What do you average in an r53 driving majority in the city? I live in nyc and currently do about 90% city driving and 10% highway. So far I got 18.8 for one fill up, 20.8 for another, and most recently 15.6 (11.6 gallons used to go 181.5 miles) I got the car In June and started tracking fuel mileage for the previous three full tank fill ups. (Note, these are three tanks I put into the car.)
Fill up one was around 10.5 gallons or so on about 195 miles
Tank two was about 10.5 gallons on 215 miles (about half or so highway on this tank)
Tank three was 11.6 gallons on 181.5 miles.
I drive fairly conservatively, shift at 2000, put it into sixth once I reach speed (running about 1200-1300 at about 30-35), throw it into neutral to coast to a red light or stop sign.
Just wondering if this is what I should expect. I get it, superchargers are thirsty but this thirsty? If I wanted fuel economy I would've bought a tdi.

 

Make sure you are using 93 octane....
And Short more like 3300 rpm...You are lugging it...sc us not even active till 3000+

 

If you average less than 20 MPH your gas mileage will be less than 20 MPG. When I lived in San Francisco I got 17 MPG on one tank of all city driving averaging 15.5 MPH.

Conversely, I get over 30 MPG cruising on the freeway.

 

Only super (93 octane here). Will shift at higher revs now. It's still better then a lifted wrangler though

 

If driven with 3000-3300 rpm shifts, and driven well, you can get 30 mpg highway...maybe 20 city..
Sure no 50 mpg tdi car...I have one now.
The MINI is NOT aerodynamic...and the gen1 sc cars are made more for fun, not mpg's...even the gearing is set up as such...the 2005+ r53 are better, but the high intake temps mean they must run pretty rich.

 

Thanks, don't care too much about mpg but would like to get better then 15.

 

I get around 22-25 in the city, 27+mpg on the highway. Like others have said....shift up around 3000rpms. When I first got my mini years ago I would try to shift as soon as possible and keep the rpms under 2000 or so when I would shift. That killed fuel mileage.....running the rpms up higher actually helped a bunch.....and it actually feels like the car has some power

On a side note....I never use 6th gear unless I'm going 60+ on the highway.

 

My mpg is inversely proportional to the fun I'm having.

Your numbers don't surprise me. I get around 18-20 with a similar mix. Less if I open it up.
City driving is bad for mpg. Short trips are bad for mpg. If the cars has mods, those are bad for mpg

 

My average has been 25.5 via onboard computer, I'm guessing around town is 18-22ish and 28-30 on the highway.

 

In other words everything is fine

 

Yes. The numbers you mentioned in the first post are completely in the expected range for an R53.

 

I'm in 4th at 35mph. 5th doesn't come until 45-50 and 6th at 60. Car lugs too much if you shift shorter than that, they are not torquey machines.

 

I have a 2005 Mini S and live in the country environment. I have been doing a long term MPG test, while driving as I do. I am aggressive at times and economy minded at other times. In ten tankfuls, I am averaging 30.1 MPG and I am ok with that.
I know city driving knocks the crap out of your mileage, but I also know that lugging the S can surely kill any chance of getting better MPGs.

I had an 06 Mini Base and I was getting 40MPG regularly and up to 44 mpg when I was trying to be a good boy!

I have decided to get another Base model for long drives/business and hope I can land another good one.
Note: they are both stick shift. 05 Mini S 6 spd and 06 Mini base 5 spd.

 

Those numbers are crazy to me. Are you calculating those yourself or trusting the OBC? Hint: don't trust the OBC.

I think the best MPG my dad has ever gotten in 14 years of owning his R50 is 38. I have never gotten above 29 in my R53, I have averaged 23MPG in one year, though that is 85% city driving.

 

If you push (and hold) the button on the left-hand (turn signal) stalk while driving on the highway, it will reset and delete all of the other input info, and give you the estimated MPG at that time. If you don't reset the function it will average all driving conditions since the last reset (or perhaps since the car was turned off and back on) - including stop-and-go city traffic, which lowers your average MPG.

