New Clubman owner, well new to me and something funny is going on with the speedometer. Car came with the original 17' wheels and run flat tires in like new condition with 19,000 km's on it. Mounted a brand new Garmin Nuvi and the speeds between the two don't jive. Mini says I'm running at 114 kph while the Garmin says 107 kph, that's quite a bit of difference. The odd thing is after a 600 km trip yesterday the difference in the trip odometer between the two was 2 kilometers. Why would the trip odometers be the same yet the actual speed measurements be so much off ........ things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm?

 

Covered many, many, many, many, many, many times - do a search - the speedo is fast on all MINIs but the odo is accurate. It's just the way it is, and no they won't fix it and no there is nothing you can do except maybe fit larger tires.

Welcome to the world of MINI!

Some say all German cars are done like this, but I've owned plenty of Porsches that weren't and currently have an Audi that's dead on.

My '03 was the same way......

I use my Garmin GPS for the accurate speed.

 

+1 except that the Digital Speed in the tach can be changed from offset to close to accurate. But it will not change the large speedometer in the center. You MINI Dealer will not do this for you though. You will need to use NCS expert to change it.


But another thing to be aware of is that on a set of average 17" tires for the MINI there will be a 1.1 MPH (1.9KPH) difference in speedometer from a full new set to a set worn to the wear bars.

 

[QUOTE=schatzy62;3568479But another thing to be aware of is that on a set of average 17" tires for the MINI there will be a 1.1 MPH (1.9KPH) difference in speedometer from a full new set to a set worn to the wear bars.[/QUOTE]

Different tire size and wheel size combinations can be calculated. This might answer some questions, go to
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

Not to resurrect too many dead horses, but many, many folks have gone from the 205/45/17 to a 215/45/17, which brings the speedo error down a bit (it still reads 2-3MPH high at 75, but I'm OK with that).

There are federal regulations in the US (and many countries) that specify the allowable speedo error; in no case is the speedo allowed to read "low" and in some cases it's allowed to read as much as 10% high, IIRC the USA allows a +5% error but there are other Federal guidelines on this that naturally make it more complicated (someone can do a search on my s/n, I actually laid this out a few years ago!).

Enjoy the Mini and welcome aboard...

 

I've got a 2009 Clubman D with 15" wheels. I get the same order of magnitude as you for discrepancy (also using a Garmin Nuvi). I believe that the large odometer and the trip counter don't communicate as the computerized speed indicator on the tach also has a dicrepancy with the large analog display.

 

Guys, the speedos are optimistic on purpose. Mini has done it that way since at least the 2002 models. It also complies with Federal speedo regs.

 

Yes that is very very very true but did you actually READ what i stated.

A brand new set of tires has a tread depth of usually 11/32 of an inch

a fully worn set of tires at the wear bars has a tread depth of 2/32 of an inch

So with those facts the diameter of the tire changes and as such changes the number of times it makes a complete revolution in a mile.

And this does not matter what size tire it is it will change and that means that the actual speed read by the speedometer will change.

I was just stating that on the average 17" tire it will change by about 1.1 miles per hour over its life time.

And as DixonL2 stated there are laws about the speed that the speedometer can read. I dont have the exact reading of the law in front of me but as Dixon L2 stated it is something like it can read 5% higher than the speed you are going but it "can not" read any lower with the OEM tires.

European laws are something like 10% +1.5KPH high and "can not" read slower.

There are many people here that claim that there Audi, VW, Mercedes etc read very accurate. I have never seen one that is accurate. They are usually much closer but still read 1-2 miles per hour high at 65. Even my girlfriends Ford Windstar and Chevy Aveo read 1-2 miles per hour high at 65.

Now yes you can adjust the tire size and make the speedo read more accurate and even to the point of reading low but that then causes the odometer to be off by some amount as well.