Hi, Got my new Cooper S last week, it suffers from horrific stuttering in first & second gears, acceleration is very rough. I rang the garage (Lister Park, Bradford) who told me it was a 'feature' of the car!!! I told them I was going to return it as this was NOT present on the test drive car.m There is also a lot of rattles & clanks from the back end & the sunroof. This car went through a full PDI, I fail to see how it was done correctly as the car is virtually undriveable.
I'm taking it back next week & lets see what happens then. Not good enough for an 18k car.
Do you have traction control and does the indicator light flash as you get the stutter. If so its the traction control kicking in and reducing the power. Try with it disabled and see if you get the same
On 13/9/03 12:49 am, in article bjtm23$6g5$1$ snipped-for-privacy@news.demon.co.uk, "Warren" spouted:
Its on very low revs or very high revs, it's nothing to do with the traction control. I have tried that, it's nearly impossible to get away clean without it jerking like a kangeroo. There's a major flaw somewhere.
Most Cooper Ss seem to this to some extent or another, it's a wide spread issue and BMW/MINI are very aware of it. However, even the latest software version (35) doesn't include a fix yet. Very frustrating indeed. Commonly reported on my site MINI2.com.
Not what i wanted to hear when I'm due to pick mine up on Friday!!....I've had a sneak preview of it whilst it was PDI'ing....looks fantastic....but worried about this "juddring"....my BMW 535i doesn;t suffer from this!!!
I hear about these perceived problems. My 2003 Cooper S has none.. just use plenty of revs to get off the line and there are no problems.. 2000 at least ...
Check out the torque and power curves of your 3.5 litre compared with the
1.6 litre mini - even WITH supercharging - which needs revs to get the power ( not nealry as bad as a turbo though :-)
Find the point where your normal take-off revs are on the 535 and then find where the same power is on the Mini curves. NOW match those revs at take up and with clutch control you won't notice the difference ( except for the noise )
Everyone else has been used to decades of power from small engines and lots of revs. Big V8s and even 6s don't need ( or like ) revs.
Get a shot in a motorbike engined car - like the Megabusa - to hear how far the extreme can be. 14,000 RPM hmmmmm :-)
Hope this helps you enjoy the difference that's the MINI
There does seem to be something a bit mysterious about that 2000 RPM area. I haven't seen it mentioned but as I allow the engine to slow the car to a stop in second gear, there's a single "jerk" in the car that happens somewhere between 1800 and 2000 RPM. Anyone else notice this? And would or could that have something to do with the supercharger "shutting off" or something?
Utter s**te indeed. How much time have BMW/MINI had to address this problem? Since there's (incredibly) been no fix they obviously don't care, as long as the waiting list is long enough.
If only it were just a glovebox rattle or a windscreen squeak....but no. This is a major and repetitive acceleration problem on a car whose main sales point is the "fun" of driving it. Manufacturer, take heed: I won't be having your product until it's worth my money. And I speak not only for the demographic I represent but also for the many I intend to inform.
Yep, reminds me of the ancient joke about the tailor selling the badly-fitting suit: "Just raise your left shoulder and shorten your right stride...it'll fit just fine." Bollocks!
Which, I'm sure, is exactly what BMW would like. THey can still sell every car that comes off the production line, and they don't have to deal with obnoxious troublemakers.
Have you justified sticking with your Miata to yourself yet, or will that take a few more posts?
If you pulled your fingers out of your ears for a second, you might hear things like not all MINIs suffer this problem, and MINI is indeed working on solving it and yes it does take time.
Okay you can put your fingers back in now.
"Trey Behan" wrote in news:81R9b.2321$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com:
I have a standard coop, not s and I find if you try and pull away under 2000 RPM it does not do that well. Have you ever thought that it might be due to the power band of the car? The coop does not suffer the pull away blip like the S but try and pull away at 1500 revs and you are in trouble.
The S has this blip but I can say I never noticed it in the few CoopS I have driven but that might just be the fact it they were in test drives so I was in play mode and pushing them quite hard, coupled with the fact I know you have to give the Mini revs to pull away.
I saw one other person mention that there is a noticeable blip when engine breaking at about 1800-2000. Have you though that this might be where the Super Charger starts to really become effective. To be honest I tend to keep the revs higher when using engine braking so again I would not have noticed this effect. EVERY car has a way it likes to be driven to give its best.
Being a driver that can adapt to cars and learn how they react in a given situation I can say that I don't even notice this or have to think about it. I just drive the car how it needs to be driven. In the same way if I want to drive my coop hard I know I need to keep the revs above 4000 as this is where the real power starts to kick in.
The S is not your normal run around town car, it has really been designed as a fun car and it fits this role perfectly. If you want a car that is more suitable as an all rounder get the normal coop, its still a bucket load of fun and is much better on fuel as well.
Bust most of all, if you don't like the car don't buy one and if you already have take it back and get your money back and get a car you do like!
Since you ask, yes, my decision WILL take "a few more posts," specifically posts indicating that more newly-delivered MCS's are not annoying their owners with this acceleration burp.
I don't care very much about other MINIs; I care about the one the *I* order and presumably have to accept or forfeit my deposit. Having owned a new vehicle some time ago with this same problem (it never went away) I have no intention of dealing with it again. And while it's true that not all Fieros caught fire and that not all Pintos exploded upon rear impact, the ones that did had a profound effect upon their drivers' satisfaction with them. Lastly, BMW/MINI can take all the time they want to make their product perform acceptably. But I have to wonder whether the time it's taken so far is a result of indifference or inexpertise.
I'm not sure I'm the one blocking information, Rilian. Seems to me I've been
*gathering* it BEFORE making the commitment you've already made. But if I already owned a "fun" car that got off the line like a Citroen 2CV I'd be annoyed at criticism of it too.
Hey lighten up everyone, they have faults, they use oil, all minis do this, they may be bmw but they are assembled at the same factory that made the original mini, these little faults sort of give you the essence of the real mini, ( god rest its soul ) I have heard some leak water too!!
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