As many on NAM suspected, the Mini Cooper specs were wrong (for the US, anyway). Check out this excerpt from the story just posted on Motoring File:

"Here’s a little tidbit we had verified recently. The R56 Cooper gas tank is really 13.2 gallons for the US and Canada….the rest of the world gets the 10.6 gallon tank.

Why? MINI USA isn’t entirely sure. For some unknown reason this change was done completely under the radar and not reflected in the official US specifications of the new car."

For the rest of the story...go to MotoringFile.com

 

Downside: Added weight :P

 

Downside 2: Fewer bathroom stops on long trips.

 

not really a surprise or "suspected". We knew the first time someone with a cooper did a fill up from an empty tank. =)

 

Yes, but does the on board computer know that? I've never seen it estimate 500+ miles and I'm pretty "mpg" easy. At least until I get a few more miles on the car...

 

Both amazing and amusing...MINIs never cease to entertain!!

 

I have the same question. Was the OBC told about the extra gas??

 

I can't say I've looked at the OBC when I've filled up. However, it has said about 300 miles left when I had run off 200 miles after a fill-up. So it seems to be working based on the amount of gas in the tank.

 

Oh wow! Now I'll never have to fill up while hurtling through the dragon!

 

Btw, this story is for R56/MCS only. You might want to change the title to reflect this.

 

No it's not. The MCS has always been spec'd at 13.2 gallons, but the MC (according to this story) was incorrectly spec'd at 10.6 in the US and Canada. This story reports that the MC also has a 13.2 gallon tank in the US and Canada.

 

Yes, the OBC does recognize the larger tank. I reset mine everytime I fill up. The latest fill up told me I had 575 miles to go. When I put gas in it said I had used 350 miles with 220 to go, so it must recognize the computation correctly.

 

Dude, that makes complete sense. I was scratching my head the first time I filled up my tank. I had 1/3 left and I still filled up 10 gallons. ...Little F'ers

 

On my MC, I filled up the first time on Sunday, after getting the reserve tank warning - two red bars left. Put in 12.3 gallons and it said I had 570 something mile range. According to the onboard computer and my own calcuations, I got 38 MPG on first tank of gas, on a mix of city, highway and small country road driving. I'm very happy with that number, and glad that the tank is more than 10 gallons.

 

Could the 10.6 gallons have been Imperial Gallons? I don't know the conversion.