Having made the huge leap from 8 years of an Altima automatic, I'm truly enjoying the MINI 6 speed. I'm taking a roadtrip that will put it over the suggested break-in mileage tomorrow, and am wondering what RPM shift points are "normal" for some good strong driving fun. Your thoughts?
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MCS Lightning Blue/Black, Premium, Brushed Alloy, Pacific Blue Trim, Chrome Interior Rings

 

whatever you are comfortable with will be the good point.
For gentle driving, lower rpm, and for more aggressive driving, higher rpm's.

 

What he/she said.

If you look at torque and HP curves from Ryephile and others, there doesn't seem to be much need to go above 5-5500 RPMs. From my brief test drive, I remember things falling off(not accelerating quite as quickly) at about the same point. Others with heavy feet and calibrated b^&ts may have a better idea.

Mostly, enjoy.......

 

Depends. For fuel economy I shift at around 2300 RPM. When I am nailing it like merging into 70MPH highway traffic I take it to the rev limiter then shift. You will hit 70 MPH in 2nd gear if needed. I don't reccommend shifting at the limiter for everyday driving though. Typically shift before 3200 everytime.

 

Some claim I am a pretty aggressive driver. Under normal circumstances, however, I generally shift around 2500 - 3000 rpm. For more more demanding times, around 4500.

 

Don't rob yourself of the joy...shift between 3500 & 4000.

 

According to the manual.

You should change when you can't hear the radio over the motor... shift up a gear. Repeat as required until blue and red lights appear in rear view mirror.

 

If I recall correctly, in the owners manual for my '69 BMW 2002 there were graphs showing the speed when redline was reached for each gear. I was curious if this info was available for the R56, but I don't see it in the owners manual. FWIW, I didn't see info on the rev limiter either but I may have missed that.

 

Yep, these shift points work well for me. Be aware, when you hit 4500 in fifth, you are going alot faster than you think.

The nice thing with the new turbo engine is that one can shift at lower rpms, as low as 2300.

 

Here are the approximate (rounded up/down) redline speeds of each gear in the R56.

1st: 38 mph
2nd: 60 mph
3rd: 86 mph
4th: 112 mph
5th: 134 mph
6th: 140 mph (drag limited, would go faster with more HP)