[BESM]

Well this should raise a few eyebrows!
We have a 6 speed F56 Cooper and my wife and I have driven it for 1400 miles. All in all it's a very nice and competent car but it does have an unfortunate tendency to stall when starting out unless you give it enough throttle and make sure to start in first. This is particularly evident when driving in a leisurely manner.
The engine is so quiet and well balanced that you can barely tell the engine is running when at idle. With a rougher car like our previous R53 Cooper S one could hear and feel the engine and so if a stall were imminent you could tell right away and either de-clutch or give it some revs. But with this one the first you know is that the car doesn't move and you only know the engine has stopped by looking at the tacho.
We tend to use the sport mode since this gives a sharper throttle response.
I asked the dealer whether there was a driveability software upgrade but apparently not.
Of course with a three cylinder engine you only get 1.5 firing pulses per rev so clearly it has a greater propensity to stall than a four cylinder.
I think the car is too quiet at idle - and you lose valuable tactile information as to what is going on.
By the way we always disable the auto stop/start feature.
As a retired engineer who worked in the noise and vibration field, I am mighty impressed with the engineering that went into making this 3 cyl engine so smooth - with its balance shaft and dynamic absorbers on the flywheel. Nevertheless I wish they hadn't done such a good job!

Bruce Murray
Boston MA USA

 

[palgt1]

You know something Bruce I've had a similar experience with my Cooper S - I just don't seem to have got the clutch balance quite right when in auto stop mode. As a consequence I also now disable the auto stop !!

 

[GoKart7]

That's very interesting indeed Bruce - but again I couldn't comment since I don't have mine yet - I'm sure others here will pitch in with their point of views.

 

[johnan]

No problem here with stalling when pulling away.
I was used to quite a gutless 998cc car before my Cooper so the Coopers extra torque makes it much easier to get away quickly, and smoothly.

I find a wee bit of revs and clutch slip is needed to make a rapid get away when required, I presume to get the turbo spinning, but in general use, in green mode, normal starts work as expected.

I am a little bit deaf but I find the amount of feedback from the engine, sound and vibration, is about right for me to let me know what is going on.

I always disable the stop/start thing too.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxmac500]

Shouldn't be a problem when I get my MCS Auto.....
Mind you, I'll probably manage to stall that too knowing me....

 

[lawrothegreat]

I don't mind admitting that at 4,000 miles in, I've stalled my F56 MCS three times - once was pulling away from the dealer when new and another occasion was when I was in second gear and did not realise.


I haven't driven the 1.5 litre so it's difficult to comment, but you shouldn't be stalling if you're in first gear and using the clutch gently. What happens if you're on the flat and you disengage the clutch really slowly without even touching the throttle - does it pull away? I would hope that when using the throttle you could do it with less than 1500rpm, the 2.0 copes with 1200rpm easily enough.


I drove a three cylinder Toyota Aygo once and that did need some revving so as you say it may be a characteristic of three cylinder engines. It would be great to hear the experiences of others.....


The clutch is lighter in the F56, but I can feel the biting point in mine.


Don't really do this, but you could try a couple of hundred of starts using 4,000rpm or more, the resultant slippage will probably eliminate any stalling!

 

[GoKart7]

I've stalled every vehicle I've ever driven

 

[Kiwi]

The test drive I had of the copper and copper s manuals I had no problems with stalling or the sound of the engine when stopped. I was impressed how quite the start stop was compared to my BMW. I thought the manual was so much better than the cooper auto with it's dead spot when you start of.

 

[MJCW]

I've stalled every vehicle I've ever driven

i hope you have sharpened up on your driving skills by now!

 

[lsmith42]

I have yet to stall mine, but two of the three other people that have driven it have stalled it, and both commented that they couldn't hear or feel what was going on under the hood...

Re-coding to permanently (until a reflash anyway) disable the auto start/stop may be in my future...

 

[GoKart7]

i hope you have sharpened up on your driving skills by now!

Getting the hang of it after 20 years

:nerd:

 

[MintMark]

Surely you haven't stalled your fantasy mini...

 

[GoKart7]

Yes I did Mark

Haven't got it going lol

 

[patch]

I have the S and I stalled it 2 times. I find it quite silent and, for a light car, it is not very forgiving for a lazy throttle. As you said, the 3 cylinders must be even less forgiving..

 

[Morgaard]

My only real major complaint with the Cooper is how quiet it is. I find the S is loud enough but I feel like when starting from a complete stop, it is difficult to hear the car and feel out what rpms you are at without looking. This has resulted in a lot of clutch slippage in 1st.

During training from one of the MINI reps, I was told that they did a lot more sound dampening to the car to lessen the engine noise. Specifically under the hood. So I don't know what is more to blame - the 3 cylinder engine or the sound dampening.

My only stall came early on when I was still adjusting the seat trying to find the perfect position. But again, I still do feel like I'm focusing on avoiding the slippage in 1st from listening than I am just driving.

 

[MiloMini]

I'm not saying I want to stall my car but I can't wait to see if I stall my car when I collect on Monday!!

 

[johnan]

I am becoming slightly hard of hearing but I have not stalled my Cooper yet.
The engine is a torquey beast and to me is quite difficult to stall, the sound and vibration feedback is just about right.

 

[Lawnmower3000]

My only experience so far has been with the demo vehicle, but even with that limited exposure I have to agree that they've done an astonishing job with taming the noise and vibration of the 3-cyl engine and turbo. And I agree, it IS a little tricky to manage the clutch and throttle for a competent pull-away from a stop. I also agree that the engine's single power pulse only every 240 degrees compounds the problem. I was kind of pleased with myself that I didn't stall the demo and embarrass myself in front of the friendly salesman.

I was under the impression that the Auto-Stop was available only in the automatic trans version. Perhaps that's a US variant. Auto-Stop and Manual Trans do not go together in any way shape or form, IMO.

 

[Burning_rubber]

Never had this issue thusfar with my MCS. I can remember from my test drive that I really enjoyed the throttle/clutch response. At first I thought I would go for the auto but the manual impressed me that much that the choice was quickly made.

To be honest, you can easy pull away without any throttle needed and rely on the full torque being available at 1250 rpm wich is very uncommon since most engines only deliver maximum torque at 1750 rpm. Mind you, you won't win a sprint in the first meters this way

 

[jeremybingham]

Totally agree burning rubber; i have bogged down at a roundabout once, after being in sport mode and then switching back to mid mode but i find the clutch/ engine/torque balance delightful. Think i may have stalled it a couple of times but no more than any other car i have ever had except for the golf r32 which i never managed to stall!! we have a duster with very low ratios so have to remember when back in the mini to choose a lower gear than i would in the other at times but i love the engine and clutch. you dont need to hear the engine-just feel the bite of the clutch (as my driving instructor used to say-feel the bite! in those days i hadnt got a clue what he was on about as i kangarood up the road in my gutless mini metro!)