First post, and my Mini Cooper
 

Howdy all,

I drive a 2006 Mini Cooper S (R53) and am looking to get the best fuel economy I can using simple upgrades to improve the aero efficiency. I've owned the car since new and have a history of driving the car maximizing the fun which is great for grins but hard on the pocket. I've only recently started collecting data and will try to post progress when I get it. My largest challenge has been actually learning to drive conservatively. I also live in a hilly area and primarily am a city drive, so these are challenges.

Waiting to be installed are a pair of smooth plastic underbody panels that I sourced from a later generation R56 aero kit.

The car is lowered about half and inch and otherwise has a few conservative mods to the engine aimed at performance. :thumbup:

This is an awesome site, and I admire other peoples accomplishments and the great amount of information.

welcome zax!

very cool little car!!!!!!

adjusting the nut behind the wheel is key so good job starting there!
pump up the psi.
get a scangauge (see first link in sig)

Welcome to the site - I've yet to drive one of these things. Funny: a bunch of people I sail with/against have them. There must be 4 or 5 in the parking lot on race nights.

Is yours the supercharged/turbocharged (I forget) engine?

Manual transmission makes it easier to squeeze out good results. You're on the right track: start keeping good records, work on your skills, and challenging yourself to improve on those regular trips/commutes.

Look forward to following!

Supercharged, and I have an aftermarket boost gauge installed. Manual 6-speed transmission.

Thanks for the support, I hope to post some worthwhile updates soon. :thumbup:

Hi, Zax,

I'm not familiar with boosted engines at all, I only know theory. I'm wondering if there are such things as underdrive pulleys for the supercharger that would help keep it out of the thirsty boosted zone? Pulleys aren't too hard to switch out (again I'm guessing, never having lifted the hood on a new Mini) so it wouldn't be a major pain, and you sound like someone who's both familiar with tools and not shy about wrenching on his car. That would be a completely reversible modification.

UDP are often good ideas for performance, which as you probably know, usually help fuel efficiency in one way or another. A more efficient pulley system could have less parasitic loss, aka, less power wasted on a pulley and less fuel needed to do the same work.

Its unlikely this mod will quickly pay for itself, but you may be a fan of a mod that boosts power when you want it, and boosts FE the rest of the time.