I was showing up to 40 MPG just last night - highway only, cool weather, light traffic, 60-80MPH.

 

It's great to see some of the mpg numbers reported on this thread. Helps me to know what to expect and see what the car is able to do.

With my kid's MCS (@ 216K miles), we have been manually calculating about 18.5 mpg city and 25 mpg hwy in a hilly area of the Bay Area of Nor Cal.

 

Car doesn't have an obc. All done by hand. I do appreciate the help and advice.

 

Yes, they are calculated from odometer miles and gasoline used. Not from the OBC.
I have two other S models and they are getting similar MPGs, but are not daily drivers, so I can not vouch for the long term mileage.
Not living in any type of stop and go traffic, goes a long way in saving fuel, as stop and go kills mileage.

My sister, just drove here (southern Oregon) from New jersey, with an 04 Mini S and got around 35 to 36 mpg. She drove the short way on I-80 until she got to Utah and then went to the I-84 to Oregon and then cut across the state to where I live. No stop and go and 55 to 75 MPH. This is not bad for a supercharged fun cruiser! I am sure the 06 Mini base I had, would have done way better.
This is not really the point! These cars handle like on rails. They bring life to the driver and are happy little cars. Everyone checks them out and are shocked when you pass them! Fun, being the operative word!
Soon she will be driving an 08 Mini base with automatic here to me and I am waiting to see how it does. We never usually try for good MPGs, but it is a point of interest.

 

Wow - I didn't know this was an "option" with the R53. That's in quotes because the function is there, it just isn't turned on at the factory unless you pay for it.

Anyway, I've just read that you can have the dealer turn it on if you want to. For a fee, of course.

 

Well, I guess I just got a bad egg then. My best mileage has been 28.1mpg on nearly 100% highway.

And strike what I said earlier about my dads mileage, he says he's never been over 30 in his R50.

 

Before mods mpg was 34 hwy.
After mods mpg is 25/26.

 

Changing your sc oil....much debated...

Much debated amount gen1 owners.....
If you were to diy it and have 8+ hours to spend plus maybe $150 in gaskets and fluids, and are sure you can get it back together and not break anything, it would not hurt...
Many get stuck, or never get the car running right...gaskets lease than 100℅ sealed, etc...
If you will pay a shop for 6-8 hours, then imo wait...then spend $700-800 on a rebuilt unit (performance units rebuilt are about $100)and seals, gaskets and a waterpump and other stuff at the same time for the 6-8 hours shop time....
No clear cut answer...
Comes down to risk and how much you value YOUR time if you diy it.

 

I'd diy it. I'm willing and wanting to learn how to do it. That and my dad was a diesel tech for 10 years and worked on his own trucks so I have him to help me if I get stuck. I think I'll wait till about 75k and see

 

I bought my 06 MCS with 100,000 miles on it, and the fuel economy stunk at first - city driving, in Philadelphia. I changed out my plugs and wires, cleaned the fuel injector, flushed (or rather shop-vac'd) the coolant, and put in a new thermostat, and immediately saw a notable increase in mpg.

Another thing that city driving did was rust out my stock exhaust. Apparently the short trips allow water to condense between the decorative outer muffler casing and the actual muffler, and the passenger-side muffler rusted out in less than two years.

Happily, Philadelphia is home to an amazing Mini shop, and they got me set up with a new-to-me stock exhaust.

Anyway... I don't know what the mileage is like on your car, but maybe it's just due for some routine maintenance.

 

You might also try resetting the DME (car's main computer). There's a button-pushing process that will remove any previous driving habits (the DME is intuitive, so it learns how you drive - for better and for wors).

Reset link: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ni-viagra.html

I'm not supporting using Seafoam, but the rest of the thread is great. I do run some injector cleaner through the fuel system every few months, though.