong with the rental car. Maybe someone here who has experience driving both 2002 and 2003 MCSs can comment.

 

From whom did you rent a MCS with a manual tranny?

 

I was starting to doubt twins' story about renting an MCS...but sure enough, it's possible to rent an S from Budget of Beverly Hills They have both the Cooper and the S.

(and with only 50 free miles a day, a 3-day rental where you drove 600 miles was one pricey rental! )

 

I'd bet this has nothing to do with the gear spacing. It possibly has to do with better grip and also possibly better tuning of the traction control for 03 models, though I haven't heard that MINI did anything like that.
I have what you're describing happen to me all the time and I always turn off traction control when I'm about to drag race someone for this reason. What happens is when you shift into 2nd under hard acceleration and the traction control senses wheel spin, the ECU reduces power for a second, enough to make the car feel like it's slowing down.

 

I believe Budget had a half-dozen MCSs and a bunch of MCs last August. I have no idea what they have now. They told me they were buying them from dealers all over the country and having them trucked in. They indicated the rental demand was huge. I paid $125/day and I think they included 100-150 miles per day, but I just don't recall. It's a great way to REALLY test drive a car, and not to worry about having to keep the revs down during break-in which you might have to do with a demo at a dealer.

 

I rented from Budget in Marina Del Rey and I'm sure I got at least 100 free miles per day. It wasn't expensive at all when you consider that I could have made a $25,000 mistake!