I am a little confused and nervous about the proper way to shift and when to shift. I have only driven automatics so the thought of harming my tranny freaks me out.

Ok, the wording in the manual is a bit vague to me.....
for "kickdown" (is this for when slowing and going downhill?) it reads "Press the accelerator pedal past the increased resistance point at the full-throttle potition" WHAT?

and for Sport mode (I am assuming this is for more power when climbing hills and such) says to press lever once, which I get but is this only while accelerating?

When do I use what mode and how?
Thanx, ParrishBlue

 

Congrats on the MINI purchase!

I have an '04 with a CVT and managed to put 71,000+ miles on it! The CVT takes some practice and patience to be able to take full advantage of it, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be surprised as to how well it performs!

Now, first thing's first: you cannot hurt the CVT transmission by driving the car! Now read that again! No matter whether you're bringing the RPMs to the redline in manual mode, or flooring it in automatic mode, you *can not* hurt it. The computer takes over if you try to do anything bad, and in some cases, it won't even let you do what you want in the first place!

To prove this to yourself, next time you're on a road with no traffic, stop, put the car into manual mode, and select first gear. Now press the gas, and don't touch the shifter. The RPMs will climb up almost to the redline, and then the CVT computer automatically selects 2nd gear. And if you keep your foot on the pedal, it'll do the same for 3rd, 4th, etc. See, no harm done!

What the manual is talking about is a 'kickdown' mode of the CVT. With the car off, push the gas pedal down until it stops. Now push harder. You'll feel a sort of 'click', and the gas pedal will drop another notch. This is the kickdown mode. If you're in manual mode, the car will drop down a gear, assuming that this action wouldn't redline the engine. (If it would, the CVT ignores the kickdown mode.) In the auto modes, it brings the RPMs up, and you'll get a burst of power.

Kickdown is for when you need a temporary burst of power. Like if you're passing on a road, trying to make the yellow light (), etc.

A tip for using the kickdown mode: Don't let the RPMs get to the redline. It's not that you will damage anything, but as soon as the RPMs are about to redline, the CVT computer causes the CVT to back off a bit, and you'll lose some acceleration. What I found works best is to engage the kickdown mode, keep an eye on the RPMs, and when they hit about 5700, let up on the gas just a bit so the pedal is back just before the kickdown point. You'll feel a quick little burst of acceleration if done properly. It'll take some practice getting the timing right, but when you get it right, you'll know!

Nope, you can engage any mode you want at any time and on the fly!

I use the normal 'drive' mode (the LCD in the speedometer will display a 'D') for normal day-to-day driving, and cruising on highways. It's the 'slowest' selection, but it's the best on gas mileage.

I'll go into 'sport' mode (the LCD displays 'SD') if I'm passing, or if I just want a little extra 'oomph' while driving. You'll notice that the RPMs will jump up some while in this mode. For example, if you're going 65 on a highway in regular drive mode, your RPMs will be about 2800. But in sport mode, they'll go up to about 3600-3800. That's what provides the extra acceleration when you do push down the pedal.

And finally, I'll use manual mode (the LCD displays a number 1-6, depending on the 'gear') if I need to do a quick passing maneuver, or if I'm playing on a twisty road. For passing, this helps so I can have my RPMs high, so when I push the gas, I don't have to wait for the CVT to spool up the RPMs. I can just accelerate immediately and quickly.

On the twisties, I like the manual mode so I have control over the RPMs. This way, I can use the braking effect of the engine so I can go easy on the brakes, and I have the RPMs spooled up so I can power out of a tight curve.

I hope this clears things up a bit! Any more questions, please feel free to ask! Good luck, and have fun!

-Paul!

 

Welcome to the shiftless CVT family! Don't be afraid to experiment - Paul! is correct that the computer won't let you do anything damaging - in fact it won't let any MINI exceed the unwritten redline. There is a learning curve to using the accelerator pedal, which has a point just before the kickdown takes affect that is like a "sweet spot" for maximum acceleration combined with maximum torque, so the CVT lets you use the power without the computer overriding your input. There is a fantastic resource for CVTs on the CVT Forum at MINI2: http://www.mini2.com/forum/cvt-automatic/

It's the only dedicated forum I know of, and there's lots of useful info there, and answers for most, if not all, of your questions. Have Fun!



BCNU,
Rob in Dago

 

PB, If you are coming to the meet and eat event tonight, I'll bring my wife's CVT Cooper and we can go over it together. Much easier to show you than to write a zillion words about it.

The MINI2 forum thread is a good one, but it is incredibly long but worth reading!

 

Thirded! I should have mentioned the forum in my post. Most of the cool info I know came from that forum. Pay special attention to posts by nonsequitur. He's an incredible wealth of information! And he explains things in a very easy-to-understand way.

-Paul!

 

That's exactly why I won't try to explain any of it in words here!