Category: My MINI

Some Fuel Calculations

Spent last night pondering whether to trade in my “gas guzzling” Cooper for something a little less thirsty. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, so let me explain…. my monthly commute is about 1600 miles, most of that highway miles. Unless I take a big cut in pay by working locally, or my boss decides teleworking is not evil, this isn’t going to change. So, my fuel costs:

Gas Cost Regular Driving Boring Driving Civic Hybrid
5.00 $300.00 $270.00 $200.00
6.00 $350.00 $320.00 $235.00
7.00 $415.00 $375.00 $275.00
8.00 $475.00 $425.00 $310.00

In regular driving I can get 27 mpg, if I try real hard I can probably get 30, though I haven’t managed that yet. The Civic Hybrid claims 45 mpg but I figure 40 mpg is more likely.

Why did I use the Civic Hybrid as my comparison? I was looking at cars that I could trade in the ’05 and not spend much more to buy. This puts the Clubman or new MCS out of reach. An MC could be possible but I’m tired of driving to Escondido for servicing, and the outrageous costs involved.

Am I really thinking about getting out of the MINI? Not sure at this point, it’s possible. I’m depressed about the state of the convertible top, why keep a car that you can’t put the top down? I’ve heard a new top could be as much as $4000, I’d rather put that to something new.

The cost of (private) flying has risen worse than the cost of motoring. Plane rentals in my flying club are up to the $100 an hour mark, saving $1-200 on driving could mean the difference between giving up flying, and still being able to do it. As much as I’d hate to give up the fun of the MINI, high gas prices may mean that the auto becomes utility again.

Crazy OBC Readings and Top Wear and Tear

You have to love the optimism displayed by the OBC. Filled up over the weekend ($4.475 for those of you interested) and when I got to work this morning I had traveled approximately 150 miles and the OBC was saying I had 360 left in the tank. I’ve never gotten 360 miles from a full tank, let alone one where I’d already done 150. I’d love to see 400 miles on a tank, let alone 510!

What you don’t have to love is the, now, quite noticeable wear in the fabric of the convertible top. Both sides of the top have two clearly visible dots where the fabric has been worn thin by the underlying mechanism. At 61,000 I’m out of warranty (not that Brecht were willing to do anything about it when it was) so am faced with either a $2200 bill for a new top, or simply not using it any more. Neither seems that good to me. I suppose I shall trawl the forums for some DIY solutions, maybe I can do something to stop it getting worse?

60,000 Miles

Carrie turned over 60,000 miles yesterday, and picked up a new new rock chip as a present. And when I say rock chip, I really mean rock gouge. From the inside it looks like a 1 inch by 1/3 inch oblong pit but outside it’s definitely a ball sized dip. It’s up in the top corner passenger-side so doesn’t obscure my view but I am a little worried about it spreading. Two MINIs owned, four windscreens and more rock chips than I can count. What do they make these windscreens out of – glass??

Hypermiling, sorta

Suddenly hypermiling is the word du jour so I thought I’d let myself get caught up in the fervour. Well, not really, but I have been mixing up my driving habits with some good results.

This morning the OBC was indicating 30.1mpg after 350-odd miles, something I have never seen all the time I’ve owned the ’05. Better yet, the low-fuel light was yet to come on so it looked like I would finally get my first ever 400 mile tank. But then I was stymied – by an Arco gas station selling premium at 3.925. I’d almost certainly be paying 20c a gallon more if I waited close to 400 miles and eventually the luxury of paying less than $4 a gallon won out. My actual mpg came out to be 29.1, my highest ever.

My new driving habits? Nothing earth-shattering, just trying to pull away more evenly, drive the speed limit on the flat and uphill, floor it like I own it on the downslopes.

Some footage from the MINI

Not a great success, aurally, but you can at least see the pretty view I have on my weekly 2hr commute to San Diego. It’s a 3-parter: part 1 shows some of the Valley floor, part 2 is a video of the long climb up the gas-sapping hill to the top of the pass, part 3 shows some of the high desert. Here’s part 1. At the end of the video there are links to my other videos from which you can see the other 2.

Finally, a great deal from Brecht MINI!

Got an email today saying that if I want to bring my MINI by Brecht service they will gladly set my clock to Pacific Daylight Time for me – FREE OF CHARGE!!!! It’s almost worth the 300 mile round trip just to get something for free, make me feel less bad about the $320 oil change. Ouch, still smarts.

I do have to go back soon, though. The passenger-side engine mount has leaked and needs replacing (refilling?), should probably get that fixed.

Odd Key Behaviour

Coming back to my MINI from picking up some lunch today I could not get the door to unlock. I pushed the key several times from behind and pretty close to it (much closer than I usually am when I use the key) and it simply wouldn’t open. When I went to the side of the car, however, it worked first time. I went to the back of the car to put the food in the boot and again the key did not work. I went to the passenger door side and the key worked.

Other than some weird fault with the key, I wonder if it was something to do with the two monster trucks that were parked either side of me. Could it be that they created some tunnel effect that interfered with the signal from the key? I’ve no idea, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it.