Hi all. First time caller, recent time listener. After doing lots and lots of searching and research, I'm still coming up with some specific questions.

I currently drive a 2013 R56 Justa 6M and love the looks, design, and handling but am getting tired of the uncomfortable ride, loudness on the highway, and would like a little more space and 4 doors. I have driven the recent vintage VW Golf (I also used to own one, diesel) and they're really great riding and quiet cars. I also miss that incredible diesel torque and mpg (used ones are available again as part of a modification program). But recently on a whim I tried a 4 door Justa and really liked it. Same looks and fun as my Mini but much improved ride quality and interior noise. I liked that 3 cylinder turbo as well and the shifter and clutch were much nicer. So I'm considering the Mini now against the Golf.

First, do the new 2019 Classic trims have that nice interior mood lighting that I love on my R56? The toggle switch on the overhead wasn't there and the sales person didn't seem 100% sure and that it might only be on the Signature and Iconic trims).

Next is more subjective: why does the new F55/56 have a markedly smaller fuel tank than the R56 despite being a larger vehicle, especially in 4 door? My R56 has a 13.2 gallon tank and easily does 400+ miles per tank (really miss my Golf TDI at 500+ miles per tank). Doing the math the new one is only like a 300 to 350 mile range (as bad as my old Honda Fit). And going hand in hand with fuel range is fuel economy. Looking at fuelly data and some long term reviews, mpg with the 3 cylinder seems disappointing. Car and Drive only averaged 28 over their 20k mile test. Real world data says maybe only low 30s average. On a test drive of a 3 cylinder manual 4 door I averaged 31 over the test drive loop with auto-stop active. On my 2013 Justa I have averaged 36 since I've owned the car, without even trying. Any real world numbers from you or any explanations? Maybe too much "spirited" driving that keeps the engine under boost? Thanks all.

 

not sure about 2019, but the lighting was an option called the "excitement package" in prior years. I would guess the signature line etc won't have this since they are meant to be a more basic package overall. I have a 2017 f55S, currently getting about 32-33 mpg and never leave sport mode w/ auto-start/stop always off. I was getting closer to 36 prior to adding the Dinan Sport. Obviously this varies with the driver / driving style / conditions etc. Im mostly highway at 70-75 mph.

 

Thanks, good to know. My mileage is about half highway, quarter country road, quarter stop/go. I'm thinking with a stock I3 and driving the way I do, I could probably do 35 or better.

 

Personally, I would take the fuelly information on gas mileage with a grain of salt because I know a lot of people hate on the start-stop and just turn it off. I have an F56S and my mom had an F55S and the difference in fuel economy was pretty staggering to me. No matter what I do in my car, I get 28 mpg. My mom was lucky to get 24. She had a very basic F55S without a sunroof even and my F56S has almost every option except heated seats and park assist. However, she never used start stop. Both were manuals as well.

 

 

Weird, what are you 2 doing that it's so low?? Nothing but city driving?

 

My wife drives mostly non highway and constantly has to fill the tank. Other than that she loves the F55. I like it as well although my F56 is a lot faster.

We also had a TDI Golf 2013 and it was a blast to drive and a lot quieter and softer over the speed bumps. However we took the almost 100% payment after 3 years of use and I bought the F56.

 

With regard to mileage:


I'm at 156K miles. I don't drive aggressively and do drive a lot of highway miles.


When I first got the car I'd calculate mileage by taking the miles driven from the trip odometer and divide by the number of gallons on the fill-up. I'd get 38-42 mpg and averaged 40 overall.



Now I take the numbers of gallons on the fill-up, multiply by 40, and compare that to how many miles I've driven. I stay at 38-42.


Recently my mileage has dropped to 34-35. The dealership says I need to have the fuel injectors cleaned, which I will do. I'll see if mileage goes back up.

 

I purchased a CPO F55 S 6k miles ago. My daily commute is 90 miles round trip for work. About 30 miles of that total commute is in heavy traffic. The rest of the time I typically sit at 75-80mph until I hit my exit. Maybe my car is a freak of nature but I dont hypermile or really try at all to achieve the most mpg possible. I always shut off auto start stop because I do not like the long term effects of significantly more start cycles.

my average mpg has been 36.5 mpg. Highest was 38.5 and lowest was 34.3. Here is a photo of my current tank as of last night.

one thing to note is I had a loaner base cooper auto for two days. My mpg average with the exact same route was 35mpg. I was surprised it was slightly lower than my S.

