We just got our MINI last thursday, and we love it. It is my wifes car and she isn't good at sharing it yet (but I did get to take it to work today). She got gas for the first time yesterday, reset the trip ODO and I can do the math to get the miles per tank (335, but she forgot to keep the slip with how many gallons she put in the tank.... I know it had the light on to say "feed me" and she said it was on E when she filled it up....

So here is my question:
How many gallons fill a tank from dry to full?
How many gallons fill a tank from E to full (thinking E isn't quite empty)?
How many gallons are still in it when the light comes on (reserve size)?

I don't have the manual as the wife has it to read, so I couln't look it up....

Also what does everyone get for an average first tank, and will that be better, worse, or indifferent from the normal? We drove this tank home from Boston on the highway, and then it has been all urban driving since then....

I am guessing she put in about 11 gallons which would make it just over 30mpg. I was expecting better, but this is still OK I guess.

Thanks for the help!

Ben

 

I don't have the details in front of my so I'll let someone else fill in the correct numbers about the size of the tank. I will tell you that your MPG numbers are probably going to get worse... especially after you get past the break-in miles. More revs = more fun = worse mileage.
Congrats on your (her) new MINI. You're going to love it!
Wings

 

It's usually about 10-11 gallons if I fill up when it hits the red line. Seen 12-13 gallons when computer says 13 miles left.

R

 

Can't comment on the fuel economy until you tell us whether you have the Cooper or the S.

 

Tank is 50 litres = 13.2 US Gallons.

 

Anyone been told (like us) via their mechanic that letting the tank fall below 1/4 full means the fuel system/pump is over-working & will deteriorate faster?

Are those old Edie Brickell sketches there, chrisnl? :smile:

-s.b.

_________________
MINI: The best horse for the buck!

 

Chrisnl, It is a cooper, but isn't the tank the same size??? I know the economy will be different on each... and I know it will be worse when I get to drive it and when the break in is over...

My real question is the size of the tank, so thank you DTI with the 13.2

Ben

 

I usually fill up at a bit less than quarter. I've actually only driven it 'til the light turned on once. I think it's about 11 gallons from light turn-on to Full.

 

If you got 30 mpg or better on a tank that included a bunch of urban driving, it sounds like you got one of the more fuel efficient Coopers (there is wide discrepancy amongst reported mpg numbers on this site). I drive a Cooper and can't can't better than 20 mpg in the city.

>>Are those old Edie Brickell sketches there, chrisnl? :smile:

No, but they do certainly look like it! That is a BOOGNISH, sort of the mascot for my favorite band, Ween (as MCO member boognish could surely tell you!).

 

I've found my fuel economy steadily improving since I got it. It should get better after break-in. A couple of other things I've noticed is that it likes warmer weather for economy (temps in the 80s), but hot weather (mid 90s and up) sends economy back down. It wasn't really broken in during winter, so I am not sure how much it hates cold. And there was one trip where I was in a headwind for 200 miles and it was like driving a SUV, just watching the needle plummet. It LOVES high altitude. Of course, the harder I drive it, the worse it does, but I'm not really hard on it.

 

As stated, tank is 13.2 gallons. Now, your trip ODO will give you a different reading after you fill up depending on if you're in the city or travelling along the highway and fill up because it's going off of an assumption of your driving habits and constantly changing it's numbers to give you the best idea (hence the numbers drop upon acceleration from a stop but increase once you hit a more normal speed).

The reserve tank is 2.1 gallons.

I (not on purpose) seem to routinely drop to about under 10 miles left according to the computer before I fill up. Once it got down to zero but I still don't think I was on the reserve tank. Whenever I fill up from this point, I get close to 13 gallons in the tank.

haf :smile:

 

>>As stated, tank is 13.2 gallons.

>>The reserve tank is 2.1 gallons.
>>


Just curious....Is that reserve tank IN ADDITION to the 13.2 gallon tank, so that we have 15.3 gallon capacity total?? Although, I don't personally plan on testing it and won't go below one-quarter tank again unless by mistake.

