'04 JCW 70K+ miles.....I have only gotten less than 30 MPG (tank average)(OBC) once, as I do little in town driving. I have consistently gotten high 30's on my 45 mile interstate commute and my all time high was 46 MPG average for the round trip commute, but I was driving like an old lady (old ladies, obviously I mean no personal affront)
At fill up, I am >95% of the time in excess of 31 MPG average

 

Hmm, I've gotten 35 and 36mpg across a tank in my '07 MCS with manual tranny. To do that I generally stay away from the rev limiter.

 

Took delivery of my 08 MCS manual with 3 miles on the odometer. First fill up at 337.6 miles with 32.96mpg calculated (OBC was reading either 36 or high 35s at that point). Second fill up at 633 miles with 31.47mpg calculated from the last fill up (OBC was low to mid 35). Third and current tank at 1041 miles with 32.60 calculated (OBC now reading mid 34s). OBC shows an average speed of 35mph of mostly commuting miles, with a 150 mile run with my local club on a tour of Amish country. Driving has been fairly spirited but not heavy footed, and within the manual recommended break in guidelines... save for a brief slip here or there.

 

08 mc manual 1200 miles and my 1st tank was 34.5 2nd was 36 3rd was 37.1 all mostly city driving with a little spirit. the mileage will also increase as the engine gets a few more miles on it.

 

Nice username!

I've been 'sperimenting with driving at constant throttle rather than constant speed (in my '02 BigCarbonFootprintMobile). This is the first I've heard of somebody else doing this. Do you think you get better mileage this way than at constant speed?

 

Three weeks on the road with my auto 08 MC today. Avg. about 33 hwy dropping to 28-29 overall with the city driving that I do around Orlando.

My split is 70% highway miles but bumper to bumper on exits and to get to lunch. So I guess I should actually say 70% city and 30% hwy.

Either way better than the 17.5 overall in my 02 Isuzu Axiom.

 

Not that you asked me, but my answer is a big yes, to the tune of another 2 mpg or so. People behind me don't seem to like this much though. I know it would annoy me as well if I was trying to use cruise control and stuck behind myself when I'm on a hyper-mileage kick.

 

I get on average 35.6 mpg in city and 40 mpg highway, Colorado altitude 6,500 - 9,000 ft above sea level. This is measured by hand.
2007 MCS automatic

 

Manual trans and non-turbo plain Chili Pepper Red MC, whose color alone makes it go faster with no mpg penalty.

R

 

Catseye,
No, I am not an engineer. I am a 56y/o retired social worker/federal employee with chronic lyme disease. I do keep a spreadsheet log of the fuel mileage of my Cooper.

 

same here, life time average from all my calculated fuel fills. Not the on board comptuer.

29mpg. I do 75mph to work for 20 miles. and in the city i drive it like a S.

 

That's really quite impressive, and R56 Coopers (manual) will add 3-4 mpg to those numbers...more if driven for economy.

All MINIs do pretty well in mpgs, but in general any R56 will perform better (mpg wise) than it's counterpart first gen MINI, and any Cooper will outperform it MCS sib of the same gen. The difference may not be significant enough to worry about, but if you want to optimize, that's the general guide you can follow.

 

Agreed. The government here will even give you $1000 cash if you buy or lease a manual Cooper, due to its excellent fuel economy. That'll buy a lot of fuel, even at these prices.

 

I was accustomed to EPA fuel economy ratings being a bit optimistic...imagine my surprise to find that R56 Coopers could easily exceed even the old EPA #s (which were higher) in real-world driving. Even so, I'm sure those ratings are developed in a test setting so I'm fine w/ the EPA #s on the sticker even though I can get do much, much better than that.

 

05 MC Cabrio CVT 20K

I just bought her in Jan...I've been getting a consistent 24-25 mpg in the LA city driving that I do. The two longer, all highway trips, I've taken I've noted 30 mpg.

I'm hoping for perhaps a little improvement over time as the car gets used to my style of driving...the original owner was a pedal-to-the-metal driver.

 

Sounds like we have something in common - I've never had a vehicle in which I haven't been able to beat the government fuel economy numbers, when I drive with economy in mind. The Canadian estimates on the Cooper manual are 7.1/5.3 L/100 km city/highway, which translates into 33/44 mpg. We haven't adopted the more "realistic" testing method here yet so no doubt those are a few mpg higher than the 2008 EPA estimates.

 

Yes, the sticker on my 5/07 Cooper says it gets 40 mpg highway...even a local MINI billboard boasts "40 mpg...more with a tailwind." Shoot....I can get 40 mpg around town (although I think they are well justified in using the EPA #s in their advertising)!!!

 

Sounds like it. Heck, I'm impressed that I'm getting 34 mpg on a brand-new vehicle on mostly city trips of less than 5 miles, with plenty of cold starts. Good on Mini for touting its fuel economy in their advertising.

 

Not a shabby username yourself! I couldn't say it, but who's saying them?

Yes, if you want to be getting the best possible gas mileage, get a throttle like an aircraft or a boat has. As noted by SilverRocket (nice username as well, Sonic Youth fan?) you are going to be in a popularity contest with polio using this method do get around, and polio might win. But it does work. If you are on a long trip, no one's behind you, and you're not worried about being late or getting tickets, I'd say use it. But it is the least enjoyable way to drive the car, I think.

Now, my Valentine One has helped with the mileage averages by at least 1.5 mpg so far. I think that is because I spend so much time off the throttle, looking around for that radar source. We'll see if it lasts.

 

Wow! You are the first person ever on NAM, VWVortex, or even in real life that correctly ID'd the origin.

Yes, I used to be a really big Sonic Youth fan. I kinda fell off shortly after Washing Machine and the first couple of SYR records though.

 

Looks like we have even more 'fuel issues' to worry about.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24296879/

Good thing we have small tanks and good fuel economy.

 

Yeah, but for this thread, it certainly casts an uncontrollable variable into the mix.

 

I get 33.2 rock solid right now

 

Exactly A few threads talk about how they were able to put ~14 gallons in the ~13.2 tank. So many dependent variables when trying to find for sure what our consumption is. Daytime temp, pump calibration, rounding, ect. Just thought it was an interesting article...

 

Did you buy one yet?

any MINI will be the most fun for the buck. I recommend a new 08 Mini Cooper Hardtop for best bang for the buck, and if you're enjoy manual that will edge out over the automatic. My reasoning is that MPG went up pretty significantly with the newer design BMW MINI's starting with the 07 model year and resale values on the MINI's are so amazing you really don't save a ton of money going used. I think having a full bumper to bumper 4 year/50K mile warranty and the first 36K miles of service paid for MORE than makes up the difference in savings you'd get with a used car.

This article is really informative on what to look for and look out for if you are shopping used:

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

Motoringfile.com is another GREAT place to get fairly unbiased information (as much as it can be from a MINI fanatic!).

Best of luck... and ps the first reason I considered a MINI was the amazing gas mileage... then after one test drive I realized nothing else was even in the same league of efficiency and performance combined. It truly is an amazing design.