[MINIMANIAUK]

One day in the near future ,when cars are rare and run of grass or something,and considered a luxury of the very rich , kids will say "oh look a car"" and you can reply "when I was younger,I used to drive a Mini ,they were real trendy then ,ran on petrol,even had a supercharger!!!,those were the days "

You only get one trip round the funfair-go on every ride!



PS I also run a BMW V12 -and you think you have fuel issues!!

[Fen]

How much is fuel in the UK now? It was £1.11 for 95 RON where we lived when we left but it's gone from $1.70 to $1.77 in the 6 weeks or so we've been here.

I'd echo the post above though - my RS6 did 17mpg on a motorway run with the cruise control on at 85 or so; playing was single figures easily. It cost me £50 a day just for fuel to get to work when I took it, but I'm not insane so I bought an old Audi 80 TDI for the motorway schlep most of the time.

[adams]

V12 Wow lol nice. The new cooper s is alot better on fuel i know, but what are the real world mpg's people are getting? I know the golf will get that figure and perhaps a little more, i have heard r56 s drivers are still getting about 32-35 (driving style depending i know). Does this sound about right? I probably wouldn't change for that kind of small difference. Everytime i get back into my s it wins me over, and i think its worth it lol!

[jimcupra]

Quote: Originally Posted by adams (original)

Hi guys,


Just wondering with the petrol prices only going north and the tax going silly too, has anybody questioned how much they are paying out per month? Its now around £200 a month on fuel now for me, double money! I am getting around 27 mpg, and £500 a month altogether on my car to go to work and back is starting to get to me

Has any one here driven/considered a quick diesel? I know AntFr used to have a VAG diesel, i was looking casualy at golf 140/170 tdi's? Or a bmw 120d? Its not a mini i know and will be certainly more dull but will they feel slow after my (standard) s?

Thoughts and comments appreciated

i had an ibiza cupra 160tdi got a remap and hybrid turbo 215bhp and 360lb/ft torque and still returned 45mpg driving sensible even in standard form went well and they are not a dear 2nd hand buy mine could out run a s2000 and they are not slow by no means or go with a fr and remap it to 180bhp and you cant buy red petrol remember

[MINI-Bob]

Think the reality is you either: decide you like your MCS and accept you have to pay for the priveledge, or get something sensible.

I've kept a record of what mine has cost to run (if your interested?!). 64p per mile so far.

This will obviously reduce as i have some fixed costs (insurance, tax) that are included at full year cost, but mileage is only 4mths worth.

Fortunately as i use it for work, i get paid to drive it. But if i bought a TurDi, i could make some profit

[adams]

You are right MINI-bob you have to ask yourself is it worth it. An it bloody well is i decided today lol. I worked out to get a nearly new car (my prefrence) with the same amount or similar amount of kit (xenons, full front recaros and back to match etc) it will cost me more a month to buy a decent Tdi with similar power, negating (spelling?) the better mgp of the diesel. So for now, the pinch feels good!

[feenaldo]

I considered a Seat TDI before buying another S then I thought actually its nothing like the same as owning a mini and decided I would rather stuff wasps in my trousers than sell my mini

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

We shall certainly be carrying on running the R53S for as long as we can afford to do so.

The RFL will be expensive at £300 per annum, but the insurance and tax combined is only around £650 per annum and that's a lot less than many people are paying for insurance alone (how's that for a wierd justification?! )

Simply by sticking the cruise control to the legal limit on A roads and motorways, I can easily get 36 - 38mpg out of the S on a long journey. A Cooper D or 118d might bring that figure up to 50mpg (with diesel costing 10% more than unleaded).

While I can understand the appeal of a Cooper D, would I change our R53S to one of the above for the relatively small % decrease in overall running costs?

Erm.... no thanks!!

Tigger.

[adams]

Amazing the other day, i tried my best on the motorway sticking to 67, no cruise control and got 45 mpg! Who needs a desiel?? (Ill avoid menting the bit when i turned off the motorway and got stuck in traffic, it went down slightly lol) Still im pleased with that though!

[tyrerc]

i have been having all these thoughts for the past 3 months,

£300 is a lot and as i dont put money away each month its a big hit.

£200 a month petrol is also a big deal for me

i have a morgage and with this all going up and my pay increase not matching the tax inflation im feeling 'The Pinch'

nothing to do with living outside my means 8 months ago i was on less money but had no problems.

Currently looking at Golf GTI's, test drove one yesterday was fantastic really suprised me and with a lower tax bracket and slightly more miles to the gallon (and 200bhp) it seems a nice place to be........... but thats 6 months away not wasting my road tax and want to pollute before it happens

[Spamini]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooperSMark (original)

yeh, i reckon you'd be about right at 140-150miles per £20.. All depends how heavy your right foot is though

I'm getting 160 miles per £20 in my R56 cooper, so that is good for an S. Might change my cooper for an S with so little difference

[BUTTONMUSH]

So from reading this thread am I correct in thinking the revised Road Tax will affect existing cars and not just new ones ?

ie: being an owner of a 05 "S", I'm going to see my Tax Disc cost increase and by quite a bit?

