Ok guys, got a question for you regarding the manual tranny. Not sure if these are Mini quirks that I have to get use to or something to do with my shifting. The quirks;

1. Shifting from 1st to 2nd seems to be a pain. It rarely shifts smooth(and even then it's only when the engine is heated). Is there some sort of delay?

2. Is anyone able to shift from 4th to 5th without the rpms dropping below the right amount? The throw feels so long-so much so that I usually just skip 5th and go from 4th to 6th(the only way to really have time to rev match)

I've had an issue of going from 2nd to 1st during downshifts. It feels like I have to force it into 1st at any speed above 8 mph. I noted this to my MA and they said that it's a quirk with the Mini manual tranny. He said that I should just keep it in 2nd until I drop below 8mph. I've tried this and when trying to re-accelerate, the engine feels very VERY bogged down. Supposedly this won't harm the engine(even though I don't feel this is true). What gives?

 

I don't have an R56, but I do have a 6-speed..

1. 1st gear always has the shortest ratio to aid acceleration. With 1st gear having the highest rate of acceleration proportionate to throttle position, you would feel the difference (between accelerating and when that rate of acceleration slows down significantly when the clutch is depressed for a gear change) the most in that gear when putting in the clutch to **** into second making it seem sort of "rough." I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else...

2. I feel like it would take me longer to go from 4th to 6th because the movement is so unnatural. I never really think about it when its happening, but if you push to the right as you're moving the shifter forward, or "up" into 5th it should happen pretty quickly and without allowing the rpms to drop too much. I've never heard of "rev matching" on an up shift while I do it every time I downshift...

 

I have noticed that the shift from 1st to 2nd seems less than smooth if done mindlessly (i.e. without thinking about the the engine revs in relation to the speed of the car). So, I have been trying various technique to make the shift smoother. It seems that shifting more quickly helps (getting it into 2nd before the engine revs slow too much), or matching revs by hitting the accelerator during the shift seem to help. I can't say that I have a complete handle on it yet, but experience with car seems to help.

 

Is the mechanical action of getting it into the gate difficult? Is it grinding, are you encountering resistance? The tranny is a bit notchy, but the R56/55/57 is fairly smooth in my experience, certainly moreso than my R53. For comparison, my dad's Honda Civic is physically difficult to shift from 1st to 2nd (a known issue with 2006 Civics). In regards to the temperature issue when the engine/tranny is cold, shifting from 1st to 2nd in the MINI can sometimes be difficult to be smooth as there is a slight lurch (particularly noticeable this winter as it's been into the single digits here). I've always wondered what it is myself, but it quickly goes away. If you want to be smooth you need to match the revs closely and if I really want to be smooth, I'll let the clutch slip a little which greatly adds to smoothness (although it does put more wear/stress on the tranny).
You just need to feel how quickly the rpms drop and after you shift from 4th to 5th catch the rpms at the right moment. It took a little while for me to get the 4th to 5th shifts through the gates quickly, but it'll happen. I think the Getrag 6pd is great at guiding you through the gates (it's difficult to miss a gear) and you need to let the tranny's up-right-up motion guide you which will help until it's one fluid quick motion.
I wouldn't call it a quirk as it was purposely designed by MINI, just as all car manufacturers make a conscious decision as to each gear ratio. For example the 02-04 6sp had a very tall gearing resulting in being fairly slow off the line, which was improved by the shorter gearing introduced with the 05+ 6sp which is similar with the R56. As owner of an 03 and an 06 I can say although you can't stay in 1st gear as long, I welcome the change. When driving in 2nd gear and coasting less than 10mph, very light throttle response which builds gradually is key to smoothness and minimizing lugging. That being said, if I have to travel below 10mph, I'll stay in 1st and won't shift to 2nd. And I never shift from 2nd to 1st (and never had in any other car, first is for getting started and that's about it). If I'm going less than 8mph, I'll either let the car coast in neutral and when the need comes to accelerate get back in 2nd, or come to a stop and go into first.

 

The tranny shifts very smoothly if you synchronize the engine speed with the tranny speed for the next gear prior to attempting the shift. Otherwise you have to exert enough shifter pressure on the sychronizers to force them to increase or decrease the rotating mass of the input shaft and gears. NEVER downshift over 8 mph into first unless you are at a full stop or double clutch to manually synchronize.

Upshifting you should always maintain enough throttle to ensure that the engine speed does not drop too much. If you learn to properly match engine speed with tranny speed, using the clutch during an upshift becomes optional. The same can be said if you learn how to double clutch a downshift.

I have found 4th and 5th gears to be extraneous during normal driving conditions under 70 mph.

 

+1 one to all said.

 

Never had any of those prob's myself. Although skipping gears (4th to 6th) seems appropriate at certain times. Hell, sometimes I skip first! However, I have never down-shifted into first and when I tried to do that, the tranny resisted (as if to say 'no not that way' That bogged down feeling you're getting in 2nd is kinda normal below a certain speed and rev matching is the only cure for that one, I've found that its not worth dropping into 1st unless you really wanna feel some G-forces.

 

I find it is as easy and perhaps more so than all of my previous Audis... but not my butter smooth Ford Exploder. The only issue I've had is getting it into 3rd during heal-toe downshifts (I end up in 5th... and once in FIRST!).

On my 2000 S4, you could not shift into second with a cold transmission. 1-3-5 was the order when the car was cold. I have not had the same problem with my 2009 MT 6.

