I know, I know, not another thread about mpg! :smile:

However, yesterday afternoon, on the way home, I heard a Nick Alexander commercial on KABC 790 (SoCal). Nick states that the SUVs must be killing some people gas-wise and asks if they have thought about downsizing??? "Well, we have the biggest selection of MINIs available and they get 29 city and 38 Fwy mpgs." I'm wondering what freeway he's driving on? I'm not getting near that kind of mileage. Is anybody?

 

on my last road trip, two weeks ago i think it was, i averaged 37 mpg on the highway. not too bad, i thought.

 

My 04 MCS gets about 28 hwy but I only had about 2000 on it when I checked the MPG and engine still tight and it is hard not to drive it a little bit hard.

 

Last major road trip got 37.5 mpg highway driving. Best city, being good got about 33.5 mpg, 35 city, 65 highway.

 

6.9 litres per 100 kms
thats 42+ imperial 39-40 U.S.
Now that is being very good on the throttle,
motor smooth,let the echo's pass ,and when some suv
get's on my MINI's butt,don't pull away hard
Not bad though,cause I still push hard in the little private twisties out here
in the hinterland

_________________
03 MC BRG/W,15" 7 hole white...
Black Lab navigator

 

For freeway mpg expect the leader to be the MC with at best about 38 mpg

The MC with CVT and MCS get about the same in the low 30s at best.

In my stock MCS I managed in the first month to get 33 mpg trying really hard to drive slow at about 55 mph.

Now with mixed driving and lots of mods I get about 26+ mpg without trying very hard. All numbers calculated by hand not on trip computer.

The MC has an advantage when using the skinny stock 15" rims and continental tires due to less rolling resistance and lower weight. Only 27 pounds per wheel/tire combo compared to 48 pounds each for the 17" S-lyte/runflat combo.

 

I had an 03 MC 5sp with 16" wheels and it avg 24 in mixed driving and 29 on The Highway (setting cruise at 75)

In my un modded MCS 04, 6sp, I'm avg 25 in mixed driving and 33 on the highway at 75. Even though the 6th gear is NOT an overdrive gear, the RPMS of th MC engine is higher at 75 in 5th than in 6th gear in my MCS.

I never saw 38mpg in the MC. That, will only happen in your drive 60mph (or less)
and never go above 3K on the Tach.

_________________
'04 MCS DS/B PP,SP,CWP, HK, leather, Rear Fogs

 

>>The MC has an advantage when using the skinny stock 15" rims and continental tires due to less rolling resistance and lower weight. Only 27 pounds per wheel/tire combo compared to 48 pounds each for the 17" S-lyte/runflat combo.
>>
>>
>>Like I said 6.9 even 6.7 litres per 100 kms=38,39 U.S mpg

 

 

Just did a 300 mile roundtrip from W.MA to NYC and back in our MCS with an advanced copy of v.38 ECU software. The trip was 90% highway and about 10% city. We used the cruise control for most of the journey. At the next fill-up I calculated 33.2 mpg. This seems to be ~about~ average for the MCS on the highway.

Theo

_________________

 

I'm getting 29.x-30. MPG on my daily one way half hour commute 60% back country roads the rest multi. lane hwy.
Just to give an idea of stop and start's possible.
Stop sign's = 2
Roundabouts = 1
Stop light's = 8
On the way home I like to take different route's, change is good.

 

>>The MC has an advantage when using the skinny stock 15" rims and continental tires due to less rolling resistance
>> and lower weight. Only 27 pounds per wheel/tire combo compared to 48 pounds each for the 17" S-lyte/runflat combo.

Good point about the rolling resistance being lower. I think at highway speeds, rolling resistance is a tiny percentage of the total load on the car, so don't change tires expecting to get a change in fuel economy. The largest load is drag due to wind resistance at 55MPH and up.

I'd like to add that the weight of the wheels and tires has no effect on the steady-speed fuel economy. It only affects the situation when speeding up or slowing down.

So, on those California highways............

 

I spent a lot of time calculating MPG in my MC. I find that it can vary widely based on mainly two things. The A/C costs about 5 MPG. Driving above 3K on the tach like Jurni said can mean upwards of another 5 MPG.

So if the drive is fairly flat and the A/C is off and you keep the tach at or below 3K I can regularly get 40MPG. With A/C on and cruise at 70MPH or above it will mean about 30 to 32 MPG. Basically we drive at night and keep the the tach right at 3K. I can go from Charlotte to Atlanta and back on one tank.

