650 & counting!

Posted on by Ian C.

Auto-up-windows MINI circuits, that is … Sales since new year have been slower – perhaps due to the price increase, perhaps due to most interested MINI owners now having bought a circuit – but I am still getting close to the end of the batch I ordered back in December.
So it is time to order yet another batch – but this time I will using a different contract manufacturer (Primus Technologies – we have been using them in my “real job” since 1995!); CMS simply got too expensive.

When I first developed the circuit, I wrote “I have had nearly 30 people contact me …“; I never anticipated much more than that, for my “little hobby gadget circuit”!

The power of “MINI word-of-mouth”:

First Sale March 6, 2004
100 sold May 14, 2004
150 sold June 16, 2004
200 sold June 29, 2004
250 sold July 26, 2004
300 sold September 9, 2004
350 sold September 20, 2004
400 sold October 25, 2004
450 sold November 11, 2004
500 sold November 29, 2004
550 sold January 5, 2005
600 sold February 22, 2005
650 sold April 20, 2005

 

GBMINI#3 Automatic Transmission

Posted on by Ian C.

Further to my comments recently about the automatic transmission, I recently posted the following on CooperSpeed:

Normal drive mode – OK.
Mostly like any other car (of course, the looks & handling are still a MINI, so that makes it more special!)
Normal drive is keen to keep the revs down around 2000, unless you go for lots of throttle. 6th gear is much lower than the stick shift (about 2300 at 70mph) and so it really is a cruising gear – you have to shift to get power to pass or climb hills, and that means pushing the gas more than you would expect to need to.

GBMINI#3 automatic transmission

On the negative – there are often times when the gear is too high and there is not enough engine power; you have to force a downshift to get what you want. And while shifting is quite smooth, it is also a bit sluggish and sometimes it seems unsure whether to shift down one or two gears, leaving you waiting (probably not long, but it is unexpected).

On the positive – it will automatically downshift if you start braking on a downhill, giving excellent engine braking (it does not do it unless you brake and it does not do it unless you are going downhill).
Also the steering wheel “temporary shifters” are nice – click once or twice to get some downshift avoids the need to floor the gas. However sometimes the transmission “brain” and I both decide to shift, and the result is two shifts.

 

Sports drive mode – Fabulous!
The negatives of normal drive mode are eliminated!
The transmission seems to always be in the correct gear and I basically never notice it shifting either.
It keeps the revs higher and avoids the sixth gear (at least at 70mph type speeds); everything is just perfect. There is of course more engine noise (sometimes a good thing) and no doubt worse fuel economy.

For now I normally use normal drive mode for everyday commuting and when my wife is in the car, and switch to sports drive mode when I am in a spirited mode or with other MINIs!

 

Manual mode – unnecessary! (for me, anyway)
Sports drive mode has been so good that taking full manual control just seems un-necessary … in fact I think sports drive is quicker than me at getting the shifts right, at least for now. Maybe more practise is needed but I don’t see much reason for it so far.

UPDATE: Answering a comment from Bill, I tested this morning that you cannot hold a gear at redline, even in full manual mode! The transmission insists on shifting – at a quite low 6200-6500rpm. Disappointing …