What's the best way to determine your average mpg? I'd rather not run my tank to empty!!! How true is the gas gauge? Can I assume 1/2 tank on the gauge is actually 1/2 a tank left or is Mini playing games with that? How much gas does Mini say an '06 MCS will take?


Sorry for the hijack but i guess my questions are appropriate.

 

Welcome to he real world. Like Randy Webb might say, if you're getting 37mpg, you're smokn crack!

 

recently i get on average of 20mpg and a third of that is on the highway. the trip computer is way too optimistic because it would tell me around 310 miles until empty but i have to refill mine close to 250miles ... could of gone a little further but i didn't want to try. i drive around the city normally and i do drive around the hills once in every tank... but its on the highway where the gas needle dips as fast as it does around the city and i keep at a consistant speed .

 

For reference, mine is nearly maxed out modification wise and I get 22mpg combined measure by the gallons used. Granted, I'm only 90% lightfoot. The other 9.9% is WOT and maybe 0.1% with N2O

 

My trip computer works perfectly with the distant till empty function. What you have to remember is that it updates live. So if you stomp on it it'll start to drastically drop, if you really start babying it it'll hold that number without going down until it catches up. Also its not for when your fuel light comes on its for when the car will literally stop, and even then it tends to give you a safe number. Meaning that it will reach zero before you actually run out of gas.

So basically if your at half a tank and it says 120 miles till empty and you've driven 150 miles on that tank, you would have to keep that exact constant driving style or throttle position to hit 270 miles before you run out of gas. If you suddenly start accelerating or move from 70mph to 85mph on the highway the number will go down faster and you'll probably only reach 240-250 miles on that tank before you run out.

If you leave the miles till empty function up you'll see it update as you drive.

 

ahh man, why you making me feel bad i still get worse than you and all i have is an intake, pulley, header, and now back to stock exhaust...

 

LOL...it could be that you're not being honest about the percentages Are you on WOT more than 10%?

 

Ideally, yeah, but the bottoms of the tanks [there are two _banks_ in the MC/MCS] are not flat, so the fill gauge, which reads by fluid level, doesn't read at an even speed. PLUS, if you "fill up," you leave some gas in the 'filling' apparatus/tubes which won't register as being there, but will increase your apparent mileage on the first half-tank. It gets complicated.

 

Totally agree with this!! I have a short commute and the winter can be pretty cold here at times. It was -15C to -20C most of last week, and the MINI hardly gets warmed up during a short drive...cold engine, idling, etc = lousy mpg!
Lot15 (Winnipeg) drives 100 miles per day in his MC, so presumably he notices less of a difference between winter and summer?

 

seriously, barely wot, 50-75% throttle and even on the hills.. and that probably is around 10%.... the rest is normal city and hiqhway commuting. on the highway, i keep around the same speed so i don't smash it or anything but i swear that gas needle goes down a bit fast.

 

hmmm...extra weight? tire pressure? You're measuring the old fashion way right? Divide miles by gallons used?

 

yeah, but i reset my trip computer after each fill up and you can't ignore after it hits 240miles when the refuel lights blinks. i just started to really take notice once i got the header installed... maybe its running too lean? i'm not sure about this, i just heard it from this other thread...

 

Fill your tank all the way until it clicks off. Record milage or reset trip odometer.

Drive.

After driving your usual routine for a few days, go and fill your tank again until it clicks off at the top. Record the amount in gallons used to top the tank off, and note the milage.

Divide miles driven on the tank by gallons used.

Voila! real mpg.

Good luck,
-Steve

 

You've got it backwards...if you're running overly rich, your milage could suffer. Use the method posted above this one for accurate calculation.

 

On a recent 500 mile trip on Interstate with cruise set to 72mph I got 36.1mpg in my 2005 MC. The worst was 29mpg on a screaming drive thru twisty farm country where the tach stayed between 5-6k. But my gawd it was fun with all those curves!

Pete

 

OBC or actual gallons used?

 

The gas gauge is not accurate thru it's range. The best way to calculate milage is the method sandtoast500 listed above.

 

The gauge is not linear, but it is *close* - check my thread on gas gauge calibration - https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=55216. Your gauge will vary from what mine says, as not all gauges are created equal, and you have a split tank.

Also, here is my gas data since I got the MINI, all at 92 octane:

Date, Mileage, mpg
8/19/05, 289.1
8/28/05, 582, 30.609
9/10/05, 962, 31.204
9/22/05, 1272, 31.045
10/2/05, 1542, 28.726
10/15/05, 1905, 31.439
10/26/05, 2303, 29.444
11/6/05, 2556, 27.047
11/16/05, 2926, 28.848
12/5/05, 3259, 25.766

 

I'm a librarian, so I should be all proper and such, but given half a chance I go as fast as I can get away with. I have a MC and get about 31.3 in the city. I've only taken it on the road once since I got the car, and the mileage was disappointing...about 33. Of course, I was doing 90 for quite a lot of that and I suspect that impacted my mileage a tad.

The biggest difference for me around town was checking to be sure the tires are at 35psi. I've found that my tires need air a lot more often than my old car did...though my husband thinks that's just because I obsess about the MINI.

 

My 2003 Cooper has never gotten better than 26 mpg.. city or highway. shameful.

 

oh i reset the trip computer after every fill up, thats the way i calculate it. ~ah wait, just saw sandtoast500's post. i will do that next time. thanks ya'll

 

I used a calculator. The OBC was off by 2 mpg

Sorry, a clarification. The OBC said 34.0mpg. Using a calculator gave me 36.1mpg. Usually it's the other way around, but this was 500+ miles on cruise control, Interstate all the way, and pretty flat

 

i'm guessing you mean it was off in the bad direction?

 

my computer is optimistic


thats in miles

 

Our stats:

24 mpg avg with the JCW.

As low as 21 mpg on a tank (all city, bad traffic)

As high as 38mpg on a cross country road trip with a near constant freeway speed of around 75.