I bought an '03 MC (auto) in Dec. and after driving it for the last 4 months, mostly city (LA, SF Valley), it's settled down to 21.1 MPG. I like buzzing around corners every now and then, but mostly drive economically. I was wondering what kind of mileage other Mini drivers are getting? The hype says 24 MPG in city...Anybody?

 

21.1mpg is still considered quite reasonable however, other sub 2 liter cars on the road offer better fuel economy these days.

I guess the mini's a good balance of performance, looks and economy.

 

A MC should be getting better than that. Are you reseting the OBC each time you fill up?

 

I am getting between 26 to 30 depending on how much stop and go and how much my foot is into it. I am still within my breakin period as well though. I got 42 on a road trip to the coast about a week ago and was completely amazed!

 

really depends on the location and how you drive. 21 is kinda low
for a small banger though.

 

i don't have auto, but mine gets 37 mpg consistently, city/hwy fast/slow however i drive ('05)

 

No I don't. I thought it would be more accurate over the long run (4 months) of every day driving. I do short runs on LA freeways (stop & go) and city streets. My MPH is interestingly also 21. Once when I drove out to Palm Springs (70-80 MPH) I did an OBC reset and got 36 MPG, but once I got back to normal routine around town it fell weekly down to it's current 21.

 

I agree! Anything I could have looked at? It's an '03 with less than 10k. I bought from a girl who put less than 6k in 2 1/2 years, (like buying a new car). I've put almost 3k in 4 months.

 

WOW! is that typical for an '05 or is it a stick thing? I do drive in step mode a lot, but I'm not a speedster, it's just the only way to get any performance from these cars. Again, ya can't speed around the valley (LA) unless you like to pay the City of LA $200+ and like supporting the insurance companies.

 

I think this has to do alot with the fact that you do predominantly city driving. I realized the reason I was getting crappy mileage was because I mostly drive to/from my apartment to the university gym which is only a couple of miles away with a lot of turns and stoplights. I spend most of my time in 1st-3rd gear and I fill up about once a month. With that, I only get ~17.5 MPG. On the other hand, on my drives back to Houston, my MPG jumps up to 24MPG ( You have to realize that I'm trying to make a 3 hour trip into a 2 hours trip...) . Especially since you get normal MPG going long distance, I would suspect it's just because you're in lower gears all the time.

 

Heck, I just got back from the Dragon, and even attacking the Dragon as hard as I did, I was still averaging 23.5. My normal avg is 27 with about a 50/50 mix. On hwy only trips I get a consistant 35 w/cruise set at 70mph.

 

I get 32mpg US (41MPG UK) with a 5spd Cooper non S here, 90% city driving. 21 is really low, do your mileage calculations by actually dividing the number of miles over how many gallons you fill up with, thats more accurate.

However, you have an Auto (thats 3-5MPG right there) and live in a hilly and traffic packed place compare to where I am (another 3-5MPG) so its not entirely unreasonable.

I test drove the CVT cooper for 200 miles before, it really drinks up the gas quite a lot faster than my 5spd.

 

25 to 27 is what I'm getting around Atlanta area. We definitely have our share of traffic and my mileage has been a pretty basic mix of city/highway. On the highway, I've been getting around 34. Oh, I'm driving a MCSa and enjoy using the paddles a bit here and there.

 

Hey, I have an 05 MCS 5speed. I live around Indianapolis, and I average around 25-26 doing mostly city driving. Everytime I fill up at the gas station I reset my OBC too. The dealer said that would give me a more accurate reading. Good luck

 

You are probably experiencing the benefits of re-formulated gasoline (RFG). When the S.F. bay area switched to RFG (~1997-1998), I noticed a drop in mileage of about 3 mpg. As a test, you might try a load of 100 octane racing unleaded (it is not RFG). If your mileage improves, you probably have your answer.

 

Good point, as Johnny used to say... I did not know that.
Thanks

 

I'm getting 22-24 mpg in city driving on flat roads on LI, but over the last 2 weeks on the highways, I've was getting about 31 mpg with my MCS manual transmission. I was happy with the hwy mpg, but I find there's not much I can do with the city driving.

 

The manual says to reset it each time. Its up to you I guess. When I dont reset it, I can get as low as 18 MPG. Obviously, thats not accurate.

 

In our '04 Cooper CVT, we see an average of 27MPG with 60% Hwy and 40% City driving.

 

It seems fine. A couple of things to remember about fuel economy. City driving depends on the weight of the vehicle, use of A/C, how much stop and go, hills etc. The EPA estiamte is based on a specific city loop, in downtown LA, that was driven and recorded in the early 70's. Part of the loop includes a stint at 56MPH on the Harbor freeway through downtown. if you accelerate as per the test parameters, you'll be passed by bicycles at the stoplights.
As was also mentioned, RFG does reduce your fuel economy since each gallon diluted by ethanol has had energy dense hydrocarbons replaced by a less energy dense mix which has some oxygen. Even the oil companies admit that this can result in a measured 10% reduction in fuel economy, only aboyt 1 MPG if you drive a hummer.
In North San Diego county our '03 MC stick gets 17.5-18, driven gently, for short trips, on the hills around our house. For a mix it is 27+, and pure highway it is usually 35-37. If the bikes are loaded on top, the highway mileage drops to 30-32.

 

I moved my 04 MCS from Chicago, where i got around 27 MPG in the city and 31 on the highway, to LA where i won't drive farther than 5 miles usually in the city and now i get 22 or 21 MPG. i don't drive like a maniac and usually i am in the low gears. plus i think the low octane in LA gas does not help.

 

Must be a big gallon. Also, stop and go driving lowers mileage. If you have a magic formula that let's you get 37 mpg in the city, please share it with the rest of us.

 

'05 CVT, I get no lower than 26 and often 30 with a commute that is about 1/2 time spent driving stop-and-go, and the other on a freeway. I don't have an OBC; it's all based on odometer and the amount the pump says I put in. I average over 4-5 fillups. Interestingly, I don't seem to notice much difference between using D and SD mode!

 

I would tend to think that you have confirmed the "benefits" of Reformulated Gas. A 5 mpg drop wouldn't be entirely explained by a 2 point drop in octane rating.

 

Perhaps it is an optimistic on-board computer???? My personal experience with the on-board computer is that it is pessimistic - I consistently get a calculated MPG that is ~1 mpg better than the computer.