I might be aquiring the wife's 2006 MCS (manual) as my daily driver and am wondering if anybody's had any significant success in improving their mpg with any basic mods - I'm thinking at the very least I'd like to try an Alta (or K&N) air intake, but don't want to change anything if results are negligible.

Thanks!
Greg

 

don't change anything, its 100% driving habit
I got 39.15 in my MCS during MTTS, with a 19% jcw 380 injectors and GIAC flash. Yesterday on the track, I got a little better than 8 MPG. If anything, I would think about selecting a tire that is not summer performance, that will help you with better rolling resistance. Intakes don't do anything, mine is stock. I had a oneball at the time, but I don't think that has helped or hurt my economy. Over the 26000+ miles ive driven this year, my avg MPG is 28.57, including 6 track events where those numbers (below 10 mpg) are averaged in. (all calculations, not what the OBC says, becuase that reads 36.5 mpg)

 

To add to this racers state for every 10lbs lost you gain 1hp and if your not racing around better mpg. So buck for buck a diet is by far the cheapest mod that really works. Rear seat delete kit could also help in this along with lighter rims thinner tires.

 

I dunno, i added a Dinan CAI, Dinan stage 3 ecu, and noticed that if i drive it like it wants to be driven (fast n fun) then my mileage suffers (18-19 city, 23 highway) but if i drive it with MPG in mind, i have no problem getting 30-40 on the highway (even got 51 MPG on a recent trip down to San Jose, doing 55 3 lengths behind a semi). When gas was cheap and I had a v8 thunderbird, i swapped out the mufflers for flowmasters and did a K&N and went from 150 / tank to over 300 / tank. let me know if this is wrong, but doing a CAI and exhaust, from my understanding, just helps breathing, so more power when you need it, and better economy when you try n drive for it.

 

+1 for removing weight to get better mpg

 

I'm pretty consistantly in the low 30's on my '05 MCS. Tops was about 34 mpg during this past summer. I find that shifting at 3000 rpms really seems to work for me although I loving stepping on it and hitting the ocassional 5500 rpm zone... especially going uphill and gaining speed here in NY on the Palisades Parkway, west of the Bear Mt Bridge.
I'm the Hyper Blue/Black streak going by. ;-)

On the Green Side, I'd like to get my hands on one of the 500 ALL electric MINIs soon to be released.

 

I recognize the pic in your signature....you were at Prestige today...I was sitting on the bench when you pulled out...I'm thinking you got washed just before I did.

 

Yes, that was me! lol. Nice to see some locals here on NAM. :-)
I was wearing my MC2 Magazine Charter member t-shirt had my MINI lanyard around my neck with the IBM badge... Yes, I'm a MINI nerd. :-) It's Friday.
My brother in law is getting his Mellow Yellow/Black MC at the end of this month and one of my co-workers at the IBM site I work at is picking up his MCS soon, too. I'm proud to say I've convinced a few peeps that the MINI is one amazingly fun car.

 

Adding an intake or exhaust works for some and doesn't work for others, I happen to be one of the former. I posted this following reply in another thread(https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=152014) regarding the same subject a little while ago:

8/30/08

"I installed my Madness CAI and Cowl mod about a month ago and I'm happy with it so far. I'm kinda new at modding too(bolt-ons are my experience as well) but for some reason I'm entranced by Madness' products even though I've checked out a lot of the competition(I know they're might be some naysayers but oh well I'm happy so far). I've noticed just that little bit extra when I push the pedal and I've noticed a somewhat slight MPG increase(but then again, I'm content to drive easy and push it occasionally as opposed to the other way around) since before I'd be happy if I hit 350 miles to a tank where as now I'm hitting 360 at the least most! I didn't have a prob with the cowl mod, I mean I could've punctured a hole in the old one but... eh... it just looks more professional the way it came. In this case, whatever floats your boat.

I'm thinking about getting next either the 15% pulley they have plus the new sparks or getting new non-run flat tires, switching over to 205/50's from my 195/55's. For me they'd run similar prices since I'd be taking them to shops to get them installed(DIY'ing the pulley seems a little too technical and dangerous for me since I don't have the tools). *sigh* ...decisions ."

 

+1 driving style
I average 24 mpg and drive hard, I don't worry too much about gas, because I enjoy driving like I do and as far as saving money, I save it elsewhere. but when I tried to get good mileage and there wasn't traffic I was able to get 40 mpg getting home from my girlfriend's (about 3-4 miles away. no highway, not backroads... not downtown, but not quite suburbs, but for the sake of simplicity, it's suburban driving)
I would coast in neutral when I was a red light. I went through 6 intersections with lights (I turned at two of them), but I timed all of them, so I didn't stop or get below 15 mph (there was NO traffic- almost 2 am) I was in neutral almost half the time.
I've noticed that the best consistent mileage (w/o a draft) I have been able to get is 45 mph at 42 mph in 5th gear.
I also have two theories for mileage.
1) accelerate very hard -rev it to about 5k in 1st gear, then use second to get to 10 mph above the speed you will be cruising at (you get the best mileage by sticking to the speed limit-most of the time) then put it in neutral and coast down to cruising speed, then put it in gear to maintain it- my method of thinking is, under the hard acceleration you can get to the speed you will be traveling at in a shorter period of time here's an example:
accelerate from 0 to 50 in 7 seconds averaging 3-4 mpg
coast from 50-42 in 10 seconds averaging well over 100 mpg (according to my MINI's comuter)
average the mileage and it's (guestimating) probably around 60 mpg, and then you're cruising at 42 mph at 45 mpg.
REMEMBER THIS IS JUST MY THEORY, and I suspect it would also cause extra wear on the car, and attract cops
along with this theory, is brake usage. the more time you can spend in neutral, coasting toward a light (getting off the gas as early as possible when approaching a red light (not recommended with a large truck trying to go 15 over the speed limit) and just letting it coast down to 20 mph or less
THEORY 2) adding mods that give you more low-end torque allowing you to go into a higher gear sooner-behing this theory is my friend's '06 Pontiac GTO w/ automatic trans.- it has 4 gears and when it's under average driver acceleration it shifts into 4th gear at 35-40 mph AROUND 1200 rpms, if I remember correctly!!!

also light rims and non-run flat tires can drop off 25-50 lbs of unsprung weight (mostly dependent in wheel choice) increasing acceleration, handling, ride comfort, and looks (usually)
although the rims that can save you that much weight cost much more than the gas you'll be saving
from what I can understand about run-flat tires, the actual weight of the sitting tire is basically the same as a regular tire, but there is more weight around the outside edge which increases rotational mass making them slower the begin rotating, and harder to stop-- that's my understanding of it