 

I've never in any of my cars downshifted to first. It's never seemed necessary. If I'm moving at any speed, second always has enough pull. Even when autocrossing.

That being said, if you do choose to down shift to 1st, rev matching is a must. The synchros help get things moving together, but 1st is so short a gear, you really need to get the revs up high to allow the synchros to work smoothly and shift down. The resistance is there for a reason. Never force, raise the revs till it shifts with moderate pressure.

 

An alternative to double-clutching is to keep your accelerator pedal depressed when clutching and shifting from 2 to 1. As the clutch releases, the gears will speed up and help you make a smooth downshift.

This is not an intuitive motion so you have to work on it a bit. Try to feel for the proper timing that will allow you to smoothly move the shifter into 1. If you shift too fast or slow, you'll feel the resistance in the shifter but somewhere in between you'll find that sweet spot that shifts smoothly and you'll be very happy.

 

I'm getting used to my Clubman too, and have noticed that the car takes some attention to operate the gears smoothly. One thing is to make sure you are working the clutch agressively, e.g. quickly and fully depress the clutch before attempting the gear change. There are other cars that feel like you can do these more simultaneously but not the mini.

I've also noticed that the gear shift seems designed for a right hand drive car, with the gearshift postion slanted toward the passenger side. That makes the 4/5 and 5/6 gearshifts a reach.

 

I've driven for 34 years and have never owned an auto transmission, only manuals. I think the MINI has the smoothest shifting manual transmission I have ever driven.

 

Nuff said

 

Gosh I think the MINI is easy to drive in a Manual. Have you ever driven a 70's or 80's European car?

I will say 1st gear is much smoother with the sport button on. So I flick it on every time I get in the car.

 

After awhile you'll notice on this forum, there's never nuff said on any subject to ad nauseum.

 

I'll second that.

 

On all manual vehicles I have owned and have driven, you could idle in first gear but I've found that I can't do that with my Clubman. I still haven't had problems with mine, which I will have for a year on February 21st. I would still like to be able to idle in 1st gear while in slow traffic instead of constantly clutching. Anyone else?

 

Having heard this, could you please explain how to double-clutch (as this is what ricers call rev-matching). I can't find anyone who can explain it to me.
This is what I heard/read:
1. brake with toes
2. clutch in, go to neutral
3. blip the throttle with the heel but do NOT let go of the brake!
4. drop to the next lower gear (example: from 4th to 3rd)
5. brake off
6. clutch out, hit the gas
Did I get it right?

I can't, for the life of me, find a long abandoned road in my city to practice this. I can see why it's needed as it's a pain in the *** having to rev back up to 3,500 rpm after being forced to drop to 2nd because some slowpoke chooses to make a VERY gentle RIGHT turn at 5 mph. I mean a overloaded U-haul could take that turn faster! I drop a gear and it still takes what feels like a year to get back up to 3,500.

 

Your step 3 is actually if you want to heel-toe-downshift which is much more difficult that simple rev-matching. With rev-matching you don't need to involve the brake and is the first learning step prior to heel-toeing. Rev-matching is basically when you want to smoothly change from a higher to lower gear when not braking. For example if you were cruising in 5th gear and decided you wanted to accelerate or pass someone you would need to go down to 4th or 3rd. This is easy to practice so you know how much pedal pressure/time/gas you need to give to precisely match revs for the next gear. The process of maintaining a constant speed but smoothly downshifting without jerking would look like this:

1. Clutch in with Left foot (and subsequently Right foot off the pedals)
2. Go to neutral (although eventually the motion will be so quick and smooth, you wont stop here)
3. Blip the throttle with the Right foot to increase the revs to match to the gear you're moving into
4. Drop to the next lower gear (example: from 5th to 3rd)
5. Clutch out with Left foot
6. Right foot on gas to accelerate to pass or maintain speed

Those are a lot of steps but when you gain experience steps 2 through 4 will happen at the same time (you'll be moving from the higher to lower gear while blipping the throttle to match revs.)
Heel-toe-downshifting is similar but you are also slowing down:

1. Brake with Right foot
2. Clutch in with Left foot, while continuing to brake with Right foot
3. Go to neutral
4. While keeping your Right foot on the brake you will also blip the throttle with the Right foot to raise the revs to match to the gear you're going into
5. Drop to the next lower gear (example: from 5th to 4th or 3rd)
6. Clutch out with Left foot
7. Continue to brake with the Right foot if you're braking in a straight before a turn. -or-
8. Right foot off the brake and onto the throttle if you heel-toed in the turn and now need to accelerate out of the turn

In steps 3 through 7, your brake pedal should stay at the same "height" while you're also blipping the throttle so that your braking is smooth. This is where you need to practice. The way heel-toe got its name is that people keep their toe on the brake pedal and rotate their heel to blip the gas pedal. Like this:



In the MINI I find it easier to do the pivot-toe method. Basically you have the left side of your foot on the brake pedal and you just pivot your foot so that the right side of your foot blips the gas. It helps having the right shoes. In my situation the size of my feet, space between the pedals and the difficulty to control the throttle when pressing the bottom of the bottom-hinged gas pedal with my heel, made the pivot method best as exhibited in a Lotus (although slightly hard to see):



EDIT: Here's a recently posted link on NAM also regarding heel-toeing which is pretty good:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post2684994