So the EPA has the 07 listed with the current sticker mileage, and the new mileage. From what the site is showing, that looks pretty accurate to what I have been receiving on my 07. Here is the link for those that want to check it out.

 

All the EPA mpg ratings are going down in 08. In my case I have filled my tank 5 times now and have never gotten less than 38 mpg in mixed city/highway driving. The worst for me was just over 38 and the best was just about 42 mpg. This is all combined driving, no pure highway or city driving.

I recall that when EPA mpg ratings 1st came out in the late 70s nobody was able to get the posted ratings. They lowered the numbers by some percentage in the early 80s. Why they are doing this again in 2008 I am not sure. The last few cars I have owned I have in most cases beaten the ratings except maybe in winter for city driving.

 

This time around they aren't just changing the numbers they are adjusting their tests to better reflect real driving. Granted I don't have many miles and it's mostly mixed, and most of my city is 50 to 55. But the average looks about right for when they start posting those numbers on the 08 MC

 

I looked up the R56S 25 city 32 hwy 28 combined.That sounds just like I'm getting.

 

I feel like the numbers at that site are being arrived at by doing a simple mathematical conversion of the old test results, rather than re-testing all the cars. (This because they have "new" EPA ratings for cars going back to 1985, and it seems unreasonable to think that the EPA has spent the enormous amount of time and money to re-test 22 years worth of vehicles for their web site).

If someone can find an explicit statement on their website that they've re-tested the MINI please post it here (I looked and couldn't find a statement one way or the other).

Unfortunately unless they test both the 2007 and 2008 models using the same tests we won't know exactly what effect MINI's changes to the 2008 models are having on gas mileage. (Perhaps European tests will reveal that, however.)

 

I'm thinking that the reduced MPG estimates are partly caused by the 10% ethanol requirement.

 

I yet have to get close to 30 combined

 

The OBC shows me at 27.5, driving mostly city streets in L.A., with the occasional zooom out of town on the freeways. When I put the OBC on to show the mpg while I'm driving, it fluctuates down to between 8 -12 mpg as I climb the steep hill to my house, or go the tiny blocks with the stop signs.
That's gotta be what's keeping me under 30.

 

My R56S is getting 31-32 around town, 35-36 highway so a lot closer to the old 29/36/32 than the new 25/32/28 and no, I don't drive like a granny all the time...

 

Please consider reporting your mileage figures as derived from a calculated MPG number NOT the OBC number. After over 3 years of recording both the OBC mileage figure and the calculated mileage figure, the average variation was 9.3% on the high side for the OBC number. The best accuracy was 1.6% high and the worst was 22.1% high.

Thus, if my calculated mileage was 30 mpg, my OBC might have read anywhere between 30.5 and 36.6 with the average error reporting 32.8 mpg.

So, it would be very useful to report calculated mileage, not OBC mileage. At the very least, consider stating the reference method (Calc or OBC) when posting mileage figures.

Theo

 

I still want a MINI that gets 40+ mpg.

 

Take yours on a highway road trip and you might get it.

 

Okay...if you insist!!!

 

I've been consistently getting 33 mpg in my S--never less since it was fully broken in--and my husband complains I have a lead foot.

All of this makes me wonder why my parents claim they get over 35 mpg in their Buick. They insist it's through tank calculations, not OBC. In any event, my father is 90 and doesn't exactly go fast. Anyone willing to trade in their MINI for my father's Buick?

 

my 07 MCS is getting 32 MPG combined (5500 miles)

 

I agree. I have an 86 and 87 bmw 325e, and I usually get greater than the epa estimates. Epa says 21/28, where I get ~20 in the winter, warming up the car for about 10 minutes, 29mpg with a lot of ~50mph cruising, and a best of 33mpg highway. The new epa estimates are lower than the 1986 numbers. I call BS on retesting every car out there.

 

The 10% ethanol is definitely effecting the gas mileage on Romi. I managed to get a tank full without Ethanol in it and the she had power I have never felt from her before, or since. And the gas mileage skyrocketed.

Even in town the gas mileage was much better. Since I have had to go back to the 10% stuff, the gas mileage has dropped and so has the power.

It surprised me how much difference it made.

 

California 's highest octaine is 91 ,doesnt Texas have 93?That could make the differance

 

Ethanol does NOT reduce fuel economy. That statement drives me nuts. A gallon of regular gas, and a gallon of any percent of mixed E and gas aboth have the EXACT same amount of enegery in them, at the same octane levek. Why is that so hard for people to understand?

 

MITMII is calling your name, Kartie.

 

93 octane gasoline diluted with 10% ethanol has about 96.7% as much energy per gallon
as 93 octane gasoline without 10% ethanol (usually has MBTE instead).
This will cost you about 1 mpg. A little more on the highway, a little less
in the city.

Ethanol has 67.7% as much energy per gallon as gasoline.

E85 has about 72.5% as much.

Here's one of many posts that give some hard evidence on the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency

and another

http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/...sti_id=6524534

 

That's not what I have read about Ethanol.

 

I did not realize they posted numbers for even older cars. I figured they had begun testing 08's and that since the models for the 07 are pretty much the same the ratings were adjusted accordingly. However it is possible that multiple cars were tested with the new standards, and an equation was created that could be applied to all cars.

 

http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html
ethanol 75,700 Btu/gallon
gasoline 125,000 Btu/gallon

Octane level has NOTHING (repeat NOTHING) to do with energy content! They are different things!

 

I posted OBC numbers that I spot check on fillups. You assume I don't know rough accuracy of OBC in my car...