I'm a little jealous of future F56 owners and the 8 speed transmission that should improve gas mileage.

see motoringfile.com

That would be cool upgrade. About $4000?

 

Just curious, would that be $4000 upgrade to the $1250 6 speed auto ($5,1250), or does it mean that the AT option would then be $4000 instead of the current $1250? You'd have to drive a car 5-6 to get your money back, just like a hybrid. I don't see Mini owners concerned with gas mileage like Prius and hybrid owners are. I gas mileage is the big item look elsewhere. My JCW is getting 26 MPG in town, my 2007 MCS got 29 MPG. I really don't care either way, but the JCW is more fun to drive.

 

i think he meant $4k to buy a whole new transmission to swap into his F56.

The 8 speed auto will replace the 6 speed auto and will likely cost around the same.
Those are some impressive gas mileage numbers, but they are estimated. I have driven BMWs with the ZF 8 speed and it is a lot of fun for an auto. 8 gears is kinda busy shifting all the time though.

 

What year is this going to be available? I'll stick with my 6 speed manual for now

 

MINI just needs to hop on the 7 speed manual wagon so I can find a reason to be jealous...lol

It is interesting that they are not going to be using the ZF unit though.

And those estimated numbers seem quite high.

 

this, that is a huge, huge pickup - before the trans has even been put into the car at that. almost 50mpg highway for the base cooper?

 

Since auto trannys are so integrated, I'd bet $$$ it will not be retrofitable....
Sounds like the "early adopters" with the cold 6 speed will be trading in....so they can trade up once these are rolled out....but $$$$ shock might be on the way...if the auto tranny goes up by $2000....the cost of the fuel savings will take many years....

 

i just looked up a BMW 228i. the 8 speed auto only does 1mpg better in the city and 2mpg more on the highway than the 6 speed manual.

i realize it's not the same transmission, but i don't see the increases being that drastic. it's not like the base cooper has a ton of power to pull a really tall gear on the highway like a Corvette getting 30mpg because it's barely idling at 65mph.

 

Is that 50-MPG or ???

 

"Estimated MPG Figures

What does this mean to potential owners? According to sources, the AWF8F35 will add up to a 14% improvement in fuel efficiency when compared to the current Aisin 6 speed. Looking at MPG numbers for 2014 (the last that are available as of today), here’s an early look at what we could see out of a 8 speed automatic equipped F56

Cooper S with 8 Speed Automatic

29 > 33 city
40 > 46 highway
33 > 38 combined
Cooper with 8 Speed Automatic

30 > 34 city
34 > 39 combined
42 > 48 highway"

 

Key...estimated....
I'd bet $$ it will be more like 2-3 mpg max...the 14% is uundoubtedly under a best case situation....the draggy nature of a mini Cooper is not really a best case....high drag...
I wonder if it The tranny will be a EURO ONLY feature for a time...just like start/stop...with fuel pricing being 2x the us...some things make sense there, while not making $$ sense here....
I'm guessing that the new tranny will be $$$ and in short supply for a couple years as production ramps up....and Europe where taxes are charged Based on CO2 EMISSIONS... a small decrease can result in BIG savings....

 

You mean the Cooper only gets about 1-2 MPG better than the MCS? That's pretty different than the R56 models. I think it got 4-5 mpg better. Other than purchase price there's no reason to get the Justa now. I heard it was more fun to drive with the turbo, but the mileage suffered of course.

 

Mpg figures on turbo cars almost always assume YOU NEVER SPOOL the TURBO UP...so few ever get the numbers in real world driving....Been discussed so much it is almost a joke...
But with a turbo...consider displacement on demand....when you do not use boost...you get decent mpg...but run much boost...mpg drops fast....
And in the cooper...a small motor pushing a bigger gear= more load...so less savings, cause more boostvis needed to push the bigger gear....

 

Tell me about it. My JCW turbo gets about 3 MPG less than my 2007 MCS. And I do spool it up a lot. I didn't buy it to save money on gas lol.

 

I haven't heard of any recent issues with the current 6 speed Aisin gearbox. So F56 owners are getting a reliable transmission that gets pretty darn good mileage. In a year or two when the 8 speed makes its way into the line up I'm sure the cost won't be much different than the current auto option but with an unproven transmission. And yes the mileage might be a little better, but that is the way it goes isn't it? Cars improve and makes even a year or two older car look a little 'old' but that is depreciation, can't avoid it. Auto makers are really being driven hard to get the MPG numbers up and this is one way to do it.

 

*scratches head*

just looked at my mpg as i filled up this morning, and my average was 34.1. all city driving, no highway. so i'm not seeing this as a huge savings.