im just curious if this is happening to other R56 MCS 6 speed owners....

when your engaging into gear, any gear (including reverse), does your clutch engage extremely late? i feel like im almost all the way off the clutch before im in gear...is this normal or do i need to take my car in to service? about 500 miles on the car....

i had a friend who used to service BMWs and he said that the car drives like a BMW (seeing as how its made by them...) but the clutch is very different...maybe because its a 4 cylinder or maybe the clutch is just messed up....

is anyone else having this issue, or is this normal for the new R56? i drove my cousins 2006 MCS and the clutch even after having i think 10k or 12k miles on it, engages gear earlier than mine.

 

Mines just about in the center of the range of motion of the clutch pedal... but it is very-very light... so feeling for that engagement point is difficult and a bit vague at first.

 

i mean, i feel like i have about 1-3 inches of room before im OFF the clutch when it starts to engage. i wish i was somewhere in the center of the clutch when it engaged...

 

I'm new to manual, but to me it seems that it starts to engage when the clutch is level with the accelerator. It took a while to get used to how quickly and hard the clutch pushed back when it first engaged though, I have driven other cars and don't remember it being as pronounced as with the MINI. However as for when it starts, seems like other cars I've driven (2 to be exact.)

 

They do engage a good bit higher that the earlier models.

 

Ditto, my R53MCS engaged really low down, but my R56MCS Works engages very near top of clutch pedal travel.

 

I've made it a practice to hit the sport button before my first 2 shifts. It helps.

 

ill have to try that tomorrow...i hope the weather doesnt keep up like this...its raining horribly...oh well..ill still give it a shot

thanks for the suggestion man

 

Woman.

 

ha....do you know what rain is like in new york?!

we put the saying "when it rains it pours" to work...

 

I find the MINI's clutch to be extremely smooth and forgiving. I'd say mine starts to engage 2-3" from the bottom, and has a wide 2-3" friction zone. It is a bit of a long pedal throw compared to other manuals I've driven. My WRX's clutch was extremely heavy and was relatively on/off and abrupt. A friend of mine just bought a Mazdaspeed 3, and I just had all sorts of problems driving that thing. Clutch was extremely stiff and extremely springy.

 

slowpoke!

mine is on immediately after the seatbelt is fastened.

 

Definitely try the SPORT button - I find the clutch and throttle engagement is more like the R53 in SPORT mode. I can't seem to drive it as easily in NORMAL mode.

 

I need a checklist.

 

Normally, I drive in Normal mode, and every time I hit the Sport button, I end up burning the clutch a bit when shifting because I forget how much quicker the throttle response is in Sport

 

Yeah, whatever you do, don't hit it just before you shift into second--it's like a rocket booster!

 

i tried it yesterday, and a bit today, and it does help and i can deffinatly feel the difference in the shifting and the acceleration too... =D thanks for the tip guys