Did you actually launch the auto or did you just mash the gas petal? Also, I specially remember reading a Car and Driver article where they did a back to back comparison between an auto MCS and a manual MCS at the drag strip. And guess what the auto was faster every time. I can't find the article currently, but I did find this video if that helps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyfl1OmE6YQ

 

I've seen a few similar reports to that affect. My only argument to that is, I didn't buy a MINI to drive it in a straight line!!

 

Personally, I'll always love the stick shifts in some very nice cars I've had the opportunity to drive, here in the USA as well as in Europe. I loved driving them...never thought I'd ever be without stick shift. That said, however, I STILL like my MCSa, because my bad left leg does not to have to hug the clutch pedal anymore. With its aftermarket mods, the car is good enough for me...and it must be fast enough for the Bimmer instructors I get at the BMW CCA HPDEs, because I have not had any, in over 20 schools, say that I was driving a "******".

As for the accusation that auto drivers do not wave, come to the Dragon in May...I'll wave at ya!

 

Thank God a TRUE JCW only comes with a stick

 

A true statement James

 

...Here you go this guy again bragging about his JCW. Let's wait til he starts telling everyone about how he broke this or that land speed record.

 

^^

 

only the trolls from afb/mynes brag about trackperformance

The RMW cars own the track records

 

The auto in the MINI is a ZF as well

 

Negatory, it's a Japanese unit by Aisin. They have a solid rep, should be reliable for years to come. Just be sure to change the fluid at some kind of sane interval, and don't fall for the "lifetime fill!" baloney.

The ZF manual tranny should be fine too. But the clutch/flywheel by Luk have been a reliability disaster, just by all the posts about failures here at NAM.

To the OP: drive both, buy whichever you prefer, the hell with anyone who gives you a hard time about either choice. It's your car, drive what makes you happy. Neither is a bad choice.

 

My bad the CVT was a Zahnradfabrik Freidrichshafen Thanks Kevin

 

Who said anything about the (old) CVT? I thought the topic was the (current) R56 autobox.

 

Yeah whatever bud. If I have any questions about anything MINI I'll be sure to ask you first!

 

This is an example of a good response supporting automatics.

This is an example of a bad response.
Seriously dude? First, you can't tell someone that they're wrong in a subjective claim like how fun it is to drive a manual. I seriously doubt that torque converter/sun gear setup is actually faster than a true connection to the engine but I'm not going to argue about track times. I for one didn't buy a mini to be the fastest thing around and I'd question the logic of someone who did. There are plenty of similarly priced cars that are a good bit faster. Hell, for the price of an automatic with all the jcw stuff you could just about buy a brand new vette or even a used z06 with money left over. I could sit here all day and come up with faster cars I could have gotten for less but I still bought the Mini because IMO it's the most fun I could buy and I wasn't about to pay extra for the watered down experience of a slushbox.

 

Yeah I already made the concession that autos are good for drag racing. Torque converters give you that perfect launch every time. Look at any pro drag car and see how many clutches you'll find. Although as long as we're debating what's better for drag racing, I'll remind you that the Mini is front wheel drive and that will hurt drag strip times way more than the trickiness of drag racing with a clutch.

 

Okay so I watched your video and until the end there was no mention of the auto vs stick and in one race the winner was the stick as you could see the car bounce as the shifts took place.

Now on to the times, 14.85 as the best time and many of them over 15 with one shown as high as 21.? And then look at the launches. I could count the seconds between green and actual movement of the car. Not a very good comparison.

As for my car it is an 08 Clubman S "Totally Stock", and my slowest time was 14.21 and my fastest time was 13.98. So my worst time in my "Stick" car beat all of those cars by a minimum of 0.64 seconds. Now add the weight difference from the Clubman and a Coop and that means I did even better against all of those cars. Oh and BTW the 14.21 time I had a passenger so add more weight to the car.

It ALL comes down to if the driver knows how to drive the car or not. And in that video you showed as being the definitive record those were some very amateur drivers. Come on 21+ seconds for a quarter mile. Even my old AMC Pacer could do better than that.

