Hello yall. i am glad the gas threads are fun to read and so many people have much to comment but i've noticed how fluctuating it is per mini. after reading other peoples post, i come to wonder, what type of modification made you notice a significant change in the gas mpg.... what would you suggest to modify to better the gas mpg and also what would you not do (mod) if you want to save gas....

on my 06 mini s, i only change the cai so far and there is a difference. what should i do next? my game is to better my mpg with added power.

thanks for your input and lets keep our mini nation united with liberty, justice and maximum mpg for all.

 

kinda ironic for a guy with a name ASK not to search ASK.com for
info on MINI's. jk

my 15% s/c pulley made a decent improvement on milage.

 

The biggest improvement will come when you trade your MCS in for a MC...lol... The John Cooper Works (JCW) sound-kit on the MC is supposed to boost mpg by 1 or 2. Not sure what the JCW offerings on the MCS provide, my understanding is that most of them reduce mpg but provide better performance. Kind of curious why you would go with the MCS if the mpg is an issue since the MC gets so much better gas mileage. It's one of the reasons (though certainly not the only reason) that I went with the MC and skipped the supercharger etc.

 

I believe a performance exhaust system would probably help. For me it should probably be a throttle stop. If I could only use half throttle my mileage would surely improve. As you can see from all the mileage posts it's most likely the driver that's the big variable here.

 

thats for the sarcasm and your thoughts. wont take it likely.
i wanted the power with the savings of the fuel. when i had my 89 civic si in 89, i got it up to 150hp with about 40miles to the gallon. i am trying to achieve the same and thought some of the guys here already established what others are thinking of. if you cant help, dont try. at least try than you will get some praisal not be-littleing your own character.
thanks guys, pulley and an exhaust it shall be next.

 

Well...the words "performance" and "fuel economy" don't exactly go hand in hand. Anything you do to make the car faster, you're going to drive it faster. Which means you're mashing the pedal. Which means lower gas mileage. So, either make it faster, or use the pedal lightly.

 

Boost gauge. You can watch the gauge and see when you're using gas (boost) and when you're not (negative boost). I found it interesting that we could drive 80 mph across Nevada and the boost gauge would just sit at -20.

Just say off the go pedal. (I'm sure you already knew that)

 

If you can do an ECU, intake and exhaust without changing driving habits you should have a decent increase. Remeber though there is more to it htna just how much you can squeeze out of a tank. I average 29 mpg, and mash the throttle quite often, when I back off I'm up over 35 in the mountains with an extra 500lbs of randomness in the rear (moving cross country). I've also seen milage improve as I rack up the miles, just from everything settling in better.

But far more important is the Smiles per gallon, which does indeed require a sense of humor.

 

I've always found the whole horse power thing to be more alchemy than anything else. (I have yet to discover a single horse under the hood of any automobile). And meanwhile there are so many reasons for the number to be manipulated that it becomes almost meaningless. One car is quicker than another car, or one car is faster than another car.... those are meaningful measurements of performance. All the HP and torque stuff is just noise meant to part a car enthusiast with his money. Incidentally, in some parts of the world (read Europe) the HP is intentionally understated in order to evade taxes. In any case, if you increased mpg to 40 while boosting HP to the 150 range on your Civic there are only 2 explanations: either the horses were mythical or you were measuring MPG using Imperial gallons after the upgrade.

 

I am yet to experience 40MP(US)Gallon in/on anything I have ever owned.

Even back in the UK, my father's Renault Clio which is supposed to be capable of 44MPG managed 36 when I borrowed it for a week in 2003.

When I researched the MINI, the S's poor fuel economy was not a concern of mine, I expected mid 20's and thats pretty much what I get. In order to get to 40MPG you have got to make it ~60% more efficient or so. Something that I really cannot see happening. Not only that, you need to resist the temptation to use that extra efficiency / power.

So, you are looking to improve the efficiency, traditional rule apply here

Better flowing everything - so thats intake, filter, head work, manifolds (in and out), high flow cat perhaps and a lower backpressure cat-back.

