I'm not talking about what it says in the manual. I'm new to MINI and the 07 is my first.

When I got my MCS the brakes were grabby, and the car seemed very sqeamish. After a few hundred miles the brakes settled down, the tires were more surefooted.

But when I accelerated out of a turn, the car still wasn't sure where it wanted to go. I was considering suspension options, when I noticed today that the car was much better behaved coming out of corners (now have 2100 miles). I have LSD and DSC and stock suspension w/17"runflats.

Did it just take time for the suspension components to settle in? Am I getting used to the Mini?

So, when you got your R56, how long do you think it took for the car to break in (or get used to being new and seat everything properly)?

 

I noticed a significant difference right around 2000 miles....
Better MPG, better accelration and handling...

 

Yeah, I reset my mpg recently and now I am averaging 33.9 (as opposed to the 30.5 I was getting)

 

around 2000 miles it felt "right". Recently drove a friends car with 800 miles on it and the engine felt very tight by comparison. I alos think after 2000 miles I was feeling more comfortable with it. Perhaps it had me broken in.

 

Mine is at 1450 miles as of today and I don't know.... My previous cars kept getting loose every year.

 

I'd guess 2000, too. I think part of it is that the MINI IS a different breed, and WILL feel different. You've got to get used to it!

Your comment "when I accelerated out of a turn, the car still wasn't sure where it wanted to go" makes me think you've just experienced torque steer--it's a "condition" of front wheel drive cars. Less apparent with cars equipped with LSD (limited slip differential), but you'll still notice it. Definitely a factor without LSD.

Enjoy the MINIness!

 

I would suspect the engine would start really coming to life post 5k miles. I REALLY noticed a difference in smoothness and power at 11k miles on my (now gone) e46 M3. Prior to that, I've never owner a car (until tomorrow) that had less than 25k miles so I never felt the difference.

 

I've got about 1500 miles on the clock right now, and it still feels like it did the day I brought him home. With the one big exception of course being that now I can wind him up past 4500 RPM!

I can't wait to hit 2000 to see if I experience this increase in fuel economy and power some of you are talking about. The car already has power for days and gets 30 MPG!!!

 

I have LSD and am familiar with torque steer, but it almost seemed like the car wanted to go one way then the other. It only happens coming out of corners and my original suspicion was that when one wheel slipped the LSD transfered the power to the other which caused it to spin, reversing the process. Does this make any sense?

A friend following me one day said he noticed the instability.

I'm considering a rear sway bar (19mm) in the hopes that that will help, but as I said, things seem to be settling in (around 2k) which was the reason for my initial post.

 

I've got something like 2800 on mine. Feels like the day I drove it off the lot, and don't expect anything to change.

 

I'm guessing that if there was some engine/power difference between now (2500 miles) and when I bought the car it was so gradual that I didn't notice it. The only thing that I did notice is that the clutch isn't as snappy as it was the first few days. I had to release it really slowly when shifting into 2nd and 3rd, now can release it much faster without the car jerking. Actually the brakes seem more gradual too. But all that could just be me adjusting to the car.

 

Took all of 2 1/2 days to register 2,700 miles on the odometer. Received the car from Classic MINI in Ohio on Fri at 8:00 AM; and by 10 AM on Monday, we here home in Santa Clara, CA. Car doesn't really feel any different, except that it rides better that the other R53's in the family. Brakes and throttle were good to go from the start. Haven't really had the need to accelerated up to readline in any gear as there's plenty of pickup from "go" or meerging onto the freeway, passing cars, or going up long inclines in Utah and Nevada. The speedo is a little "optimistic" and reads too fast. Had a flat tire in the first 50 miles, but the runflats got us to a tire repair facility---but I'm still going to change to Avon tires. Great car, even with the automatic transmission.

 

You know I just hit 2k and then I took it up into Malibu last Monday for a bit of fun. Not only did the car get hotter than ever in it's life (I think I burnt a sticker), 102 degrees climbs and turns with constant down shifting. It really took to the roads and felt great. But it always felt tight around the corners.

 

at exactly 800 miles everything just felt better

 

As was said, I believe the back and forth torque steer is the LSD switching power between wheels to prevent wheel spin. The tires getting "more surefooted" is probably what reduced this effect for you. With the tires getting better traction, the LSD doesn't keep flipping power back and fort. I read a post recently from someone who had put wider tires on his MCS and pretty much eliminated this back and forth pull.

Another possibility is that it is the user that is getting "broken in" rather than the MINI. You may be developing automatic responses to the behavior of the car,

 

I have also read, depending upon the construction of the wider tire that the "tramlining" can get much worse. Guess it is a toss up.

 

Yeah, I had an adjustment period. The two hour drive home from the dealer featured mostly highway driving, which was fine. But I noticed when I got back home to my regular stomping grounds that I had a tendency to want to take corners like I was still driving my previous car. Force of habbit. Turns that previously would require several spins of the wheel in my old ride sometimes now only take a flick or two in the Mini. What happened at times was I was oversteering a bit.

 

My MCS with LSD has 2k + and I it seems to have a little more torque and also I had to get used to driving it. It is not a Soccer Mom Suv. You have to pay attention. Just keep off the phone and have fun. I get surprised everyday. Fun

 

I want my shift linkage to stay the way it is now. I don't want it to ever wear!!!!!