I have also found out that people that used to own cars with bigger, torquier engines or automatic transmissions, prior to owning the MINI, seemt o have a harder time adjusting to the give it more gas than before launch technique of the MINI. I am not saying this is you, but when you are used to drive a car with gobs of low end torque at your disposal, your natural tendency is to "tap" the gas pedal, not to "step on it".

 

part of my summer morning start up routine is to start the car, turn OFF the DSC,fire up the seat heaters,turn on the lights and fogs and open the windows.It feels like I'm doing a safety check in an airplane.I love to tweek all the toggles. Having said all that, here in the Northeast we got a heck of a storm last night.Temp dropped almost 30 degrees in only a few hours, wind (lots of it) and rain, so when I got out to go to work (4:15 AM), the roads were completely covered in wet leaves and pine needles and you can bet I LEFT THE DSC ON!!!!
turn off the DSC and your bog problem will go away,but leave it on when appropriate!

 

I think the "drive by wire" may be the culprit.... all (02-06) the Minis I have driven from bone stock to mucho mods have this to one degree or another ..... a lag at initial "tip in"..... simply "blip" the engine to get it reving and then take off.......

 

My 06 was just like that. I went into limp mode several times in front of traffic. However, I have yet to have it happen a single time since I installed the MTH tuner file.

My MINI was just very sensitive to a slipping tire. Now it isn't.

 

I don't understand. I don't have a bog problem, never have in 18K miles of owning my '05 MCS.

Is this an issue most prominent with DSC equipped cars? I only have the standard ASC traction control and I always leave it on.

 

Give it more gas before you let off the clutch and you shouldn't have a problem. With our small engines, low torque at low RPM's and a low mass flywheel, it tends to bog down. When I first took delivery of my MINI I did have a adjusting period getting used to the gas/clutch feel. I'll be the first to admit I stalled the car driving off the dealer lot. And I've never owned a car that wasn't a manual in 15 years!

 

We dont' have DSC and it's happened to us. DSC doesn't have anything to do with it.

If you don't remember to rev the engine a bit BEFORE you are ready to go, then you will have the problem. It's like this:

1) Light turns from Red to Green and I'm not paying attention so I...
2) Push the accellerator pedal and let out the clutch AT THE SAME TIME. This is the key to creating the problem because it doesn't let the engine spin up enough to get the car moving. So I then...
3) Give it even more gas and this is the when the car falls on it's face.

I totally agree that if I adjust my driving techique, the problem is solved. The Mini has a small 1.6 liter engine, and I think the lack of torque is part of the problem. But I also think the fuel map is off. It's like the engine floods or something.

Isn't there a fuel map setting for throttle "tip in"? I would think that setting is too rich and needs to be leaned out to solve the problem. But I'm no expert.

Just to be clear.....WE LOVE OUR CAR! This is a minor issue to us. But if we could solve it, the car would be perfect and much easier to drive. Especially when we switch between the Mini and our '99 Miata 10AE.

 

most definately. With DSC on , if the ecu thinks that there is wheel spin or any other "loss of control" issues, it will temporarily shut down power until it is convinced that control has been regained. I can honestly say that DSC has saved my fanny on several occassions and unfortunately almost fried it on several others.

 

Yeah, that's probably exactly it. The problem is, when I'm thinking about it, it's no problem, but when I suddenly need to take off quickly, I go back to auto-pilot, and I get the bog. While all but one of the cars I've ever owned has been stick, this is the first non-V8 I've ever owned, so it may take me a while to "re-program myself". Hopefully I'll do it before I get flattened.


Looks like I'm still adjusting! What I wouldn't give right now for a good, old-fashioned throttle cable!

 

Agreed!

 

Cydewaze, I'm with you on this! As I mentioned, my '06 MCS JCW does not have the issue mentioned in your thread here, but my '03 was a notorious stumbler. There were times when, with AC on, I'd get pissed and dump the clutch after the first stalled start, to find a second stalled start due to DSC because it detected my chirping the tires after dumping the clutch from a slightly revved engine. Sheesh! Give me a fricken throttle cable!

Amazes me how many Namer's brag about how lightening fast their Minis are. My '03 was and still is, what I would consider a real slug. The '06, with JCW? Finally, a near perfect toy! I'd still prefer it to have a throttle cable, though.

