Good day everyone.

If a job offer falls through, I will be traveling 1 hour and 30 min everyday, two way trip with my mini cooper (non S). SO I wanted to gather all info i can to keep my car to such a condition where I will be saving as much gas that I can. Aside from, cruise control.

Are there any specifics? Do any of you do this or similar like this? If i can get some idea what i would be expecting for gas.

I had a TURBO PT once, and i did that just twice or three times a week, and the bill was 300...

I traveled once with my mini and boy it didn't even use quarter of the tank for the 1 and 30 min. But will i get this all the time?

Anywaya you guys thank you so much in advance

 

If you are talking about 1 hour, 30 minutes total (45 minutes each way), that's what I drive right now. It's 35 miles each way (mostly highway miles, around 20 miles spent driving 70-75 mph), and I get a little over 400 miles out of each tank of gas (I just changed my plugs and wires, so my mileage will increase a bit.) Hope that helps.

 

My wife Becky, drives 90 minutes each way to work, everyday. It's not in the Mini, but if your driving is almost all highway, without heavy traffic, you will get excellent gas mileage. On the highway, the Mini gets better mileage than the Element she drives to work. Mainly from aerodynamics.

My 06 JCW will get over 400 miles on a tank, if it's all highway and cruising.

 

Watch out for potholes, and cops

 

I drive 1.5 hrs round-trip (20 miles each way) and I get around 29 mpg in my MCS.

 

I drive 50 miles each way in my '06 non-s mostly highway and get about 36 MPG (AROUND 450 MILES ON A TANK). I try to keep it under 70 MPH...with the 5 speed it seems to suffer, I loose about 2-3 MPG at speeds higher then that

 

LOL! The MINI is more aerodynamic than SOMETHING!

 

About 1 hour each way with 60% hwy. I'm getting 41 mpg. Non-s clubbie. As for the comparison to the Element-nothing surprising there. The element is only rated at 25 mpg on the hwy and high teens during city driving. I would argue that you could get twice that with conservative driving(but even when I want to be conservative, I find a lapse in memory and somehow the sport button is on and the gas pedal is floored 0.o)

Edit: I stated 37mpg but that included city driving the rest of the time. So around 37 mpg on a total tank of 60/40 city/hwy miles

 

Change your oil regularly (best protection) and keep an eye on all fluid level.

 

x2

I drive 1 hour each way (if near the speed limits anyway) 35 miles 3/4 on the highway and 1/4 on surface streets. I average about 26mpg in an S with overdriven supercharger and crank pulleys and an occasionally (ok mostly) heavy right foot.

 

I don't know if the non-S runs on synthetic oil or not, but my S gets her oil changed every 6k miles.

As for what to do to make your car get the best mileage?

Tire Pressure.
Cruise Control @ 35/45/55/65 (w/e the speed limit).
Manual - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, then straight to 5th (for non-S).
If automatic, just engage the cruise and it'll shift up to 5th.
Carry the least on-board weight as possible.
Make sure sparks & wires are operating properly.

Without sparks/wires changed since I purchased the car over a year ago, I've seen my mpg meter soar all the way to 50mpg with cruise control on @ 35mph.

 

http://www.hypermiling.com/car-mpg.html

 

The website mentions holding down the 'accel' button on the cruise control in order to accelerate when you exceed 25mph. It says that it will slowly accelerate the car. Well... not in a Mini. If I hold down the 'accel' button, it floors it.

 

Not as fast as my flooring it! And not if you do it one mph by one mph

 

I tried hypermiling in my Mini.


lasted about a mile then I got hyper and floored it the rest of the way.

I was able to contain myself and use some of the techniques in my Golf (mainly not exceeding 2000 rpm unless on the highway then not exceeding 3000 rpm) I managed to get 670 miles out of 15.1 gallons of diesel.

The problem with some hypermiling techniques is that they can get you killed in a fit of road rage by the guy behind you

A point of note for R56 owners: turbos need to be spooled up into boost to live longer.

