My first tank of gas returned 33.6 mpg, a mixture of highway and serious N. Ga. mountain roads.(MCS) I took the same route I take on my sportbike and was really impressed with the performance in the twisties.
In response to a comment on mileage of Corvettes, I drove a 97 vette w/6sp from Milwaukee to Atlanta and stopped for gas only once. Mpg was 34.5, average speed was 75 mph, all interstate mileage with an indicated rpm of 1600 @ 75mph.

 

I like the PT Cruiser for the same reason; I suspect that many of its purchasers would otherwise have opted for big fuel-hungry trucks.
>>
>>Well, the PT Cruiser isn't exactly efficient at 20 MPG! (my husband has one...JUNK)

 

Well I use mi MINI S a lot, 6000 miles will prove it.

In the MPG departments is not the best in the world for a 1.6 inline 4 18 mpg average is low, BUT WHO CARES, I still have a lot of fun, and the MPG was not in my check sheet when i brougth the mini....
The best i got so far was a 22, but just tryibg to do my best not to pass 4500 rpm

 

sonoma1100 writes:

>>My first tank of gas returned 33.6 mpg, a mixture of highway and serious N. Ga. mountain roads.(MCS) I took the same route I take on my sportbike and was really impressed with the performance in the twisties.
>>In response to a comment on mileage of Corvettes, I drove a 97 vette w/6sp from Milwaukee to Atlanta and stopped for gas only once. Mpg was 34.5, average speed was 75 mph, all interstate mileage with an indicated rpm of 1600 @ 75mph.<<


My husband averages 22-25 mpg in his '91 Corvette, and sometimes gets as high as 28+ mpg during hwy. driving! It's really a powerful, yet efficient engine!

 

Well I took my trip to Newport RI from CT this weekend, putting 300 miles on my mini. Ending up with 32 mpg, so an improvement. Majority was highway. A little was driving and waiting in traffic in Newport. Did not use a/c. Have over 3,600 miles now.
Thanks for all your advice. I think I will give it a bit more time and call the dealer within a few weeks.
Highlight of trip, heck with the mansions, was seeing two minis within one minute (I have a post in Mini talk)

 

You will use more gas with the windows down above 40mph than you will use if the windows are up and the a/c is on. It's simply a matter of aero-dynamic drag as compared to a MINIMAL parasitic drain on the engine.

 

Art -
Question - all along everyone has been saying running a/c lowers mpg.
So if windows were open, that is worse?

I feel like my original questions were never fully answered.
I had mentioned my old car, not as a comparison that one car gets better mpg over another. Just that I NEVER noticed a change in mpg using a/c or not. the only change was mix of highway and street. Is there a different factor for different type of cars? I understand my old Integra is aerodynamically better than the Mini.

So can someone explain, in plain english, how and why the different ways mpg can vary, such as Art's comment that windows open going over 40 mph, etc vs a/c
Thanks.

 

I think the differences come down to two things: driving style and percentage of HP used for the a/c on different cars. The MINI loves spirited driving; I'll bet most people are shifting at higher rpms and generally driving a little faster and harder with their new car than the one it replaced. This results in lower mpg, but psychologically people wonder why the little MINI isn't getting super high mileage; try the classic drive-like-an-egg-is-between-your-foot-and-the-accelerator style of smooth, steady driving and check your mileage! The second point relates to the horsepower required to run the a/c, if you need, for example 7 hp on a 115 hp MINI and the same 7 hp on a car with double the hp, the percentage of power needed on the larger engine is half that of the MINI's engine, thus the MINI engine has less power available proportionately than the larger one for performance. Of course car weight, gearing and other factors are also involved but the hp used for the a/c is what makes the performance and mileage decrease more noticeable compared to a more powerful car.

 

Just got back from our Smokey Mountains labor day holiday. Used the AC on the trip up and got around 38 MPG. Did *NOT* use the AC on the way back and got a whopping 46.3 MPG. I'd say the AC made a huge difference, at least to the MPG computer.

Looking forward to some long motors this fall and winter with great MPG and nice heated seats...

Cheerio!

Q

 

>>Just got back from our Smokey Mountains labor day holiday. Used the AC on the trip up and got around 38 MPG. Did *NOT* use the AC on the way back and got a whopping 46.3 MPG. I'd say the AC made a huge difference, at least to the MPG computer.
>>
>>Looking forward to some long motors this fall and winter with great MPG and nice heated seats...
>>
>>Cheerio!
>>
>>Q

Is that a MC or MCS?

Unless it is a really hot day I normaly drive around town in my bonne with the driver side window down. I rarely get above 35 in bburg with the way traffic is and I save more gas then running the AC a lot.

The bonne is shaped about like a brick and has nasty aerodynamics as well but still gets 35 something on the highway with moderate AC usage.

 

>>Just got back from our Smokey Mountains labor day holiday. Used the AC on the trip up and got around 38 MPG. Did *NOT* use the AC on the way back and got a whopping 46.3 MPG. I'd say the AC made a huge difference, at least to the MPG computer.

Well, of COURSE! You were going DOWNHILL on the way back ! (OK, just kidding).

I do have a REAL question, though. Was the mileage (38 & 46.3) based upon filling up your car each time, and dividing by the mileage? Or was it just from the computer readout? The only reason I mention this is because my Golf has a similar computer, and I seem to average 26mpg on my trips to & from work (computer); but then when I calculate the mileage from my receipts it's usually down to 21-23. SOME of this is due to weekend local trips, etc, but I'm starting to have less faith in the accuracy of the "average" numbers from the computer.

One thing those computers DO teach you, though, is how EASY it is to ruin excellent mileage by just a few spirited accelerations; OR driving up even moderate hills. I also noticed almost 1mpg drop when I replaced the stock tires with sticky Yokohama's.

 

Sorry 'bout that folks...mine is an Indi Blue MC.

Now for the calculations. Both have a decent number of regular in-town miles in the mix, but here is what we did...

For the trip to NC we filled up in town and then drove Interstate the whole way with the AC on. Set up camp (did I mention that we packed a boatload of camping gear in the back, with the seats folded down!?!) and filled back up. Calculated mileage based on what it took to fill the tank, compared it to the MPG computer and it looked about right. So we went with it...

Now, on the trip back from NC we topped off the tank before we left. We did not use the Interstate for about 2/3 of the trip and took some serious 2 lane mountain road detours through Maggie Valley and Cherokee. I just knew all that mountain climbing was going to lower the MPG. We filled the tank back up about 10 miles outside of town here, nice low taxes out in the county, did a quick estimate and felt the MPG computer was, again, about right. We didn't calculate it all out, just looked at the rough numbers...so the actuals could have been 41 or 42. Of course, another trick with the whole process is that a full tank one place isn't a full tank another place since I never bother to actually fill the tank to the very brim full. So there has to be some discrepancy there somewhere.

We did notice this...as soon as we filled the tank up after most of our return trip we turned on the AC. Within a couple of miles the MPG computer had dropped significantly, even though we had not reset it after the refill.

Q & Little Blue (Indi Blue MC)

 

Dopre Dien!
Try switching off the A/C at intersections and don't switch it back on until you get into 2nd gear. you should see a major increase in MPG in the summer. Also in winter it will be much better (Oychen!!) with the superchargers because of the compressed air - more power!