I have better than 5K miles on my Mini S..is 22 mpg and 25 mpg highway normal..? My driving habits are not that aggresive..

 

I have about 2,500 miles on a Cooper and am getting only 32 MPG with basic highway driving. I was hoping for more.

 

>>I have about 2,500 miles on a Cooper and am getting only 32 MPG with basic highway driving. I was hoping for more.


I think 32 MPG is good.

retroom

 

>>>>I have about 2,500 miles on a Cooper and am getting only 32 MPG with basic highway driving. I was hoping for more.
>>
>>
>>I think 32 MPG is good.

Not when the EPA rating is 37 mpg for highway driving, it's not. I have been disappointed as well with my MC's fuel economy. I tend to get less than 20 mpg in city driving, and low to mid-30s on the highway. And I don't drive THAT spiritedly...

This seems to vary greatly between individual cars. I suspect that the CD upgrades (or lack thereof) have a significant effect on this. It will be my number one complaint (I hope) when I take the car in for he 10k service.

_________________
2003 Red/White Cooper - Brookline, MA

 

It has been my experience that the EPA gas mileage ratings are only for comparison sake. That these are rarely possible in the real world.

Remember it is a sports car. I would imagine EPA tests are done at relatively low rpms, and it would not surprise me that they are purely a theoretical approximation based upon gearing and horsepower. Remember running rpms up to 4000 to shift may be fun and the way we usually drive, this doesn't represent the most efficient shift points.

jc

of course, when I get my S I will predict that I can theoretically get over 30mpg, but I don't expect or want to drive it that way! Woohoo watch me go!

 

Overall, I think between 25-35 is pretty normal for a MINI. I ride Holly pretty rough (petal to the metal always!) and I get 25MPG. She has 7,000+ miles. I was hoping for a little more, but 25MPG is still good!

 

I have 10k on my cooper S and get 24mpg consistently.

 

I am getting 22-25 with a LOT of spirited driving. Birmingham has lots of twisty and hilly roads that have me running 45-50mph in 2nd gear a lot of the time. All in all I am pleased with the mileage and know that I can easily top 30 if I am cruising on the interstate at a reasonable velocity.

 

I am getting 28.4 mpg right now on premium gas, running hard. 90% of this is in morning and evening traffic. I would love to see what I could get on a road trip!

 

It's all about RPMs. On my S (2002, 3.2 software), I consistently get an average of about 25. My driving is about 50/50 city and highway.

But as I posted on another thread about mileage, I've found that I can achieve an average of around 35mpg IN TOWN by keeping my revs below 3000. This is not logrithmic...that is, you don't just drop down a bit in mileage if you keep your average RPMs over 3000; instead, it drops a lot. Further, if you drive it hard (often reving well over 4500rpm, with some trips nearly to the redline), you'll still average around 25mpg. The break point really seems to be 3000. there's probably some technical reason for this that the more techie among us can identify...but all I know is what my car does.

Short story? Drive it like you want, and you'll get 25mpg in an MCS. Drive the same car like a golf cart, and you can get nearly 10mpg more.

 

City driving, I never did more than 200 miles before warning light, 12 gallons...

Highway, A little bit more than 300 at 80 mph

Guy

 

>>
>>City driving, I never did more than 200 miles before warning light, 12 gallons...
>>
>>Highway, A little bit more than 300 at 80 mph
>>
>>Guy

The warning light comes on before the tank runs dry (which would be when 12 gals were totally consumed). In my experience, it comes on when you've consumed about 10 gallons. So, you're getting 20mpg in the city? That's a little worse than average for an S. On the other hand, 30mpg on the highway is pretty good.

 

I'll drop my 2 cents. I have never gotten less that 31.7MPG (first tankful) and am averaging about 35MPG and I like to drive in a spirited fashion. My '03 Cooper has about 3500 miles right now and my normal drive is about 60% highway 40% city traffic. The onboard computer is always stingy in it's estimate (usually 1.0 - 1.5 MPG less than hand calculated.) I have attained as high as 38.3 MPG on one tankful right before I was finished with run-in.
All in all I am satisfied with my mileage. It could be better but, I am less than economic in my driving style the majority of the time. If it stays around 33-35 I will be thrilled.
I think MPG is a direct reflection of driver technique when compared to EPA testing and most people are far less smooth in their driving than they would admit or even think. (regardless of how high we rev the engine when accelerating up to speed)
Steady on the throttle after attaining cruising speed is what it is all about, not how fast we are driving. Also, let on/off and less jam on the brakes at the last minute make a difference as well.
Talk to anyone who races cars (although I love to drive on the track and autox I would not consider myself a race car driver so ask someone else) and they will tell you the smoothest drivers are the fastest and the most efficient and generally have the least amount of mechanical reliability issues once their car is initially sorted.
Enjoy your car for what it is and try to improve/upgrade the driver's skills before accusing the car and or gasoline etc.

 

Remember, you may notice a significant different in MPG from various brand names of fuel.

Also you'll get different MPGs depending upon the additives/substitutes in the fuel. When I lived in the Northwest (WA and OR) runniing a Chevy S-10, I used to see a 4-5 MPG difference between the "summer" gas and "winter" gasoline. Sometimes the additives/substitutes are based upon city and if you go outside the city limits you can get gas without them and get much better fuel milage.

 

>>I am getting 28.4 mpg right now on premium gas, running hard. 90% of this is in morning and evening traffic. I would love to see what I could get on a road trip!

Road trip: 1373.7 miles. 45.114 gallons used. 30.45 mpg average.

First leg: 518.7 miles, Chicago, temp. 14 degrees to Memphis, temp 64 degrees. cruise set at 70mph for 98% of leg. Weather: Clear.
Second leg: 286 miles, Memphis area. Daily temps avg. 60-64. Combination highway - city driving. Weather: Steady rain (three days).
Third leg: 430 miles, Memphis, 34 degrees to Rockville, In. 25 degrees. Speed varied from 70mph to 15mph, due to weather that went from cloudy in Tn.
to freezing rain in Ark. and Missouri, finally to blowing drifting snow in southern Il.
Final leg: 139 miles, Rockville, In. 26 degrees to home 18 degrees, Cruise set at 65mph for 75% of leg. Weather: Bright sunshine.

All said and done was a great trip. MINI handled well in all road conditions even with 16in performance run-flats. Right leg did get tired during the 300 mi. snowstorm.

Now about the crack in the windshield.......

 

On board computer is averaging 22 - 27 all types of driving. I manually calc'd 240 miles mostly on I-55 last week and averaged 29. We've driven 2000 mi in 22 days. Very few hills here in IL. I have a 10 minute commute from home to job.

I'm definitely disappointed as mpg is part of the deal for me. My Accord coupe is getting 32 avg and that's definitely close to the EPA number when I bought it. I use middle grade octane in it. Of course I'm using high octane in the MINI.

I have man tran MC w/ no mods on engine/exhaust/etc. I've been driving stick forever and shift between 2500-3000 usually. 16" runflats. Air temp hasn't been above 35. I noted that rpms run around 3500 at 75 mph, interstate cruise speed.

All that said, I love the MINI and understand the 'sports' car dimension. If anyone can suggest what I might do to get the avg mpg up, I'd appreciate.

MOTOR ON!!!