MINI Cooper MPG-Real World Numbers
This topic is for MINI owners to share their actual MPG.
"Real World" Fuel Economy vs. EPA Estimates
Save Money on Gas
"Real World" Fuel Economy vs. EPA Estimates
Save Money on Gas
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Prushing, are you going by the on board computer readout or real world calculations? 42mpg is oustanding, especially for an "S"
Ray T. :shades:
I am looking for the best MPG with the CVT and was wondering if I should get the base, S, or Works. If getting the S means I only lose a couple of MPG then from what I hear its worth it. Thanks.
all depends on where/how you drive
Agressive driving, daily commute of 60 miles on highways at 80mph at 3200rpm average 27.6mpg
timid, 70mph/highway average 31mpg
granny driving average 35mpg
When I was driving back and forth between CT and VA twice a month I could average over 35 mpg for the whole trip. I only drive my MINI on weekends now since I have a company car but before I got the company car I was getting 25-27 mpg in pure city driving.
I had been getting 26 in pure city driving without any highway, just as advertised, with lots of stop lights and above-average accelleration on my part with the A/C on.
On the road trip, I paid close attention to mileage and how I drove. The best I got was a stretch of 90 miles at uninterrupted speeds of 40-55. During that stretch, which included some hills along the shore of Lake Superior, I got 38.8 MPG - and I had the Mini-bike rack with a mountain bike on the back. I don't know how much of a difference that made, but I guess maybe I could have come closer to 40. I got very close to the same mileage on the way back during that same stretch. On the entire trip back, it averaged 33 MPG, which included two bikes on the bike rack and higher speeds for the other 65 percent of the trip once I got on the Interstate.
Without a doubt, mileage goes down pretty quickly at speeds of 65-85 MPH, and is ideal between 40-55. But at 70ish MPH, it will get in the 28-31 range with two bikes on the rear bike rack slowing me down.
I haven't experienced winter driving yet, but in Minnesota it should be interesting after being used to a Jeep Grand Cherokee the past ten years.
At 6-3, I was very comfortable in the Mini for my first long road trip since switching from the roomy Jeep. Very fun car to take on a road trip. I changed the steering wheel (which moves up and down, plus in and out) and seat position to a few different configurations to change things up and was comfortable each way. Great car so far in every way.
I got lots of smiles and nods from drivers on the road. I think people were amazed at seeing two bikes being toted in such a fashionable way with the great bike rack that can be custom installed. (Be sure to pull those bike tire straps tight, though!)
The Bike rack actually acts like a wind brake and will really decrease your fuel economy even if it's just the rack with no bike in it, less so in city driving. Cops lose at least 4mpg by having a low profile light bar on their cop cars. But I'm sure it's worth it to be able to haul your bikes on trips.
On a side note, the difference between premium and regular is usually about 20 cents, which means that you're spending about $2-3 every time you fuel-up. Unless there is a significant difference to be gained in mpg by using regular instead of premium fuel, I don't see much of a saving over a year.
My '06 S, with a 6-speed yields just 25.2 MPG. I drive it hard and sporty, if you will.
I use, per MINI (and BMW and Honda (maybe toyota)) Shell. They also recommend Cheveron and I think Phillips66/Conoco as THE fuel that meet their specifications but only SHELL is available in my area (Boston).
The above mentioned companies collaborated and recommend those fuels for their engines.
Much has been written about engine performance and durability relative to fuel and fuel additives. It goes way beyond performance loss/gain. Most important is cleanliness of the fuel system and specifically the injection system.
I plan on keeping my MINI for a longtime and want to see how long it will last!
The cool part is for the entire trip I drove behind a Prius. The Prius got 47.5 MPG when I got 44.9 (I tried so hard to get it to 45 but I had to pass a car right at 44.9, and speeding up cost me that final tick) and for the entire trip, the Pruis did only 3-4 MPG better than the Mini. Pretty impressive. I drove it very carefully without A/C and almost no braking the entire trip. Just two passes at higher speeds.
Otherwise, in mostly city driving, I'm getting in the 27-30 range in winter and summer with A/C running. With heavier highway driving, I'll tick up to 31-35 for the whole tank. The 40-plus is certainly the exception, but for a long road trip, absolutely possible. The key, though, is keeping the speed lower than you'd typically want, so it's a tradeoff going 60 instead of 70 in a 70 zone. I typically wouldn't be so worried about losing a few MPG ticks to get somewhere faster, but I wasn't in a hurry on this trip and wanted to test the absolute limits of the MPG in perfect flat 60 degree no rain no braking driving conditions.
This summer we get to try with our mini clubman s which won't want to travel at 60 mph.
Am looking for a 40mpg club bumper sticker.
Are you using premium?
Thanks in advance for any input.
It is not the octane causing the sputtering. Your Mini will run acceptably well even on 87 Octane gas, although the mileage will not be quite as good. My wife's 2005 Mini runs on 87 octane beautifully. I would guess you are running a poor grade of gas currently.
I would suggest using a different, name brand gas (ie, Shell or Chevron) for a few tankfuls and see how it performs.
I was impressed.
Regards,
Harry Faulkner
I am getting 33mpg real (measured by gas fills of 91 octane) in mixed driving (31 mph average on a tank) on the turbo Clubman automatic (the worst mpg configuration). But I've got a couple of years of gas-pedal training from driving hybrid cars...... this makes a BIG difference.
Avg. 75-85 M/H on a Hw
I seem to recall that Honda had to provide additional mileage warranties on one of their vehicles a while back, because it was reading the wrong speed, and therefore causing the warranties to run out earlier. There was a class action settlement. Do a google search on Honda Odometer Settlement.