No where did you get the crazy idea that starting the car over and over could make the starter wear out faster? Do you think they will sell an aftermarket kit with the "shift it now stupid" indicator for us lowly 07 owners? I want one with really big red letters in the middle of the tach. Maybe with a British voice that says "Time to shift bloke" too.

I had an idiot shift light on a 911 many years ago. It indicated the ideal shift points for either the best performance or the best fuel economy, depending on how the car was being driven.

But, thanks to the howls of protest, it was promptly discontinued!

Here's another thread
http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-d...d-economy.html
That's 7.4% MC and 12.2% MCS mileage improvement. Those are imperial gallons, so the mileage here would be different-and different testing/different results, but the relative change should be close translated here. 45.6mpg(imperial)*.833=~38mpg here.

40.9*.832=34 while EPA is 36 here, so UK testing a little harsher.

12.2% better would mean the '07 EPA 36 then '08 EPA would be 40mpg highway. Of course, the '08 EPA testing is changing, so who knows what the final number would be.

Going from '06 MCS to '08 MCS would go from 32 to 40mpg, 25% better. Not shabby.

Thread also mentions these changes already exist in BMWs, you can turn off the start-stop, and they've been fairly well received.

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At least on the hybrids, they've engineered these engine restart systems to be practically seamless. It's like a propane powered golf cart - you press on the gas and the thing just fires up and goes.

There are great reasons to wait a year. (Or two - I'm planning on a MY 2009 in the fall of 2008 because this is when the first round of refinements in the new design should occur and when the hoopla of the Clubman should have the coupe starting to be significantly discounted. I've got a R53, so whether I get a R56 now, in a year, or in two years, hardly matters.)

But I certainly wouldn't be waiting for these 2008 gizmos.

- Mark

There is no way these gizmos can possibly increase mileage 7-12%. No possible way. They are fiddling with the numbers, assuming the shift light is causing different driving behaviour or that the car idles excessively.

- Mark

Or maybe those couple of things aren't the only changes...

Possible, but I haven't heard of other changes and it would be surprising if the engine gets major mods after being on the market for only a year.

I think MINI is just fiddling with the numbers. The original press release is gradiose to the extreme; it makes a shift-now light sound like God's answer to the energy crisis and global warming.

- Mark

Theres' no way shifting at different points can make that big a difference.

The start-stop couldn't either UNLESS, the British test cycle involves lots of idling (where the car shuts off). Even then it seems to be pushing it.

In the US, I can't see this possibly adding more than 1 mpg MAYBE 2 at the MOST. If the car starts up after idle like my car starts in the morning, I'd turn it off anyway. Somehow hybrids kick in seamlessly, but I think it is because they use those big, powerful battery packs to get a quick crank. If MINI is using a more powerful, but still standard battery, I can't see how it would fire up quickly. If it is any more than a split second delay, then I'm not interested.

"where" you shift can make a huge difference. If your constantly pushing it in every gear, it can use significantly more gas.

Take a look at the EPA numbers that are about impossible to match. To get those you have to drive, as they say, like a granny. VERY slow acceleration, quickly move to the next highest gear. Now the EPA has realized their numbers are deceiving. If you go here, you can find how the new ratings work as they apply to your current car.

There is a reason why those shift lights are there ... and its not too look pretty But we all know many ppl will say ..."I bought a MINI to drive hard ..." blah blah blah. That's OK ... its just not fuel efficient.

That's a GREAT link.

Prius went from 60/51 to 48/45 city/hwy, combined went from 55 to 46.

2007 MINI went from 29/36 to 25/32 and now is right up there with Honda Fit 28/34.

RPM is the enemy of fuel mileage because you pay for higher acceleration and then pay again for the significant losses in friction and pumping that go up as the square of RPM. (At 6K RPM, an engine doesn't have twice the friction and losses as at 3K - it has 4x more.)

With almost any vehicle, the key to better gas mileage is lower revs and short-shifting. Cars that have these shift-lights typically light them at ridiculously low RPM - you're in third gear at about 15 mph. But it does help mileage tremendously.

Someone did a study a while back that showed that lots of throttle was not that big a deal as long as you short-shifted. They got their best mileage in city traffic not by keeping an egg under their throttle foot, but by using generous throttle to get quickly up to the most efficient cruising speed (generally around 35-40 mph), but short-shifting to the extreme - as soon as the engine would take the next gear without lugging, you shift.

- Mark

I read that maximum fuel efficiency of a motor is at the torque peak. You can adjust the speed the motor is running by changing gearing, or change the torque peak rpm by playing with head, cam, etc.

They may have also had a chance (since '07 is the first year for the motor) to play with ECU tuning, don't you think? Maybe they modified fuel mappings, for instance.

Perhaps, but we're talking about fractions of a percent fuel efficiency changes through fuel map tweaking, especially since they're already constrained heavily by emissions standards. Mfgs do not leave 7-12% fuel efficiency savings on the table because they haven't tweaked a fuel map. And if things were burning that inefficiently, they'd bust emissions standards anyway.

- Mark

I've read that in driving classes where Prius drivers are taught how to increase mileage, this is one of the tricks. Accelerate briskly to get to speed, and then hang steady.

No? Ever try turning an Alternator by hand? Forget the start stop stuff, unless your in long.... stops, that is a waste. But disconecting the alternator most of the time, and using breaking engergy to do the battery charging will save 5% by itself.

If that were true, the first ECU release would be all that's ever needed-it would be perfect. Cars couldn't increase mileage over the years.

Is that a trick question? If you try to turn an alternator by hand it freewheels, because if you're turning it by hand, it's not installed and there's no load on it. I don't know anyone who's mounted the alternator, plugged it in, fired up the ignition, turned on all the accessories to create load, and then without mounting a belt, turned it enough by hand to make ignition light go out and have it enter a charging state. But now I've got a genuine science experiment waiting for me the next time I'm mounting one

I shift when I want to. I don't have a stop and go traffic commute. Therefore, I will take the 07 R56 as is. 36mpg on highway is already 40% better than what I drive now which I can afford. I am not like poor or anything. I don't feel guilty either for driving a car that gets 26mpg because there are SUV's and trucks out there which literally guzzle gas. Happy motoring! Can you turn the shift light off too? It will be annoying when you decided that your life style is not always about saving gas....

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I get 30.5mpg in town and I shift at 4-5k most of the time, use AC sparingly. Highway about 34 with AC on. I don't need better mileage, so I'm not interested in any techno-tweaks for 2008 thank you very much. But I see a lot of cars around me that need better mileage more than I do (I traded one for my Mini). Maybe do the alternator/start thing on some Jeep Grand Cherokees or Suburbans. Save the Minis for later.

So you're sure that 91 gas is going to stay at $3.50 for the next
5 years you're keeping that Mini? And will you say that again if the
price of gas blow pass $5.00?

Of course, I'm also praying that MSRP for 08 will stay the same as 07...
(and curb weight )
Otherwise all this increase of MPG will be no point...

it should stay pretty close. How much did it go up from 06 to 07?

Here's something to think about. If your gas mileage is currently at an avg. of 30mpg and you are paying $4.00 for a gallon of gas and driving an avg. 12K miles per year you will only save about 20 bucks a month on gas by increasing that avg to 35mgp. not that big of a deal to me. The truck I used to drive averaged about 20mpg. I save about 60 bucks a month on gas with the cooper over the truck.