I am now on my third tank of gas on my Justy. I'm surprised that I'm getting only 20.5 mi/gallon. True, it is exclusively city driving, but I'm 80%-90% in green mode, and that seems low to me. Can anyone help?

(BTW, other than that, I'm loving it!)

 

I saw on another Mini forum, that it took one guy--that was predominately city driving--a few months and over 10 tanks, before he saw the good gas mileage. It seems people that drive more highway are seeing it faster. Maybe you need to plan a long distance highway trip, to get that to rise up in MPG. Give that Mini some variety, get out of the city, let it get some fresh air...it does us all good.

 

Thanks!

I will be doing a lot of highway driving starting in August, so hopefully things turn around then. . . .

 

I get 25 in my S doing mostly spirited city driving, so that does seem low. Only 300 miles on my car too.

 

I think three tanks is way too soon to be judging fuel mileage. That said, I think I am doing better than that on my S.

 

That's crazy low, especially for green mode. I'm getting about 38 mpg in the same conditions (perfectly flat roads though, if that matters).

 

Are you actually counting mileage? Or just relying on what the car is showing? Try resetting it. That's what I did on mine.

 

Yeah that's true, for whatever reason I had to reset my computer before it started showing decent mileage. Now I reset it each time I fill up.

 

I would also recommend resetting it. I was concerned when my first two tanks were around 23 and then when I reset I get 34 MPG in mid mode in my S while driving in the city.

 

That cannot be true if this car isn't leaking gas. If that's the computer MPG it's wrong. Even my R56 JCW in town with a heavy foot truly gets 27MPG (computer says 29MPG). How do you "reset" the computer, just hold the button on the end of the stalk down?

 

I agree that seems super low. I'm mostly city driving in green mode as well, I do 25+ easily on my Justa while jumping from light to light, and I'm still on my second tank. Do you watch the MINImizer analyst screen while in green mode to see if its constantly yelling at you for over accelerating or bad braking habits (it does this! Super fun!), that'd at least eliminate your driving habit as a possible cause.

But yea I'd also say on your next fresh tank keep track of the actual mileage and then do the match when you fill up to see if the computer is wrong or you're really getting 20.

 

I drive in Toronto. Never more than 100 meters (300 feet) between lights or stop signs or traffic. I get 26 miles/imperial gallon. All my driving is short trips. It was the same on my R56.
There is so much variation in the word "city".....New York vs. L.A. vs. Miami....

 

When you're driving in green mode have you used the MINIMALISM Analyser? The screen with the fish bowl and stars. The fish (I call him Charlie) has taught me how to drive this car economically. Using green mode 80-85% of the time I have gotten two tanks at 41+ mpg. I did the last tank all in mid mode, but drove in green mode fashion and got just over 40 mpg.

If you are driving in heavy slow city traffic it'll be very frustrating trying to get good mileage using green mode. You have to accelerate like you have a raw egg between your foot and the pedal and this is extremely hard to do in traffic. You will get cut off and the guy behind you will want to choke the life out of you.

A lot of how you drive will also depend upon the vehicle you came from. I came from a VW Golf TDI, so mileage was something I was already into. If I had just come from say the Firehawk, Cobra or Lightning I had I'd be puttin' the pedal to the medal in the Mini and have an mpg down in the 20's.

Just wondering... are you driving an automatic or manual? I'm a manual.

 

I love that fish.
Tip for anyone who hasn't tried: Go in your settings, set your green speed limit, go on the highway (or whatever road, but ya know, safety), and go beyond it. Watch the fish. Hilarious. Now slow back down.

 

Remember....
A new motor is still "tight"....
It is not broken in....also the adaptations are still developing...fuel trims, Etc...
Mpg's will climb as a motor get looser....
So till the car is broken in.....I would ignore the mpg...
Then RESET the trip computer...remember it is cumulative....so reset it after break in...and then smile!!

 

also get on fuelly.com! 1mpg added for a fuelly account lol

 

Sorry for sounding stupid, but how do I reset it?

 

Press and hold the button on the end of the blinker stalk for approx. 5 seconds.

 

Filled up my MCS AT and headed out on the road for a 360 mile trip. I kept it in Mid mode. Most of the driving was at 65-75 mph. 99% interstate highway. After about 250 miles, the on-board computer said 38.1 mpg. Got into some heavy traffic, slow conditions, so don't think I can do a check against the actual gallons vs miles when I filled up later on to get highway mpg only. I only had 220 miles on the car when I started on the trip.

 

Hey Nevergivename,

A question I have, is the 20.5 what the cars computer is showing you or did you do the math yourself after each fill up? I would do one by your own math first if not.

I was surprised with my own mileage of 38+ mpg so I checked a few myself to verify it.

 

I just cannot drive in Green mode. It feels like a cylinder has been deactivated. Power dramatically cut. I find I am in Power mode 90% of the time. I'm willing to "live with" 25-30mpg for the increased fun factor. I choose to Motor Hard!

 

I was doing the same until I realized that I'm stuck in stop-and-go traffic for my entire commute home. It really took the fun out of sport mode, so now I just try to get as good of gas mileage as I can, ha.

 

I came to this exact conclusion! I tried to use sport mode more often, but was always limited to what the guy in front of me wanted to do anyway which get frustrating. Green mode with the MINImilizer up makes driving slow far more tolerable, less stressful and even a bit fun trying to see how many extra miles you can eek out.
And then on the flip side, when on a highway at a set speed, green mode + cruise control makes very smart decisions (pretty sure its that feature where it'll disconnect the drivetrain to coast whenever possible), makes the mileage really fly up.

Sport, for me anyhow, seems to be reserved for weekend driving on open roads in rural country. And pulling out of parking lots, it works great there!

 

I absolutely love Fuelly.com! My last three cars were tracked on Fuelly and I love the data. I did get on Fuelly to research my MINI purchase, but unfortunately at the time, there weren't any base 3cyl F56's on it. Now there's only one. A blue one from eastern Mass. I haven't needed to fill up yet but mine should show up in the next week or so.

Most of my driving is city driving, and I haven't been dissatisfied with GREEN mode, actually. I came from an Audi TT, so one would think I'd be a lead foot, but I think GREEN mode is fine. Even on the highways, driving at a consistent speed, with the occasional pass here and there, I get a sense of satisfaction as I get used to the car.

One thing though. There have been times I've forgotten to put the car in Green mode. I wish there was a way to have the car remember to start in green mode, instead of always having to switch it at every restart.

 

I've always wondered what Sport mode vs non-sport mode on my R56 really did for me MPG wise on my manual MCS. Sure it changed the throttle response, but I still had full control over how I accelerated and when I shifted. My last several years of driving, I just used Sport exclusively because I both liked the throttle response better and it was somewhat more difficult to consciously be thinking "I'm in mode X" when letting the clutch out when taking off from a full stop.

But it sounds like with the three modes now there's also additional power use items tied into the modes, so perhaps I'll find myself using more than just Sport mode. A long five weeks (give or take) to cogitate the question ...