I purchase my 2009 JCW used with 1100 mi on it. I didn't know that it's suggested that you use premium gas till purchased , and that's what I've done the last year. It cost me $47.00 to fill up yesterday. Even with good milage that's no economy car. Now I of course didn't buy it for that reason
but it's getting crazy again. Has anyone been running with regular, if so had you had problems ?
Thanks
Jerry

 

Jerry,

You don't want to go there. Regular gas is not recommended, the risk of engine damage is far worse than the few $ you would save in gas prices; not to mention that your "performance" would suffer as well.

 

I agree with bigsoup on this, but yes, some have been running regular gas. I don't remember if any JCW owners admitted to running regular though. Search "use regular gas" and read a while.

 

Just think about the poor sap pulling up to the pump in his Chevy Suburban (10 mpg city) with its 39 gal capacity tank...

The available data seem to show that (as of yesterday) premium gas is, on average, running about 30 cents more per gallon than regular. Even if its 40 cents more in your particular area, if you're filling your tank from near empty that means it's costing you less than $5 extra for the fill up. About the cost of a deluxe burger at your local fast food joint. And I trust you are not needing to fill up every day.

Your MINI will be much happier with the higher octane fuel, both in the near- and far-term. Do yourself a favor and make the investment.

 

Stick with the premium. It's not worth the risk. You are better off driving more moderately than cutting back on octane. I'm averaging 28 mpg (mostly city) right now using the skip shift method. 1-3-6 shifting at about 3k.

 

My Mini has been in for some warranty work, enterprise rent a car, rented me a Suburban. I've only been adding $10 to $20 at a time, so I can return it empty. 5 times, I have added fuel. I want my Mini back!

 

That makes absolutely no sense. So if your car only had a 2 gallon tank and it cost $7.50 to fill up, would it then be an economy car?

(the JCW costs too much to be considered an economy car but I don't think cost of the car is what your were referring to)

I consistently get 31-33 mpg in my 09 JCW. My best tank with mostly highway was 35mpg (manually calculated).


Show me another car with more than 200hp that gets that kind of gas mileage.

 

I think the "justa-coopers" have a better chance of little harm done if regular fuel is used, my manual says the lowest that should be used is 89, while 91 and up is preferred. Personally, I've only used 93 octane since I've had my 2011. I DEFINITELY would not think to put regular in a JCW, your owners manual will support. The gas requirements go up as you go up in models, i.e. in the owners manual for even just the "S", it'll have a higher octane requirement than the that for the "justa-coopers"

 

The incremental cost of premium over regular is about 20 cents @ gallon for me. What's that for 12 gallons? $2.50 or so??

I wince at the pump too. However, the issue is not premium, it's more fundamental than that. Fuel has become expensive-regular included.

It would cost a lot more to fill up practically anything else even with regular because most cars take lots more gallons than a Mini--and don't go as far.

 

The cost to fill the tank has absolutely ZERO to do with your Mini being an economy car. What the car does with said fuel after you put it in the tank determines whether or not the vehicle is economical. If that $47 gets you 150 miles then you're in trouble. If instead it gets you around 350 to 400, I'd say things are looking pretty darn good.

 

Great...you're in the wrong section and you're complaining about MPG in a MINI...I am glad that the rest of your personal and business life is OK!

 

In my volvo I use to put prem and reg. The car would get better mpg with the prem. It was a turbo. Put prem in the car and if you are hurting from gas prices do what I did and "hedge" yourself against higher prices like airlines do.

Everyday I pay more at the pump but make lots more with one simple little investment;$.

That would be another topic though.

I was so happy paying $1.65 gallon a year + ago. But we all knew that wasn't goin to be forever.

Prem prices always look worse but are not that hard to justify when fillin up a small tank

 

I just put $53 in my JCW Clubman and it was not even on empty. Hawaii gas prices are among the highest. $4.75 at the Chevron for premium where I live. The diffence between regular and premium is a "VENTI" at Starbucks or a pack of "Smokes". I quit smoking years ago so - cut back on how many starbucks - have. The way I drive I drive stll get 29.5 per gallon and that's with the sport mode on most of the time. With all the money we actually waste on "STUFF" we can get by without. Premium in a sports car is no place to do withhout. I you complain about putting in premium. "DON'T BUY A SPORTS CAR". Buy a Prius!!

 

Wow, 30MPG isn't "economy" anymore? My M3 gets 15MPG...and costs $145 to fill up...every 3 days...

 

The more expensive gas gets, the less I worry about the cost difference between regular and premium:



See those prices? Now I'm paying almost exactly twice as much, but at most stations I go to, the grade-to-grade price differential is still the same - ten cents.

I could understand balking at paying eighty cents a gallon for premium back when regular was only 60 cents, but not now. At 15,000 miles a year and 25 MPG, the difference between buying premium and mid-grade is a whopping $60/year, so I really can't get too worked up about it.

 

This logic helps put things in perspective nicely.

 

I remember filling up my Metro with a $10 and getting change back...

 

Still filling my JCW for 20$ ..

 

Really??

Who's to blame for high gas prices? Your country! OPEC can go to hell!

 

I don't think 93 octane is available in San Diego, is it? I'm paying about $4.30 for "premium" here which is 91 octane.

 

I stopped paying attention to gas prices because, no matter what, I will continue to need it to drive my car. I just know that my JCW likes premium gas, and I have loads of fun when driving it around. And like what was said before, the cost of a new engine is astronomical compared to what you will save by buying cheaper gas.

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