Hi All,

I have a June 2004 MCS (EB/B) and my mileage sucks! I have asked all my MINI friends (both Cooper and S) and they all get better mileage than I do.

The on-board computer says I'm getting about 20 but when I calculate myself its closer to 18 (whole other discussion there)

My friends are getting closer to 30.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a speed demon but I think the issue is related to my average speed which is pretty close to the same number as my MPG - usually around 20.

I live in LA and 90% if not more of my driving is on the city streets in traffic (UGGGGG).

Anyone else have sucky MPG numbers? Any suggestions on how to improve it other than moving out of LA?

(The famous Clover and I were discussing how we have always lived here in LA and thought we always would but are both ready to move because of the traffic (again a whole other discussion))

 

i have a 2002 cooper. i am mostly a city driver. my mpg ranges from 16mpg (track days) to 35+ (road trips). over all i'm getting around 22mpg. btw, i've got a lead foot AND leg.

 

Out of curiosity, have you checked your brake pads to see if they are abnormaly worn? With the number of posts about sticking rear calipers, I wonder if this is the cause of some of the poor MPG.

 

I have a new 2005 Mini. The first 1,000 miles, averaged about 30 mpg.
2,000 til 4,000 miles average 32 mpg.
highway mpg. 36 mpg. and thats running around 73 mph.
I am very happy with milage.:smile:

 

My two year old MCS (very modded) is getting about 25 to 27 mpg with mixed driving.

Your poor mpg is largely due to heavy urban traffic. If you run your AC at the same time that makes it worse.

Make sure your tire air pressure is good about 32 to 37 psi all four tires.
Don't carry more stuff in your MINI- more weight is less mpg.

 

It took about 10K miles of break-in before I noticed an increase in average mileage.

I can get high 20's in mixed drivng and high 30's on highway. Spritied driving drops about 5 MPG

Just for experimentation... try one tank w/o revving over 3K (or rarely) and see if your mileage improves.
(no flaming replies please. I don't drive like that all the time.)

 

2005 MCS, with 5000 miles - these are all off the OBC, but the few times I've checked the math, mine has been pretty close:

Worst, 13.7 (at Laguna Seca a few days ago)
Best, 32.8 (driving across Kansas at about 75mph)
typical suburban driving (lots of stoplights, ave speed about 20-24), 19-24
typical freeway, ~30
typical mixed (freeway and local), 20-26

I drive fairly mildly most of the time, but I get on it once in a while. (Like every stoplight!) (Just kidding.) I can improve these numbers quite a bit if I work at it, but that isn't any fun. The car wants to be driven!

I've been resetting my average speed on the OBC every tankful, trying to see how it correlates with average consumption. Your 20mph average is lower than I ever see, but I used to live in OC and commute to LA - I know what it's like! I don't think (based on my experience with my car, anyway) that your numbers are all that "outside the norm."

I was surprised at how "poor" my gas mileage was, too, but considering the supercharger and all, it isn't surprising. The "S" uses a lot more gas than the Cooper!

 

When I worked about 5 miles from home, I drove surface streets the entire way in my '97 Nissan Altima (4 cyl - about 150hp - automatic) and got about 16-17 MPG. I was fairly happy with this mileage.

Just about a year ago I got a new job that required a 1/2 mile drive to a highway and a 30 mile drive to the office on a straight, smooth 4 lane highway... avg. speed around 65 MPH. I now get 27 MPG from my little Altima.

I'm still trying to work up the cash to buy my dream MINI and I almost cried when I calculated my Altima's gas utilization for the first time. I had assumed that the MINI would provide me with at least 10 MPG more... saving me $40-50 per month in gas alone. I was using this when trying to determine if I could afford the monthly payment... With my old car doing so well, I'm having even more trouble justifying the expense of the new car on a purely rational basis (the emotional decision is much easier ).

 

I get average mileage for the driving I do, half city and half highway. 22/24 to 34/37 MPG.

 

2005 MCS, mostly rural 2 lane highways, right at 29-30 mpg for 5,000 miles. NO a/c on as I purchased the car in the fall. I don't drive the car very hard all the time. OBC indicates about 30.5 mpg.

 

I'm getting about 25 city and maybe 29 highway. I'm using premium gas in my MCC CVT. I read somewhere it was suppose to be higher, but with all the stop and go traffic in the DC metro area maybe thats why.

Howard

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=36864

I made a casual inquiry on the subject of my poor fuel economy, not long ago... Didn't get much by way of response back then, so I appreciate this new thread (although I suspect there's some "gender bias" going on here , the chivalrous knights of NAM are coming to the aid of the fair lady, having ignored the poor (male) slob who had asked the same question previously... OK end of whining).

I'm seeing very similar mpg ranges to Lombard Street's numbers with my 2005 MCS; so that's reassuring. I think I'd have to drive a little bit more spiritedly than I generally do, to "achieve" less than 20 mpg though . My best (only talking 7 or 8 fill-ups here) is a disappointing 24.5, and my worst so far was 21.

I still need to go do a 100 miler on the tollway, to better grasp just how big of a lie those mpg numbers on the window sticker are.

Is "winter gas" a myth? Warmer weather and gas without mysterious extra stuff in it might have a positive impact on our MPG, huh?

Gratefully,
Tatt

 

I just completed approximnately 600 miles of mostly highway driving, with some bumper-to-bumper thrown in for good measure. MPG average was 28.1 (miles traveled/fuel purchased). OBC was indicating average MPG of 30.1 during highway portion of trip.


