Hello all,

Today I drove wife's 2010 MINI Coopers S auto to work. During lunch time I drove on the street and here is what happened.

While I was driving as like a normal (around 40 mph) on the street and it was a slow down and I saw green light on so I need to give her more gas. This time I tried to use shift paddles on the steering wheel instead.

But ouch.... some how I pushed twice and suddenly rpm went little over 6000 and stay few seconds (maybe up to 12 sec). I already told her and she response like "...... @#$% ^#$2$%^ @#$%@#$% ......."

Hmm.... would it be hurt the engine and transmission?

 

Are you sure you were driving around 40 mph? I just calculated the speed in mph per 1000 rpm in both 1st and 2nd gear for the Aisin F21 automatic (got all the gear ratio info from MINI's website):

Assuming wheel+tire circumference of approx. 76.773 inches.

In 1st gear: 4.93 mph per 1000 rpm
In 2nd gear: 8.4 mph per 1000 rpm

Example: At 3000 rpm in 1st gear, you would be at a speed of 3 * 4.93 mph = 14.79 mph

For the engine to rev up above 6000 rpm you would have to be doing at least 50 mph when you accidentally downshifted to 2nd. The nice thing about the automatic is that it wouldn't allow you to make an unsafe downshift. In other words, if the downshift would result in the engine running overspeed, the transmission wouldn't honor the command. So, to make a long story short, your car is perfectly fine.

 

Thanks for reply and now I am not sure about the speed but I am sure I saw the "M3" displayed.

 

With engine warm?
No need to worry.
There's a reason they put in a rev. cut.

 

In 3rd gear the vehicle would be traveling at 11.39 mph per 1000 rpm so you would be doing in excess of 68 mph if your engine was running above 6000 rpm.

 

Thanks and yeah 15 minutes drove and took lunch an one hour so I would think engine already warm with today's weather.

Thanks again, I don't think it was over 68 mph because I saw the red light so I was slow down on the street then just green light on and I pushed shift paddles some how twice.... then it happened and I thought I saw the "M3" and now I am confused when I saw the "M3" ...... hope the engine will be okay.

 

I agree with others who have posted. I think you are safe. The AT has safety features to prevent over reving, and redline is 6300. The ones to worry are the MT guys like myself. An accidental downshift there could be more serious.

 

Yeah you are definitely safe. Every car I have ever driven with the slap stick won't let you make an unsafe downshift. Unlike the guy with this 2008 STI at the track the other day. Shifted from second to FIRST in a manual version. Fu**** his whole tranny and towed it home. He couldn't even had been 20 yrs old. What a sad sad day.

 

My redline is set to 7K. The car doesn’t make much power after 6-6500 but I use it so when I’m at the track and coming out of a turn, I don’t have to shift immediately.

I’m already about bouncing off the stock rev limiter coming out of a turn so the extra 500 rpms works perfect.

You didn’t do any damage...


Mark

 

Thanks everyone and I like this forum

I feel much better now and I think wife's MINI runs good

 

And just for the record, those 7K shift points go on alllll day at the track for an entire weekend or more so it’s not a one time high shift.

I’ve got 30K miles on the car and have zero problems.

Mark

 

I tried the paddle shifters on my moms countryman and its not easy cause i believe logically they should be the opposite way lol but when i downshifted instead of shifted up the engine redlined but i after about 5 seconds the automatic took over and shifted up for me said M4 when I was in M2

 

At the extreme risk of cutting to the bottom line. You are lucky, as you've had a cheap lesson with respect to your awareness and regard for your wife's car -- do not do that again.

End of thread.

With respect,

Charlie

 

You should be driving the car to 6k rpm's more often, otherwise you're not having as much fun as you could be :-)

 

As long as the car is all warmed up, there is no problem with hitting the rev limiter on a stock auto. You also can't really over-rev with an automatic anyways, so no worries at all.

 

As all have said, no problem. Car will go to 6200 or 6300 (forget which) redline. You probably saw it there for 12 seconds because you downshifted and hung at 6000rpm (not redline yet), and either you weren't in +/- mode and were in D so it took a while to realize you weren't accelerating or decellerating so it finally shifted for you, or you took 12 seconds to accelerate to redline where it automatically shifts for you.

Trust me, i've beat some loaners to hell with their autos and you can't hurt those transmissions from normal operating limits (so long as maintainence and care are kept up). They're meant to go to redline and even beyond (as those of us with a tune can tell you). When motors (or anything requiring reliability) are engineered, theres always a Fs / FoS, or, Factor of Safety. Airplanes on average are built to a factor of safety of 1.2, whereas military planes are built to an average of 0.8 or so. While I don't know the avg Fs for automobiles are, its definitely above 1. Basically, it just means they always build parts to be able to withstand more than what they normally endure. This is why you're able to modify an engine or automobile past its manufacturers specifications/power/etc. Some engines have a higher Fs than others.

In the end, you'll be OK. I hit 6,500 RPM's daily, and sometimes to redline at 7,000 RPMS

 

Yep, with the automatic tranny there is no way to over-rev the engine with the flappy paddles. Zero worry!