I've got an '06 cabriolet that's got every possible JCW option on it. I drive it pretty hard and freeway cruising is usually 70 to 80 mph. My commute is 15 miles and half freeway, half surface streets. My mileage, according to the computer, is usually in the very low 20's.

If I'm doing nothing but highway cruising and I keep the speed to 65, I can get near 30. But that's no fun.

I use this site to keep track of my mileage in my Civic, waiting on my '05 MCS Cabrio to be delivered any day now, and it also has a database for other users.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/mini/cooper%20s

New question to post:

2006 R52.

1. How to replace license plate light.

2. Dealer says can't use key FOB to raise/lower top outside the car. Is this
true? Is there any way to program this function? It is in the owners manual,
but the dealer said the feature is no longer available.

I have an 07 Cabrio (not S), and I drive a lot of city, so it averages about 24 mpg. I do some freeway driving (maybe 50 miles per tank is freeway), and I get gas at Costco (which is 10% corn crap a.k.a. ethanol). I am curious if the price of more expensive gas would benefit me in terms of mpg and total costs.

Dealers say lots of things. You wouldn't believe some of the tripe folk have reported being told by dealers. It is available on our '06 R52. The key will lower to top remotely but not raise it. Start from a fully locked condition, press the unlock button once unlocks the driver's side door, press it again unlocks the off side door, press a third time the windows go down and the 'sun roof' slides back and press the forth time and the top will go back. Doing the dorky chin thing, I've gotten it to work from as far away as 100 yards. Somewhere in the depths of this forum is a pictorial step by step on how to add a short antenna to the key which will improve function distance substantially. The key will raise the top from the outside by putting it in the door lock and turning it to the lock position and holding it there till all the bits stop moving.

What brought me here in the first place:
At the conclusion of MITM the average MPG at our next fill up just East of Denver was 34 MPG. Best I've seen so far. That was after abt 1300 miles. 600+ more miles of flat land interstate driving brought it down to 33.2. Not complaining about any of it! Most of the time, people ask about my MINI's milage and I just tell them 'I don't care, it's too much fun to drive to worry about it'.

Hi Victoria...it's not the cheap Costo gas....most of the gas sold now has 10% ethanol. It's a real crapper for cars. You may want to run treatment through the system, but paying more for it will not make you exempt of the ethanol.

I have an 05 MCS and i get religiously 21 mpg. I do mix driving, but most city, and tend to have a heavy foot, so 21 for my style of driving is not such a bad thing.

BTW. I had 2011 MCS for a week while my car was getting a new clutch, and got abot 23 mpg.....but drove it like a stolen one

24 is pretty good...just enjoy driving it.

I just completed a 5,100 trip to Indiana and back. Burned 175 gallons of premium - 29 MPG. Mostly freeway driving and some scenic mountain passes. No oil or coolant usage. Got a good engine, I believe.

The computer tells me I'm getting around 26. I had a Corolla that I got 36-38 with depending on how I drove. Regardless, I think 26 isn't horrible as I tend to get on the Mini just due to the fun factor.

My question for the group is this: Do you burn much oil?

I bought mine with 6k miles I have 10k on it now and I haven't seen any oil burn. However, before I bought it I brought it a mechanic that told me I had to change the oil every 5000 and that it would burn a quart of oil in that time. I thought he was on drugs at the time and I still think so now. But, it would be nice to hear of others experiences.