Based on my previous experience this will maybe give you an extra few MPG. But not the 15MPG that you are looking for.

So then you are looking at perhaps a reduction pulley, but again, while this helps power, on my car there was zero MPG change and I really do short-shift compared to stock.

How about a weight reduction ?

Lighter wheels than the ones on most S's will help, 10lbs reduction per wheel has a similar effect as dropping 250lbs off the weight of the car - or thereabouts. This can help your economy by a few more percent. Replacing the 17x7 Superlights with 15x6 gramlites (etc) will drop a massive amount of unsprung weight.

Thinner wheels / tires with lower rolling resistance will help, thats another couple of percent. Running stupidly high pressures will help too, but its, well, stupid

Replace bodywork with Carbon fibre. Glass can give away to Lexan, ditch the A/C, reduce the Electrical load too. If you have the sunroof, get rid of that, rivet in some alloy panels or more lexan.

Do all of the above and I would estimate that you could be in the mid 30's, maybe better. But the cost of those mods will outweigh the cost of the gas used unless you are driving tens of thousands of mile / year, not to mention the comfort factor.

obviously YMMV

 

i dont know if everybody bought the mini s for the speed or pressing the medal every chance you get but i got it for the sake of the mini and to modify for the sake of others when needed. just because you own a gun doesn't mean you gonna shoot everything that moves but its good to know you have one. i like to mod to conserve gas and attribute some power to use when needed, civics, integra, subaru, etc., and you all know what im talking about, to show mini's are not to be taken likely. i am a salesman and the cost of gas effects dearly so i ask politely for advice from other mature enthusiast to point me to the right directions. so far things i've read are all true not to mention lightening my feet off the pedal, but beyond the norm thinking, if practical and realistic opinions will be much appreciative.

bigpmj, thanks but no help. i wish you luck from the cops. dont be pushing your mini too much or deeper thinking when writing would be helpful.

mitchmn, motor on, maxN, thanks for your thought. i appreciate your opinion and advise. my knowledge has broaden, thanks guys.

princeofwaldo, thanks but i think your just a prankster or just a waldo. j/k

all information is important if you can discern from worthy or unworthy information.

 

One other approach is to lose weight on the car. When I lost the factory S-lites for SSR Comps, my mileage went up by 2 mpg (on both city and highway driving). (Going to the SSRs lost a phantom passenger (~80 lbs) that was riding around with me all the time....) And I did the calculated check before and after (and I used the same gas pump and route to test the mileage before and after). I am now thinking of losing the rear seat, which should get me another 1 mpg (on the theory that non-rotational mass has less of a load on the drivetrain).

One other comment about the impact on mileage of s/c reduction pulleys: if you can resist the urge to mash the go pedal after the s/c pulley is on the engine, you should be able to improve your mileage due to the original (pre-s/c reduction pulley install) power curve being shifted to lower rpms. I have noticed that where I would originally (before adding the s/c reduction pulley) be shifting at around 5,000 to 6,000 rpm, I now (after 17% s/c reduction pulley install) am shifting around 4,000 to 5,000 rpm. I haven't done a calculated mileage check as yet, so I may just be blowing smoke; but the theory sounds good.

But even if the theory about mileage improvement after s/c reduction pulley due to not needing to wind the engine out as much holds, there still is a risk of reduced mileage from other power-adding mods - cylinder head swap with larger injectors... definite mileage hit there.... Oh well, when you play, be prepared to pay....

Good luck on your quest for mileage and power.

Oh, and when I had a 1978 Diesel Rabbit (in another life), I routinely got 52 mpg on the highway (and 45 mpg in stop and go city driving). Acceleration wasn't too hot; but mileage was the best!

 

I had a diesel Jetta that got in the 50mpg range. Smelly thing.
From all I've read, the engine power and your mileage can increase by changing to a cold air intake - just yesterday I was on the Alta site checking it out. Seems to make sense; eliminate or heavily reduce the hot engine air from entering your supercharger and you will improve performance/efficiency.
The question is will it void a warranty. That's why I haven't done it - yet.