 

Are you in an area where you will be experiencing winter driving conditions?

 

Better than me, I haven't even thought about it! About the closest I've come is all the sudden I become really good at short shifting when the needle is below the empty mark and I don't know where a gas station is.

But really if you're spending that much time with your car enjoy it! There is a reason you skipped over the Honda Civic and Fit remember? Just stay on top of your routine maintenance (filters fluids rubbers [belts hoses tires]) and invest your focus into self preservation driving.

 

What I'd be looking for? Another cheap small car so I don't use up my Mini!

Some "hypermiling" techniques are unsafe, be careful. Accelerate briskly (not floored), get to cruising speed and use a light foot to keep you there. You can get better mileage than the cruise control since you can plan ahead for elevation changes (gain speed on downhills to use that momentum as you slow on uphills), and accelerate at a decent rate. Slow acceleration isn't necessarily best, since you're operating the engine inefficiently for longer - and that impatient guy behind you won't be pleased! Get to cruising speed and use as little throttle as possible to stay there.

I've got the OBC and it's GREAT for gaining mileage! Also, with the Alta intake I can hear a little whistle when I'm getting below 26MPG, so I've even got an audible alarm! (2006 S).

 

Not a bad idea. Get a used Honda. I've been wishing I had a cheap four-door car for work, as I have to carry two other people around from time to time. Oh, if only I had my way. :P

Car: $200-500
Insurance: $15-50/mo (basic minimum)
Fuel: ~$120/mo

 

I'd say watch out for all the cars around you. Lots of crazy commuters out there. Especially if your commute puts you on a truck route. I look for backroads with the fewest traffic lights and the least traffic. Even if the path is longer, you're driving a MINI , so that's fine.

 

Fatigue and unhappiness!!

I now drive (usually) just under an hour each way four days/week in heavy traffic. For a short time, many years ago, I drove about 1.5 hours each way. I thought that it would not be a problem -- I thought I could handle the additional time -- but the additional .5 hours each way was enough to make it a very unhappy journey.

After the first two weeks I was looking for another job closer to home. Found one in about three months, happily. I will never even look that far away again, unless I am desperate.

Over my working life -- 38 years so far -- I have found that under an hour commute (one way) is tolerable, but more than an hour quickly ramps up the unhappiness in my life.

I find that even on an especially bad traffic day, if my trip takes more than an hour (due to heavier than normal traffic or long delays) I start feeling much more unhappy than I do if I can make it home in under 60 minutes.

It might be just me. Of course, driving a MINI DOES help, and I didn't have a MINI when I had that extra long commute.

I wish you the best of luck and nothing but happy motoring. But if I were you, I would not put away the want ads just yet.

 

I travel about 52 miles each way 85% highway taking about an hour doing 70-75 on the highways. It's tolerable but the miles add up really quick. I've been driving my Toyota Tacoma w/ 33" tires and four cylinder automatic getting about 16 mpg and its killing me. I was taking the Mini but seeing the Miles pile up just makes me sick to my stomach....just not what I ever wanted to use that car for. So I'm hoping to pick up a little Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic and take the truck off the road at least then I won't care about the miles and i'll be getting 35+ mpg on the highway.

 

A thought - IF you're considering a commuter car, consider a reasonably priced Buick, Olds, or other GM car with their pushrod V6. Sounds crazy, but they're quiet, comfortable and can easily get 30+MPG. Yeah, the engine technology is oldschool, but it's darned efficient, clean - and pretty much invisible on the road (stealth technology!).

Do you have a mass transit option? It usually takes a little longer BUT you can get work/reading done on the way there and back - it frees up commute time since someone else is driving.

 

I travel 60-120 minutes each way from Katy to Houston, it's only 30 miles one way and lots of traffic, in my mcs I get 28.6 roughly and I end up filling up once a week @ 25-45$ a tank (2.10 now to almost 4.00 a few months back). What type of distance are you talking about?

 

OT $2.10 for 93? WOW