Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 26

Thread: Will the Mirage have better fuel economy than my current car?

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Cologne
    Country
    Germany
    Posts
    10
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts

    Will the Mirage have better fuel economy than my current car?

    Hello,

    I've registered to this forum because fuel-efficient driving and awareness for the environment is becoming more and more important to me.

    Currently I drive a Mini Cooper with a 136hp 1.5l turbocharched 3 cylinder engine and I'm quite happy with the fuel economy.

    I get around 4,1 - 4,5 liters/100 km (57,3 - 52,2 mpg, depending on traffic and weather situation) when driving with 80-90 km/h behind a truck on the highway, of course with a reasonable safety distance of 1,5 - 2 seconds.

    My daily commute is 10 km one way and there I manage to get 4,4 - 4,8 liters/100 km (53,4 - 49,0 mpg) with low revs (1200 - 1500 rpm, speed limit is mostly 50 km/h) and prescient way of driving during summer and 5,3 - 5,7 liters/100 km (44,4 - 41,3 mpg) during winter.

    So I've already test-driven a Mirage 1.2 (or as we call in in Germany: the Space Star) and averaged about 4,7 liters (50 mpg) with A/C on and the dealer driving half of the time. The car only had around 3.000 Km on the clock and was probably not broken in. The terrain was quite hilly and I wasn't used to the car. So the conditions were not optimal. It's hard to guess what my Mini Cooper might have consumed under these conditions, but my guess is around 5,0 liters.

    Since I like the Mini Cooper but I enjoy saving fuel more and more I am a bit clueless about what I should do. The Mirage would save me about 1.000 Euros per year (mostly because of less depreciation over the years) and would probably have a better fuel economy. But the Mini has the better handling (doesn't matter much because of my driving style) and definitely the better seats (they even have lumbar support) while I guess that the Mirage will cause backaches after a couple of hours (although I usually drive such long distances only on holidays, so maybe once or twice per year).

    So my decision mostly depends on how much fuel I could actually save. Do you think that under the described circumstances I might see a huge improvement (at least 0,5 liters less) over my already quite frugal Mini Cooper?

    It would definitely be a Mirage with the 1.2l engine (and 5 speed manual) because I want the Xenon headlights.


    Last edited by ECO-driver; 06-28-2017 at 01:03 PM.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to ECO-driver For This Useful Post:

    Eggman (06-28-2017)

  3. #2
    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    10,156
    Thanks
    4,039
    Thanked 2,788 Times in 2,107 Posts
    Hello ECO-driver and welcome to the forum.

    I think the Mirage would use less fuel than a Mini Cooper, though maybe not enough to justify the purchase of a new car. I would expect a Mini would be more fun to drive. Also considering your driving style, I'm sure you could improve on the already impressive fuel consumption you had on your test drive.

    Have a look at the forum Fuel Economy Log. A link to this can be found at the top of every page served. There you'll see the fuel consumption numbers of our forum members who use this feature. One member (from Germany, if I recall correctly) gets some very impressive fuel economy.

    Found the entry: 25Plus Follow the link and see for yourself.

    This could be an interesting discussion. I look forward to more forum members posting their thoughts.
    Last edited by Eggman; 06-28-2017 at 09:41 AM.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  4. The Following User Says Thank You to Eggman For This Useful Post:

    ECO-driver (06-28-2017)

  5. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Cologne
    Country
    Germany
    Posts
    10
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Thank you for your welcome.

    The fuel consumption of 25Plus is absolutely amazing. But there is one unknown component to it: His driving style. I don't know if his low 3,x liter figures are only possible at 70 km/h on a country road or which figures would be realistic at 90 km/h (I usually try to find one of the faster trucks) and what would be realistic for my daily 10 Km commute which includes a cold start, 3-4 stops at traffic lights and mostly 50-60 km/h without much braking.

    Maybe he will reply to this thread. Otherwise I will try to PM him.

    My current average after 18.000 Km with the Mini is about 5,0 liters (with the break-in phase on the one hand but a lot more highway Km than usual on the other hand, so I guess the effects cancel each other out). If the Mirage was able to give me a low 4,x figure I would be very pleased, but I have my doubts because of the short 10 Km distance drives and my "high" 90 km/h speed on the highways (about 2500 rpm with the European 5 speed manual transmission).
    Last edited by ECO-driver; 06-28-2017 at 10:53 AM.

