When I'm in "D" and stopped with brake pressed all the way, the engine is idle and using 0.29 gal/hour gas. As I lift my foot off the brakes just slightly, the gas usage surges to 0.5 gal/hour and the engine fights with my brakes making the car try to lurch forward and it is very uncomfortable causing vibrations and all. Normal Mode, Green Mode all does this.

I find it very annoying in the entrance of a highway where there's a "one car per green light" and there are two lanes. Every 10 seconds I have to stop and creep up a bit, I have to feel that surge, bounce my head on the headrest, and it gets really tiring. It's kind of impossible to take off smoothly and slowly unless you are going up hill. On a flat, I can accelerate slow, but the impact comes from taking my foot off the brake pedal so there's no way to avoid it. Sometimes it's less severe, but most times the engine tries too hard or just to early. The 2014 F56S loaner (also built around the same time as mine) I tried didn't have this problem and it was always a very smooth take off.

My 2014 Mazda CX-5 (with 2.5L engine) idles at 0.25 gal/hour, doesn't pour gas even with the foot completely off the brake, starts pouring gas only when I press on the accelerator, so I can start moving very smoothly.

I think MINI can change the behavior of this with future updates since everything is controlled by software, but it won't be heard unless lot of people complain.

I'm guessing the manual gears won't have this problem.


It's interesting to note that CX-5 uses less gas than the F56 during idle. I think the high engine idle speed on the F56 is what's causing more gas usage. CX-5 is around 670 rpm while F56 is 830 rpm. Maybe this is a 3-cylinder thing to keep the idle feel smoother.


Edit: I have added a screen capture of me using only the brakes. Not even touching the accelerator pedal. You can see in the Fuel Flow gal/hour graph, there's a blip that goes up to around 0.5 gal/hr rate, causing the car to lurch forward fighting the brakes. This makes it very hard to only move couple inches forward from a complete stop when needed (brake pressed all the way).

 

I got my car in for several unrelated other things. I got a 2015 F56S loaner, and this one doesn't have this behavior. I'll have to check with a ODB adapter plugged in. This one starts smooth and doesn't feel like it's fighting with the brakes. But another problem it has is that Green Mode Coast doesn't work! MINI must be in a mess with the softwares.

I'll report back when I get the ODB graphs.

 

I have a 2015 mcs and have observed this behavior more than once in stop and go traffic. Driving mode is mid. It doesn't happen all the time but noticeable when it does. What kind of gas are you using?

 

I use Chevron or Costco, always premium gas. Before discounting Costco gas, last year they started being part of TopTier gas distributor with x5 more detergents than required by TopTier. So I don't think it's the gas. The other F56 also had the same lurching forward when slowly taking the foot off from brakes in D. F56S didn't have this problem, that's why I came back to update this thread.

It is pretty annoying. The dealer is saying it's not reproducible. I'll have to drive with the shop foreman when I return the loaner car.

 

HELLO ALL , My name is Bob and I am 75 years old. About the gas surge
problem, May i throw in a different look at it? I have a new 2015 F56 with the six speed auto and I have noticed the same problem. I think it is the
transmission and the way it is programmed. Following this thought, upon
stopping, the transmission back shift to second speed completing the stop.
Upon releasing the brakes, the transmission shift quickly to first, doubling
the torque on the brakes thus causing the surge. The dealer told me,
That was a hill holding feature that supposed to last about two seconds.
On level ground, I can see where this can be a pain. One might try
manually force the transmission into first gear just before stopping
then shift to drive before continuing on.

 

I think you are correct Bob. I've noticed the same thing with my transmission. It seems that it doesn't fully downshift into first unless you come to a complete stop. Many times when I do a "California Stop" the transmission remains in second, but only when I come to a complete stop does it shift into first. When pulling into my garage which is slightly uphill I have to be careful if it shifts into first and surges.

 

This shouldn't happen ever IMO. Don't let 'em tell you any different. I drove my friend's F56 a bunch recently and nothing like that ever happened, not once. Her car drove just like mine. Somebody should be able to fix it. I wouldn't put up with something like that for very long.

 

When I contacted MINI USA, I was told to work with the MA at the dealer. They told me it's normal behavior for the F56 but told me to contact someone from Sales that was recently in a MINI training workshop and that he might have some contacts to further investigate this.

It's bugging me almost every time I take off from a complete stop. My Mazda CX-5 is really smooth on this, and so were my past cars. I drove several F56S and a F55S as a loaner and those are much smoother.