 

13 point what? I always put in more than 13 gal. The most I've ever put in was just the other day at over 13.4 gal. And no, I'm not going to the same crooked gas station every time. The way I understand it is that the tank is 13.2 + 2.1 gal.

 

>>>>As stated, tank is 13.2 gallons.
>>
>>>>The reserve tank is 2.1 gallons.
>>>>
>>
>>
>>Just curious....Is that reserve tank IN ADDITION to the 13.2 gallon tank, so that we have 15.3 gallon capacity total?? Although, I don't personally plan on testing it and won't go below one-quarter tank again unless by mistake.
>>


Yeah, very very good question.. I never have seen a solid answer for this.

 

>>Can't comment on the fuel economy until you tell us whether you have the Cooper or the S.>>>>

It's DEFINITELY a COOPER if they went 335 miles with it!!!

I before the pulley I usually went 210-220 miles. The most was about 240-something. SInce the pulley I prob average 240-250 miles and I've done 290+ once. I try to get gas BEFORE the reserve light comes on however. I believe the MINI holds 12 point something gallons in all.

I thought I read somewhere that there are TWO gallons when the light comes on. Remember, those are two dirtier gallons. Not what you want to feed your MINI on a regular basis.

And you're not happy with averaging over 30 mpg? How many cars average that combined highway AND city? Not many. And the ones that do are the world's ugliest cars! And they don't have neat, expensive options like we do - and they aren't as quick or superb handling cars are they?

I'm ok now...sorry about that...

 

I have pumped 14 gallons into my baby heh yes the gausge read VERY low hehehe

 

>>13 point what? I always put in more than 13 gal. The most I've ever put in was just the other day at over 13.4 gal. And no, I'm not going to the same crooked gas station every time. The way I understand it is that the tank is 13.2 + 2.1 gal.

I don't doubt that you can get more than 13 gal in the tank but it must be very dry when you do so or you have a very different tank than I do. I have recorded the remaining fuel in the tank twice (no seperate reserve tank by the way, same tank) when the light came on and got 7.6 Liters both times. The Manuel says it is a 50 Liter (13.2 gal) tank with 8 Liters (2.1 gal) remaining when the light comes on. The most that I have been able to get in the tank was 11.381 gal from the light, this would give a total in the tank of 13.4 including the remaining fuel after the light came on. On that occassion I could see gas in the fill pipe and it was slowly spilling out. :smile:

 

I think that the old addage is true here...

It's not how big it is, but how you use it that matters

 

I am certain the tank capacity is 13.2 gallons total, not 13.2 + 2.1 =15.3.

I have driven the car (a Cooper) until the fuel gauge needle is almost touching the lit-up LED warning bar, the computer's range readout says I can go 19 more miles, and the most I ever pumped into the tank was 12.2 gallons.

I think if you are showing 13.5 or more gallons on a fillup you might want to have the state check the pump for bad/cheating calibration. This is more common than you think. With my last car, a Honda Civic, there was one pump at a city gas station that would routinely show I was putting 11 or 11.5 gallons into what I knew was a not-quite-dry 10-gallon tank.

As for mileage: I am getting about 29 mpg in mostly city driving. The trip computer underreports actual mileage by 1 or 2 mpg. It has been 90-95 degrees in Seattle this week and mileage has definitely taken a hit, down 2 or 3 mpg, even given that I'm sitting in more traffic backups. Also, if I thrash the car a little and wind it out the mileage drops to 23 or so straight away.

The furthest I've driven on one tank has been about 340 miles. If I were taking a long-distance highway cruise at a constant speed the evidence suggests I could easily top 400 miles per tank.

 

..yeah, 210mi on my cooper s, pretty much 😭 maybe 250 if I could resist putting the foot down. The gurl sure does burn rich! ...so hang on a second here.... you’re telling me a reduction pulley actually INCREASED your R53’s range??

 

Zombie thread from 16 years ago, don't hold your breath for an answer.