So after driving a truck for several years that gets 14MPG on a good day (engine off, hurricane force wind at my back) I decided to get a bit more gas conservative and with a few other reasons ended up ordering a MINI.

If I'd had the choice I'd have ordered a MINI ONE D just for the mileage. Yes the Cooper is a hella lot of fun to drive even without the Supercharger and that's important to me as well but I'm trying to even out the gas money to something that merely hurts instead of kills.

I've noticed on various mod threads that some users are reporting increased MPG and it's not only not hurting performance, it's enhancing it. So my two wishes for Mods are better MPG and negligible hit to performance. What are your suggestions?

So far the only one that I can pinpoint is a better intake, even the K&N Drop In Filter seems to give some added MPG and possible performance benefit. Any others?

 

Intake, drop-in will have smaller gains that going to a conical filter. Also make sure teh tires are properly inflated, lighter shoes (may want swtich from a Lead to CF foot) and shifting a little earlier keeping the revs constant (the CVT stays at 2500 rpm so thats what I aim for) and stopping jack rabbit starts, dump weight (backseats, sound deadening, int. trim panels, A/C all depend how extreme you want to be), shut off the A/C and fan and the list goes on.

 

My best advice is to tell yourself that it is break in period. No revs over 4K, in fact try to shift at or about 3K. Also try not to use cruse control. It will hammer the throttle when you go up hill. Also shift to neutral and coast to as many stops as possible.

 

Downshifting actully gets better MPG as the ECU uses gas at idle but whle reving no gas is used unless you depress the pedal, of course this puts more elsewhere,very catch 22.

 

Don't think I want to get TOO extreme, don't wanna hurt hte car's performance or comfort level. I know about tires and driving style, just looking for some hardware that might make it a bit better in general

 

Hmm... I am going to have to make a mental note to try that. I have to keep remembering me that MIB is drive by wire not direct link from pedal to throttle

 

Well I think it has about the same effect as when Volvo swithced from halgen DRLs to LED DRLs to reduce power used and increase MPG, then asked when how much it improved, the engineers couldn't measure a large enough change to say it had any actual effect, though thoretically you did get some more MPG, like I said earlier its all about how extreme you want to get.

 

I'd talk to the folks at MTH, they lean out the fuel to air mixture to improve performance (mini runs real rich, which i believe keeps the temperatures down to avoid premature combustion).

Try not to use the AC anymore than absolutely necessary (though I wouldn't recommend rolling down the windows either, as this creates wind turbulance and more drag.

Consider tires with a smaller contact patch and i believe a larger rolling radius. This would degrade handling however.

If you really want to get good milage, drive like you have a police officer in traffic behind you.

 

Someone at the Dragon told me that the MTH mod had increased the fuel economy of their Cooper by 2 mpg. I intend to look into this at some point.

 

An increase in performance and MPG? NOW we are talking! The MCS guys' mileage usually goes down with mods!

I also wonder if this would help with the sooty tail pipe???

 

The major difference in economy with my '05 MCS seems to come when the ECU shifts from "closed loop" to "open loop." Is it possible to alter the change-over point slightly with a remap? My GIAC remap doesn't seem to have done this. A slight change here my reap huge benefits for highway cruising.

Just my .02....

Richard

 

I feel your pain BlackHat, I drive a truck that gets 12mpg on average, I have wanted a Mini for about 2 yrs and employment issues have put a crimp in my plans. I think that I might be near to solving my situation. I want to buy an "S" because the mileage is alot better and I am tired of driving a vehicle with the sporty feel of a bread truck.

 

I gained about 2 mpg with a cat back exhaust and ITG drop in air filter. Take a while to make back the cost in gas savings, but the sound makes it all worthwhile. Normal around town mileage went form 26 to 28. Haven't had a chance to really check my Interstate mileage yet.

As far as not using cruise control, good advice if there are hills to climb. On the level though, my cruise is a lot more steady than my foot, and I think is a mpg plus.

 

The lack of cruise gets me in trouble! That's the reason my wife got a ticket already too. :rolleyes:

I've been looking at doing a cat-back, header and intake on my wifes. I figure if nothing else, the exhaust will help be able to keep a steady speed.

 

Light wheels and non runflats which most MCs have. Apparently the Holies are the lightest OEMs at 12 lbs. SSR Comps are 8.8 lbs.

A question I have is do small wheels have any negative effect on mileage in any condition?

As mentioned, Intake, ECU Mod and Exhaust. Swapping the exhaust normally reduces some weight over the OEM too.
I've also heard folks pull out their space saver spare and jack and put in a can of fix o flat and and portable compressor.

What I wish is for a suitcase air condition unit. Unlock and pull it out off season and click it back in in the summer.

 

I don't have any scientific evidence yet, but I have made a couple of observations since replacing my air box with a K&N 57i CAI.

I drive the same stretches of roads most every day, as many people do. I often set my cruise to the same speed and watch the computers second-to-second read-outs of fuel mileage.

Since installing the 57i, the car's mpg readings have been noticeably higher than they were with the stock box. I also know where my average fuel economy has been sitting over the past year. I want to see over the next few tankfuls if that number goes up. Working against that is the sound of the car at full-tilt-bozo, which I'm sure brings the overall mpgs down. But I am confident that highway cruising is netting better mpgs.

Zip

 

Good to know, Zip. Im curious to see what you find out.
Im leaning towards the 57i or the stock k&n filter replacment...or the Pipercross viper...hmmmm

 

Probably the best mod out there... well, at least for the cost!

 

stick with the 15 inch tires, keep the PSI up, windows up, AC off. after 10,000 miles, find the MPG increaseing nicely, up to 46 MPG record, most is 32-36 around town. 35-38 on trips at 65-70 MPG.

 

I have come to the conclusion that my mileage has remained the same (~27 mpg) both pre- and post- 57i conversion due to my right foot not being able to keep its weight off the go-pedal due to the sound that this filter setup allows the engine to emit under hard accleration. I don't take many long trips that don't involve traffic so I have no highway-only mpg figures.

That's it, Zippy, ol' boy, blame it on yer foot!

 

I'm getting consistently 28.6-29.5 mpg in the city. Stock MC, 35 psi in the runflats. Going to put in denso ik20's to see if I can improve on the mileage with the spark. I'll run a few tanks and see if there is an ipmrovement.

jrw

 

x

 

with my exhaust and my intake i saw a slight increase in mpg.

 

I wouldnt think the exhast would matter... but definatly the intake.

with my intake/exhaust upgrade I definatly lost mpg making it roar

 

Well maybe not the exhaust. I always make sure all my airfilters are clean and up to date though. That always helps.