33mpg!

Posted on by Ian C.

Just back from British Invasion …
Responding to a request from Ivan, and recent weblog posts from Josh and Don. I decided to experiment with fuel economy. The drive to/from Stowe VT is mostly highway and once you are out past Manchester NH it is quiet too – so I drove the whole way there and back with cruise control locked in at 68mph; I figured with the speedometer optimism I am really doing the speed limit of 65.
At that speed you rarely need to brake/accelerate to deal with other traffic, and the few times I did stop/start I was very gentle with the pedals to minimize fuel guzzling acceleration.

The result:

GBMINI#2 gets 33mpg!

This is pretty accurate too – the OBC on GBMINI#3 is close to correct, other than it is brain dead; it hovered at 32.1 for ages, then jumped to 32.6, then to 33.1 – my guess is it really calculated (European) litres/100km to the nearest whole number, then just converts the result!

After driving up (about 220 miles) and “hauling ass” with Jason & Ricardo yesterday evening taking the “MINI scenic” route from Stowe to Burlington for dinner, I filled up at 420 miles (!) on the way home today – my calculated figure for that is 31.5mpg but the original OBC figure on the way up was drastically reduced by the spirited driving last night.

Driving home today, as well as the speed & (no)acceleration limits, I did not need the A/C; as a result even with the drive yesterday, I believe the 33mpg overall average.

Apparently if I drove continuously on the highway at about 65 with no traffic and no A/C, I could get about 500 miles from one tank!

BUT:
Driving the MINI like this is VERY boring – this was a one-off experiment …

8 thoughts on “33mpg!”

  1. DINGDINGDINGDING!

    Ladies and Gentlemen … We have a winner!

    Impressive to say the least. Or rather, I’m impressed 🙂

  2. Thanks 🙂
    Remember that’s an *auto* transmission too – I think on the highway any torque converter loss is compensated for by the higher gearing in 6th; revs at the cruise setting are about 2200!

  4. I filled up today. My OBC read 31.7mpg.
    Actual was 25.74.
    How nice it must be for you to have an accurate OBC. 🙂

    And yes, it absolutely goes up in steps, and probably like you say converting from metric. It is more accurate at lower numbers but the jumps are pretty large around 30. Easiest way is to watch it closely just after resetting it (sit at a traffic light and watch it fall)

  6. Ian,
    Great mileage on your new 2005 automatic. I just returned from the Watkins Glen Vintage racing and it is 500 miles from the cape. Cruise set at 70 (probably was 67 mph) and bucking a head wind going west, got 35 mpg with no a/c.
    The return 500 miles was as you stated; an interstate slug fest, and very agressive with a/c on to deliver 30 mpg. No complaints here.
    Al on the cape with his 2005 MCS.

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