Hey guys... my girlfriend is looking at trading in her brand new 2010 VW Golf and buying a 2006 MCS (6 speed ). We have a couple questions to CURRENT owners of R53.

She is trading it in mostly for MPG.. what do you all realistically get if you aren't laying on the gas pedal?

How many miles out of a tank?

Have you all had any issues reliability wise? It has 43,000 miles.

Any other input? I drove it and it felt so nice! Think I like it better than my R56.

 

26-32, depending on your mix of city and highway driving, and of course, how little fun you have. I have had my 06 MCS JCW for all of 4 days so longevity is not a question I can personally answer. But the general consensus that I have read is that by 2006 most of the bugs had been worked out and all the little extras had been added. Try to find the previous owner and speak to them, that will tell you volumes.

 

i also have an '06 MCS, I think it is one of the best production years mechanically. Also like the interior, dash, etc... more than the R56's. I have a little over 50K miles and track my car every so often, hit the red line frequently with no issues. Everyone on the track is amazed on how fast the little thing is.

 

on my 04 MCS I am getting 26 around town, 32 mixed highway and town, and highway @70mph 34. I also have noticed that I get the best mileage around 3K rpm regardless of the gear Im in

 

WOW, you really get 32 mixed? I have a 09 MCS and I'm lucky to get 28.

 

Seriously? Man! I would have to work hard to get 28 MPG average! I usually get about 32 mixed with spirited driving.

 

I am an old fart. Ive been nursing a 96 ford taurus for 6 years now. I have trained my self to accelerate without pushing the pedal. Also if you watch the consumption gauge on the tach, you can find the best rpm for mpg. On my car its around 2800-3000 rpm, I will drive by rpm and not speed to get the best mpg.

 

Seriously, I was getting 26/27 last winter and took it to the dealer like 3 times. They kept saying "everything is fine, maybe the type of gas you use". LOL, i broke out receipts with the last 14 out of 15 fill ups from the exact same Shell Station they use. I wish my milage would be better but I do have fun with the car and thats what counts.

 

But thats no fun. lol.

 

I know. I really want a CAI, pulley, and exhaust. But I know what is going to happen to my mpg when I get that. My mpg is getting worse as I start to understand what is under the hood.

 

Mine is completely stock, except the air freshener and window tint, but that's good enough for me....

 

My VW MKV GTI seems to get better gas mileage than the R53 JCW. I drive both of them with purpose, but the Cooper cruises at 3k rpm and the GTI at 2-2.2 (70mph highway). Generally, the Cooper runs at a higher RPM with more compression in the engine. I can not say that takes more gas, but the JCW burns through a tank quicker than the GTI.

Mind you, I quite love both cars.

 

hey man i've got an 05s..pretty much the same as an 06. I get around 26-28, but my avg speed hovers around 25-26 mph. I do some highway driving, but a lot of city. I have gotten 37.9 on a highway trip from orange county to san diego (bout 60 mi). not bad. so if she's doing more highway driving i'd have to say she'll be getting around 32..good luck.

 

I agree. The on board computer is great. Set the cruise control at 60 MPH in sixth gear and travel 100 miles. It will get awesome MPG.

It is the stop and go; Light to light runs that eat up your mileage.

By the way. Twice so far I have tried dropping from 6th gear to 4th gear and found 2nd instead. (55 mph) and both times caught myself because I was rev matching as I shifted and the engine rpm did not match, so I aborted the dump of the clutch. I suggest always rev matching and taking your time on the downshifts. When done correctly it is soft on the clutch, tranny and engine. Just my .02..

My Miata is much easier to find the right gear at the right time.. I just need to practice..

 

'06 R53

I get around 20 in town and 26 or so when resetting the mpg function on the highway. I can get spirited now and then, but I don't push it much. With the intuitive nature of the car computers these days, I would think I'd get better highway mileage on a long highway trip.

BTW, however many miles anyone, in any vehicle, gets out of a tank of gas has little to do with fuel efficiency. That range has to do primarily with the size of the fuel tank (and then figure the mpg into that).

