From what I've seen, it looks like the Openometer on the new cabrios only tracks time... and it doesn't look like the timer goes up terribly far.

Personally I think it'd have been better to have an Open Odometer. Just activated when the top is down. So you can calculate the ratio of miles driven topless to miles driven total. Then you can really harass your fellow MINI owners for having a lower ratio (and violating their 90-10 contract!)

Just my thought, and I'd think you could tie it into the odometer system fairly easily, just like the trip odometer without the user input. Though MINI loves the analog gauges, so that might explain it...

What does everyone else think about this addition?

 

I like it, it's silly , but I like it!

maybe I like it because it is silly!

 

its pretty cool. i bet there will be a lot of people trying to get a regular tach tho when theyre out. Id personally tear it out and put a boost gauge there

 

It's very silly. I bet few people would order it if it were optional. It would make much more sense if the gauge doubled as something useful (engine temp, oil pessure/temp, outside temp).

 

It's a great little touch. I think it is another one of those things that make the MINI so damn unique...Honestly, could you see a Chrystler Sebring or any Ferrari driver brag about what kind of motoring they do with their top down?...I think not

 

The MINIUSA website lists the Openometer as standard. The MINI UK configurator lists it as optional for a hefty £115 ($170 at current exchange). Would you pay extra to get it?

I might not mind if they had put it elsewhere, but they are using up such a prominent, valuable location for a useless cutesy function. A lot of people (well, at least me) would be thrilled to pay $200 for a factory "chrono pack" gauge option in the same housing.

 

They'll give a useless toy gauge but no water temp, oil temp, oil pressure, boost or any actual useful gauges.

That's just pathetic.

If it was a free option it would be worth it just to rip out the openometer gauge and use it for a real gauge.

Like rkw mentioned, if it was a gauge stored in the tach menu or some place else, then heck why not. But to waste a location like that...

 

Actually your right, but my dealer did indcate that the onboard computer also records the number of total hours the top has been done since delivery. I think that gauge only goes to 6 hours 59 minutes, after which it resets, however you'll still know the exact number of hours from the computer.

I hope it also displays a ratio, number of hours down, vs numbers of hours driven.

 

Truth be told, I really wish that BMW/MINI would have taken the engineering staffing used to design and fabricate this silly gauge and transferred the resources over to their Quality Engineering Division -- where they could have been used to help identify a root cause and mitigation approach for the cold start death rattle issue.

The existence of the Openometer, useless as it is, is not deterring me from considering a purchase of a new R57 S. The lack of a demonstrated, viable solution to the death rattle most certainly is.

 

I'd like to find out more about how the "openometer" actually works. Does it just reset back to zero every time you turn the car off? If all it does is record how long you've had the top down on your current trip, I'm not too impressed.

I'd rather have a gauge marked in increments from 0% - 100% that keeps a running measure of how long you've had the top down compared to your total driving time. It doesn't have to be a lifetime measurement - you could make it resettable like a trip odometer

 

I love my chrono pack!

 

My wife and I love the Chrono Pack in our cabrio MINIs as well. I'm glad we like to keep our cars for a long time, because I won't be buying an R57 (or the next convertible after the R57) until MINI finally makes a proper gauge package available again.

 

I wish they had one that would time your total driving time all together.

 

Considering the OBC's maintenance warnings, you'd think they would have an hour meter. Even my 4 year old "chevy" truck has an hour meter.

 

I smell a contest. Maybe a Mini tee shirt for the car with the most open time.

 

Just plain stupid. MINI/BMW won't install useful gauges like water temp and oil pressure but they can waste engineering time and effort on something as useless as this.

 

That's cause Mini's are clown cars. Not meant to be a serious driver.

 

Water temp or something please... even as an option! I hate having to set my Auto AC to High and waiting for it to reach maximum temperature before I know the car is heated up... this is the closest I can tell when the car is heated.

One day, maybe.

 

And unfortunately, coolant temp is a pretty poor indicator of whether or not the car's fully-warmed up. I have both a coolant temp gauge and an oil temp gauge, and the oil temp gauge doesn't reach normal operating temperature until 10-15 minutes after the coolant temp gauge does.

 

The auto AC heater starts putting out heat when the coolant temp is between 100 and 110 degrees on my car (using a Scanguage II to measure coolant temp).

That is way below the "normal" operating temperature of 220 degrees the car runs at once warmed up.

Ditto on what Scott said too. Oil temp is a much better measure.

 

Kind of off-topic, but 220° F sounds a little high for normal operating temperature. Do you have an aftermarket thermostat?

Both of our MINIs hang right at 195° F when fully warmed up, which is consistent with the opening temperature for the stock thermostat.

 

Love the new Cabrio, but would rather have Sport Gauge option package with turbo boost, oil temp, water temp gauges instead of Openometer...

It could be option on Cooper, S, or JCW - hardtop and convertible. It could have digital readouts or small gauges in / or around the Speedometer cluster.

 

Nope, stock thermostat. Highest I've seen is 227, but most of the time it's between 220 and 224. Been that way since new. That is using the Scangauge and the car's temp sensor in the head. I've heard 195 is normal for temp gauges using a sensor mounted in the coolant tank.

 

Logged 5.5 hours on the openometer on Wednesday

mb

 

That makes sense - I guess there's a separate sensor for the temperature gauge in the factory Chrono Pack (although I don't think it's in the coolant tank).

That doesn't really surprise me, since my motorcycle has two coolant temp sensors as well - one that the engine-management computer uses, and a second one that's just for the temp gauge in the instrument cluster.