Realistic MPG for Cooper and Cooper S
Discussion
Hi All
Title says it all really. Thinking of possibly downsizing for approx 40 miles a day round trip to work. Generally keep moving on A roads, no town centres and no motorway / dual carriageway.
Figures I've seen are approx 52 MPG for the Cooper and 45 MPG for the Cooper S for the combined cycle - but are these realistic?
Also - when looking, any common problems or issues worth looking out for on the R56?
Many thanks
Title says it all really. Thinking of possibly downsizing for approx 40 miles a day round trip to work. Generally keep moving on A roads, no town centres and no motorway / dual carriageway.
Figures I've seen are approx 52 MPG for the Cooper and 45 MPG for the Cooper S for the combined cycle - but are these realistic?
Also - when looking, any common problems or issues worth looking out for on the R56?
Many thanks
All the new cars are better than the last genaration. From talking to others (Dont run one my self) the figers are a bit high take 5mpg off and thats more real world. Depend on how you drive THe S I got to drive was about 40mpg but one of the people I work with getts more like 37mpg. His old S would give him 30 odd.
Having driven 45k in the last 18 months in my 03 Mini Cooper S on Motorways and A roads I know the following figures are achievable.
330 miles on a full tank or 240 miles depending on your driving style. I think the tanks is 45 litre although I once was able to put in 46.5 so clearly it must be slighlty larger.
I think at best is works out at 33 mpg or 27 mpg.
I am sure other on here will have driven their cars harder and achieved less but this is based on not thrashing the tits off one.
Hope this helps
330 miles on a full tank or 240 miles depending on your driving style. I think the tanks is 45 litre although I once was able to put in 46.5 so clearly it must be slighlty larger.
I think at best is works out at 33 mpg or 27 mpg.
I am sure other on here will have driven their cars harder and achieved less but this is based on not thrashing the tits off one.
Hope this helps
First 2 weeks with my 03 Cooper I did some testing. 1st week I drove it pretty hard and got 34mpg. Next week I drove like a granny and got 36mpg. Driving hard is mych more fun than driving like a granny so that's what I do now. This is all on my daily drive to work which is 22 miles each way and all b-roads, in fact there is only one short stretch where I can hold a steady speed for over a few minutes so I think that's not too bad 
I think most people are quoting the R53 Minis and not the R56 as the OP requested. We own an R56 Cooper S Clubman. In general driving (Isle of Wight) we get around 37 mpg at the moment. In controlled motorway driving at 60mph (M42 speed cameras) I managed just over 50mpg. Usual motorway blast I get between 41 and 43mpg. These are all from the trip computer - not sure of its accuracy.
I haven't heard too many horror stories although the timing chain tensioner of the Cooper S can create strange noises and in some cases fail. A new tensioner was bought out in 2009 (?) which alledgely solves the problem. When we first drove ours it sounded like a poorly diesel on start up. Dealer replaced the tensioner and everything seems good so far.
I haven't read of too many other problems - but a scour of mini2.com can reveal some other problems.
Mike
I haven't heard too many horror stories although the timing chain tensioner of the Cooper S can create strange noises and in some cases fail. A new tensioner was bought out in 2009 (?) which alledgely solves the problem. When we first drove ours it sounded like a poorly diesel on start up. Dealer replaced the tensioner and everything seems good so far.
I haven't read of too many other problems - but a scour of mini2.com can reveal some other problems.
Mike
I run a 57 plate Cooper for driving tuition puposes. I appreciate you mention avoiding town/stopping starting where possible, but as a guide, with pupils learning and my (more fuel efficient driving) to and from their lessons, my cooper averages about 41mpg despite almost solely spending it's time in town stopping and starting.
Entirely depends on the way you drive.
My 07 Cooper returns well over 36 and up to 40 on motorways. But driven hard drops to under 30. If I really cane it drops into the high 20's.
These are pretty small reasonably light cars with decent well designed engines.
I would have thought at least 35 MPG but is does depend on the driver.
My 07 Cooper returns well over 36 and up to 40 on motorways. But driven hard drops to under 30. If I really cane it drops into the high 20's.
These are pretty small reasonably light cars with decent well designed engines.
I would have thought at least 35 MPG but is does depend on the driver.
The "death rattle" issue is the main thing to look out for on the R56 Cooper S - you need to check it's been done if buying second hand. If buying one with a sunroof I'd insist on a decent test drive to check for rattles as when I had one with a sunroof it was constantly causing problems.
Other than that, they seem pretty trouble-free - my JCW will be 3 years old next march and it has required nothing other than the routine service and the "rattle" fix, which sorted the issue.
MPG-wise, I can't speak for the Cooper but the JCW returns 37-39mpg on gentle A-road commuting, 33mpg in mixed driving and 26-28mpg in hooligan mode, the S will improve these numbers by 2-3mpg across the board.
