I'm contemplating swapping out my MCa for a MCSm, and am looking to hear from other people who never drove a standard officially until they bought their R56. My only recent time on a stick was a '95 Cavalier and I got caught in the evening traffic of Dallas TX...not fun. I've heard lots of stories of how easy MINIs were to learn stick driving, and I suppose I'm just looking for some reinforcement more or less

 

The only way to learn to drive a stick is to buy one and drive it every day. You'll get the hang of it after a little while.

 

Well, you replied to my post, so here I am replying to yours!

Last year, I test drove an MCS with stick. It must have been 10 years since I last shifted a car, but man, was it EASY to find the groove with the Mini. If you haven't had a stick before, the tourque alone of the Mini will save your bacon if you happen to be in the wrong gear.

If I were buying my new Mini strictly for myself, it would be stick, but my wife doesn't have the knack (see how nice I said that?) and I don't think my 17 year old daughter needs to chew up MY clutch! There's just a connection to driving when you're shifting the gears.

 

Hah, thanks for the insight MB and Steve. I'm hoping I don't 'chew up' my clutch either! I guess driving a stick isn't, for me at least, one of those things learned that stays with one for life. I learned when I was probably around 10 or 11 in my dad's old pickup truck out in our horse field (fun times!), but that experience 5 years or so ago with the Cavalier just ruined me on it. Despite that, I can't imagine the MINI not being even more fun as a more interactive machine. That, and the fuel economy savings (and money savings!) don't hurt a bit. It's too bad we aren't wired yet with USB ports in our heads where we can just download useful information when necessary eh?

 

I've been driving a stick for a long while but feel like I'm relearning the whole thing. Having 6-gears on a Cooper is making it interesting to extract maximum mpg from this little guy, and so I'm practicing rowing the gears very differently from what has been my normal mode. Feels awkward, but it is also fun!!! I do love the hands-on flexibility one gets driving a manual, not just for optimizing more aggressive driving, but for economical driving, too.

 

When I bought my MCm at the end of Sept, I had never owned a manual shift car before. The Mini dealer was nice enough to take me for 1 hour lessons on a couple of Saturdays to learn. After that I drove it home and the next day drove it to work on my 50 mile commute. It took me a couple of weeks to stop stalling it once or twice a day in the stop and go traffic, but luckily pressing the Start button is a quick recovery. I quickly got the hang of it in what was a span of a month.

Since then I've learned to work the gears pretty well. Today I was cruising in 5th gear at 80mph today (around 4k rpm) on Rt 78 in NJ (normal speed for that road) getting over 40mpg. There seems to be a nice spot in the higher gears and high revs where I'm getting better mpg, which is not intuitive. I'll be experimenting this week with shifting later, where up to now I've been shifting pretty early.

Still learning it, and having fun at it. I'm wondering how I could have driven any other way. When I drive my minivan, I feel less control and no power - booooring!! Go manual!

 

Most of my cars for the past 30 years have been stick - 4 speed than 5 speed now 6 speed. IMHO the MINI is the easiest stick to drive of all my prior cars (Corvair; Honda; VW; BMWs; Saab) The Mini's clutch and gears are smooth and easy.

My 20 year old daughter just learned to drive a stick this week on the Mini after giving up on the Saab (Aero with a really tight firm clutch) and not even trying in the BMW.

Buy the stick and really drive

 

I second shokk's suggestion. If you're buying new, any chance you can get your MA to help teach you? After all, s/he's got an investment in this deal. Not only would you get some training, it would be on a dealer's car, not yours. Not being nasty about dealer's cars, mind you, but the first few hours ARE a bit hard on a car. After that, it's a snap.

One suggestion--I find it helps, and some others have commented similarly--try your lessons with the sport button on. Something about the power response just seems to make it easier to shift smoothly.

Good luck, and congratulations on taking the "stick plunge." You'll really enjoy your car more!

 

First off I don't have an R56, I have an R53.

I drove stick for the first time in Germany in a BMW. This car belonged to my girlfriend's dad who I was VERY afraid of. I drove about 20 minutes and I don't remember much of it but it was not too pretty.

Fast Forward 3 years.

I did not test drive my MINI. Dad did and Mom did but not me. When I got the car mom drove it to an empty parking lot and I tried getting it going. It was not that bad. I killed it a fair amount of times at traffic lights but I got better and better. I am still learning how to drive better every day even after almost after two years.

My mechanic replaced my flywheel and he told me that my clutch was fine. He drove the car and he was confident that it will last a good long time.

I say get the R56 and have fun with it!

 

My story is very similar to everyone else's. I test drove a manual (it wasn't pretty) and when I bought mine I limped to a large industrial park and spent the afternoon starting in 1st gear. After the first few days I was good enough to deal with traffic comfortably. SO GET THE MANUAL!!!

