Minidave - Drive what you like. Don't let anyone tell you that an auto is bad or is somehow a lesser MINI. It is all about personal preference.
My two cent's I have bone degeneration in my spine along with a very bad hip. I love My JCW soooo much that I really don't want to give it up for an "S" with the automatic transmission but eventually will have to. I went over to My Mini dealer in Orlando yesterday to see about extending my warranty for two more years or maybe trading in on an "S". My Rep advised me that they are going to put the automatic in the JCW. It well be a beefed up transmission like the JCW manual is beefed up to handle the torque of the JCW engine. My factory warranty is up this month (The 30Th. to be exact) It cost $3,050 to extend the bumper to bumper up to six years 100,000 miles.$3,140 for seven years 70,000 miles.$3,490 for six years 100,000 miles. I wish Mini would say it is definite that they will have the Automatic transmission in the Hatchback. They did say it is definite that the JCW countryman will get the automatic so I'm guessing the JCW hatchback will get it too. If I don't get the extension I can put that $3,000 plus to the difference on my trade in. If I do buy the extension I can have peace of mind for the next two years knowing my car is still under warranty.
Please understand, I have nothing against manual transmissions either, my old Jag is a manual. My point is directed at those who rail against an automatic like it's the end of the world and you're not a man if you don't have three pedals in your car - it's the attitude I'm campaigning against. I thoroughly believe in drive what you want, it's your car. But when a noob comes on here or one of the other sites and asks should they get a manual (even if they've never driven one before) in their new MINI and they get hit with this "you can't really call yourself a driver if you don't get a manual' attitude - I have a problem with that. In the MINI in particular, the auto trans is not a detriment to having fun or getting the maximum performance out of the car, and I direct you to my video from Wed as proof....I'm on track in my bone stock Clubby S automatic on all season tires, and I embarrass a lot of faster cars with it. I also manually shift gears using the shift lever so that I can control when it upshifts and downshifts, just like the boys with three pedals - the only difference is that I'm not stabbing that third pedal constantly. I could do this with the paddles too, but for some reason - probably old habits - I grab the shifter..... This was the last run of the day for us so we were swapping the lead on purpose, but by the end of the front straight on my lead lap I was the length of the straight ahead of my MINI buddies.....I'm just sayin, an auto trans is NOT a detriment! 20 or so other cars were on track behind us, including some pretty fast machinery, and only the M3 and the Suby STi passed us, no one else was even close, we let them go by so we could run together for the video. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md4MN8Npz0M&list=UUaBwiAbBZCLhIcEnvuB1ZJw&index=2&feature=plcp]MVI_1582.AVI - YouTube[/ame]
Dave I have nothing against autos & good on ya for tracking yours. I do have to say that a track day proves very little of the performance of your MINI with auto. There are huge differences in skill levels at a track day. Obviously you are skilled. It is not your paddle shifted auto that made the difference, it was your skill. That being said in wheel to wheel racing you'd have your clock cleaned because of that auto box.
Why do you think this? I have the same number of gear ratios, it shifts faster and more precisely than a manual, and the factory says it's quicker 0-60 than a manual? Where's the downside? Where's the performance difference that will 'clean my clock"? I maintain that an equally equipped manual is no faster than an auto....period.
We we will have to agree to disagree on this one. I doubt the auto will go a race distance without overheating. If the MINI's auto box was the hot setup for racing the people that race MINIs would be using autos & not manuals. A DSG box shifts fast. The box in the MINI is a torque converter box & it shifts fine, but is somewhat slow in my estimation. I have both MINI gear boxes in my garage & that's just my .02.
I wasn't a big fan of the auto in my wife's justa clubman. I much prefer my manual. That being said I do believe there should be the option so that those who are unable to drive a manual can still enjoy any MINI product.
I have to admit, before my MINI I drove nothing but automatics...... The husband said if I wanted a MINI it had to be manual...... And so I figured it out. Now I love driving stick. I have had many loaners that were automatics and I have to say I do not like the auto tranny MINI uses. It shifts weird. If I could only buy an automatic MINI I wouldn't buy a MINI but thats just my opinion. They may be impoving on it like everything else they are constantly improving on, so this might be a mute point.
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Wow - A few posts back was very uncool. I thought the MA banner was "The friendly MINI community". Hmmm? I've had manuals before, and yes they are lots of fun. In my opinion a stick is a pain in the ass in stop and go traffic, but thats just me. Minidave, as far as auto's are concerned, your car can easily keep up with the vast majority of stick MINI's out there. The driver is what makes the biggest difference. (Worried about overheating your auto on a long race? Install a better tranny cooler.) Most folks here are respectful ... most. So what's next for the "friendly" MINI community? The "my R53 is better than your R56" dogma or perhaps the "superchargers are better than turbos" debate? Sheesh!
The post you are talking about is from an automatic owner and was made as a joke, that's why MetalMan posted the picture of the guy's gearshift in the next post. it really is friendly over here.