Folks,
I've had my 2010 Clubman S R55 Automatic since Dec 2010 and have about 13k miles on it. No problems -love it

BUT!!

Regardless how I drive I get 23- 24 mpg . I'm not a speed demon at all and I even had the first oil change and dealer service.

What on earth is wrong? I use 93 octane. Any ideas here?

Thanks!!

 

Where are you in the country?
Do you drive short trips?
How many miles are on the car?

- Erik

 

I live in Metro Wash DC -Northrn Virginia. I drive 63/35 city/hwy and I have 13 k miles on the car.

 

A lot of stop-and-go through DC? With the automatic tranny is does eat up fuel consumption due to the torque convertor.
Check you fuel station to see the amount of ethanol is being used for the 'cold-season'; typically there's more during the winter.
Have you gotten the car out and stretched it's legs from time to time?
Have you checked your tire pressure to reduce rolling resistance?

- Erik

 

Yep, did all of this.
Foe some reason I can't understand its always been like this. I thought the mpg numbers would be closer to 30 mixed.

 

I don't consider myself as a speed maniac, I just drive little faster than others. No matter what I do, I average about 26 MPG combined, I do about 50/50 City/Freeway drive and currently have little over 8500 miles on my 2012 Clubman S

 

I commute to DC and get ~30MPG year around on my S auto, so your mileage is definetelly off. My suggestions would be to 1) do seafoam treatment against possible carbon build up, b) inspect (and replace if necessary) the spark plugs, and c) inspect and clean MAF sensor. Checking (and replacing if necessary) the air filter is good thing to do too.

 

I'd recommend getting more oil changes than the recommended 12k miles. Every MINI specialist I have talked to recommends doing it around 3-5k miles.

With that said, how do you drive on the highway? Do you use cruise control? I find that when I am on the highway and using cruise control around 70, I can easily get 40mpg (with an S, not a clubman, though- and it's a 6sp manual). In the city I get around 26-30 depending on how I drive. If it really bothers you, I'd go to the MINI dealership and have it checked out. There could just be a simple problem that needs to be fixed.

Good luck! Don't let the MPG stop you from loving the car!

 

That is low. My All4 gets around 30 with a mix of city and highway. My MCS gets around 35 in the same driving conditions. Both are manual. Try different bands of gas and see if that helps.

 

My Clubman S gets a about 30 mpg + or - combined Hwy/City(mostly Hwy) I live out in the boondocks, 50mph for a twenty minute run to town and the freeway. So my car gets up to temperature pretty fast. The worst mileage I've had was 24mpg but I had the sport button pushed for the whole tank and I was keeping my foot in it.

Dave

 

How are you determining your fuel mileage? Are you computing it yourself (miles driven for a given quantity of fuel) or are you relying on the OBC's average? And if the latter, are you resetting the average each time you fill up the tank?

If you rely on the OBC, over time the average value will settle out at a given value based on the combined mileages you've been achieving over the course of time. Once it settles into a 'long-average' value, you won't see much (if any) variation in that value unless you reset the average.

 

MY commute in my 09 is only 2.5 miles. I avg. 23.4. but on the freeway, I'm routinely getting 37 and above.

 

Hi, golferji. How long is your commute? As RadioFlyer mentioned, if your engine isn't heated up enough due to short commute, it can bring down the gas mileage.

 

Also, the week I had a countryman my avg in that was 16!!!

 

Easiest thing to check is the tire pressure, as other folks have mentioned in this thread. I have my tires at 37 PSI, even though the sticker on the door says 35 PSI. I find that at 35 PSI, the car feels kinda loose on the road....not sure how to describe it...

 

Thanks all, I'll try these and see what happens.
I use the computer and I'll be damned if its not 23.8 regardless what I do or where i go. This is absolutely killing my fuel budget.

 

You're not alone. My current mpg is 24 according to the computer. I have done seafoam before, MAF cleaner and even had the chemical treatment at the stealer. The last time I was there they re-programmed the ECU and it got worse. I'm going back in at the end of the month and will ask them to put it back to the old programming.

The only thing I haven't done is the plugs. I'm loathe to pay $60 for a new set that might do nothing but I guess with gas as much as it is now that might come back to me pretty quickly...