Now on to the facts of that video. It was done by "Car Data Video" which is solely owned by "Car-Data Company" and in no way is connected to Car and Driver Magazine. And in searching Car and Driver magazine I did not find any article where they drag raced them. They had 14 reviews of the MINI and none of them said anything (that I found at least) about drag racing the MINI. Oh and the video from Car Data Video. That was also very amateur. It looks like it was done with Windows Movie Maker. Definitely not something Car and Driver would produce.

So if you are going to post as fact about something maybe you should make sure you have your facts straight first.

Now back to the regularly schedule thread.

As most of this has really done very little for the OP on the subject of the Automatic Transmission.

There are many people here that think the Auto is a lot better than the Manual and then there are people here that will tell you the opposite. It really all comes down to YOU and what YOU think. IMHO the manual is better but I would suggest that you go to the dealer and drive both. I did this and found out how much I hated the auto vs the stick, yet my BMW 525iT Wagon is an Auto and I have driven one with a stick. I bought the Auto in the BMW as for what I use it for (luxury car, dressed up and going out) it was the best choice.

So to the OP, my suggestion, go and drive both before you make your final decision.

Oh and BTW I will not fault you for buying the Auto if that is what you chose.

Good luck with your decision.

 

Wow! you broke into the 13s? You really did that with just a stock S Clubman? That's just barely slower than my Z28. I'd only consider myself about average for an enthusiast but I'm still impressed with that time.

 

I have drag raced on and off for many years and it all comes down to being able to drive the car. That time was posted against a 08 Ford Mustang which did a 13.2. I believe it was also stock. Some of my other runs were up against modified cars (turbo charged '77 Matador Sedan - mid 11's) and I even went up against an 08 Cadillac Escalade. And if he had not blown the launch he may have beat me. Track conditions that day were awesome though as well, not like some other times I have been there.

But I must also admit in the MINI I would rather be driving the twisties. I just took it to the dragway to see what it could do.

 

Oh I agree, I didn't get a Mini to drag race it. I still have the camaro, so I understand my cars' places, ha. My Mini hasn't arrived yet and I just didn't expect it to have such nice straightline abilities, I was thinking more like mid to high 14s. Either way, it'll be nice to have a nimble little car again since I had an FC rx7 and an s13 240 before the camaro.

EDIT: back to the topic at hand, Manuals give a better direct feeling to the car(and I guess it's up to you to decide if that equals more fun), they're simpler and less likely to break and easier to fix when they do(at least in theory, I can't speak for these two particular cases), they get better gas mileage too.
Automatics are more convenient and lots of people won't be able to drive it without being an auto.
I can't think of any more pros for the automatic but I for one am not going to fault anyone for choosing the convenience. Not everyone thinks the same way I do and life would be boring if they did.

 

Ah, the old Auto v Manual debate.
You have to take into account what your going to be using the car for. If your looking for a daily driver with long comutes and stop and go traffic, consider the auto. If you're going to spend mass amounts of money on mods and be taking your MINI to track and auto cross events you have to get a manual. I've never seen any article about an auto being faster through the twisties.

If manual transmissions INTIMIDATE you, get an auto! Its crazy how many Americans don't know how to drive stick. More 20 somethings dont know how than those who do! Its crazy.

 

Schatzy

I should have you drive my JCW,bet you could put it in the mid 12s

 

Here we go again. All I have to say is this... after having driven every late model MINI vehicle both manual and auto over the past 14 months, I would not have even bought my JCW had it not come as a manual. And I would never buy another MINI that was an auto. That is me and that is my opinion and I could care less what any of you people drive.

To the OP, posting this question on here is ridiculous. Drive both and decide for yourself. End of story.

 

Oh man... for once we agree!!!

 

Well I like both, manual for spirited driving more "connection" with the car/road (like this is avatar were you're hooked to your beast), but the auto my wife can drive it, I drive in DC traffic, allows me to put on make-up, chat on the phone and scan the radio. Ohh wait I'm a dude I dont use make up. But you get the idea. Ultimately is your decision, you will be the one driving and suffering with the left knee getting strong than the right one from the exercise. My 69 Spitfire was manual, my 67 Combi was manual and all the others but this one. day and night.

 

remember what I said in my previous post....just wait til he starts bragging about his JCW and telling everyone about his speed records. Well, we didn't have to wait that long did we?