My names Tyler, I just got my first Mini last march. Its an '08 Mini Cooper S. Absolutely a blast to drive. But now that its been almost a year and being a college student I want to start maximizing on the good fuel mileage at least until i get out and get a job. I recently changed my driving style shifting around 2,000 rpm less break on turns more coasting and that took me from 26 to 32 mpg. I would like to know what mods there are out there that will increase power and also mpg so i can be a little for lax on "hyper mileing". Ive looked up some stuff n seen magnaflow exhaust, some ECU's but need someone from the Mini side with experience. Any experience would be thankful. Parts and brand names or websites to look at. Thanks

 

What kind of tires do you have right now? Those can make a huge difference. Otherwise some have reported tunes giving better gas mileage. I know the stage 1 AP tune did for me. I was consistently getting 34 mpg and after the flash, I averaged 37 mpg. I didn't really change my driving habits during the time(other than maybe revving the engine sometimes to see if the AP's tune gave much hp gain). I flashed it back to stock and sold the AP and my mpg was back to the 34's. The last 2 tanks I've averaged even less (~32mpg) but that's cause I swapped to winter treads and I think the gas here took a nose dive when the temperatures really plummeted.

Bear in mind that I didn't do a scientifically sound comparison but my driving route changes little so take it for what it's worth.

 

Make the car breathe better; a less restrictive cold-air intake for easier inhaling, and a cat-back exhaust for exhaling.

Not only will it sound better, but it'll have more power, and if you can resist driving it more aggressively*, it might show slight gains in fuel efficiency, too.

*but isn't that the challenge? The double-edged sword here is that by doing these mods, your car will sound better, and you'll naturally want to rev it up and drive more spiritedly, thus having the exact opposite effect; your mileage will undoubtedly suffer.

Also, by spending money on these mods, (somewhere around $1000 for both, for argument's sake), how many more miles of good driving will give you the mileage savings to offset that cost for parts??? A conundrum!

Good luck!

 

@ IzzyG I have Continental ExtemeContact DWS's right now, they came on the car i got used. But in the near future i will need to replace them. I'll definitely look into that tuner.

 

@johnieoh I was looking into a magnaflow cat back pt# 16815 it has an awesome sound, it would probably be my first mod cause it sounds a ton better, as far as cold air intake im not sure what some good brands or options are. I definitely understand the catch 22 with performance mods but i believe i could still manage to keep under control.

 

There is debate about if cold air or warm air is better for fuel economy. It's a long debate, and it usually seems to wind up with "test it and see what helps in your case."

Mods: Pump the tire pressures up. A free mod (or close to it), and it can definitely help. You should be OK if you don't go over the pressure stated on the tire sidewall, except the ride will usually get more harsh. If you're doing much starting and stopping (e.g., city driving) then remove excess weight from the car. Also free or nearly so. For nearly free, you can make "pizza pan" wheel covers to keep the wheels from churning up as much air. A belly-pan can be made from "coroplast" (corrugated plastic like they use for political signs and such) or sheet aluminum. You can block the air going into the grille to help your engine warm up faster and to help the aero slightly. You can even go hog-wild and do a full boat-tail, but making one that doesn't look like scrap can take some real effort and money.

I recommend a Scangauge to help give you instant feedback on your driving. Not that cheap, but it gives you access to more information than the stock MPG readout. And if you block off the grille, for instance, you will definitely want to keep an eye on coolant temp.