i get 19 mpg, no mods, mostly city driving and i have 5K miles. it sort of angers me. I don't drive it hard either, unless i am on a turney road I think it is probably because i live around a bunch of hills so i have to go up them all the time. highway i get 27 mpg going 75-80. i also think i am running a little rich in the fuel to air department.

 

Was that a real calculated (miles/fuel) number, or the OBC (which often lies)?

 

I only have 1800 miles on my 6 week old MCS. My 2nd to last tank of 93 octane yielded about 22-24 city and hwy 35 (usually70-75mph). However, my last tank was not so good. I think it was 20-22 city and 32 hwy. But I attribute this to more rabbit starts in town which I'm sure is bringing down my average overall. But it's STILL better than all those ugly SUVs I see and I think I'm having more fun.

By the way, the ad campaign in May issue of DWELL magazine is quite nice and makes fun of parking an SUV. It covers several pages on the right hand margin. You have to see it.

 

We have

 

Sonic, maybe you need to take the MC out and let it loose to blow the dust out of it? Heat the plugs up, burn off the deposits. Might improve the fuel consumption a little.

 

We get 26 to 28 mpg with the lead foot in both of our Minis.

Don

 

I have an 06 MC with manual transmission. Same exact "problem" as you. I have been getting about 26 MPG in the city.

 

I have about 7K mi. on my '06 MC. In mixed driving with fwy commute with lots of traffic, some 75mph fwy. and some shorter trips, I get about the same 30.5 to 31.5 mpg. Best tank that included quite a bit of fwy cruising and also some short trips was 34. Worst about 26. I haven't been on a long, steady fwy trip yet, but will be soon. I'm gonna have to try an experiment some weekend and keep it at about 65mph for a 100 mi. or so and calculate the mpg.

 

My onboard was telling me 23.7 MPG. And this is driving the car nice in town and hwy. I filled up yesterday and did the calculation myself. I put 10.2 gallons and i only had 194 miles on my odometer. THATS 20 MPG. What the hell is wrong with this. That is upserd if you ask me. You guys think there is something wrong? Car runs great and no lights on. I dont know what to think.
Thanks
Eddie

 

Set your OBC to "instantaneous MPG" and drive for a tankful whilst trying to maximize the MPG. You'll be surprised how the read-out can change dramatically with throttle input, especially if you're in the wrong gear. I'm not saying the read-out is all that accurate but it will teach you how to achieve higher MPGs. I'm doing this at the moment to amuse myself whilst running in my MCS-JCW....first 3 tankfuls all came in around 28-29 MPG

 

How exactly do you get instantaneous mpg to display? Is it an addition on newer models?

 

My OBC is 10-15% overly optimistic on MPG

My MCS gets as low as 19 MPG for "city only" driving (17 MPH average for tank), but averages above 30 for "all highway" driving.

You also need to note your average MPH per tank.

 

If you have the (optional) on-board computer, you simply toggle through the options until the read-out is on current fuel consumption where the owner's manual states, "the current consumption is calculated and displayed on the basis of your driving style".

It may not be all that accurate but as a tool it really can help you to improve your MPG.

 

My onboard computer is on my NAV. screen. It has two MPG Displays, But niether are instant MPG. Is there a way to change that? I know its different on most coopers with out the NAV.
Thanks Eddie

 

05 MCSa. according to the OBC I get about 25-27 on the highway, but in town I get 15-17, sometimes lower, driving it strictly using the paddles/stick - it just seems to guzzle like anything, I know I'd get way better in a manual MCS/small SUV.

 

You should have a navigation system owner's manual (in addition to the generic owner's manual).........it should tell you in there whether you can change it to current/instantaneous MPG.

 

2002 MCS getting about 27.9 city....
Pretty spirited driving too. no complaints...Could probably do better if I didn't nail it every chance I get..LOL

 

How are people getting 29MPG on the city and im getting 20MPG city. I dount force the engine in low RPM,s and i dont drive it hard. What is the deal here. MCS owners, please tell me if you are baseing your calculations on the computer or you do your own calculations.
Thanks
Eddie

 

Last time I checked, 26 mpg.
That's flooring it 1-2-3 gears to get to speed on AZ69, then shift to 6th. Really try to coast, but Swifty just wants to go!!!
Also I live at 5300 ft. elevation, with a steep hill from the highway to my house. Lots of steep hills that Swifty just wants to ...go up.
So when people ask, I say it's a sports car in econobox clothing.

 

My 03 Cooper gets about 27-28 in town and 34-35 on the highway using the OBC. This is driving pretty gently.

 

Driving only around town I'm in the mid 20s, driving all highway I can easily hit mid 30's (that's hand calculation, my OBC tends to be 1-3mpg optimistic).

That's in an early '03 MCS. Just added a CAI and haven't calculated, but am noticing the needle moving more slowly toward empty despite keeping my foot in it a bit longer.

 

My 2005 MCSa averages 23 mpg with about 90% city and 10% highway driving. I live near congested downtown San Francisco and notice that bicycles make better time than I do. And in order to get such GOOD fuel consumption I am very conscious of driving frugally. I don't use the paddles and am very gentle with the throttle. When I drove on I-5 to San Diego I got 31 mpg--a personal best. While there I full throttled it at an onramp and it was the first time I heard the supercharger whine--my LA friend thought we were being chased by a cop. That was my one whoopee moment in the MINI. At $3.49 a gallon I can't afford to have many whoopee moments.

 

4000 miles, worst tank 22.5, best 27 MPG. My mileage is starting to improve more as the cold weather moves out. MPG as measured by the pump, not the computer, although my computer reads 25.8 over the life of the car which is pretty close. 75% suburban commuting @ 40-45 mph with multiple stops en route. Shifts generally at 3-4K. Highway driving at steady 3200 RPM. About 1 or 2 WOT sprints up to highway speeds per tankful.

I wonder how sensitive to throttle input those of you with poor numbers are. If you're on and off the throttle all the time rather than smoothly maintaing speed, you can certainly kill your fule economy. As was stated above the instaneous mpg is very good feedback for training your right foot to do the right thing for fuel economy.

 

Interesting, that must be on later models as I have an '02 with OBC and only get the trip mileage, temp, distance traveled, and average speed. No instantaneous mpg.

My family also owns a Honda Insight so driving with an instantaneous mpg graph in front of you all the time is not new. I'm sure it's helped with my excellent mileage on the MCS. Right now, I've been sitting at 34.5 mpg (OBC) for the past few weeks.

 

My MCa is still very new, only about 500 miles so far, but this tank of gas is at 28.3 MPG according to the OBC. That is fairly evenly split highway/city, probably a little more highway than city. The last tank which was the first one was only about 24-25 when I filled 'er back up. I am wondering if the dealer really put the good stuff in when I picked it up. When I am driving mostly highway it is usually slightly over 30.

So far I am pretty pleased overall. My last car, a MB C-class, only got about 18-20 average for my typical driving which I thought was pathetic.

It's interesting that there's such a wide range on here. I wonder if driving style can really account for such a big range.