42 replies to this topic

[h4wx1e]

i took mine to the letter m and needed the loo for some reason. lol if it does 70 then thats more than enough for a sensible drive on the motorway in my opinion.

[oli8925]

They'll more than happily sit at 65/70 for motorway cruising. It can still be a bit wearing on the ears, but they'll do it no problem. My experience is with a 998cc and it really struggle to accelerate at speed and to maintain speed up hills. I guess as long as you're honest with yourself about what it's capable of you're fine.

I haven't had a 1275 but have a 1256 Viva and found that extra few cc help massively in managing to maintain speed up hill and it's pretty good at accelerating up to 80 to overtake. Not sure what the FD is but it does 3800rpm at 70

[Ethel]

998's drive best on a 3.44 diff. You can get impressive economy with something longer but they do tend to struggle on hills. Be aware that they came in both flavours during the 80's. I've found them easier on motorways at 70+, getting out into traffic from lower speeds can be hard work & you probably use just as much juice, pressing the pedal through the floor, in the process. That said, if you can bear slumming it with the trucks in the slow lane you will get much better economy keeping under 60 - you can also enjoy more admiring glances with more cars passing you.

[Midas Mk1]

Depends how steep the hill is, and how optimsitic the speedo is

Had to drive with a temporary speedo at christmas, 70 was about 95 ish on the speedo, just worked out the speed by the revs, and still do now.

Currently have a 3.44 in my 1275, and now have the oportunity to change to a 3.1, although im thinking of staying the same as I love the acceleration of the 3.44

Edited by Midas Mk1, 15 April 2011 - 01:16 PM.

[Timinichelsea]

My personal opinion.

I have a relatively std 1275 Mpi, and that is a fantastic cruiser. I did 1700 miles in 10 days from kent to cornwall to devon to b'ham to scotland and back to kent. was nice to drive throughout the entire road trip.

Also cruised back from devon to kent one night and i had a moving average of 65mph, i wasn't driving like a lunatic either, well occassionally on a few hills in devon.

[danrock101]

I thought I had accidentally got my 1275 Mpi up to 110mph a few years ago on the M40.
Now I have sat nav I have found out that my speedo is waaaaaaaaaaay out, 'speshly at higher speeds. So it was plobly more like 95mph.
Sits happily at 70 and will overtake at 85+ when she's called on.

all speedos I've known are like that, in all my Dads cars and all of mine the speedo always reads higher.
In my 1275 the speedo would read 90 and I'm actually doing 70 something, then when driving around town and you come to one of the those signs that tell you to slow down, I'll be doing exactly 30 on the sign but about 34/5 on my speedo. I always go through speed cameras at 34 and never had had anything through yet (touch wood)
So most people who say they've done a certain speed actually haven't done that speed, but it's still a good comparison because most people use speedo speed ^^
Probably also why you seem to get more than what the manufacturer says the car can do.

Safe top speed for a mini depends on what rpm it is really, which means it's more down to what the final drive ratio is. I did over 100 on my satnav but that was about over 5.5k rpm with a 3.1 diff, 13" wheels, and a standard gearbox with drops. This was on the autobahn too. I was doing a constant 90/5 ish on the satnav and it was fine like that for about 400 miles, not too long after (few weeks) the gearbox let go, luckily at low speed. After inspecting the engine it was fine. My 850 will max out at about 60

[cooperdan]

Its funny how people take this post too seriously,

I got to 90 in my spi once, briefly enjoyable but then thought naaa dont like this...lol

[apdxxx]

A good rule of thumb seems to be for the more common engines:

850 - 74mph
998 - 80mph
1275 - 90mph

Should probably point out these are top speeds.

My boyfriends 998cc top speed is 100mph!

[danrock101]

Its funny how people take this post too seriously,

I got to 90 in my spi once, briefly enjoyable but then thought naaa dont like this...lol

Well the OP is asking a serious question about what he can safely do in a mini so I thought he deserves a serious reply

[davies145]

I thought I had accidentally got my 1275 Mpi up to 110mph a few years ago on the M40.
Now I have sat nav I have found out that my speedo is waaaaaaaaaaay out, 'speshly at higher speeds. So it was plobly more like 95mph.
Sits happily at 70 and will overtake at 85+ when she's called on.

all speedos I've known are like that, in all my Dads cars and all of mine the speedo always reads higher.
In my 1275 the speedo would read 90 and I'm actually doing 70 something, then when driving around town and you come to one of the those signs that tell you to slow down, I'll be doing exactly 30 on the sign but about 34/5 on my speedo. I always go through speed cameras at 34 and never had had anything through yet (touch wood)
So most people who say they've done a certain speed actually haven't done that speed, but it's still a good comparison because most people use speedo speed ^^
Probably also why you seem to get more than what the manufacturer says the car can do.

Safe top speed for a mini depends on what rpm it is really, which means it's more down to what the final drive ratio is. I did over 100 on my satnav but that was about over 5.5k rpm with a 3.1 diff, 13" wheels, and a standard gearbox with drops. This was on the autobahn too. I was doing a constant 90/5 ish on the satnav and it was fine like that for about 400 miles, not too long after (few weeks) the gearbox let go, luckily at low speed. After inspecting the engine it was fine. My 850 will max out at about 60

cameras arnt set at 30 they are 10% of the speed limt then a little so not realli good, a police officer told me about this,

ashley

[the_r_sole]

A good rule of thumb seems to be for the more common engines:

850 - 74mph
998 - 80mph
1275 - 90mph

Should probably point out these are top speeds.

My boyfriends 998cc top speed is 100mph!

did he tell you a centimeter is the same as an inch too

sorry couldn't resist...

[apdxxx]

A good rule of thumb seems to be for the more common engines:

850 - 74mph
998 - 80mph
1275 - 90mph

Should probably point out these are top speeds.

My boyfriends 998cc top speed is 100mph!

did he tell you a centimeter is the same as an inch too

sorry couldn't resist...

He is only the comment above you, you know,
i'm not dumb, i do know how a speedo works.

[davies145]

A good rule of thumb seems to be for the more common engines:

850 - 74mph
998 - 80mph
1275 - 90mph

Should probably point out these are top speeds.

My boyfriends 998cc top speed is 100mph!

did he tell you a centimeter is the same as an inch too

sorry couldn't resist...

He is only the comment above you, you know,
i'm not dumb, i do know how a speedo works.

hey, my speedo is correct as i went past a sign that tells you your speed also done this of my mate punto, and a bmw m3 going up hill not long ago,

ashley

[the_r_sole]

apologies for trying to have a bit of banter!

[apdxxx]

A good rule of thumb seems to be for the more common engines:

850 - 74mph
998 - 80mph
1275 - 90mph

Should probably point out these are top speeds.

My boyfriends 998cc top speed is 100mph!

did he tell you a centimeter is the same as an inch too

sorry couldn't resist...

He is only the comment above you, you know,
i'm not dumb, i do know how a speedo works.

hey, my speedo is correct as i went past a sign that tells you your speed also done this of my mate punto, and a bmw m3 going up hill not long ago,

ashley

i just think someone is a lil sexist Ashley, thinks girls dont know. :L