Exclusive: 2014 F56 MINI Official US MPG Figures

Next week the EPA will officially release final MPG figures on the 2014 F56 MINI manual and preliminary ones for automatic models. As we could see with MINI’s estimated figures back in January, these final figures paint an interesting picture of how MINI has attempted to further differentiate the Cooper and Cooper S and the results that has had on efficiency. Let’s take a look at the rundown.

– Cooper auto: 29 City / 34 Combined / 41 Highway (preliminary)
– Cooper manual 30 City / 34 Combined / 42 Highway
– Cooper S auto: 27 City / 31 Combined / 38 Highway (preliminary)
– Cooper S manual 25 City / 29 Combined / 38 Highway

The Cooper and How it Compares to the R50 and R56

The Cooper especially has substantially increased performance while increasing MPG. However it’s not the upward trend some had hoped when it comes to city figures. We’d expect the new 9 speed auto to change this in a few years. In the meantime however we have a Cooper that is much quicker than before with substantially better overall MPG. Not bad in our opinion.

The Cooper S and How it Compares to the R53 and R56

This is where things get interesting. W’ve mentioned previously that it was MINI’s intention to pull apart the Cooper and Cooper S in terms of performance and this is perhaps a by-product of that. The Cooper S manual has actually lost ground on the “CITY” cycle dropping 2 mpg. In fact that drop alone affects the overall combined score enough to actually drop the new MINI 1 MPG from the previous manual MCS. Keep it in perspective though. The engine is now a full 2.0L with with seat of the pants performance equal to the previous JCW power plant. Based on our experiences driving the car, there’s a greater drivability to the engine given the amount of torque and the eagerness of the engine to rev. And with 2.0L there’s also much more potential in the engine for JCW and tuners alike.

Of course that doesn’t change the fact that the new MINI Cooper S manual (the one many if you will likely want) is technically less efficient than the previous one in the city and overall. You’ll have to do more highway mileage to truly call the new MCS an improvement in efficiency.