Ok, so I keep reading posts about people getting 34 miles/gallon. What am I doing wrong? I've been getting around 26-27 miles/gallon. ??? What kind of gas mileage are you Cooper owners getting?

 

In which gear do you do most of your driving? If you're in 5th most of the time your mileage should be better. Do you jack-rabbit away from lights? You are in control of how much gas you use, unless your MINI is whacked out.

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sirron

 

My Cooper too gets about 28 around town - but I love to DRive it! (they dont't call me A.J.'Mario" Fittipaldi for nothing! )
As soon as I get on the open roads, however, the milage shoots way up (38-ish?)

 

Do you have a CVT? From the MINI-supplied specs for a Cooper w/ CVT, you're not that far off the mark (32mpg on highway cycle); and even with the 5 speed, you're within range for a new (i.e., under 5 - 10K miles) car. Your mileage will get better after the first 5K or so. It's not a precise science, so exactly when the mileage reaches its peak is a factor of your particular car, fuel quality, driving style, etc.

My guess is that 34mpg comes from a reasonably tame driver on a well-broken-in car (that spends a lot of time driving on the highway).

In my S, the computer says "28.3" mpg .. but my car only has 2000 miles on it. I'm hoping to average around 30 - 32 once everything gets fully broken in. I do a lot of highway driving.

 

I do a lot of highway driving as well as a lot of suburb driving (I have a 45 min or so commute to work). I have an automatic but spend a lot of time driving in Sport Drive for the extra kick! I have about 2,500 miles on her right now so hopefully I'll get closer to the 30 mpg mark once she's broken in a little more.

 

q

 

>>I do a lot of highway driving as well as a lot of suburb driving (I have a 45 min or so commute to work). I have an automatic but spend a lot of time driving in Sport Drive for the extra kick! I have about 2,500 miles on her right now so hopefully I'll get closer to the 30 mpg mark once she's broken in a little more.

So it sounds like you're right on the mark. The CVT Cooper is rated (by the manuf) at 32mpg on the highway. I'd guess that that rating was made NOT in sport mode, with a well broken in car, and by a very careful driver trained to produce the best mileage. You're having more fun and getting a bit fewer mpg... No problem at all!

 

I live in L.A. and drive mostly on the streets, rarely on the freeway. I'm getting only 23 mpg and it sucks. Do I accelerate hard sometimes? Sure....but still 23 is pretty low for such a small car.

 

My Cooper S is averaging 25 mpg around town.

Oddly enough, a buddy of mine with a C5 corvette gets better gas mileage around town than my mini.....hmmmm

 

Mine is getting 29.4 MPG right now. She has 1100 mile on her and I tend to drive hard. High RPMs, and I take off like lightning from a stop...I imagine I could get 30-35 if I drove like a good girl! Oh well, that is the price you pay for fun. Mine is also a 5 speed, so that could be why I get slightly better MPG.

 

>>My Cooper S is averaging 25 mpg around town.
>>
>>Oddly enough, a buddy of mine with a C5 corvette gets better gas mileage around town than my mini.....hmmmm

I'm always suspicious of folks that claim something like "my Honda gets 45 mpg, and I've never taken it to the dealer, and I never change the oil..." (one person at work said almost exactly that, about his Honda).

Usually, when you "push" those people for data, they "looked at their computer display", and it said "35.0 mph", or something of that nature. What they are typically looking at is the "instantaneous" mileage. The mileage REALLLY depends on "how" you drive it.

In my Golf VR6, if I drive as gently as possible (which usually aggravates other drivers), I can barely get 26-27 mpg; from home to work. The other way around is always worse (traffic). If I "flog it" all the way, I'll get 21-22. On the other hand, if I drive "normally", but just on city streets (ie, weekends), it's not unusual to only get 17 mpg (signals, multiple starts, no freeway cruising)!

Final note; when I had 225/50-16 Yokohama AVS Sports (gumballs) put on the car, my mileage dropped by 2-3mpg. It turned out that the dealer hadn't aligned the suspension after they installed coilovers; and the stock tires were "hard" enough that it wasn't noticeable (they "slipped&quot. When I put on the Yoko's; instant drop (they "stick"!). After I correlated this ( several thousand miles) I had the car realigned, and the mileage popped back up; about the same amount! Another good reason to keep the alignment set properly! (ps: the only reason I caught this was because all of the gas data is recorded & plotted in Excel, AND I started to notice "wear" on the front tires only...).

 

>>Ok, so I keep reading posts about people getting 34 miles/gallon. What am I doing wrong? I've been getting around 26-27 miles/gallon. ??? What kind of gas mileage are you Cooper owners getting?


Sounds pretty good with the CVT on a new car.

 

26 i will love that the best so far was a 24 on mi Cooper S but normally is around 18.
But I do not care, It is a lot of FUNNNNNNN

 

Cheers!
Clover

 

To paraphrase something I saw on another form (I think it was the Z3 board), if you are getting good milage, you are not driving it hard enough

-Dale

 

I'm only getting 29 mpg, but my engine only has 650 miles on it, and I already tend to drive the snot out of it. I also have the A/C on a lot, which kills mileage by a few mpg.

 

Hey K.,
I've had "Coop." for around a couple of weeks now. Burned the 1st "free" tank-o-gas up fairly quick, as it's so much fun to drive again. The first tank I got 35.0 miles a gallon, on the nose. Coop is a 5-speed, and barely goes anywhere without it's A/C runnin wlde open. I don't drive like I used to however, those days are behind me.

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Brought home my Indi Blue Mini on 09-21-02, after a 6 & 1/2 hr. "ordeal."

 

I just can't seem to stop myself from driving hard and fast! What can i say? I have a lead foot and besides it's worth the extra bucks in gas because she is so FUN to drive fast!!

 

Mile per gallon??? You mean we are susposed to get THAT TOO??? Awsome But the words are "Motor On", not MPG!!

 

>>Mile per gallon??? You mean we are susposed to get THAT TOO??? Awsome But the words are "Motor On", not MPG!!

Well, at the risk of stiring up some controversy, I have to react to Thumper's post and say that IMO MPG does make a difference. If I didn't care about the natural resources I tossed down in total pursuit of fun, that would be one LESS reason to drive a MINI. Somehow, to me, part of the MINI aesthetic is to have fun AND be sensible about it at the same time. To say that MPG doesn't matter threatens to put one in the same category as SUV drivers that burn up as much gas driving to the end of their driveway as I use driving to work. Again, IMO, it's time more of us started caring about things like MPG and taking responsibility for our use of scarce resources. Let's motor on so that our kids may too.