  6. #4
    Welcome, ECO-driver!

    Are you saying the Mini revs at 1200-1500 at 80-90 km/h? That's quite low for a "sporty car".

    It would definitely be a Mirage with the 1.2l engine (and 5 speed manual) because I want the Xenon headlights.
    Are the Xenon lights not available on the 1.0L model? Is retrofitting an option? Because the 1.0L Mirage is approximately 7.5% more efficient than the 1.2 L :

    Thread: Poll: 1.0L Mirage engine = 7.5% better fuel economy. Would you choose it?


    Also for your reference:

    Thread: Speed vs. mpg/mileage/fuel economy chart - Mirage 1.2L 5-spd and CVT



    Note those results are not the Euro specification, which is even more efficient (more aerodynamic, slightly more efficient engine, plus higher gearing).

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  7. The Following User Says Thank You to MetroMPG For This Useful Post:

    ECO-driver (06-28-2017)

  8. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Cologne
    Country
    Germany
    Posts
    10
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    Are you saying the Mini revs at 1200-1500 at 80-90 km/h? That's quite low for a "sporty car".
    No, I meant 1200-1500 rpm for my daily 10 Km commute. I don't exceed 60 km/h for this route as the speed limit is mostly 50 km/h. At highway speed (about 90 km/h) the revs are around 2.000 rpm in the Mini Cooper.

    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    Are the Xenon lights not available on the 1.0L model? Is retrofitting an option? Because the 1.0L Mirage is approximately 7.5% more efficient than the 1.2 L
    At least in Germany Xenon is only available in the 1.2l model. If retrofitting is more or less plug and play and not too costly, I might give it a try.

    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    Note those results are not the Euro specification, which is even more efficient (more aerodynamic, slightly more efficient engine, plus higher gearing).
    I find this chart quite sobering, because the figures are a lot higher than I would hope/expect. I can easily do 4.1l @ 80 km/h with my Mini Cooper.
    Nothing against the guy who tested it, but I doubt that he got accurate numbers as a result. If I understood it correctly he drove a pretty short distance back and forth and only one direction for the 100 and 120 km/h measurements because he ran out of track. An accurate measurement to me would be a 100 Km distance with a constant speed (cruise control) in a flat terrain.

  9. #6
    Would your local dealer let you do a test drive on your normal route? Seems like possibly the best way to answer your question.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  10. #7
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Cologne
    Country
    Germany
    Posts
    10
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    He might, but since he charges more than 2.000 Euros more compared to an internet dealer I wouldn't buy there, so I don't want to exploit him.

  11. #8
    That's unfortunate, but understood.

    I wonder who is the closest active forum member to you... As of late winter, we had 14 members in Germany. It would be great to be able to do a real time comparison between the 2 cars.

    I assume you've also researched the results on spiritmonitor.de for the Mini vs. the 1.2 L Mirage?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  12. The Following User Says Thank You to MetroMPG For This Useful Post:

    ECO-driver (06-28-2017)

  13. #9
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Cologne
    Country
    Germany
    Posts
    10
    Garage empty: add car
    Thanks
    8
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    A one on one comparison would be great, even if it was only for the sake of science.

    I did some research on spritmonitor.de and it favours the Space Star by a large margin of 1.7 liters. But I don't think that it's representative as the typical Space Star driver has bought the car because of the low running costs and therefore he will drive it differently than the typical Mini driver who wants a stylish car that is fun to drive.

    My Mini Cooper entry has the lowest fuel consumption on spritmonitor.de by the way, leading by a fair 0.5 liter margin before the second placed entry.
    Last edited by ECO-driver; 06-28-2017 at 04:25 PM.

  14. #10
    Ha - congrats!

    I agree - one on one comparisons are fun. I also agree the average Mini owner is probably driving differently than the average Mirage/Space Star owner.

    I got to do a city and a highway comparison of the 1.2 L Mirage CVT sedan vs. my dad's 1.3 L Honda Civic hybrid:

    Thread: 2017 Mirage sedan vs. 2009 Civic hybrid MPG showdown!




        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  15. The Following User Says Thank You to MetroMPG For This Useful Post:

    ECO-driver (06-28-2017)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •