When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Almost always drive in sport mode ... no eco for me!
Thanks very much.
I've a theory that says that with the B48 JCW, particularly the short final drive, we're not likely to see anyone with a sum of speed & mileage that exceeds 70. Perhaps that is not true! Your mileage is impressive!
Charlie I am posting just to see how this plays out. However I will say that I wish my R56 S with a lot less HP was doing as well as your JCWs. BMW seems to have done well that engine.
Trouble1943, you are reporting a factory built JCW with the B48 engine, right? That's terrific mileage. How do you do it I wonder?
Cheers,
Charlie
At age 74, I decided I wanted one last sports car (in a line of many). Due to arthritic knees and back issues, I was forced to eliminate from consideration the Miata, FRS, BRZ, Toyota 88 and others. After perusing this forum and others, I test drove a JCW and found instant love. Would have loved a manual, but knees eliminated that option, so I went with the auto with paddle shifters (an option that bears testing).
When my Mini arrived, I added the JCW Pro exhaust and had the car ceramic coated. At age 74, odds are this will be my last car and I need it to last the next 20 years.
Now to the mileage. Being retired, I go places when and where I want. So I am able to avoid rush hour traffic and other gas eaters. I tend to drive around town in mid mode unless I'm on a street without a lot of stops. Then I go to green mode, which allows me to coast with engine at idle rpm. Also green mode on highways. Once a week or so, I go to my favorite 4 miles of twisties and go to sport mode and manual shift and have an hour or so of fun. By and large, I shift (or let the car shift) between 3500--4000 rpm in normal driving. The twisties get 5000--5500. I've red-lined the car once, to get past a semi that suddenly desired my lane.
I also run my tires at 42 front and 38 rear which helps a lot with gas mileage. Oil and filter change every 5000....every 10000 in my opinion is penny wise and pound foolish.
At age 74, I decided I wanted one last sports car (in a line of many). Due to arthritic knees and back issues, I was forced to eliminate from consideration the Miata, FRS, BRZ, Toyota 88 and others. After perusing this forum and others, I test drove a JCW and found instant love. Would have loved a manual, but knees eliminated that option, so I went with the auto with paddle shifters (an option that bears testing).
When my Mini arrived, I added the JCW Pro exhaust and had the car ceramic coated. At age 74, odds are this will be my last car and I need it to last the next 20 years.
Now to the mileage. Being retired, I go places when and where I want. So I am able to avoid rush hour traffic and other gas eaters. I tend to drive around town in mid mode unless I'm on a street without a lot of stops. Then I go to green mode, which allows me to coast with engine at idle rpm. Also green mode on highways. Once a week or so, I go to my favorite 4 miles of twisties and go to sport mode and manual shift and have an hour or so of fun. By and large, I shift (or let the car shift) between 3500--4000 rpm in normal driving. The twisties get 5000--5500. I've red-lined the car once, to get past a semi that suddenly desired my lane.
I also run my tires at 42 front and 38 rear which helps a lot with gas mileage. Oil and filter change every 5000....every 10000 in my opinion is penny wise and pound foolish.
Well that's a delightful and complete explanation. I salute you sir, and all who resemble you!
I do suspect that the automatic (e.g. paddle) transmission has more that 6 gears, and the final drive ratio may also differ. This might account for trouble1943 being a bit of an outlier - hard to find the specs for the automatic.
Here's the manual tranny, for your dining and dancing pleasure.
Mine are the worst so far haha, but I haven't reset anything since I got it.
Mileage -> 23.2
Speed -> 21.4
Then yours is probably the most accurate for your style of driving.
In reality, the mpg/speed computers use some sort of average based on the last 1,000 miles or 3 or 4 fill-ups. They are usually at least 1-3mpg optimistic - your true mpg will be less than shown.
The only meaningful way to judge mpg is over many miles - take a look at this:
which is mpg data from 21 cars over 274,000 miles.
The average speed data is even less meaningful. If I drive to Boston in rush-hour traffic, I'll see 15-20 mph average if I'm lucky. The same drive at 4am will show 50mph or better average.
Driving conditions (as well as driving styles) vary.
I was interested in getting a sense of my mileage. I reset everything and watched instant as well as the cumulative "average" readouts.
Here's what I learned. In town, stop and go, under 45 MPH, mileage drops A LOT. Mostly on the freeway/highway, few stops, steady speeds, easy throttle, mileage goes up through the roof. No surprises at all.
To glean some meaning from your data points, you need to factor in geography, type of driving (daily commute/grocery getting vs. road tripping vs. weekend rallies vs. single primary driver vs. teenage son gets to take the car out on dates, etc., etc., etc...
As my statistics professor loved to remind us, when Ivory Soap claims to be 99% pure, the first question to ask is, "99% pure what?"
One solid take away from what has been posted thus far is that, sadly, JCW drivers, like the rest of us, spend too much time driving our MINIs slower than we want to!!
Also, the Auto stop/start function screws with the readout.
I almost never use auto stop -- drives me crazy. But when I do use it, I notice my average mileage doesn't drop when I'm at a stop light if I do activate auto stop. The average mileage doesn't drop whilst I'm stopped at a red light with the engine off. Whereas the rapid rate at which the average mileage drops when the car is idling at a red light tells me I'm getting some questionable data from the average mileage readout.