 

The R53 MCS and MCS JCW are not known for great mileage, and it only has gotten worse with the change to the gas/ethanol mixture. I have owned a 2002 MCS and currently own a 2006 MCS and have always hand calculated my mileage rather than relying on the OBC. I average between 22 and 24mpg in mixed driving, the OBC is a little more generous. I can get as low as 9 - 10 mpg when I go to a HPDE

I am not overly concerned about the mpg I get because I am more concerned with the number of smiles per gallon.

The R56 with it's direct injection engine gets about 20% better mileage with an additional 5hp or so.

 

How are you guys getting such bad gas mileage. I'm getting 34 MPG with 60% highway and 40% stop and go in my 02 MCS.

 

The mini cooper S, gen1 (r53) requires premium fuel....so this kinda nulifies the savings of getting good mpg....
Having said that i can get 30 mpg hwy, low 20's in town......lots lower driving hard...
pre tune i was getting 28 hwy mostly, no pulley....
You will see wide varriarations of the mpg reported based up differances in fuel, driving style, spedo accuracy (many folks run non std rim/tire combo's and don't adjust), modds, and mantance conditions....the newer the car, the more consistsnt the build quality of the motor and car....also mini has tons of different software versions floatinf around....all with variations of fuel/tourque maps...so this will affect mpg too.
The mini is not an economy car..


The cooper does do pretty good on gas.....but being small only does so much....the mini is not the most aerodynamic car around....
gen2 cars did get a big boost im mpg, but are a very differant car in feel.

 

Man, I hate when people say that about premium gas. With a 13.2 gallon tank in the MINI, you are really only looking at a $1.30-.50 more to fill up the tank. I don't understand why people get so upset about using premium gas. I've even heard of people buying COMPLETELY different cars because the one they were looking at had to have premium gas. Come on people, use a calculator!

That being said, I still can't believe you all are getting something like low 20's in your MINIs. When I am pounding the gas pedal in my R56, the lowest I can get is around 27, absolute lowest. But generally around town it's about 30-32 and on the highway I can go up to 38.5 mpg. Generally around 550+ miles out of one tank with pure highway.

With THAT being said, I did enjoy the R53 quite a bit. Nothing beats that supercharger whine and that incredibly loud tire spin from 1st-2nd gear. I get it in my R56... but man, not like I did every time in the R53. I also prefer the looks on the R53/R50. Personally, I would absolutely never own a Non-S 2007-on Cooper. I really wouldn't. Basically any color in the R53s look good- but only a very select few in the R56 make me look at the car and say- Man, that is a good looking car.

Of course, just my opinions. I appreciate all your responses. Keep them coming!

 

You're obviously not driving your R56 hard enough, I've got down to 23.2mpg on the street. On the track its been down to 9.8, that was a fun day.

Our R53 got 20.6 on average, but 18s weren't uncommon, I managed 17 once. The most I ever got on a tank was 308 miles.

 

I drive it hard when it needs to be driven hard and softly when it needs to be driven softly. I am never *easy* on the gas pedal, from light to light I am usually always hard on the gas, bringing it to 3-5k rpms. (Love hearing my exhaust ) On the highway I cruise control it and that's where my average climbs up. But even driving it hard, I get around 27 mpg in the city. My average has been right about 33 for a month or 2 with 70% city and 30% highway.

It's disappointing to hear the MPG on the R53s... She isn't very hard on the gas, she just likes the car a lot. How spirited are you all who gets lowish 20 mpg? Ratio for highway/city?

 

I've got an 03' JCW MCS with almost 90,000 miles on it, and with about 50/50 highway driving and city driving...I have got right at 26mpg on the last three tanks. If just get out and cruise on the highway at 60mph, me MPG meter reads as high as 37mpg....not sure how accurate it is though.

I'd say that you should expect around 24-30 mpg depending on how and where you drive.

 

I average about the same in mine, as well ('06 MCS).

 

I have a 2005 MCS and I manage about 27mpg with 90% of my driving being around town. I'm sad to say that I try hard to average that. The plus side is that I don't see much of a drop in mpg when my driving begins to get spirited.

 

04 MCS 27.6 MPG on the computer. About 330 Miles per tank. I drive it like I stole it.