The sad thing is my Saab which is huge compared to the MINI can easily get 36mpg with the A/C off and cruising at 75. Not bad for a car that weighs in at roughly 1000 pounds more.

In the city my MINI gets between 25 to 28MPG. I have a serious lead foot though... :smile:

 

55 mph! I didn't know the car could do that. Well not without a lot of brake. 95 seems a lot more reasonable for a trip average, that works out ot about 80mph counting stops. I'll take 26+ mpg. You really go 55mph. Wow you have serious control problems. Lighten up.

Motor on

 

At my last track day I reset the computer as I headed out on the track and averaged 8 mpg over twenty minutes!

Makes me feel good when I get 30 mpg avg on the road.


03 MCS CAI, Borla

 

03 MCS

Highway only: 33-34 mpg
Daily Avg over 3 months: 29 mpg

 

I am thrilled to state that this mornings fillup at the Shell station I calculated 37.9 all around. I have not done a highway only run with a fill but, I routinely get 36 to 39 all around in my Cooper with 15" holeys.
I have observed over 50MPG on the computer on a couple of longer highway only drives of 100 miles or so.
No kidding, this car is easy to get good milage with.
And for those of you who think I don't enjoy the car. I love to thrash it at autox's and on club drives through the mountains here in Colorado. I have never experienced less than 34MPG on a tank full, regardless of driving enthusiasm.

 

At about 1,300MI on the odo of my 04' MCS, v36 software, alta intake- a recent trip from Detroit to Cleveland (~190MI) was 31.9MPG going there, was going between 75-80MPH the whole way. No A/C, one person in the car, cruise control most of the drive.

Driving back was around 80MPH the whole way, A/C part of the time, cruise part time. That was 30.8MPG. Recently from Detroit to Midland (~102MI) because of rain and construction, could't get over 70MPH, no A/C was avg 32.9MPG. Usually around 65MPH...

Note, all Avg's using the trip computer...

 

April 2004 built MCS 35.1 hwy, 30 with mixed driving, 28 mixed driving with spirited moments...

 

>>For freeway mpg expect the leader to be the MC with at best about 38 mpg
>>The MC has an advantage when using the skinny stock 15" rims and continental tires due to less rolling resistance and lower weight. Only 27 pounds per wheel/tire combo compared to 48 pounds each for the 17" S-lyte/runflat combo.
_____________________--
I have been assiduously keeping record of all my gas purchases. My MC gives me a mpg range of 31-33.5 mixed city, highway (mostly highway) driving. My best mileages were 38.47, 38.19 and 38.06 mpg (100% highway) last March while driving from CA to NE. Cruising speed from 70-75 mph.

Claimed mileages by the manufacturer tends to be on the exaggerated high side because the testing is done under ideal controlled conditions. Besides it is a selling ploy. Have you followed the recent news about the exaggerated mpg obtained by the hybrids, the Honda Civic and Prius?

I agree with Trippy that the single most influential factor in determining mpg is wind resistance, and driving speed is related to that, because it is a fact of physics (Newton's Third Law of Motion) that the faster you drive, the greater the wind resistance your car meets with. BTW, my MC is equipped with 16" runflats.


_________________
<P><img src="https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t;</img>
Don't hassle me. I'm driving as fast as I possibly can</P>

 

>>I agree with Trippy that the single most influential factor in determining mpg is wind resistance, and driving speed is related to that, because it is a fact of physics (Newton's Third Law of Motion) that the faster you drive, the greater the wind resistance your car meets with. BTW, my MC is equipped with 16" runflats.
>>
In LA and San Diego the freeway is either 1st and 2nd gear, or when it opens up 90MPH I have managed to get in excess of 37MPG between LA and San Diego with the A/C on. That drops to 31-32 with the bike rack and bikes.

 

I'm usually in the low to mid 20/'s. All my fault, not MINI's.

 

Wow,
I am shocked that anyone is getting that great of gas mileage. What was my car missing? I had a regular MC and the best I ever got on the highway going 65mph was 31mpg. Normally it was close to 28mpg no matter if i drove 80mph or the speed limit at 70mph. I was usually at the city rating on the highway and below that for city. That was shifting to 5th early in the city too.

 

25 mpg average mpg with 31 on the road under 80mph. Find you get better mileage driving through backroads at 40 mph in 4th; mid thirties.

Just tried leaving it in 6th at 45 mph on the flat and got a registered 47 mpg!. But of course, that means nothing!

One of the best things about this car is enjoying driving it, and not worrying about gas mileage!

REgards,
Red

 

04 MC 5-speed with 15" wheels. Getting 27 mpg city, 36 to 39 mpg hwy.