that's not a feature of the US mini's... it's only overseas... and I believe you can turn that feature off too.

 

Could they be trying to keep people from riding the brakes--they'd have to replace them on the service contract, after all.

 

a pretty dangerous feature just to save on brake pads, lol..

but seriously, overseas, mini's shut off when they're stopped at a traffic light. with the application of the gas, or letting go of the brake in the case of a manual, the engine starts back up. It confuses me that this would happen while the car is actually moving though, i figured it could look at your speed and not shut off if you were moving. not sure if its optional or standard equipment, but it's been discussed on here before. The button to turn it off fills up one of the few buttons that the US mini's can't fill, i think it was the third button along with the sport + dsc/tcs button by the shifter.

 

That can be fixed with a suitable mod. Its the only mod I've ever bothered with.

 

ahh ok gotcha.. It's ok you don't have it - the poster who said they did actually doesn't either They just got SD mode on the transmission confused with sports button sports mode.

 

So what are the differences between pushing the stick to the left while in drive and letting it shift on it's own, and leaving it in drive and using the sport mode? I'm not trying to be a pain... I really don't know.

Michael

 

I know the feature you're talking about, and my car doesn't have it. The diesel has just been released here with the feature, but my engine very much keeps running when I stop. I've only assumed it's a draconian way of stopping people riding the brake.

 

that's very weird. I'd be pretty upset if my car started doing that to me. I can definitely say that mine does not do that.

 

there...

 

Curiouser and curiouser. You have to wonder why would they do something like this just on some spec cars?

 

thanks Mouth

 

Motormouht,

What is SD mode?

 

Um, we probably should be specifying automatic or transmission. I've tried getting my car to shift automatically when I'm in a traffic jam, but all I hear is grinding noises.

 

SD or DS = sports drive on the auto trans. Changes the shift point to 4000 rpm for normal driving (will go higher under heavy acceleration) and also makes the shifts themselves happen faster.

 

hi all i'm new here and haven't bought my mini yet, i'm doing some research here. i read this in a recent post and it scared me a little "What about the miles-to-meltdown on the computer. That IS total, absolute, tow-it-away miles, right?" what is this miles-to-meltdown thing?

 

?? What?

Where are you seeing this?

 

That's just telling you how far from 3 Mile Island you are.

 

the miles to meltdown thing is in this thread like page 4 i think?

 

I'd assume it's just the thing showing how many miles left of gas you have.

 

The engine shutting off when you stop thing is not available in the US. I know it is available in Europe, but maybe not everywhere. Dunno where else they have it.

Anyway, basically you have a badass alternator, one assumes, it may be the same, that can withstand constant use. This allows you to save gas by not idling. Great in the city or stop and go. It's a decent amount that you save. You can turn it off at any time. It is the middle button between DSC/TC and Sport as previously stated.

 

I agree, probably the countdown to fuel exhaustion, which many cars with UBCs have now.

Also could be the number of miles until servicing, such as an oil change, or brake replacement.

Another possibility, which would be an idiot light, not mileage indicator, would be the time when your state's safety inspection is due. That one caught me by surprise, especially because the previous day's readout was 8,000!

 

Problematyk (love the name )
Just to add to daffodildeb's note - the MINI has a countdown to different types of servicing - ie how many miles until an oil change is due, how many until front brakes or rear brakes need pads replaced, until a major service is needed, etc. The car works out this stuff depending on how you drive: stop-start traffic, fanging, whatever. The idea is you just pay for the servicing that's needed, not a one-size-fits-all expensive all-encompassing service every 12000 miles or whatever. Which is pretty neat, although it does mean extra trips to the service department because not everything falls due at the same time.
But the countdown thing lets you see what's coming up so you can always bunch things up if you like. When you start the car, it just tells you the miles to the next service, but you can navigate through the computer to see all the upcoming services.
It does go a bit OTT with red flashing warnings if you go past one of the services though.

 

Just introduced here in Australia, only on the Diesel. The Cooper D is advertised as Australia's greenest car, with lower fuel consumption and emissions than even the Prius ( HOORAY! fun and green - we'll show those Priuses! )

 

Uh, what's fanging?

One thing that's interesting about the count-down is that I had the oil changed on the first anniversary after purchase, but they didn't reset the counter. I asked, and the word was that I'd have to come back when it did count down--for another oil change. In other words, I had an oil change in February, then another one a couple of months later. Seems that they'd waste a lot of oil that way. And it angered me that a couple of months later I went through the countdown from 8,000 to zero, thinking it was for oil, and it turned out to be for brakes. I tried to get them to do the oil at the same time, but they wouldn't, unless I paid for it. Oh well, we're out of the free service period. I probably won't have the dealer service anything.

(FWIW, We do our own oil more often than the book says. They're not planning to keep the car for long, and they want to sell me another one.)

 

Of course they can reset the counter! What if it had been 2 days before, instead of 2 months? I'd be changing dealers - except you already are, of course. Good move, I say.

Fanging, or "going for a fang", means going for a really fast, fun drive. The word comes from Juan Manuel Fangio, 5-times F1 world champion in the 1950s. Maybe it's just an Australian expression, but I wouldn't have thought so seeing he was Argentinian. Or maybe the term died out in the Schumacher era. "Schuming" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.