When choosing you need to take a good look at spec and decide what you want - Chili pack is a must. The LSD is desirable on the S (but does make the front end handling feel a bit strange unless you turn off the DSC when making progress). I would avoid the sport suspension.
Other than that, they seem pretty trouble-free - my JCW will be 3 years old next march and it has required nothing other than the routine service and the "rattle" fix, which sorted the issue.
MPG-wise, I can't speak for the Cooper but the JCW returns 37-39mpg on gentle A-road commuting, 33mpg in mixed driving and 26-28mpg in hooligan mode, the S will improve these numbers by 2-3mpg across the board.
When choosing you need to take a good look at spec and decide what you want - Chili pack is a must. The LSD is desirable on the S (but does make the front end handling feel a bit strange unless you turn off the DSC when making progress). I would avoid the sport suspension.
MX-5 Lazza said:
Are you guys calculating mpg properly or just believing what the computer tells you? In my experience car computers are wildly optimistic and the real mpg is never as good as it claims.
Unfortunately, as stated in my reply, my mpg is from the computer. I will try a brim to brim calculation and see what it reads. With the speedo always reading under is it worthwhile using a GPS device to accurately measure the mileage? Not sure where the inaccuracies come from in the on board MPG calculator?Ta
Mike
MX-5 Lazza said:
Are you guys calculating mpg properly or just believing what the computer tells you? In my experience car computers are wildly optimistic and the real mpg is never as good as it claims.
The numbers I gave are from "proper" calculations - I find the computer is slightly optimistic, over-reading by about 1mpg. MX-5 Lazza said:
Full tank, 0 the trip counter. Drive until nearly empty. Refill. Make a note of miles (unless you have a satnav that will record the whole tankful you'll have to trust the trip counter).
MPG = (miles / litres) x 4.54.
Yeah I realised that, but where does the on board computer mpg inaccuracies come from? Is it the fuel metering or the distance travelled (or both?) If it is the distance travelled there is no point in using the method suggested - unless GPS is the way forward? Also, how accurate is the fuel refill stop thingy? Can it meter fuel to the nearest 0.25 litres? Does it matter if the car is on a slope when it is refuelling? Or does the level of fuel in the underground tank create a different back pressure causes slightly different fuel levels.... Can filling in different ambient conditions cause different levels?MPG = (miles / litres) x 4.54.
Or shall I just use the on board computer?
Sorry for the 'tongue in cheek' reply! But, I will check against the tried and tested fill-to-fill method and the on board mpg! If it is only 1mpg out - I won't bother again.
Mike
The refilling makes no difference at all. All fuel filling station forecourts are pretty much flat. The pumps are tested regularly by law so can be trusted.
The real question to ask is how the computer knows how much fuel is being used! It's not on the fuel level dropping as fuel level gauges aren't that accurate and also aren't usually linear. Most get info from the ecu which measures injector duty cycle so it has a good idea exactly how much fuel should have been injected into the engine. That does rely on perfectly clean injectors and accurate fuel pressure though. On top of that a small inaccuracy in the calculation could add up to a big discrepancy. I have no idea how much of this if any applies to the MINI but I know the computer on my Mrs old Megane Coupe was hopeless. I haven't tested it on her Cooper S yet. My Cooper doesn't have the computer.
The real question to ask is how the computer knows how much fuel is being used! It's not on the fuel level dropping as fuel level gauges aren't that accurate and also aren't usually linear. Most get info from the ecu which measures injector duty cycle so it has a good idea exactly how much fuel should have been injected into the engine. That does rely on perfectly clean injectors and accurate fuel pressure though. On top of that a small inaccuracy in the calculation could add up to a big discrepancy. I have no idea how much of this if any applies to the MINI but I know the computer on my Mrs old Megane Coupe was hopeless. I haven't tested it on her Cooper S yet. My Cooper doesn't have the computer.
Really, really dissapointed with the MPG of my Cooper S. I brought it for my girlfriend, got a really really nice, low mileage, fully loaded one for fair money, paid the insurance and am now looking to sell it due to the dismal MGP!
I put a full tank, drove to Birmingham and back to London, empty. Put £20 in yesterday (£1.33.9) and it is empty after approx 20 miles of driving (in and around London)
Shocking!
I put a full tank, drove to Birmingham and back to London, empty. Put £20 in yesterday (£1.33.9) and it is empty after approx 20 miles of driving (in and around London)
Shocking!
VML said:
Really, really dissapointed with the MPG of my Cooper S. I brought it for my girlfriend, got a really really nice, low mileage, fully loaded one for fair money, paid the insurance and am now looking to sell it due to the dismal MGP!
I put a full tank, drove to Birmingham and back to London, empty. Put £20 in yesterday (£1.33.9) and it is empty after approx 20 miles of driving (in and around London)
Shocking!
Surely you'll lose more in depreciation than the cost of petrol if you sell?I put a full tank, drove to Birmingham and back to London, empty. Put £20 in yesterday (£1.33.9) and it is empty after approx 20 miles of driving (in and around London)
Shocking!
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