 

dare i ask, what gear are you in when you drop the gas pedal and the stalling happens? How high is you rpms when you engage the throttle?

 

My stock '04 MCS with ASC had to be revved a little high to get it going. I attribute this to the old pre-2005 gearing that was incredibly tall and definetely geared to higher speed driving (I.e. Europe).

My first MCS only stalled on me twice during its first 4K miles and a software update quickly cured the stumble tendencies. That car was built September 2003 (First batch of '04s ever made) and at the time the MCS "stumble" was a heated topic of conversation here in NAM and elsewhere. My car came with the "interim" stumble fix software from factory, but still managed to stall twice in traffic. After the subsequent software update, it never did it again until the day I sold it.

My '05 with the shorter gearing is a much nicer car to drive than the '04 ever was. It has never stalled in traffic and the software is still the same it came from factory.

You guys with '05 and '06 MCS think you have it bad? If you ever get the chance, I recommend driving a bone stock '02-'04 MCS and tell me how much worse that tall gearing is from the get go.

The main reason why pulleys became popular was to counter-act the tall gearing/low torque combination of the original '02-'04 MCS.

 

How is MORE POWER going to stop throttle lag?:impatient

Gearing should have nothing to do with the never ending quest for power ... see above.

 

Welcome to the club

When it reaches the point you get fed up with dealer visits and the quirks, your wife will win.

 

Maybe this is a better way of putting it....

Next time you drive your Mini, when it's sitting and idleing in neutral, step on the gas. Do you notice the hesitation? I do? It's like you get nothing, then it slowly starts to rev up, then when it hits about 1500rpms, it takes off.

Maybe it's because this is the first supercharged car we've owned. All our other 4-cyl cars have been non-turbo, non-supercharged.

I'm hoping that a re-flash will help fix it. I'd love to try the MHT chip tuning to see if it helps (sounds like it does), but it's not legal for stock class autocross. :(

 

When women develop a mental aversion toward an object, good luck to ya managing to keep the car

 

To the tune of "Row, row, row your boat":

Rev, rev, rev your MINI
Until you make it scream
You'll zip out into traffic ahead of the truck
And avoid an ugly scene

-or-

Toe, toe, toe-heel your MINI
Everytime you stop
At the green you'll take off like a flash
And avoid a big "ker-plop"!


(I know, I know...don't quit my day job!)

 

Everyone, DSC has absolutly nothing to do with loss of power under heavy acceleration. All DSC does is modulate braking in the event of wheel slip. You're talking about ASC+T, whcih EVERY SINGLE MINI has from the factory. My vote goes to lack of power. Keep in mind even though the SC starts spinning from the get go, it still needs to push enough air through to start making some boost. This doesn't really happen until 1600-1800 rpm's, which means instead of 170 HP we get a boostless 90-100 HP. Power mods should help this, but really it just takes some launch control. You just have to launch at higher RPM's if you want to take off quickly.

 

Well, I'm in first, of course, and as far as the rpms go, obviously not high enough.


Yep, I do too. It's like once the throttle hits the floor, you can say, "one-one thousand" before the engine revs. I think it's during this pause that I'm letting the clutch out, because my "muscle memory" or whatever you call it is used to instant throttle response, so I'm having a hard time dealing with the one-second lag of the throttle-by-wire. I'm assuming this lag is the time that it takes the signal (floor it!) to get from the gas pedal, to the computer, and then to the actual throttle.

I suppose I need to delay my clutch release by the aforementioned second, but I really wish there was a way to make the lag go away (or make less lag) instead.

btw, I don't think it's the supercharger, because my last car was supercharged and it didn't have this problem.

 

Too funny!

 

How would one go about talking to a dealership about this? We leave 3 hours away from the nearest dealership, so it's not exactly convenient for us. :(

I guess we could call and ask them about it.

I'm hoping there's a ECU update that will help or something.

 

Thanks Ords...and to think that my teenaged kids don't want to be seen with me

 

I thought they were great too, Dave.

 

I have a 05 JCW, it to will stumble but only when I first start it in the morning.
If I leave Merlin running for about 2-3 minutes I do not have this issue.
The DSC is a pain when you take off like a bat out of hell...Turn if off