Someone emailed me a while back, asking if I knew whether the ’05 MINIs had a bigger fuel tank … according to the manual, it is the same 13.2 (US) gallons as previous years.
But I have now filled GBMINI#3 five times, with four fill-ups being 12.6 or more gallons – and today I put 13.3 gallons in the tank! And the car was still running when I drove into the gas station.
I am definitely putting more gas in each tank than with GBMINI#2; I only put >12.6 gallons in that car 3 times in two years of fill-ups.
So maybe the low fuel warning & OBC run the tank much closer to empty than earlier models … but that does not explain how today I exceeded the fuel tank capacity.
Perhaps the tank capacity was increased – but then why are the specs wrong in the manual?
M&I / GBMINI 
Assumption; the filling unit was corectly calibrated. The filler neck might make up the difference. You do run close to the bottom. Also, there is a neat fuel gong option on low fuel. I love that gong. Enjoy that new MINI. Any updates on driving the automatic?
Al.
Ian,
This winter I almost ran out of gas in mu ’04. three turns before the gas station caused the fuel pick-up to suck air and temporarily starve the engine.
When I filled up the tank, I could not get in more than 12.5 gallons; the nozzle’s auto-shutoff wouldn’t let me fill any further. I even backed the nozzle out of the neck a little bit to reduce the pressure but still could not get more gas to flow. Clearly, I had much less that a gallon in the tank when I pulled into the station, but I could not fill-up the final ~1 gallon.
So…perhaps they have re-engineered the filler neck to make it straighter or larger in diameter to allow us to actually fill the tank to the top…and then some.
Roughly calculating the numbers, I would imagine that 0.1 gallons would fill, say, just under 6 inches of 2.5 inch filler neck pipe.
So, if the filler neck has been straightened or increased in diameter that would:
a) allow the full 13.2 gallons to be pumped into the tank, and
b) will reduce pressure feedback to the pump nozzle thus allowing a portion of the filler neck to contain fuel.
This situation would be consistent with an unchanged tank capacity.
Ok, no more coffee for me!
Ted
Ted,
Thank you for the calculations – fabulously fanatical 😉
There is definitely something different – I drive to a similar OBC warning & fill up the same way in the same gas stations as before, but the new car has consistently taken more gas to fill it.
I just checked my history, the most I’ve put in is 12.75, and if I remember right I think the remaining OBC range was 4mi; I’ve never had it down to the “–”
I think some pumps may be slightly off in measuring, but I think more of a difference is their shut-off sensitivity. I fill up at different stations every time, some times my needle is well above full for a while, others its hardly touching the full mark.
But knowing all the “hidden” 05 changes I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if there was a small change in the shape of the tank, diameter of the filler neck, etc that would increase capacity slightly.
Al,
For some (positive) comments about the auto transmission, see my recent ADSS post
I have often put in 13.1+ gallons. I have gone over 13.2 3 or 4 times as well with the most ever being 13.866 gallons. There is no way that the filler neck holds over 1/2 gallon. Now, this particular time, I was almost 1 whole stick width below the E mark so I know it was low.
This is in an October 2003 build (2004 MY)
I got 12.5 gallons on my road trip driving the ’05 MCS back home. I was amazed with the gas mileage. 403 miles in 12.5 gallons! 32.24 mpg, i’m pretty impressed as I don’t think I ever got over 360 miles out of a tank on my old ’02. Only engine mod on the ’05 so far is the Alta intake.
Just got my 05 mini s a week ago. Drove till the
gas gage was on E and then filled it.
It took 14.5 gal. Explain this one.
I just put 13.33 gallons in my 03. Had 4 miles left on my distance calculator. Jeff
14.5 gallons? Try filling up at a different gas station — I think the one you are using is ripping you off!
Sparky – no; the MPG calculations of that tank and the ones before & after confirmed it was not an inaccurate pump!