 

golferji,
Do you reset the mileage gauge after every fill up? It is near impossible for it to get the same mileage no matter what (unless it has been a while since a reset) . While you are viewing the mileage hold the selector button in for about 4 seconds and it should display a flat bar when you let go. If you do this while in motion and coast the mileage should shoot up to 99 just like the instantaneous mileage selection does. As you go it all averages out but reset it every tankfull or every trip for the most relevant reading.

My 2010 JCW clubman can get over 42 mpg hwy if I reset it while on the freeway and I baby it (60-65 on flat land). It gets about 40mpg at 70 and at 75-80 mph it gets between 35 and 37 mpg. In the city, short trips or lots of hills will drop it down. 26 is about the lowest I have seen in those conditions. I am running 215/45 17 non run flats too (it used to be better on stock 205's).

Reset your gauge then baby the car and see what it does.

 

For the past 16k miles (2009 clubman S), I normally get 26 mpg commuting to train station and local roads. 34 mpg on the highway (max 44 mpg). HOWEVER I just got the aux water pump replaced, LOF and the timing chain assembly replaced (engine sounded like a diesel). It now gets 16 mpg commuting and only 20 mpg on the highway. I'm headed out on a 60 mile highway drive and will reset to see what happens. What could have been done with the above service that would have effected the mileage like this?

 

Hi golferji,

I don't have any additional suggestions on how to improve your MPG but can offer some data on my 2011 clubman S 6 spd fuel economy.

Background: I mostly drive to work with the MINI and live in a rural part of Hawaii. Most trips are 20 miles in length on rural roads (@ 50 - 60 MPH) and on residential streets (@ 25 - 40 MPH) with either 2500 ft. elevation gain or decent using premium fuel with an occasional spirited driving session. I'm a little weird but I always plot my fuel economy for all my automobiles. I believe it gives me basic health data for my cars/trucks. It is also interesting look back on and pull data like how much money I spent on gas on my 2004 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 5 spd (avg. mpg: 22.5, mileage: 71838, avg. $/gal of gas: $3.29, current $/mile: $0.19, total expense on fuel: $10,496).

So here is all the data I have for my 2011 MINI (note, I've included a trend line and error bars representing 2 STD DEV from the mean):



2011 MINI Clubman S (avg. mpg: 34.06, mileage: 7898, avg. $/gal of gas: $4.38, current $/mile: $0.13, total expense on fuel: $1010)

 

laserblues A short trip with heavy acceleration would yield mileage like that (as in what the mechanic would do on the test drive). If the cams are out of position, it could do it too but you would notice the car runs like a forklift (huge low end power and absolutely anemic in the mid and upper rpms) Reset the computer and keep an eye on it for another tank. Take it in if it does not improve or right away if you notice the car runs a lot different than before.

 

Over the weekend I did a 120 mile run on I-95 with 5 miles bumper to bumper than an 50 mile 80 mph run (late for an appointment) and the remainder at a 70 mph average (keeping up with traffic). Reset the computer beforehand and got 33.5 mpg. This with 2 others on board. Getting better but will definetly keep an eye out. Thanks all.

 

I, too, have had a Clubman S and commuted in Washington. Your problem is Washington, plain and simple. You are NEVER gonna do better than 23-25 mpg in that urban nightmare. I moved to Palm Beach Gardens, FL 2 years ago. My commute is 40 mi. each way, virtually all I-95. I average 75 mph and I'm getting approx. 34-35 mpg.

The Washington stop and go is killing you. You will NEVER see 75 mph in or around DC, it is too traffic-choked. Get used to it or move...

-RW-

 

I, too, live in the Washington area. I have never been below 27-28mpg in the "city"; highway is 33-37 mpg. I do reset the mileage indicator each fill up.

 

Hand Calculation is the ONLY real way to know what your mileage is.

If i reset the car meter each time it is ALWAYS low by 5-6 gallons per mile compared to a hand calculation. And if I let is sit thru 10 tanks of gas where is has larger numbers to calculate on it is still low by 2-3 gallons per high.

I would not say I am an aggressive drive but I do drive in a spirited fashion and average 29-30 combined. But when I drive in and around Boston, Worcester, Harford, Bridgeport or NY my mileage drops to about 26. Then again on long runs of highway I average 38-40 depending on the hills (PA hills can drop it easily) Oh nad on osme very spirited runs in PA or NC I can push it down to 18-19.