[feenaldo]

Quote: Originally Posted by BUTTONMUSH (original)

ie: being an owner of a 05 "S", I'm going to see my Tax Disc cost increase and by quite a bit?

You will see that yes. Not till next year though. So pleanty of time to start that £25 a month into your savings account you keep meaning to do

[MINI-Bob]

Car Buyers Guide - Advice : road tax bands - how car choice affects the road tax you pay - The AA

This is one of the simpler guides i have seen explaining the revised VED bands following the budget.

Basically, if you own an R53 MCS it's going to cost the following:
- to tax it between now and Mar 2009 £210.
- between Mar 2009 - Mar 2010 £300 and the following year it'll be £310.

If you buy a new car in the tax year 2010/11 you will be subject to the first year rate, but this is only on brand new not used cars.

[GR33NIE]

Quote: Originally Posted by adams (original)

Hi guys,
Has any one here driven/considered a quick diesel?

Yes im in one now

I got a Polo GT TDI, goes very well and returns good mpg. Had 58mpg out of it yesterday on a long run, performance mid range is awesome, and when the turbo spools up it gives you a nice kick in the back

Also just found out as from next year it's gunna cost me £30 a year to tax

[cooperSMark]

i wouldn't mind the steep increase in tax if they smoothed the flippin' roads out a bit! Some of the roads around here are rubbish. If it's not sunken manholes or patchy shell-grip, it's craters full of water!

[alski]

so as i am very tight is it worth 6 months tax in september 08, then full 12 nxt march

gordon

ps good to see ken go, another anti-car london centric public transport moron bites the dust

[mister.t]

I'm only 17 - But I'm always looking ahead, as something to aim for. I've always hankered after an R53 MCS - Just such a special car. Lately I've been looking at what one would cost me - A forecast perhaps for a couple of years time. The future looks bleak and if I'm honest, I'm a little upset When petrol reaches £6 per gallon (my moneys on that it will be come the end of the year), 12k miles per year will cost me £2769 (Admitted that's at 26mpg - But that supercharger and my right foot would make for a very light wallet, but a large grin) If I half the miles, it will still cost me £1384.50 - All well and good, but I will still pay the same road tax, fairly similar insurance etc. It wouldn't be worth it buying another really economical car, the short term costs would be too great. The thing is, I could have a nice economical car with low tax - The low life govt. don't get an extra penny from me, so from that front, I'd buy a Toyota Aygo or similar - But that's like bullying. I don't want to be put into a car that I don't truly want - That's what the govt. are making us all do - So I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I get what I want, and not what our communist govt. want me to have. (excuse the small rant )

I'm gonna have to work/save hard, but I do hope it will be worth it

[Fen]

I can't help thinking ther tax thing is a joke. OK, so it will cost 310 quid a year eventually - but that's still under 26 a month (sorry, no pound sign on this keyboard). That's 26 a month on something that costs thousands to buy, fuel, insure and maintain. In other words a drop in the ocean.

I genuinely can't believe that thinking people will base their choice of car - something that will cost them several thousand pounds in depreciation alone over the time they own it - on a difference of 270 pounds per year; it's nuts. Buying the wrong spec for resale (green, yellow, no air-con etc.) would cost more than that in extra depreciation.

Anyway you think you guys have problems? I heard today that they are thinking of dropping the speed limit from the already laughable 100kmh to 90kmh here to help reduce NZ's greenhouse emissions. How do you fancy never legally being able to drive over 56mph anywhere in the country?

[feenaldo]

You raise a good point there Fen. The MINI's depreciation is far less compared to most other cars out there so a saving on TAX and fuel bills will just hit harder when you come to sale the car.

At least a MINI is a "progressive" bill rather than a massive wham bam than you ma'm that's 3k you owe me in depreciation.

Besdies no-body in this world shouldn't be saving £50pcm minimum if they are in full time employment, having no savings that arent set aside for anything (i.e day to day) is asking for trouble. I see this all the time at work...

3x Your monthly salary in an instant account, not set aside for anything, will see off most unexpected bills should one arise.

That 56mph limit sucks though, I would definately need cruise control to keep me to that speed, would just become so draining looking at the speedo the whole time.

The way our labour is trying to make us the worldwide example of eco friendly carbon emission cutting heroes is already starting to make me think the worst is still to come. At a time where its so easy to point the finger (China perhaps) in terms of carbon emissions is rather frustrating. I was in LA the other week and my friends there wer moaning about fuel.