Well the first round of winter snow squalls hit southern Ontario over night last night. The roads this morning were a sheet of ice, but was that any problem for my wonderful little car? Absolutely not! My Pirelli winter tires didn't slip or slide at all and the car was very sure-footed. As others slid through intersections around me, I was totally in control (the rest of the day with 25 nine year olds was a different matter, but that's another story!). God I love this car! It just keeps making me happier and happier.
First drive in the slippery stuff
1 - 20 of 51 Posts
Joined
·
248 Posts
Even the vintage Mini was really good in snow. People never expected it to be but then I'd go zooming past. Knowing how to drive in it is part of the trick.
Joined
·
8,973 Posts
That's why it was so successful at rallying stingrays. 64 65 and 67 it won but in 66 Monte Carlo rallythe French changed the rules to stop les rosbifs. They deemed the headlight bulbs illegal and the first three minis and fourth place Ford werecdisqualified letting Citroen win.hmmmm.
Great to hear whee I am a (head)teacher too and yes primary.5-11 here. They've sent me some really funny letters to wish my arm a speedy heal ! No snow here yet, we have hankook winter icepts yet to be used in anger.
Great to hear whee I am a (head)teacher too and yes primary.5-11 here. They've sent me some really funny letters to wish my arm a speedy heal ! No snow here yet, we have hankook winter icepts yet to be used in anger.
Joined
·
8,973 Posts
I leave mine on but apparently it's if you get stuck that you need to switch it off since spinning the wheels might be needed to get you going.For general driving think it works fine. However others may know more.
Joined
·
890 Posts
I believe that is correct. The TC is off normally and you should put it on when you encounter slippery conditions.
My previous cars had the opposite, ie TC always on unless switched off, which I presume is normal for most cars, and I asked my dealer to repeat what she said when she was explaining the function of the switch as I was a bit surprised at the difference.
Mind you, I have had wheelspin when pulling away on a dry road so I should have guessed the TC was not active! Or maybe mine is broken and she was wrong...
Joined
·
8,973 Posts
I'm pretty sure it's on by default and you need to switch it off.
Joined
·
8,973 Posts
Ooer manual out time.
Joined
·
890 Posts
Jeremy,I dug out the manual that I downloaded while waiting for my car to arrive. It is slightly different to the one that came with the car, in phraseology , here and there, but I trust the systems in the car will be the same.
The manual that came with the car is in it, outside in the cold and wet, so I will go by his one. Softy that I am.
According to it, and I hope my interpretation is correct(!) the ASC switch controls the automatic stability control and the traction control.
The default setting, ie whenever you start the car, has the ASC on and TC off.
When needing extra traction when pulling away on a slippery surface for example you would switch the ASC off which then enables the TC.
So it looks like the TC is indeed off by default which as I said before is a bit of a surprise to me but that seems to be the way it is.
If you think I am wrong please don't hesitate to say so!
The ABS must be completely separate, but in my previous cars the TC and ABS sensing was done by the same system as far as I could tell.
Blimey these manuals are not as straightforward as they could be, are they?
The manual that came with the car is in it, outside in the cold and wet, so I will go by his one. Softy that I am.
According to it, and I hope my interpretation is correct(!) the ASC switch controls the automatic stability control and the traction control.
The default setting, ie whenever you start the car, has the ASC on and TC off.
When needing extra traction when pulling away on a slippery surface for example you would switch the ASC off which then enables the TC.
So it looks like the TC is indeed off by default which as I said before is a bit of a surprise to me but that seems to be the way it is.
If you think I am wrong please don't hesitate to say so!
The ABS must be completely separate, but in my previous cars the TC and ABS sensing was done by the same system as far as I could tell.
Blimey these manuals are not as straightforward as they could be, are they?
Joined
·
8,973 Posts
That's very interesting. Will check mine tomorrow but sure you'll be right jonan.as you say threse cars are not simple and nor is the manual j
Joined
·
734 Posts
OK... it says you should turn traction control on for snow or slush and you do that by just pressing the button. That also has the effect of turning stability off.
If you have stability on and traction off then you can turn stability off by holding the button.
So it's either all off or one of them on.
They should have just labelled it snow mode!
If you have stability on and traction off then you can turn stability off by holding the button.
So it's either all off or one of them on.
They should have just labelled it snow mode!
When I took delivery, the salesman said that the manual was written by German engineers, and is a bit difficult to decipher (read, don't expect much from printed instructions, just ask us your questions.). Now, being these are such fine engineers, this seems counterintuitive to me. The first step to "engineer" a manual would be to hire or outsource a native English speaker or independent firm that does technical international translations. Surely, BMW/Mini is NOT doing this.
Remember when Japanese products first flooded the West? It's like they hired a student who had just finished English 101 to do their translations. So it's a kind of paradox: manufacturers who produce superior products produce inferior manuals and don't seem to care. It's an Achilles heel.
Remember when Japanese products first flooded the West? It's like they hired a student who had just finished English 101 to do their translations. So it's a kind of paradox: manufacturers who produce superior products produce inferior manuals and don't seem to care. It's an Achilles heel.
I'm back to wishing someone offered a course in how best to operate your Mini! I think I will still be discovering things about this car years from now! I've never had a car with traction control where "on" wasn't the default position. It seems counterintuitive to me.
Joined
·
734 Posts
I don't think it's so much an English / German translation problem, it's an engineer / language translation problem. Trying to write a succint description of what a mechanism or algorithm does and covering all the situations and behaviours is tricky.
And different manufacturers using different but similar names for the same things doesn't help.
Joined
·
56 Posts
Agreed, I've owned and driven several new cars and have never seen one where the traction control is off by default and can only be turned on if you turn off the stability control. On all cars I've driven both of them are on, then you can choose if you want traction control off or both of them off.
Joined
·
8,973 Posts
Yes agree that would make more sense. There's probably a reason though.
1 - 20 of 51 Posts
