They are available throughout Europe and most of the world. I posted the information earlier in post #40:The RealOEM link has part numbers. For my 1st gen mirror, I did contact a Canadian vendor who checked with MINI Canada. Neither MINI Canada nor MINIUSA offer the Euro mirror, so I obtained mine from the UK through Mikey. I expect that the R56 mirrors will be the same situation.

By the way, yet another mirror option is Multivex, which I use for the huge passenger side blind spot in the convertible, and it works great.

 

let's just say that I was too tall for the Mini Cooper S when it first started winning the Monte Carlo.

 

Tall, huh?

 

Robin,

can you elaborate - what don't you like about LSD?

 

I'm pretty sure he is talking about this.

 

It can permanently damage your brain, trigger schizophrenia, and cause hallucinations years after one stopped taking it. I know a number of people who didn't survive the 1960's.

I was making a joke about the LSD acronym.

 

hmmm. Old joke, new people.

 

I caught it, but wish I weren't old enough...

 

Hey, I'm 27 and I got it!

 

Sorry, I can't remember the '60s. I participated in them. BTW, how's Tim Leary doing?

 

He died 10 years ago.

 

I SERIOUSLY doubt the torque steer is all that bad!

I drove a 1.8T GTI with every bolt on before someone decided to run into it and have their insurenace company total it.
That thing had torque steer! but then again, I was asking for it.

 

Ha, I keep thinking the exact same thing when I see talk about torque steer in the R56-I have a 90 CRX with B16 swap and coilovers and that thing will break your arms. The R56 has got nuthin'on that car...and I ordered mine today. Woot!

 

Maybe I'm crazy, but the mini does seem to have a good amount of torque steer. Especially if accelerating from a right or left turn heavily. I've noticed my wife's '07 GTI does this less since the tire inside to the turn just usually spins freely. (NO LSD.) I've come from driving AWD cars for a few years. You just punch it and those cars go.

Any tips for driving the R56 with LSD?? I'd like to hear some from more experienced drivers.

 

I recall reading an article in one of the car magazines of the Acura TL when the LSD first was available on this model. This article said that LSD made the torque steer problem dramatically worse rather than better as is being reported here. Perhaps the designs are different.

My R53 has very little torque steer and I didn't notice much during my brief R56 test drive, but I don't know if it had LSD or not. This is something I'll want to clear up before commiting to a R56 - one of the things I love about my R53 is how well behaved it is for a FWD'er.

- Mark

 

Well.. I turned off ASC and carved up a local twisty road tonight after work. Man... this car is unbelieveable. I think the tugging I was experiencing was mostly because of the ASC and uneven road surfaces. I also am coming from an AWD car so that may help.

 

Actually my AWD Evo VIII had torque steer that''d put you into a ditch. 1st and 2nd would ****** the whole car sideways, and yes put you into a ditch if your not carefull.

 

Yep, I'm still driving my modded 1.8T GTI and living with torque steer. I'm pretty used to it after 6 years. IMO, it just gives the car more character.

 

torque steer sucks. 113 days to delivery.

 

I'm confused .. First let me mention that I own an R56 S and I'm not experiencing any torque steer to speak of. Maybe once my car is broken in and I allow RPMs above 4500 I'll experience it. But maybe I'm just not noticing it. Maybe since spending years driving my '94 Saab Coupe (0-60 in 6.5 seconds), my R56 S by direct comparison doesn't suffer any torque steer at all to speak of (everything's relative .. Right).

Here's how it was in my Saab: The light turns green .. I put my foot on the accelerator and don't feel much acceleration at all (turbo lag) .. Then the turbo kicks in .. Whoa .. Exhilleration .. but hold onto that steering wheel real tight because the car is trying its best to steer itself into oncoming traffic. Now that's torque steer.

 

Turn on the sport button, and punch the accelerator on a slightly uneven road, and you will feel the car pull hard to one side or the other. It's just a factor of FWD design that you can't avoid. I'm used to a semi-powerful RWD car, so the behavior is quite a bit different in a turbo FWD car.

 

I wonder if what you are experiencing is steering kickback. You may want to do some research on the subject and see if there's a match. Here's one article I came across on the subject (in this particular case, primarily on curves):

http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_3012/article.html

 

If this were truly torque steer, wouldn't it pull to the same side every time?
Or is it actually uneven traction (magnified by a high torque engine) that people are noticing?

 

Here's a quote from Edmund's InsideLine first drive review of the 2007 MCS:

"Transmission choices have thankfully improved, as the five-speed manual and continuously variable transmission have been axed. Now all Coopers start with a six-speed manual, with improved synchros, including reverse. The previously S-only six-speed Steptronic automatic with manual mode is optional across the board. Propulsive forces feed out of these gearboxes through equal-length driveshafts, cutting torque steer off at the knees."

Here's the full review:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=117072

 

As I understand it, it's not uneven traction, it's uneven torque. The issue is that anytime you apply torque to a wheel that is also doing steering, it will tend to twist the wheel because the steering axis and the center of the tire's contact patch (where the torque force is applied to the pavement) are not perfectly aligned. As long as torque is applied equally to both sides, the forces pulling the steering to one side or the other cancel. But as soon as the torque becomes unequal, either due to turning, bad pavement, whatever, you get torque steer. A number of design features can minimize it in a FWD'er (including equal length halfshafts) and you can bandaid it with electronic torque control, but you can only manage it, not elminate it.

As I said earlier, I have heard from a couple sources that LSD makes the torque steer problem WORSE, not better. Essentially the unloading and wheelspin you get without LSD is relieving the forces that cause torque steer. So with LSD you get the power down better, but the steering becomes more unruly. This is just want I've heard and I'm no authority on how LSD works or how different designs affect the torque steer problem. And I'm sure ASC is also involved. We do have a lot of people here saying their R56's with LSD have bad torque steer.

If anybody knows more about the interaction of LSD and torque steer, I'd like to hear about it.

- Mark