Cooper average MPG Petro & D

[bondbill2k2]

Hey im looking to upgrade from my current fiesta zetec-s tdci which the trip tends to see 55-65mpg for my 70mile round commute to work and back which is mainly decent roads I can cruise at 50-60mph. I don't do a huge amount of town driving but due to clocking up high milage from the work commute im trying to decide which to go for.

I'm looking at the 2nd gen mini not wanting to down age too much as its an 07 plate registered December 07. Now the offical figures suggest the Cooper D is better on fuel then my fiesta but the few reviews I've seen suggest it averaged less then what I'm currently getting in daily use now this might be my driving or the type of roads I'm mainly on.

I've not seen many average figures for the 2nd gen petrol coopers but again factory figures suggest great economy for a 1.6 petrol car which should be abit more fun then the diesel. Could anyone here give me an idea what I should expect to see on these commutes as id be expecting around 50MPG from these factory figures of Urban 40MPG & Extra Urban 62MPG. Then the cost of purchase factor, the petrols are generally lower price pre-owned but factor in the high tax and running cost im not sure which to go for.

Clocking up 20k last year in the fiesta im thinking the diesel might be the best bet but with the inital higher purchase cost and almost 10p difference per litre between petrol and diesel im not so sure!

[RedLyl]

My current commute is 70 miles (each way) pretty much all motorway in a petrol 2009 Cooper cabrio (2nd gen - R57 ), and manage to get 48-50mpg depending on the average speed (same or higher than our S-Max diesel).

As it happens we had the same debate as you re: petrol vs. diesel and decided for the petrol as we couldn't justify the way higher initial purchase cost and as you say the car is definitely responsive and fun to drive.

Hope that helps!