 

My first car was an automatic 1996 Ford Tbird...i drove that for a year...then i decided to buy my own car, the MINI and i knew i couldnt own an autocross car without stick haha....so upon delivery of my MINI it was also the first time i had ever touched a clutch or stick...yeah i wish i didnt have to learn the first few days on my clutch, but it kinda gave me a sense of connection with the car...i did do a lot, A LOT of research and watched many youtube videos, enough that i did not stall on my first launch, but the second one was a stall haha...trust me its worth the fun, control, fuel economy, and feel to go with stick...yes it can be bad at times (stop and gos, being tired from work and grinding a gear...haha i did that) but its well worth it all because you have sooo much fun and control...and if you do bad enough then it will get replaced under warrantee...if it dies after warrantee then you can just buy a sports clutch/fly wheel

I had to drive my old car around real quick and omg did that suck...its wayyyy to simple to just put in drive and let go of the brake to move...i need more fun and like having to let out some clutch and give some gas to get myself going....all-in-all it is your car, but do remember that MINIs are meant to have 3 pedals and you dont want a MINI thats missing parts

 

My brother and I both learned on the R56. Manual transmission is the funnest thing ever in a car. I have been driving for 10 years (all automatic) and its like I just took the blue pill. I even have fun in the LA traffic. My only regret is not learning how to drive stick sooner. Here's a great website to learn about driving manual. http://standardshift.com/forum/

 

The Mini is for my daughter who turns 16 next week. We pick it up on Saturday. I took her out in my neighbors Civic a few times and she picked it up quickly. By the third lesson she said how much she enjoys having more control over the car. I would recommend getting the package that includes the feature that keeps it from rolling backwards on hills - I think it is the stability control.

 

I think I'm a slow learner because that first lesson solely consisted of me chirping the tires or stalling. We had gone to an apartment complex, so after a while, there were people standing outside wondering who the fool was doing these slow circles around one of the lots. 1st gear is the hardest - the other gears come very naturally, I think. It's good to have the dealer's car to beat up for those first few lessons. To be honest, the driver the MA sent me out with was burning rubber on startups and doing a couple of donuts and drifts to show off, so I don't know if my driving or his was worse for the car.

 

I've had manual's my whole life, but I remember when my dad was teaching me to drive....we started with sitting in neutral and taking the car upto 2500 rpm and holding it....once I got the knack of that, he had me start and stop over and over again in reverse (it's much easier to get rolling in reverse than in first), and then we started with 1st gear....haven't ever looked back, and I can't stand driving automatic when I have a rental.

 

My boyfriend taught me how to drive a stick, back in the days, as they said--mid to late 60's. We were in college, and his car was a crapped out POS with "three on the tree." It was so loosey-goosey that I never could figure out what gear I was in--not a matter of coordinating gas and clutch!

After that I never had another problem with driving sticks, even though I'm definitely not well-coordinated (ask my husband, no, not the same guy). Be patient and practice. It just takes time.

I still cringe when I think of the cars we used to drive. It's a wonder any of us survived to adulthood!

 

This is my second manual shift car. It's been about 14 months since I started driving stick shift. If you like driving, you have to try a manual shift car for once at least. If you ask me, I am not buying an automatic shift ever again unless I absolutely have to.

 

When I was 16, my dad took me to the local VW dealer to test drive a Rabbit and I learned how to drive the VW in a parking lot. Then again at 16 I drove a VW rental car with a stick with my parents in Germany on vacation; I woke them up once when the car was going way too fast around an autobahn sweeper. In one small Bavarian town, I had to stop at a stoplight on a steep hill and a 911 Turbo pulled up close to the rear but I managed to get going without rolling back or stalling. Since then, I have had 6 cars with sticks and one with an automatic and I can say sticks are much more fun to drive except in stop and go traffic.

 

I learned to drive stick a very longtime ago. However, the way I learned might be useful. Due to odd circumstances I got a car before I could get a license. My Dad drove me over to a dead-end private road nearby. It had lots of speed bumps so no one drove it more than 15 mph. I was able to get lots and lots of starting out practice. By the time I could get a learner's permit, I was very comfortable with the clutch.

Moral of the story: find a deserted road or parking lot where you can practice, and do so until you are completely comfortable with it. Then drive in traffic.

 

Learning to drive stick on the mini has its pluses and minuses. Pluses: Easy to depress clutch that does not release too quickly or abruptly (good idea to leave sport button off at first). Can vary speed considerably before shift necessary. Minuses: 6 speed makes choices more "confusing". Shifter is somewhat sloppy. Reverse is not where it usually is. There is a gate below reverse that does not have a gear associated with it. Some people have reported accidentally shifting into reverse instead of first gear. Overall, I think it is easy to learn to shift on a Mini because the operation is smooth and there is room for error.

 

I'm probably dating myself, but I hadn't driven a stick in 25 years... Then I ordered BowZer in August this past year (2007), and decided I wanted a stick again. It was very easy to shift - far easier than the car I had when I was a teenager!

I was worried about stop and go traffic, but this has turned out to be no big deal - it's a slight inconvenience, but more than offset by the mileage, the performance, and the feel that I'm actually motoring!

I took my car in Tuesday to get a graphic on the roof taken care of, and they gave me a loaner - it's a nice red Cooper with an automatic. One day in this car, and I've been longing for BowZer. I go to pick him up tonight - can't wait to get back my stick!

I've now put over 5000 miles on BowZer, and won't go back to an automatic until I'm physically unable to handle clutching. (I honestly think BowZer would think he was neutered if he had an automatic )

 

That's probably a good thing if you are dating yourself.

 

Remember, if you have to use the clutch at any time you are not driving correctly. A healthy transmission will let you know that it is going into gear with a distinct gnashing sound.

Good Luck!

 

At least I always know who's going to buy!

 

My first Mini (back in 1964 was of course a stick) and a lot of fun to drive. But I guess age and the retirement life have made me a little lazy, but I love driving my MC automatic now.