MINI USA Releases 2007 MPG Numbers

Interesting timing on this announcement as the EPA today released their revisions of mileage estimates. I think highway estimates will be reduced by about 12% to put things more in line with what the real world driver obtains. Still, these numbers are impressive given the fact that MINI drivers are not sacrificing performance for good gas mileage.

It’s not that the mileage was bad with the outgoing models, but it wasn’t ever where I thought it was great mileage either. I’m pretty impressed with the 4 mpg leap, even if the epa estimates are off, it’s 4 mpg better than before, with both tested the same way… and with more torque throughout the entire rev band. Not too shabby!

Wow. Better MPG, more HP, AND lighter. This car is guna be one HOT seller

European tests are different with a different method of measuring miles per gallon. Look at the disparity in those figures from Europe to the U.S.

Thought I’d read up a bit and found this on Wikipedia (looks to me like the Europeans are getting a little closer to real-world numbers than we are):

“The EPA tests do not directly measure fuel consumption, but rather calculate the amount of fuel used by measuring emissions from the tailpipe based on a formula created in 1972. The cars are not actually driven around a course, but are cycled through specific profiles of starts, stops, and runs on a chassis dynamometer in a laboratory environment. As emissions standards have become more strict due to smog, most of the resulting numbers do not directly correspond to what people actually experience when driving. Most often, the EPA estimate of mileage is several percent higher than what the average driver manages to achieve in practice, although there are some cases where the difference is nearly 200% higher than what the average driver achieves.”

“In the United Kingdom, the Vehicle Certification Agency [5] has initiated a similar fuel economy rating system in accordance with European Community Directive 93/116/EC. The ratings are based on an urban and extra-urban driving cycle. The urban cycle is a cold start followed by “a series of accelerations, steady speeds, decelerations and idling. Maximum speed is 31 mph (50 km/h), average speed 12 mph (19 km/h) and the distance covered is 2.5 miles (4 km).” The extra-urban cycle is conducted immediately following the urban cycle and consists of roughly half steady-speed driving and the remainder accelerations, decelerations, and some idling. Maximum speed is 75 mph (120 km/h), average speed is 39 mph (63 km/h) and the distance covered is 4.3 miles (7 km).”

Those numbers don’t sound that impressive considering the weight loss and complication of the as-needed pumps. Though it would be interesting to see what other cars would get under the new testing standard. Doubt Toyota is looking to re-test anything unless it has to. Kind of hard to get a warm fuzzy fuel saving feeling if you don’t have the numbers behind you. But at least the on-board computer is standard, so you can point out the numbers to passengers.

Those numbers don’t sound that impressive considering the weight loss and complication of the as-needed pumps.

I’m not a powertrain engineer, but I’d expect as with most other things, the higher you take the fuel economy, the tougher it is to make further improvements. So you have to do a lot of little things to make a noticeable improvement. Considering the claimed broader powerbands from the new powerplants, a roughly 10% improvement seems like a nice improvement to me and certainly a step in the right direction. I’d gladly take more of course, but even if we’re not at the EPA estimates, I’m betting it’s still improved from the 28 mpg I see in mostly non-congested rural/interstate driving.

I heard the new gas tank is smaller on the Cooper so, even though we’ll get more mpg, we probably won’t get more miles from a tank. Is this true and, if so, why is the tank smaller?

Thanks.

I have been able to get over 40 mpg (according to the car’s computer) on the highway lately with my 2006 MCa. Last time I filled up right next to the highway the average was close to 45mpg by the time I got home. But since that I have been doing stop and go city driving the average for the same tank is down to about 27. So the gap between city/highway is pretty wide.

My ’05 MCS, in just over 34,000 kilometres, has an overall average of 28 mpg (imperial gallon). Much of this is city driving, and our cold winters are also a factor, but considering the performance and the fun, I am happy with the mileage. If the new model does better, that will be a bonus, but I did not buy the car because it gets good mileage, I bought it for all the other reasons one buys a MINI, and I am happy with it.