'04 MCS DS/B, Sport Package, Winter Package

 

Was getting 24, put on lighter wheels and non-runflats and now about 25. It appears I should be able to get over 30 easy on the Interstate.

 

03 cooper, 26k miles 30.04 mpg total. 80/20 town/freeway with 6 track days.

 

I can easily get less than twenty around town, if I use a heavy foot (read "fun"). Highway driving I get a solid 25 going 75-80. I am curious if anyone can answer a long-time question of mine, that is, is the gas we get in California really enough different to cause less mileage? Does anybody know this to be true? Thanks......Bruce

'03 MCS JCW IB/W
No lights, no stripes, no clear bras....thank you

PS....the JCW kit didn't change it much at all

 

i'd bet money on city driving as the cause of the low numbers, as most of your driving is stop and go. i wind up with the same problem when i commute the whopping 6 miles to and from work each day --stoplights and about 20-25mph average speed.

add in the AC and low tire pressure as someone else mentioned and you could easily see 20 mpg numbers consistently.

do yourself a favor. take a road trip (vacations are good for you anyway) and check the mileage on the highway.

if it still looks crappy you can do a hard reset of your computer
unplug the battery for 15 minutes
hook it back up
put the key in the ignition and turn it ONE click
let it sit for 60 seconds the computer disply will blink
start the car.

you'll lose your trip odo settings and such.

i've found the "adaptive" quality of the computer to be annoying and my personal experience is that it hinders performance and mileage. IMHO

if you get the software update it may or may not help either.--worth a try if the hard reset doesnt work.

 

Gas mileage can drop in cooler winter months, esp in markets like CA (and CO) that treat gas for emissions purposes (inversions are nasty). My S easily gets 2-4 mpg worse across the board from Oct-April, when more Ethanol's added to our gas here in CO. But boy that 'charger lovesssss the cold air comin in yee haw, screw gas mileage Jimbo

 

You will get poor milage as long as you live in that parking lot. Every time I go to LA my milage goes down (but then so does my average speed). When I hit the check point in San Onofre I can watch my "average speed" go down a lot.

My milage is much better in other parts of So. CA.

Earl

 

i have an 04 s, and the average i see is 22-25. the highest i have seen is 28, and that was one time. after that it was 27 one time and then the 25. so much for the 34 epa

i have a 28 mile commute each morning, about 3 miles to the freeway from my house and the rest is all freeway, with some stop and go


ps- i am running v38, but am being upgraded tomm morning to v39! sweet!

 

These cars are extremely sensitive to the type of driving you do. Here is an example:


Driving to the track: 28mpg
Driving at the track: 6mpg

Considering the type of driving you are doing, I would think you are right on par.

Make sure you are using 91 octane, which is the highest you can find in CA. Also, check your tire pressure (as minihune suggested). The rear brake pad thing is rare, but it happens. Finally, check the bypass valve to make sure it is bypassing - most of the time it works the other way though, and they are bypassing when they shouldn't.

All of those are gee whiz though, since I think everything sounds about where it should be.

Hope that helps!
Randy

 

I guess I'll mention this in case anyone isn't aware of it, but no cars out there make their EPA estimates. (At least as far as I know - maybe the hybrids do or something like that.) But for as long as those numbers have been around, people have complained that they never seem to reach the numbers on the tests.

So at least that part of the problem isn't just the MINI - all cars are like that.

I must say, though, that I was a little surprised and disappointed that my MCS' gas mileage was as low as it is. If I had thought about it - okay, 170hp, supercharged, 2800 pound car - sure, the mileage isn't going to be that great - I wouldn't have been so surprised. On the other hand, I was also surprised how much fun the car is to drive, so quick and with such awesome handling. So you won't hear me complain much.

 

Oddly, I have always been able to beat the EPA numbers, even in southern California. The MINI is one of the hardest to get to meet or beat EPA numbers because it is fun to drive hard. I have actually gotten 38MPG between San Diego and Long Beach - hand calculated. For short trips around town I get 18MPG. Hybrids actually do worse at meeting the EPA numbers and have been a source of complaint by owners.

There are a number of reasons the EPA numbers are hard to reach. The test is performed on a dyno, and the fuel use is calculated indirectly by measuring the content of the exhaust. The city mileage is calculated starting with a cold engine and following a loop through downtown LA. Acceleration is so gentle that your grandmother would leave them in the dust. The timing and speeds were recorded by driving the loop sometime in the early 70's and are duplicated for the test. The highway test is performed starting with a warm engine. All optional accessories are turned off - radio, A/C, headlights and wipers. The drag of DRL on the fuel economy is the reason that they are no-cost 'options' on the MINI. Wind resistance is not figured into the calculation, the maximum speed for the highway test is 55MPH.

California gas is diluted with ethanol all year long. According to the oil companies, and you can trust them 10% ethanol reduces the energy content of the gasoline by about 10%, which will reduce your fuel economy 5%. YMMV

 

Ripping a hole in your fuel tank 0 mpg (or was it a gas line ripped loose)

Got to stay on the track

Earl

 

Probably average 23 - 25 mpg with mixed driving, and 25 -27 on mostly highways with my '04 JCW equipped S. Did manage to eak out a 30 mpg run on the button on a single tankful during a non-stop 5 hour trip with a 75 mph average. Woohoo!