 

Great info, thanks. I've actually heard the S can often get better economy than the I3 because you don't have to flog it as much to get the performance you want.

And Minni the Moocher, I dit basically the same thing. The big thing that pushed me to take the buyback and not just wait for a fix was wanting to go back to a real manual. Drove a CPO 2013 Justa 6M and loved it. And I still do love it, but I'm realizing how uncomfortable the ride can be and how loud it is on the highway.

Speaking of highway, can anyone say what these engines turn over at speed? The 1.6L engines are turning 3k RPM at 74 MPH and that contributes to the noise.

 

I get about 33 overall with my F55S manual. I don't hypermile, but I drive fairly economically, and normally use the tallest gear that the engine seems happy when driving in town. I considered the non-S, but the four cyl is a better match for my driving habits of short-shifting, etc The triple needs a few more revs to smooth out.

 

My F55S replaced a 2010 justa. The new one is quieter and rides better, and is quicker, but is thirstier, especially in town. Yeah, I wish it had a bigger gas tank, especially for highway trips. I like to go 450 miles between stops.

 

Look at used F55’s as well. Dealers have a good chunk of used inventory and non-SUV sales in the US have been dropping for years. You probably can find a very nice deal on a 2015.

As to fuel economy, I average substantially better fuel economy in my F55S than I did in my 2009 R55S. I can average well over 30 if I want to. (Which isn’t often.) Mixed highway and local driving.

Summary of my fuel logs, from Gas Cubby/Fuelly:

 

I also had my 2012 Golf TDi bought back by vw for only $1000 less than I paid 3 years prior. Put over 50k mi on it even. I payed off my credit cards and put $7k down on my used 2015 F56s. worked out well


About Mini Mpgs now. I average 30-31 in my f56S manual with no options. I just had a f55 as a loaner and only averaged 31mpg over 300mi but it was auto and i basically floored it the entire time. But id imagine if you drove nice id be closer to 40mpgs.

Also the 1.5t says it requires 89 octane and id probably follow that. My S only requires 91 but runs so much better on 93 imo.

 

I noticed a couple of you said you got to drive loaners. What was wrong with your Minis that they were back at the dealer long enough for them to give you loaners??

 

A lot of people drive manuals around town in 2 or 3 gears too low for best gas mileage. I suspect that could be a lot of it.

 

Nothing; it's pretty standard. I ask for a loaner any time I drop the car off for service.

 

I ask for a loaner if its going to be longer than 2 hours! And get one!!
Guaranteed loaner if overnight.

 

Ok, but were your Minis in for routine stuff or were you having problems??

 

My 2016 MCS gets around 25MPG in MID(start/stop off) mode if I am being very delicate and constantly watch MPG on the main display. I might get over 26MPG with Green and using start/stop function. I mostly drive in the city such as 80-90% and maybe last 10% is the highway. Is this normal MPG for my driving?

 

New to me 2018 auto F56S after one tank I am only getting 24.5 mpg according to the instrumentation? Going to fill it up and do a manual calculation this weekend. On my 2013R56auto I was getting 36+ Any thoughts? as to why my MPG is so low. Thanks, Chris

 

I get 38mpg in my 2017 f55s with mostly highway driving. My guess would be that since you are not the first owner, did you reset the average MPG? Potentially the prior owner/s liked to pedal to the metal. Manual calculation will tell you for sure though.

 

how many miles are on the car?

 

I know this is years late, but I literally drive the 2015 S like I stole it all the time. I have a modded exhaust which means I run it up into 3-4K then let off for the burbles and pops, consistently hit triple digit speeds on short highway routes and sit at many red lights. I suspect that all of these drive gas mileage down. That being said, my 27-28 gas mileage has been great compared to previous cars I had owned.

my mom idled a lot. Had to let her car warm up before getting in the car when it was cold, etc. she sold the car shortly after because she definitely bought the wrong thing for her lifestyle.

 

60k