I was told our gas tank is NOT 13.1 gallons but 15.1 gallons and all the manuals are incorrect. All Coopers have the larger tank. Anyone else heard of this?

This is what the dealer told me today (Southbay).

 

I put 13.287 gallons in on my second fill-up with a 40 mile range on the computer and 38.1 mpg consumption.

My manual says 13.2 gallons including reserve so either it or the pump is wrong.

 

The manual is wrong and has been wrong since the R56 hit our (U.S.) shores.

Collectively, a handful of us did come to a mathematical conclusion then tank was in the neighborhood of 14.g U.S. gallons. This is the first I have heard anyone at any Mini place of business putting a number to it.

 

Me thinks someone at your dealer is smoking crack.

I can fit just over 14 gals while running on fumes, but that is because I'm also filling up the filler tube to the tank.

 

Maybe he's wrong about 15 gallons. 14 gallons sounds more like it. I've filled up and put in 13.1 gallons and the computer said I had another 56 miles. We only get 28MPG

 

13.2 is the "nominal capacity". You'll be able to stuff a little more than that, but you really don't want to depend too much on running 14 gallons (or whatever) between tankfills. (plenty of other threads, +1 on the dealer being wrong)

The "reserve" is really the last two carrots. It doesn't include any additional expansion space, pipes, airspace that you manage to fill with extra gas.

 

When we go to the dealer I'll ask to see the factory bulletin and let everyone know.

 

I put 13.3 gallons in the tank while the OBC said I still had 30 miles or so to go...and the fuel guage had just begun to flash. Anxious to learn if you can get confirmation from Southbay, otherwise I'll never be comfortable to run it down so low again.

 

This will help: MINI's Get Larger Tanks in the US (MotoringFile)

 

[never mind]

 

Yup. Stuck 13.8 gals in the tank with about 14 miles left on my OBC. Nice filler neck w/ almost 1 gal capacity!

 

I stuffed 13.6gal in my last tank... pretty much up the filler tube. OBC said something like 38 miles left. One carrot was left, no flashing. Before that, about 12.8-13gal, two carrots left... about 65miles on OBC...

My thinking, don't drive too far on one carrot if you are not planning to fill up soon or are not near a station.... at two carrots, you really may want to think about stopping if you really gotta get someplace...

So go ahead, plan ahead- fill up if you are on your way to an important meeting or job interview...got an flight to catch... maybe even the night before... yada yada yada...

 

So, with 2 candy corns left, there is about 1 gallon of gas left in the tank. So the OBC must really be screwed up. Because I am consistently showing about 80 miles left to drive at 2 candy corns.

And that is with an AVG of around 30MPG at that time.

 

I've used 9 tanks of fuel and am averaging 34.7 actual MPG in my MCS. OBC avg reading 36.6. So the OBC is 1.9 optimistic. I have put as much as 14 gal. in at on time. Unfortunately I don't have how many mile to go but the light was flashing.

All in all not bad one tank even includes about 45 minutes of track time. I think I still got 33 mpg actual.

 

I just wanted to add to this thread. I just filled up the MCS for the first time today. The light did come on and the range said I had 34 miles left to go. I had one 'carrot' light left. Pump read 13.4 gallons. Odometer read 452 miles. So, 452/13 = 34 mpg. Computer said 35.8 mpg. I'm guessin I had less than a gallon left in the tank. So the tank must be bigger than 13.2. I don't really care. As long as I can go 450 miles on a tank, that is awesome. That's two weeks of driving back and forth to work for me!