Three things that I need clarification on: 2004 MC

1. I have heard that the Mini will adapt to the driver......When I picked up the car from the seller, I immediately filled it with gas and reset the avg. consumption. I drove it home (interstate door to door 80 miles) and it said I was getting 27.3 MPG. As I drove the rest of the tank of gas the avg. kept climbing and at fillup it was 29.0 MPG (a mix of hwy & city driving). Was the car basing the avg. on the former drivers habits or maybe he used a lower grade of fuel??????????? Just curious why it steadily climbed???
2. I have the CVT auto trans and my engine is very jumpy at low speed (0-5 MPH) and at take off from dead stop. I called the dealer and he said it was normal. I'd rather hear from the experts who drive them every day!
3. The 12VDC power in the cargo area is not powered accept when the key is turn on, which makes no sense at all. Is this normal and can it be changed?

 

Hm, I don't know much about the CVT or the power supply in the boot. I do know that the on board computer mpg calculations are very inaccurate. You might want to try to calculate it out the old fashoned way.

In case you're not sure:

Fill all the way up and reset your trip odometer, run the car for however long (usually a full tank but it doesn't have to be,) fill it up and record now much gas you put in and how far you've gone since your last fill up, divide the miles by the gallons and out pops mpg.

 

Hello Little Bit,

re: #1, I believe it is the ECU that adapts to the driver's style, which is different from the onboard computer (which estimates your mileage). So if you drive the car more aggressively than the previous owner it should adapt in 50-100 miles. Also, your mileage calculation will change more rapidly after resetting the computer since fewer MPG values are being averaged. You will see much smaller incremental changes if you don't reset the computer (since the computer averages in those times when you drive like a granny as well as those when you drive like you stole it). Many find that the onboard computer underestimates mileage, so I'd say you are doing very well MPG wise!

For #3, I think this is true of both power outlets (switched power only). If you search in the electronics forum you will find ways of either changing this or adding a circuit with continuous power (fairly easy to do).

Good luck with your MINI!

 

Many possible reasons - wind, weather, gas, *your right foot*. Short term mileage is essentially useless. Note that the OBC tends to read high on the MPG. Mine ranges from 5-15% high, average 11%.

They don't want you to run down your battery by using/charging something with the engine off. i.e. they make an OEM branded cooler for the boot that would plug into that power point. If you forget about it and leave it running all night - oops, dead battery. Granted, though, it does make it less convenient to use for short term power needs.
Since you've got an MC, I believe you'd need to run a hot wire from the battery (or at least the fuse box) back to the boot - a PIA. It's easier in the MCS, since the battery is right there in the boot.

 

There is a current thread somewhere else here on the power tap in the boot. Yes, it is only live when the car is on - that was confirmed on that thread - and I am not sure you can change it barring running new wires to the fuse box and tieing into something that is constantly hot.

Regarding the MPG indicator, mine works exactly as you describe. After fueling up, it always starts at a single digit mpg for a few minutes, then makes large jumps to a higher number (initially in the high teens, then low to mid 20s) and over time - assuming highway driving - much smaller increments as it zeros in on the maximum mpg figure. This behavior (I thnk) is explained by the averaging process - with a small number of miles in the denominator you would expect the ratio to jump around a great deal with any changes in "mileage performance" in the numerator. However, if you have a lot of miles in the denominator, then a short-term change in mileeage performance in the numerator should not change things much. Essentially, the further you go and the more miles you put into the calculation, the more accurate it may be. Still, I agree with the other person who said that a manual calculation is by far the most accurate for determining what your car is doing in the mileage department.

Hope this helps -

Bill

 

Any input or real life experience with the jumpiness at 0-5 MPH?

 

That is normal for all MCs with CVTs... Sometimes, people will get used to it, other times its there all the time.

Evertime I get into a MCa, it is very jumpy (when backing up or just starting off).

I am a MA and drive a MCSa for me, but get to drive around in all the lot cars, so it is normal for me and few of my customers, but other customers don't ever feel it... So that is my .02!!