My third Mini is an F56S auto with the sport auto. My last two Minis were R56S's with manual transmission.
I picked up my new Mini last Friday and, today, I only have a 100 miles on it.
I have noticed that the auto tranny cruises at very low rpm's. If I put the shifter in "s", the upshift occurs at higher rpm's, and the downshifts are a higher rpm's.
The revelation is that the "s' shiftpoints seem to match my habits in my previous manually equipped cars when I thought I was driving conservatively and saving gas.

 

What kind of average MPG were you observing on your old R56S?

And let's see what kind of average MPG you will be seeing on your new F56S.

 

I also had an MCS with manual and have an AT now (same tranny as your F56). In Sport mode it definitely goes to 4th gear when I would have stayed in 3rd in the manual. In regular (non Sport) mode it could shift to 5th. At 3000 RPM in 6th it's going about 82 MPH, before it was 75 MPH. No question it wants lower RPM in the regular mode. I always use Sport just like in the 2007. Of course I get slightly worse gas mileage because I have a bigger engine (turbo) but you will probably get better. I used to get about 29-30 MPG in town, now get 27-28.

 

On my '12 MCS manual, I usually got around 28-31, mostly city. On MTTS last summer, I got 35.8 for the 3700 miles that I drove, and the driving was fast on the highways and included a lot of backroads. I only have 91 miles on my new car and I filled it up at 63 miles to get a fresh start on my mileage. Today I will be driving on the highway to Sacramento and I can get a comparison. ( of course the car is far from being broken in).

 

I wonder if the ECU has different shift points during the break-in period and perhaps it will change after you get enough miles on it.

 

No, mine did not change. It's noticeably different between regular and sport modes. It really wants to upshift in regular. YOu have to hit the gas more to downshift in regular too. I rarely use it for that reason.

 

If you just move the shift lever to the left, I think you also get the sportier shift points and the more responsive engine. The steering remains the same, and the suspension remains the same if you have the DDC.

 

My first test, 33.8 mpg, 98 miles. 38 city in normal and sport modes, 75+ highway cruise in green mode. I think that I can get close to forty on trips in green mode at decent highway speeds( 75mph cruise). I don't like the start stop feature because of my perceived wear on the battery, alternator, and starter.
But, for me cruising on the highways, green is the way to go. Except for the small gas tank, every aspect of this car is improved over my '12 R56S for me. You name it, steering, seats , radio, dual thermostats, and ride and handling.
Also, if I had ordered the manual 6 speed, the cost would have been about the same as my '12 R56S manual,( trade sunroof for nav and Harman Kardon).

 

So is the revelation that you've been short-shifting previously? I think this may be the new reality. Even the new Corvette manual transmission will shift from 1st to 4th automatically unless you really floor it all for the sake of fuel economy.

 

My revelation is that in my previous, I could have shifted at lower rpms .

 

Never driven a new Corvette yet but how does it work - manual transmission shifting automaically?

 

I believe that was actually implemented last generation. Essentially, there is a gate that blocks the shifter from going into second or third gear. You shift out of first, and unless you are driving hard, the only gear you can shift into was fourth.

I don't recall if you can disable that temporarily or actually have to remove something - but I remember reading about that a while back.

 

http://jalopnik.com/the-annoying-trick-that-helps-the-corvette-stingray-get-720645145
I haven't driven the new Corvette either but I did drive my friend's Lexus LFA and was surprised how it would immediately up shift if left in auto mode such that you'd be cruising around town at 1000 RPM. Even with that my friend averages only 14 MPG.

 

Oh, that feature!
I think that was implemented way back on C5 or maybe even on C4 in 90's.
So, the manual trans doesn't automatically shift - impossible! It MAKES you to skip the inbetween gears. Now that makes a sense.