I've been driving my Mini for the last four months. I have 4000 miles on it, and after a "by the book" break-in period, I throttle the hell out of it every day. I LOVE this car. My wife cannot drive it because I get up before she does...

Anyway, I understand this car gets its torque from the rather high gearing. My question is this, I normally cruise at about 70-75 mph, with the tach at 3200-4000 rpm. I understand that not all engines are the same, that some are designed to rev higher than others. I also understand that the fully synthetic oil is a much higher standard of lubrication than straight mineral oil. It just seems that I won't be driving my mini long with the rpm's so high.

Is it all in my head? What do the rest of you cruise at, mph/rpm? Trust me, going 70mph around here only means you should stay in the slow lane; the rigs will blow by you.

 

You should be fine as long as you give the engine some time to warm up before you stomp on it. Do you have a Cooper or an S because my S is at 3k rpm at 70 mph and 4k rpm at 100 mph in 6th gear. The small engine in the MINI is meant to be revved to get power and is perfectly capable of consistent 3k+ rpm driving. Just not right after you start up from cold...

 

My s is the same as above, although I usually run 70 in 5th and hold a higher RPM for a quicker getaway.

gunbunny,

Welcome to NAM

Earl

 

same here

 

Thanks guys, I figured it would be good for a higher rpm range. Old habits die hard. My cooper is a pepper white w/ black roof, 5 speed mini cooper. At some point (after the warrenty is up) I'll look into replacing the 5 speed with a 6 speed. I've heard of this, and don't see why I can't put a 6 speed getrag into a normally asperated cooper... its the same engine.

 

Problem is, the 6-speed is specifically tailored to the S as to its torque and HP curve. So putting in a tranny designed for a 170ish HP MCS into a 115HP Cooper would not only cost several thousand, but also may not make it faster or even more fun. For example, even though the S has 6 gears, I think first gear is bigger than the Cooper's first gear which means with the S tranny, you'll accelerate to 40 or 50mph slower than you do now. If you really want the S tranny, maybe you should just get an S - it may not cost much more than switching the tranny and you get a lot more (supercharger, larger tires/wheels, ASC, sport seats, etc...) than just the tranny for the money.

 

In my 03 MC I cruise on the highway in 5th,at around 3100 RPM,doing 70MPH.
I have 45K miles on the car and 40K of that is highway.I have a long enough back road drive before I get to the highway,about 2 miles,that the car is fully warmed up.Then I get up to speed,with shifts at 4500-5000 RPM,and barely use 4th,pretty much going 3rd. to 5th.I tend to only really use 4th to pass,so it should last about a million miles
I don't see much use putting a 6 speed in a MC.First cost,then gearing,would make it not worth it IMO.6th gear is only slightly higher than 5th in the MC,so gas millage would not go up enough to off set costs.And I'm already getting 35+ MPG.Plus you would probably have to down shift to 4th to pass.
Just had a new Midlands tranny put in the car under warrenty,read about that in another thread on tranny replacement.But up here in Canada,that tranny is worth $3000,before install costs.

 

Minimania sells close ratio 5 spd and 6 spd as well as straight cut boxes that you might want to look into. The stock S gearbox is almost too tall for the S itself so a cooper would probably not do very well with one.