5 replies to this topic

[IWasNotYetBornIn1959]

Hello to you all !

I have seen several auto Minis for sale that were attractive either because they were inexpensive or especially well maintained.

My question is simple : how about the bad reputation often given to auto Minis in books.
I read they were VERY slow and VERY thirsty. Is that really true ?

Does someone have comparison figures between manual and auto for acceleration times and for mpg ?
I found only that : http://www.miniresou...performance.php
Nothing on the auto Mini !
That was primarily for a Mini 1000 (a Clubman in fact...) but I'd be also interested with Mk1 figures. I think the bad reputation comes from the Mk1 because with a 850 auto may not be that efficient.

Many thanks in anticipation

[Guess-Works.com]

The engines are no different between the equivalent manual and automatic versions which is why there are no figures to suggest one has more power than the other, the difference is in the gearbox and the way it works..

Obviously with a manual you have a direct drive between the crank and the transmission ( ie the clutch ), but with and auto there is no direct coupling of the two, there is a dynamic coupling via the torque converter.

The outcome of this is that under load the auto engine will always rev a little higher than the manual for a given speed and gear ratio, this gives a slightly poorer fuel consumption.

However, auto's are usually given a longer final drive than a manual equivalent which can make for a better cruising rpm.

Acceleration wise, on a like for like engine, an auto box should give slightly better acceleration by the nature of the way the torque of the engine is supplied to the transmission through the torque converter.

Most modern auto cars now have a device which locks the torque converter providing the direct drive from engine to transmission therefore negating the 'over rev' nature of older auto's, but this does not apply to the classic mini.

[IWasNotYetBornIn1959]

Acceleration wise, on a like for like engine, an auto box should give slightly better acceleration by the nature of the way the torque of the engine is supplied to the transmission through the torque converter.
Most modern auto cars now have a device which locks the torque converter providing the direct drive from engine to transmission therefore negating the 'over rev' nature of older auto's, but this does not apply to the classic mini.

Thanks for you answer but in fact the theory is much different from one car to another. Indeed drag racers for instance prefer auto gearbox but some cars lose acceleration with an auto gearbox.
I found part answer on this topic : http://www.theminifo...howtopic=110454
Economy is better with manual but worse with a Cooper. This is from 1980s data sheet.

I don't really care loosing some mphs with an auto but I don't want a slow "off the lane" car.
Who has an experience of both the transmissions and can tell about auto gearbox "when the light turns green" ?

[GW]

I had a manual 998 last time round and now have an auto 998.

Yes it uses a bit more fuel but im getting around 40mpg on average. Parts seem harder to get for the autos so I am worried about breaking it a bit so dont drive it too hard.

Off the line is pretty good to be honest - You can 'hot-shift' it through the gears for better accelaration and it does move well, but left in drive it changes up very early and is very sedate. sits about 4k rpm at 60ish. The oil has to work a fair bit harder in the auto and does get a bit warmer running than the manual did. a thermostatic oil cooler may be a good investment if you do a lot of dual carriageway or if there are a lot of hills about.

hth

[HollysMinis]

You could try asking on the Automatic Mini Register Forum here ...http://autominiregis...s.com/index.cgi

[Joloke08]

You could try asking on the Automatic Mini Register Forum here ...http://autominiregis...s.com/index.cgi

Thanks Holly
this user seems to have several usernames on this forum and has indeed just joined AMR where i have tried to answer as best i can
Hopefully now has the information needed ?