Gas makes car go so I put it in. Plain and simple.

 

I don't expect my to change much. My current vehicle gets about the same mileage I expect my MCS to achieve once broken in. In our area Premium is .20 cents more per gallon and sometime less when regular unleaded spikes up, so having to put in premium is really only a $2.66 increase in cost per tank (MINI tank =13.3 gallons - I believe).

Regards
-Randy

 

I put approx 10,000 miles a year on my Mini so it only costs an extra $80 a year to use premium (which makes it really not worth fretting over )

 

You are probably going to be told that the MINI is designed to run on premium so just do what the book says and hang the cost.

If you use mid-grade, or even regular, it is unlikely you will notice a difference. I have used mid-grade, 89 octane, and noticed no difference in performance or economy. The MINI is designed to run on anything from about 87 octane to 98 octane. The ECU will adjust the timing to prevent harmful detonation. This reduction in timing might or might not be enough for you to notice a difference, depending on how closely you observe how your MINI performs, how much of an octane change you have done, and how you drive your MINI.

It's not gonna tear up because you don't use exactly 93, (or is it 91?) octane gas. If you switch grades of gasoline it takes a while to really tell whether your economy or performance has been effected, for better or worse. There are some owners who say they no longer have stalling or hesitation problems after they switched to a slightly lower octane fuel.

Also, someone is going to say do a search because this has been discussed at great lengths....which it has.

I just wanted an opportunity to state my minority opinion again to see if I can get some heated responses.

 

I went from a SUV to the MINI, so even at the price of premium I am not spending as much to fill it. I could save even more if I would drive less enthusiastically but that is no fun.

 

When ya put it that way, it doesn't sound like much at all!! Good, I like it. Case closed!

 

Its simple! Just get free gas! I carry a hose in my car and when im running low I just find one of those cars that dont have the locking gas covers! ................Of course I am kidding! Im bored at work! Since I dont have a MINI yet (ordering this weekend! ) I hope the happines I get from the car will overcome the cost of premium!

 

The difference in premium and regular is .20 here. That means if regular is 2.60 and premium is 2.80, the difference is about 9%. So if I would have spent $100 in a month on regular, I now spend $109 on premium. Not a big deal, really.

I usually average about 30 MPG in my Cooper. So I am spending about the same as somebody driving a car that takes regular that gets 27 MPG. Anybody driving a car that gets less than 27 MPG is spending more on gas than me, even if it takes regular. Not too shabby.

 

it can make all the difference. Here in CA, we get crappy 91 octane for premium. If you floor it with that, you do get timing retard. It can be very severe. The results is lost engine efficiency and power. I loose about 5 hp, and milage as well (10%+). Depending on the quality of gas, you may or may not see as severe a change as well, but keep in mind that if you do run into the timing retard, that it's effect isn't just power loss, but motor efficiency as well. It is very possible that any savings in buying lower grade gas will just be lost in reduced range. This is all the more true if you're a "spirited" driver.

Matt

 

I went from a Honda Civic to an MCS and definately noticed the difference in my monthly commute costs.

75 mile daily commute
Honda: 375 miles week / 33mpg x $2.50 x 4 weeks = $113.63 per month for gas
Mini: 375 miles week / 24mpg x $2.70 x 4 weeks = $158.65 per month for gas.

The Mini is costing me $55 more in gas per month but the drive to work and back is sooooooo much more fun

 

The mini needs premium? I just got mine yesterday and they didn't tell me that. Are you sure? Note I do not have a manual yet so I can't look this up.

 

Threads merged

Welcome to NAM miniT.

Yes, MINI does recommend premium fuel. It's in both the owners manual and on the inside of the door covering the gas cap.

 

Yep...won't do that again...the car started hesitating and bucking like a crazy horse when in low gear. Milage was poo-poo. Went back to Premium and my baby loved me again.... Lesson learned: don't sacrafice performance to save a few cents. Mick

 

Mini manual says 91 octane. Around Alabama we have 85, 89, & 93 so 93 it is

 

Okay, I read about the ethanol in MC & MCS. DON"T DO IT! The fuel is not compatable wit the machine, it burns too hot for the engine...ethanol is marketed mainly for the vehicles with flexfuel options. I am paraphrasing, of course. But I got the info off one of our threads...I can't find it so the thread must have gone cold and got buried....

MINIclo, if your "listening", do you remember which thread the question of Ethanol popped up on? Mick

 

I used 93 octane from when I bought the car last summer until this fall, it was used for autocrossing and commuting. During the colder months the car is just used for commuting, so I've been using 89 octane for the last few months. I've recently switched back to 93 octane and my mpg has improved by 1-2 mpg. It's about a wash where mpg vs cost is concerned for me, but for the warmer months where performance is a concern, I'll definitely be using 93 octane. Never tried 87 octane, never will. Where I buy gas, 93 octane is .10-.12 more expensive than 89 octane.

-Keith

 

My gas mileage always goes down in the winter due to the crappy oygenated gas - observed this with several different cars. It is so noticable that my son even noticed the difference in his winter mileage. I don't know that you can blame the mileage difference in the winter on the lower octane gas.
--NOTE-- I am not advocating the use of lower octane fuel than premium gas in the MINI, just commenting on other causes for MPG to be lower in the winter.

 

Simple. My "SUV" takes regular and gets almost the same mileage as the "MCS". So drive your SUV more.

BTW.... I'm not kidding, its cheaper to use the SUV.

 

Wow, really, gas mileage drops in the winter? After over 15 years of tracking my gas mileage in various cars I never noticed that

Yes, I know all about the gas mileage drop in the winter. See, around here it is still winter, temps are still in the 20's and 30's. I fill up the car once a week with gas (at the same gas station), and keep track of virtually every tank of gas. The car is driven exactly the same every week, it hasn't been on a trip for over six months. The gas mileage difference I noticed was 1-2 mpg with same driving conditions, weather, same roads, etc. As they say, YMMV

-Keith

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...reply&p=803718

 

E85 is 85% Ethanol. That's very different than 10%.

Matt

 

Yes 100% correct, thanks for the correction!..... please forgive my mis-information...my post has been corrected of such assertion

 

No manual and no orientation at delivery? I'd stay away from that dealer

Back on topic ... do the math:

20,000 miles per year divided by 25mpg (your milage may vary) = 800 gallons/year

@ between 10 & 20 cents per gallon over 87 octane, that would be between
$80 an $160/year. I paid $25,000 for the car.

No-brainer

 

Shouldn't be an issue. When you spend $$ on a quality high performance car you shouldn't be worried about a few cents at the pump.

 

It's an anti knock rating, derived from knock onset in special test engines. But gas is made up of tons of crap now, so thinking of a blend of octane+heptane doesn't really work anymore...

Matt