I love "energetic" driving. I have my favorite roads and curves that I go back to again and again for driving excitement. But, with gas prices where they are...I also need to get great mileage.

I get the best of both worlds with my MINI by balancing out the fun factor with some frugal motoring. Check out some tips: http://goo.gl/XkoqE

Thanks everyone.

John.

 

Good info but pretty much common sense. If I drive 'nice', I'll get around 34.5 mpg, if I drive a little mean, I get around 27-28 mpg.
Slowing and anticipating red lights will really save the brakes.
Jack rabbit take off's really suck the gas.

 

If you drive an R56 S the best thing for gas mileage you can do is stay out of boost. You can increase your mileage by 5 to 6 mpg on a tank.

 

But where's the fun in that?

 

^^^Porthos is so right. I don't goose it unless the road calls for it. What's the fun in racing from one light to the next? Turns and twisties, now that's another story.

 

I'm getting 26.5 mpg. Fast everywhere i go!

 

I agree with drsimmons...it's the twists and turns that are fun for me. I have a staple of fav curves, on- and off-ramps, and side roads that are a blast!

 

Twisties are even more fun when you're not just yanking the wheel left and right but accelerating fast out if a turn and anticipating the right time to brake. Doing it safely in public roads of course.

 

You can accelerate slowly, and still enjoy the MINI experience. I'm an R50 owner, I should know.

But yeah, I've found that there can be a balance. Not dragging from light to light - proves little. But when a nice S bend comes up (where I can safely see through it), my tires are scrubbing. Not driving fast all the time makes the spirited moments more sweet. Kind of like not eating steak every day makes it taste better.

 

When you are just cruising to and from work, why would you want to screw your mileage up?

 

BlackBomber and Porthos has the combination down!

 

I was being semi facetious, boost definitely is more fun, but seeing as I'm averaging about 31mpg, I'm not always in it. I'll also agree that the twisties are lots of fun, especially when you are in boost pulling out of the proper apex.

 

I like it fast. But enjoy my MPG.

 

did somebody say steak?

 

Any seat time behind the wheel of the MINI is play time for me. But...my commute to work consist of walking down a flight of stairs to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee while in my PJ's then walking down another flight of stairs to the basement in my office. I'm almost kinda jealous you guys have an excuse to drive your MINI every day.

 

Lets talk about being Jealous....Sounds like you can make excuses to be behind the wheel everyday. Sounds like you have most peoples dream job.

 

I'm jealous of the office big enough to have a basement in it.

"...to the basement in my office."

 

Meh part of my job requires me ti have people time so I have to commute . Kind of hard when you work in a hospital.

 

I'm a big fan of just putting along on a back road at low RPM and high gear.

Most of the miles on the car have come from that - far more than from racing or highway use.

It's good thinking time, and around here it is also great scenery.

I just did the Cape Ann loop, and caught what there was of a sunrise, and oversaw the loading of bait...

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Hi John! Great blog! Bookmarked for the future. It's fun to go a bit quick when accelerating, but also fun to get great mileage. I flip flop between the two. Some days I feel like jack rabbiting, especially if there is so souped up sports car next to me who doesn't expect it (since I'n really not that fast so if they expected it they would beat me) and some days I drive with one eye on the mpg to see how high it will go. Frugality wars with spirit, and both aspects of the car give me enjoyment. I do mostly city driving, short trips (I also work at home) so my general mpg is 31 as calculated by the car. On a long trip we got close to 40. Winnie is a Justa and automatic. The manuals get better mileage of course. Thank you for the tips.

 

Im picking up my 04 MCSm with 50k miles on wednesday. Currently i drive an aged acura integra that gets around 22-26mpg from highway use. Im really curious to see how the S will handle its fuel consumption.

 

Ok. so this past week I've been more fuel-conscious. And I got 504 miles out of one tank of gas! http://goo.gl/DcLSH I LOVE my MINI.