I'm embarrassed to share that my poor new Mini was pushed beyond the recommended break-in rpm's due to driver error.

Apparently the MCS's 6-speed does not have a "lock-out" to prevent mistakes by preventing the downshift into an overly low gear by accident as other standard shift car's I've driven.

I was passing some one who was turning into their driveway on a straight country road, I think I was in 4th at the time, I meant to go from 4th to 5th as I passed but instead hit 3rd...eeeek, so I quickly "up shifted" and dropped it into 2nd instead of back to 4th! The car was near/slightly over 6k rpm's!

Needless to say I took it easy the rest of the way home.

Oddly this morning the car seemed to be almost more willing to rev. (Let's go matey!) I think it's safe to say the car's more "broken in" than it's driver at this point.

 

how many miles are on your car? once you hit 1000 many will say you should to start to use more of the revs, just to do so under light load (i.e. not a lot of throttle). As you break the engine in more it will start to feel more willing to rev, this is normal. It all depends though, people have their won theories on break in. My wifes mini, she drove it gently until 1250, we changed the oil, and then went straight to the dyno had to make sure all that money spent on the JCW package was making the power as advertised, here's what we put down:

http://www.carolinaautomasters.com/d...aryJohnson.JPG

using a 15% drivetrain loss, thats 204.4, but it feels like its opened up a bit since then though. Most engines do after break-in (really, an engine is still breaking in for a lot longer than the initial 1000 miles, but you don't have to treat it as gently for that part of break in as the rings are already seated)

 

I have never heard of any manual tranny that has a "lock out" to prevent it from being put in any forward gear. Most will have a reverse lock out. What other cars that you drove had this?

 

Lockout? No. Perhaps if you tighten the nut behind the wheel...
A run up to 6K won't hurt anything.
Lots of gears, lots of choices. Shift at your own risk.

 

My previous daily driver a few years back was a '94 Ford Probe GT. They had Mazda drivetrains, it had a "lock-out". It was actually rather annoying at times but if you were say going 50 you couldn't put it into 2nd gear, definitely not first, you couldn't shift into 1st unless you were almost stopped similar to reverse on almost any standard.

The car I learned stick on was an old Nissan something, it was similar I thought...maybe it's a Japanese car "thing"?

 

Thanks for the feedback! I'm near 500 miles so far...I've just started driving it this week more regularly. I was only at the 6k mark for a few seconds...gulp. Wow your JCW put up the numbers! Woot!

I also plan on changing the oil myself after the break-in period...seems to make sense. I think I need to take it for a spin at lunch time today to make sure it's still ok.

 

I think I'm the nut with the bolt loose!

 

Not likely, Hondas don't have any type of "lockout". What you might be feeling is the synchros resisting going into gear, Hondas are very difficult to put into first gear if you're going faster than 10mph... but if you match the revs you can put every transmission I've tried into any gear

 

Ding Ding Ding - we have a winner. That's exactly right - if you can't shift a manual transmission between any two forward gears after properly matching revs, then the synchros are either going or gone (or it's not a synchromesh transmission to begin with).

Actually, I just remembered a Corvette "feature" from the mid-eighties. It wasn't really a "lock-out", but if you were in 1st gear and accelerating very gently, when you pulled the lever towards you to shift into 2nd gear, a mechanical stop would actually nudge the shifter over into 4th gear instead, to improve fuel economy.

It was pretty easy to avoid the "automatic short-shift", though - you just had to make sure you weren't babying the car in first gear.

Scott

 

Your Royal Smurfiness,

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think a vast majority of us here have missed a gear at least once. I know after I did (when I was first learning to drive stick in my MCS) I am making damn sure it never happens again! After I dumped it from 5th to 2nd (was aiming for 4th..i missed) I was more nervous shifting than a klutz in a jailhouse shower!

 

You're cool. Nothing hurt. It nowhere approaches the ***** to the wall break in theory. Those who followed that theory haven't reported problems or at least they haven't admitted it. Your's was brief. You are right about the motor revving more freely. I experienced that with my 05 MCS and now with my 06. After 1250 on both and several runs to redline (within the posted speed limits for the lily livered) both engines felt that they would rev significantly more freely. It put a big grin on my face!

 

Que?

 

You're lucky you weren't going fast enough to damage the engine! Do becareful with the gear stick, I've seen videos of people downshifting from 5-4 and instead catching 2nd, 14000rpm = instant death of an engine. A tip is that don't put much force on the gear stick, use your hand to "guide" it into gear instead. If you don't put a lot of pressure on the stick you can feel the syncro working smoothly, or if you get it into the wrong slot you can feel the syncro resisting slightly.

 

As far as Corvette's go, this feature is back. One of my co-workers has a new vette and has commented on that quirk. No need to worry though as the Corvette enthusiasts have come up with an aftermarket device that eliminates this "feature".

 

That's actually a NON-feature...

I believe that GM absolutely HATES manual transmissions and adds these NON-features to discourage people from ordering cars with them. (They made A/C unavailable with the 450 HP LS-6 in the Chevelle, and they even went so far as to deny a HEATER to anyone who ordered the L-88 engine in a Corvette.)

The Camaros from 1993 onward were similarly afflicted with the CAGS (Computer Assisted Gear Selection) system. It was on my '95 B4C Camaro. I unplugged it within 10 minutes of getting it home. From 96 onwards, they reprogrammed the computer to illuminate the Check Engine light if it was unplugged, so the aftermarket started (immediately, I might add) selling a resistor to plug into the connector to trick the computer into thinking the POS, I mean CAGS solenoid was still plugged up.

A work around for the CAGS is to double clutch on the 1-2 shift. Then you can go to 2nd gear until you can disable it.

Rawhyde

 

Maybe here is an opertunity for someone of offer a snap on, or clip on, shiftgate to fit over the ring around the lower part of the shift lever. I know I would purchase a properly done shiftgate if it was done in stainless steel or chrome.

 

A few seconds after a few hundred miles shouldn't have done too much, just take it easy for the next 750 and you;ll be fine, and an oil change is a good idea. The key is how you think about the shifting, 5th and 6th are always away first then up or down, no diagonal on this one. That was the bigest adjustment for me coming off of and econo car 5 speed. Plus remember if it was just a down shift then there wasn't pressure on the seals just increased motion (unless you hit the gas) so it is far more likely everything is unaffected. If you are really concerned, get the oil tested after you change it and have that compared with results of other recently broken-in MINIs to see that there wasn't any additional or un due wear.