I have found an 05 MCS that I am considering. I am trying to figure out the options from pics but one I am not sure of. There are two gauge pods in front of the wheel and the center guage looks like a chronograph watch. I remember seeing this on the Miniusa site but I can not remember what that package includes.

 

I think its just called the "Chrono package"

 

Yes, the Chrono Package. The gauge cluster that replaces the center speedometer gives you gauges for fuel level, water temperature, oil pressure and oil temperature. There are some idiot lights in the Chrono cluster as well, but I don't think they're any different than the lights you get in the non-Chrono cars.

The smaller speedometer that comes with the Chrono package also gives you separate turn-signal indicators for left and right. I'm not positive, but I think the non-Chrono cars have a single light that flashes regardless of which directionals are blinking.

 

You are correct. I have one central blinking light for left or right turn

 

Thanks - both of our MINIs are the same year and model, and optioned virtually identically, so I sometimes forget which features/characteristics of the car are standard, and which were part of one of the option packages.

 

When I 1st learned of this unusual & never before had (to me) central blinker feature on my Mini I was like how will I know which way I am turning but <whew> I quickly realized that in the heat of the moment I knew if I was meant to go right or left

 

I'm familiar with the "single light" concept - my old MGB and several of my bikes have been that way, but since the Chrono pack in our cars is all I've ever known, I'll admit I was a bit puzzled when I saw the central blinking light in a friend's MINI a few weeks ago. It took a second or two for me to realize what it was, even though I had just flipped the turn-signal stalk, so it should have been obvious - duh!

 

ITS THE SUPER DUPER PACKAGE. lol naa its the chrono package! haha :D

 

A pic:

 

thanks for the pic

 

I've got it in my MCS.

+ Nice factory installed gauges
- Small speedometer is difficult to read

 

Do you find it difficult to read because of its size, its markings, or is part of the speedometer blocked from your view by the steering wheel? Both of our cars have the Chrono package, and we don't have any problems with reading the speedometer. It's certainly smaller than the speedometer in the non-Chrono cars, but it's no smaller than the speedometer in any other car I've owned.

 

i think supercoop might be talking about how the steering wheel slightly blocks the view of the speedometer. i'm 5'11" and at the position i sit, i can't see the top half of the speedometer, but i can still see the numbers and needle.

 

Yes, that can be an issue, and it's very dependent on your height/build. I'm 6'2", and the steering wheel blocks the outer edge of the chrome trim ring between the 70MPH and 110MPH markings, but the wheel doesn't even come close to obstructing any part of the gauge face, markings, or needle.

Because of the length of my legs, I have the seat all the way down, almost all the way back, and I have the steering wheel in its highest position, so all of that probably helps to keep the wheel from blocking my view of the speedometer/tach. My wife is 5'8", so the wheel doesn't block her view at all.

 

I had a single blinker for the turn signals on my 85 VW Vanagon, even though it had great expanses of available plastic on the instrument panel. Boy, talk about taking cost cutting to the extreme.