http://motoringfile.com/2007/05/20/m...ank-in-the-us/

"Here’s a little tidbit we had verified recently. The R56 Cooper gas tank is really 13.2 gallons for the US and Canada….the rest of the world gets the 10.6 gallon tank. Why? MINI USA isn’t entirely sure. For some unknown reason this change was done completely under the radar and not reflected in the official US specifications of the new car. So that means the first people to realize this discrepancy were dealers and owners, not MINI USA.
Upshot: 500+mile cruising range on the Cooper.
Downside…what downside?"

Written By: Gabe


Interesting. I just filled up with some shell v-power and it took 13.4 gallons or something, and that was with 2 bars [or as i call them, candy corns] left.

 

Interesting info...there is another thread on this.

 

thanks for the info -

 

that's a great info

 

This topic has come up before and I have heard of people putting in as much as 14 gal. at fill up.

 

I think the answer is simple math:

the tanks are the same size, the scale is different.

The R56 gas tank is 10.6 imperial gallons, which just happens to be about 13.2 US gallons.

(A US gallon is 3.78 liters and an imperial gallon is 4.77 liters). The British measure fluids in imperial gallons.

Probably why their gas seems so much more expensive than ours - ond their fuel economy MPG better

 

I put 13.8 gals in my MCS07 a couple weeks ago.

Randy

 

Miniusa has modified their website to reflect 13.2 gallons.

 

But they buy by the liter.

 

I'm guessing that the difference between 13.2 and "just over 14" is defined by the term nominal. The US Mini probably holds 13.2 gallons US nominal, and you can stuff over 14 in there. (We've done it several times.)

Fill one of those 5 or 6 gallon red plastic gas cans and they hold about 10% more if you fill it to the rim. You can get away with it if you are planning to use it right away. Otherwise, expansion in the tank (difference between fuel stored underground and above), causes overflow.

 

The the MCS being 13.2 imperial gallons would then be 15.85 US gallons. That's not what's being observed-only that MC and MCS have the same 13.2 gallon size tank.

 

There was some good prior discussion in this thread
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=94688

One thing I found was a neat picture showing why the stated capacity has a little bit more room
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1023120710.htm

 

I believe the tanks are the same size. Except for cases of different evaporative emissions regulations, it makes no economic sense to have different tank sizes according to market. British gallons are bigger than ours.

Try to find out if there is a difference in tank sizes in liters (though over there, they use 'litres').

I hope this does not lead to 'The Great Boston Petrol Party'.

 

According to the powers that be, the difference between imperial gallons and us gallons has no bearing on this discrepancy.

 

I just put 13.29 US gallons in my tank. I had one angry red bar on the gauge and the OBC reported 32 mls to empty. I wonder if we really got 13.2 Imperial Gallon tanks = 15.85 US Gallons? I've never had a car that didn't have some sort of reserve after the gauge reports being empty. In my last fill up, if I had another 32 mls to empty, that's another gallon, so 14.2 gallons with perhaps another 1.5 gallon reserve?

 

With room left over from where the spare tire would mount if the MCS had a spare tire, it makes sense that the MCS tank can be made bigger. Just like the MC tank is bigger than the claimed 10.6 gallons, I suspect the MCS tank is bigger than the claimed 13.2 gallons.

Several times I've filled my MCS tank with 2 bars still remaining and have surpassed the 13.2 gallon amount. More could be added yet but I never fill beyond where the pump clicks off. At first I believed there were some filling station pumps in need of calibration, but it's happened too often to believe that any more.

Although tha manual says the 2 gallon reserve is included in that 13.2 figure, I suspect the reserve is actually 2 gallons beyond that claimed 13.2. There are mistakes in the manual, I suspect this is one of them.