Grinding gears in the new Mazda really felt bad.
I think doing that is a lot easier than going into R by accident on the MINI, because you have to go past a detent to go into 5th and 6th.

 

My Z3 definitely has more resistance going into reverse than my R56, but that could be the fact that the Z3 has a shorter lever.

Maybe I'm just lack of finesse with my MINI; the shift **** keep coming off when I power-shift into second.

 

This is a true design flaw. I love the fact that they're close together, as I parallel park quite frequently, but the ease to whcih one could accidnetally go into reverse is significant.

I get into the most issues in my garage. I always pull right in, but my wife often pulls in, and backs up a bit. Therein is the problem: we both leave it in gear, and you can't tell by looking if it's in R or 1st. I can't begin to tell you the number of times she's almost gone forward as a result of this.

Two solutions MINI should consider:

- The same sort of lift-up lever that VWs have. It acts as a lockout to prvent this very situation

- An indicator light on the Speedo would make this very apparent. I mean, the reverse lights go outside on to signal to others you're in reverse. Why not let the driver know??

- If people can't tell the difference between 1st & 3rd / 2nd & 4th / 3rd & 5th / and 4th & 6th, why not simply indicate the gear you're in on the dash or Speedo???

Automatic drivers get to know the gear their in, but not mannytranny users.

That's being what I would call being "shiftanistic" or as others might call "shiftist."

 

Before I got my Clubman I hadn't driven a stick on a regular basis in about 6 years. It took me about a week to get used to the shift pattern, and I was pretty careful about shifting (especially downshifting!), but I have to say I never encountered any confusion between first and reverse. I really don't think it's a design flaw, just something you have to be mindful of until you learn the pattern. I've had my Clubman about two months now, and the pattern is already second nature. I'm certainly no expert at manual shifting, but I just don't find the MINI pattern to be any problem at all.
As for you and your wife and your MINI and your garage, when starting, why not just shift to neutral first, then select the gear you need. I always do that anyway when starting up, it's simple and easy.

 

Well, it's more about training her to put it into neutral than I, but I hear you.

 

I thought about rigging up some sort of light in the dashboard that'll tell me when I'm in reverse.