Nope as i use the AC all the time and still get amazing mileage

 

On my wife's BMW 330ci I get about 5 MPG better than she does, because she's nervous on the throttle and I'm very smooth on it. I even got better MPG on my M3 than she gets on her car. Being a smooth driver makes a huge amount of difference.

Also, keeping tires inflated properly helps. On a recent road trip with my wife's car, I realized the tires were under-inflated mid trip. MPG improved by 10%+ after I inflated the tires.

 

I've owned my car long enough to fill up the tank 10 times. The mpg is by the gas pump, not the OBC since it is always higher by as much as 1-2 mpg. I average mostly city driving and I get about 25 mpg. If I pay attention and become a hyper-miler I can get up to 28/29 mpg. We took a road trip to the Berkshires (from DC) and got about 30 to 33 mpg going 75 mph up and down hills.
I'm pleased with this report. Should I expect anything different? Any suggestions for improvements?

Pat in DC
07 Pepper White, Auto, All Weather package, minidomore hitch, bike rack w/bikes on road trip, Purchased May07 w/ 1,400 miles now is 3,400 miles, very fun I just wish I could figure out how to get XM!

 

Sorry about getting back to you, I haven't checked this thread in a while.

I have been driving 60% Highway, 40% City. My average speed on the highway is between 60 and 70 MPH, depending on the speed limit. On my latest tank, I got 41.6 MPG according to the computer, and 39.6 MPG according to my own calculations.

Speeding drastically reduces efficiency, and doesn't really get you anywhere that much faster, so I try not to speed. On a twenty mile commute, with best-case-scenario-no-traffic, the difference between 70 MPH and 85 MPH is less than three minutes... Better gas mileage, fewer tickets, lower insurance premiums; for me, those three minutes aren't worth the literally thousands of dollars in savings a year from not speeding.

 

That is absolutely abysmal gas mileage. There are people who get better gas mileage with their MINIs on track days around here. There are only three possible reasons for numbers that poor... Either there is something wrong with the car, there is something wrong with your calculations, or you are driving the car like a mad man. I can't think of any other possibility!

 

I've got just over 1250 miles on my 2008 MC with auto tranny. So far, hand computed, I'm getting just over 30 mpg in the city and about 41-42 on the highway (avg speed about 60 -65). I'm hoping to increase the city mileage by using the manual mode, shifting a lower rpm, starting in second gear, etc.

I couldn't be happier with my mileage. Got over 500 miles on the last tank.

 

Week 32 invasion?

@gmhl10 - I think city driving just kills the mileage on the MCS. I've got an '08 MCSa, too, and the OBC is telling me I'm averaging around 21 mpg, with an average speed of, coincidentally, around 21 mph. I do mostly city driving. I gotta get this thing out on the highway more! The low mileage kind of sucks, but the car's so much fun to drive that I don't really care.

-Will

 

I have to say on my civic it took about 10K untill I was getting great MPG, I think some of us might see betterMPG at that point

 

Ditto on that, Gypsy... My wife's latest Civic was stuck around 30-32 MPG until right around that 10-12K mark, and now it regularly tops 36 MPG.

 

I didn't see a response to your question in this thread, so...

The reason that you should buy v-power or another top tier gasoline is because the companies that are selling you these products require a consistent amount of detergent that will not vary much between pumps. V-power in Seattle, should be nearly identical to V-Power sold in New York.

If you are buying premium gas at non-top tier gas stations (such as your local supermarket's pumps) you have no way of knowing what additives are in their gasoline. They provide you an inconsistent product because they buy whatever gas they can get their hands on for cheap so it's never the same gas from week to week. You will not get consistent results with it. Sometimes, the gas may be just fine and not cause you problems, other times there may be so many additives that it loads your engine up with gunk. You just never know.

With top tier gasoline, you know what you're getting.

Food for thought: Honda recommends that you use top tier gasoline in all of their vehicles. It's in the owner's manual. Honda, maker of one of the cheapest, most popular appliances in the world, says you should spend a little more on gas for their Civic. You spent 10,000$ more on your MINI than you would have on a Civic.

 

I would say I drive it about 35% of the time and I believe I'm a smooth driver.
I mean... the 11-12 mpg I get on the M3 includes autocross mpg. Not to mention, since the M3 is my weekend driver, I push that car every chance I get. Can't be the tires since I check it personally every month. I fill it to 36 psi warm temp. What psi do you guys put your tires at?

I do notice that when I take the car on the freeway more... even if it's only 1 or 2 times per fill-up, I can go over 200 miles per fill-up. Once I went on the freeway 3 times on the fill-up and it topped off around 230 miles. If I don't go on the freeway at all, it'll usually never go over 200 miles.
Hawaii's a small place. I live in Honolulu. I work in Honolulu. All my business is in Honolulu. There's no need for me to go out of the city and scenery gets old, especially if you grew up here.

 

gmhl10: Holy yowzers. Your mileage is similar to a truck's! Time to check in with dealer and figure what's going on mate.

 

I keep all 4 at 36 psi cold

 

good catch. that's not a very good indicator if it's only 7.0 miles as to what one can expect over the long haul.

 

Not everyone uses their trip odo for fuel calculations:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...&postcount=223

 

Check the pic below that over 2 hours of driving and even higher
I also manually check my MPG and log it by hand Less then 1 MPG off

 

36.5mpg average with mixed hiway/city driving and air condition on full blast. Average speed of 76mph. Not bad!

 

I guess that's about the mileage any of us would get if we were to treat our throttle as an on/off switch.

 

Ave spd 76mph vs 20mph here .

 

Wow, That is good. I could not match that at all. I now have 4500 miles and this is my calculated mileage:
Highway: 35 mpg
City: 26 mpg
Track: 9 mpg approx (dry)
Track: 13 mpg approx (wet)

The turbo is thirsty when it is used...

 

just did an experiment,
drove like grama, first quarter of tank on freeway...........34mpg
had fun next quarter of a tank.....................................31mpg
next tank
around town
like grama......................................27 mpg
spirited....................................25mpg

conclusion,
have fun , it's not worth worrying about 2 mpg in a tank that holds 12gal.
boxcars

 

Well, i've figured out what i'm doing wrong. my commute is too short. 17.6 miles one way and 1/2 mile uphill to the office. both highway on ramps are uphill short merging lanes. 2 miles to my home from the off ramp.

I went and had dinner at a coworker's house which pushed two of my return trips to 40+ miles and my last tank jumped to 31mpg from my usual 28-29mpg. Little change in driving, shift modes or A/C usage and no mtn runs. Elevation 398' to 1200' from sea level. This seems consistant w/ the tanks from my longer trips.

mpg's are NAV calculated (usually +/- .5mpg from gas pump calc)

 

I have noticed an improvement in MPG after about 12k. I get a steady 35 in mixed driving, with 80% of that highway. thats with a semi lead foot at that (70+ sustained)

 

Hmmm... I'm going to try upping the psi. Let's see if that helps while sticking to my usual driving habits.

 

I only have 2200 miles on mine and I have averaged 39 mpg for the short lifetime of the car. I have never reset the average speed and it stands at 46 mph. I do 85% highway driving. I do actually get on it often, mainly giving test drives to friends and relatives. I make up the mpg's coasting to stoplights and off of interstate ramps. I also skip shift a lot 1st, 3rd, 5th then 6th or 2nd, 4th, 6th.
2008 MCSm