mini cooper s mpg??

hunggar

hey, my girlfriend was mad for a mini cooper s for a long time. she finally bought a 03 model a few weeks ago but man is that thing heavy on juice. she is only getting about 20mpg!! thats taking it very handy and whether its long distance or town driving its the same.

that cant be right can it?? it just got serviced yesterday so hopefully it improves. does anyone think this sounds like a lot or is this normal for the cooper s?

Mr Benevolent

hunggar wrote: »

hey, my girlfriend was mad for a mini cooper s for a long time. she finally bought a 03 model a few weeks ago but man is that thing heavy on juice. she is only getting about 20mpg!! thats taking it very handy and whether its long distance or town driving its the same.

that cant be right can it?? it just got serviced yesterday so hopefully it improves. does anyone think this sounds like a lot or is this normal for the cooper s?

It's an almost sports car, not an econobox. How is she calculating her figures?

drunkmonkey

hunggar wrote: »

thats taking it very handy and whether its long distance or town driving its the same.

Drive it on, you don't buy a mini cooper s to take it very handy, I find my car most economical around 70.

dollybird2

I had a cooper and it was the most uncomfortable and thirsty car I EVER owned - point is yup they drink petrol like a person in the desert drinks water

x in the city

hunggar wrote: »

hey, my girlfriend was mad for a mini cooper s for a long time. she finally bought a 03 model a few weeks ago but man is that thing heavy on juice. she is only getting about 20mpg!! thats taking it very handy and whether its long distance or town driving its the same.

that cant be right can it?? it just got serviced yesterday so hopefully it improves. does anyone think this sounds like a lot or is this normal for the cooper s?

considering a Massesarati gets around 17mpg thats pretty shocking

Redisle

It has a quoted mpg of 33 but in reality those figures are always inflated so, driven carefully (but what's the point really) it should probably get mid to high 20's..

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=22743

Henry Ford III

They like a sup of fuel ok. The supercharged engine isn't too economical.

Mid 20's is reasonable (or 12mpg on a track).

preilly79

with relaxed motorway driving (6th gear, 100km/h) i get about 35mpg (2004 Mini Cooper S). about town driving gets about 25mpg. enthusiastic driving drops that down to about 15-20mpg.

expensive for sure, and whether it's worth it is for you to decide. for me, totally worth it

Zubeneschamali

preilly79 wrote: »

with relaxed motorway driving (6th gear, 100km/h)

So you're one of those feckers who does 100 kph on the motorway!

preilly79

Not all motorways are 120

ryan85

that seems very low. I've an 04 Cooper S and can get it up to 39 on the motorway,30 around town and 25 if driven hard.

blackbox

Maybe the trip computer is giving a wrong reading.

You really need to calculate usage between fills.

hunggar

well there is no trip computer on it so cant tell what its doing on the different types of journey but it takes in or around the 45 litres to fill and gives back about 200 miles for that maybe 210 if shes lucky! so thats where i got 20 mpg.

daveharnett

Redisle wrote: »

It has a quoted mpg of 33 but in reality those figures are always inflated so, driven carefully (but what's the point really) it should probably get mid to high 20's..

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=22743

The quoted mpg tends to be pretty spot on for normal combined driving.

I would imagine that the demographic who go for a cooper s would be more likely to do more spirited driving, and do more city driving than average.
With that in mind I wouldn't expect 33, but 27 to 30 should be achievable. Less than 25 is alarming. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled out an air filter full of leaves and bugs on that service.

What distance is the daily commute? The first 3-4 miles tend to be much more thirsty.
Are you calculating with Imperial gallons? US gallons are significantly smaller, so result in a lower figure.

COB MGV8

I get 30mpg from my 1975 MGB 3.5L V8

746watts

jeez.... thats a thirsty little beggar. I'd be getting rid of it with economy like that.

Gumbo

746watts wrote: »

jeez.... thats a thirsty little beggar. I'd be getting rid of it with economy like that.

why? we all dont buy cars with the aim of getting 50mpg..........
some of us buy cars to enjoy them

Ferris

hunggar wrote: »

well there is no trip computer on it so cant tell what its doing on the different types of journey but it takes in or around the 45 litres to fill and gives back about 200 miles for that maybe 210 if shes lucky! so thats where i got 20 mpg.

Can you tell if the car has been modified? A lot of owners change the pulley on the supercharger to a smaller one to get it to spin faster, thereby pumping more fuel/air into the engine.

Also the car might have a boost leak between the supercharger -> intercooler -> inlet manifold. That would hurt fuel economy. Its difficult to diagnose however as you have to pressurise the pipework to find the leak.

Anything else and you'll probably need a mechanic to look at it.

746watts

gumbo wrote: »

why? we all dont buy cars with the aim of getting 50mpg..........
some of us buy cars to enjoy them

It should be returning 40mpg, OP says its doing 20mpg, if the service doesn't improve the economy I'd be getting shot of it or put new injectors in.
I like fast cars too, but 20mpg is a bit too thirsty for everyday driving though.

P.C.

hunggar wrote: »

well there is no trip computer on it so cant tell what its doing on the different types of journey but it takes in or around the 45 litres to fill and gives back about 200 miles for that maybe 210 if shes lucky! so thats where i got 20 mpg.

Hope my upload works.

Here is a excel spreadsheet that you can use to work out MPG.

I find it quite handy.

Masada

25-28 was doing well on an 02 Cooper S, usually lower than that so i'd say its fairly accurate.:)

Owen

I got 18/19 today. Count yourself lucky OP.