Wondering how the real-world gas mileage with the improved motor in the 2011 compares with the 2007-2010. The mini website says 36 hwy for the cooper s and the epa says 35. Any 2011 owners want to chime in?

 

I average 30-32 when I don't use Sport mode and I shift between 2000-2500 RPM. When I have the Sport mode on, it goes down to 25-26.

I don't base it on what the onboard computer says. I do my own math.

 

I'm averaging 32 with probably 3/4 highway, 1/4 city with some hills. I've found that on a road trip, keeping it around 65 I can get 38-40 mpg. 'Course that's hard to do, and when I keep up with traffic I get 34.

 

half city half highway and I get about 26 mpg. I don't drive hard or use S either.

I don't know how others are getting better (maybe I have more city driving than I thought which would be correct)

 

My last tank I measured around 33 MPG. I drive to and from work for around 20m per day then one or two trips around town for about 10m on the weekend.

 

half city half highway commute as well and I just filled up-took 11.8 gallons after a 321 mile tank and averaged out to ~27 mpg. Hoping it gets better, but the car only has ~1600 miles on it so far.

 

i've been getting consistent 30-32 with all highway after my first tank of 20ish. break-in was rough on fuel economy!

 

How many miles do you have on urs? I can't understand why I'm still getting pretty low mileage compared to some others, especially those with an "S". Is it supposed to get better with the more miles u have on the car? I haven't been relying on the onboard computer either, I've been manually calculating.

 

Doesn't look like the 2011s are making noticeably better fuel economy, at least from the reports so far.

 

After the first tank of about 150 miles with about 18 mpg the next 2500 miles were all over 30 per gallon. All calculated by hand. Actually, it is completely possible that the first tank wasn't break-in but a typo b/c it is so different. I'd say both are equally likely.

 

probably just a typo-- modern engines are broken in at the factory. Any further breaking in that you do isn't going to affect economy that drastically, IMHO.

 

I've heard that a lot. Any idea what kind of break-in cycle they do?

 

It will get better. I'd do a break in oil change now since you are at 1600. About 4000 you should start seeing better mileage. My 2007 Cooper gets consistently in the Upper 30s with mixed highway/city and well over 40 on the road with manual. There also isn't a lot of difference in the 2007 to 2011 engine for the cooper as there is the S. The earlier Cooper already had the vanos. They may have tuned it up a HP or two, but for all practical purposes its the same exact engine.

For some reason with both variants of mini you pay a pretty good penalty for an automatic transmission, about 3 mpg. Trip length has a lot to do with it, a lot of short trips is murder on gas mileage.

 

I just filled up: 33.8 calculated by hand. My GPS (which is plugged into the car through the Eco HD bluetooth thing) calculated higher, as did the on-board computer. I sometimes turn on sport mode, which I believe greatly reduces mileage. Even so, I've never seen under 30 on a tank, and my highest was 40 (ok, it was something like 39.9). It was VERY hard to get 40--I drove 65 and accelerated as slowly as possible on a 300 mile round-trip trip. I'm happy with the mileage on my 2011 MCS manual, but of course I can't compare to the earlier versions of the engine.

 

I just calculated my 3rd tank in my 2011 and it was 31.6. I had the sport on the ENTIRE time because I waned to see how efficient I drove without being a "grandpa" about it, just my normal habits.

This tank was solely based on my commute to work and back, and the typical errand running that I normally do, lunch, the gym, grocery store, etc. I would guess my commute (five days a week) is about 35% hwy and the rest city (errand running all city and weekend cruising).

I will be filling up Friday morning because I am going to Houston (from Austin) for a business mtg, and will fill up when I return just to get a true hwy value. Keep in mind I only have a little over 1300 miles on her, not quite broken in according to the manual, yet.........

 

Why would there be a difference? Isn't it the same engine? I could be missing something. My Clubman gets just a bit better than the Cooper, but I just tossed it up to a differnt car. I got 34 highway on the Coop and hight 35's with the clubman.
The new 3 cylinder is not out yet.

Just wondering.

 

While my Mini is not an "S", i still would offer just an observation as I approach 28K miles.

Regardless of what is said about modern motors being so well engineered that no break-in is necessary, I find that the Mini does not actually feel "broken-in" till almost 20K. My car today is a much different car than the one I drove to MOTD last April. It idles smoother, accellerates better, and the hesitation as I pull away from a stop is no longer there. My only change to the car has been to 205/50/16s and a torque arm insert. Other than that, the motor is box stock. Yet it is much stronger now than at 10K (where I was beginning to worry about its longevity as well as its lack of performance).

The real telling factor is the fuel mileage. I log everything (I'm retired so I have time to mess with stuff like that). My mileage has made steady improvement and has been pretty stable for the last 5K miles. At 10K, I was averaging about 33 city and 38 on long trips. Now, I am averaging about 35 city and 41 on long trips. I've taken into account the difference in rotations per mile from the stock 195/55/16s and the 205/55/16s that are on it now. There is a bit of a difference, but nothing that would account for the improvements. I put the tires on about 12k miles.

I truly believe that the Mini is a bit "old-school" when it comes to engine break-in. While modern machines require no formal break-in period, this one still does improve greatly with age and miles.

I would presume that these observations are valid for the 'S" car as well.

Just my thought, YMMV.

 

2011 MCS, on my third fill up. I've had 28.6, 28.3 and 29 mpg.
87% highway on a 21.5 mile commute one way at 72-80 mph if
traffic allows. Much better than my Chevy Silverado pickup at 15 mpg.

 

That seems kinda low to me-- for cars that are rated at 35 mpg hwy. Hopefully it will improve

 

^I think that's probably right. Even the new epa mpg rules still over shoot a bit.

I don't drive that hard and I still haven't broken the 30 mpg mark.

I'm resetting odo every fillup and using gallons put in as my denominator. That's a pretty significant drop from the advertised 36 mpg highway.

Also even on cruise on the highway, it might read 36-38 mpg instant but the minute it's not flat, it will go up or down pretty drastically.

 

2007 S, 80% highway, computer says average 35mpg.

 

hahahah thats hard to do Love it!

 

So it sounds like very few get close to the advertised 37/29 for MC and 35/27 for MCS? I've always found it hard to believe that you don't take a bigger hit in MPG with the turbo, but I guess that's being borne out here in the results!

 

After my first tank of gas, I got 33.4 (hand calculated) - I drive approx 30 miles roundtrip for work. I'd say 3/4 is highway and 1/4 is city. Depending on traffic (LOTS of stop and go while I was on my first tank), I drive anywhere between 50 - 73 mph.

Working on my second tank of gas now and hoping MPG gets better!

 

In my past 4 or so fill ups, I've gotten around 28mpg average. I do about 15-30 miles of highway driving a day, but not really what I'd call highway driving. It's more of "Dang, I'm late to school, time to hustle". Then about 20 or more city miles a day. I ALWAYS have the sports button on in the car, it's the first thing I do when I start the car. I hate driving the car without it on. And I'm not exactly light on the peddle. New exhaust installed and I often am flooring it just to hear it. So I'm sure that has something to do with it...
On my trip to Lexington, going the speed limit with cruise control set at 70, I was getting around 37mpg, according to my live MPG calculator.
I bought the car new in December, and it has about 2,000 miles on it. Hopefully there is some sort of break in period... and eventually I get around 80 mpg or something like that.......