14 replies to this topic

[Themi]

Hi, I 've got an Austin Mini and I want to find out the best available engine conversion for fuel economy. I don’t mind the lack of power, anything above 70hp its okay, but am aiming for 60+ mpg.

I found complete engines for £350 - £1600 like the:

- Kia Rio 1.4 CRDi 16V (68,9 MPG)
- Skoda/Seat/VW 1.4 TDi (76,3 MPG)
- Vauxhall 1.3 CDTi (80,7 MPG)
- Renault Twingo/Clio 1.2 Turbo Gordini (60,1 MPG)
- Seat Ibiza 1.2 12V (64,3 MPG)
- Seat/Skoda 1.2 TSI (64,2 MPG)

Yes, half of the above engines are diesel but its fine by me.

• Has anyone done any similar project?
• Is there any simpler way do get that MPG, rather than engine swap?
• How about the engine sub frame? Availability? Any good supplier?

Thanks

[Themi]

Hi, I 've got an Austin Mini and I want to find out the best available engine conversion for fuel economy. I don’t mind the lack of power, anything above 70hp its okay, but am aiming for 60+ mpg.

I found complete engines for £350 - £1600 like the:

- Kia Rio 1.4 CRDi 16V (68,9 MPG)
- Skoda/Seat/VW 1.4 TDi (76,3 MPG)
- Vauxhall 1.3 CDTi (80,7 MPG)
- Renault Twingo/Clio 1.2 Turbo Gordini (60,1 MPG)
- Seat Ibiza 1.2 12V (64,3 MPG)
- Seat/Skoda 1.2 TSI (64,2 MPG)

Yes, half of the above engines are diesel but its fine by me.

• Has anyone done any similar project?
• Is there any simpler way do get that MPG, rather than engine swap?
• How about the engine sub frame? Availability? Any good supplier?

Thanks

[jakejakejake1]

First question - Why would you want to do this? It will cost a large amount of money which you are not likely to save by increased fuel economy.
Say you do 10,000 miles in year in this car, by doing 60mpg, rather than 45 mpg (which is my average in my 998 with stage one type exhaust etc.). You only save £320 a year.
And to fit the above engines you are probably looking at a few thousand quid.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do this, just that its probably not worth it, at least in my eyes.

Jake

[minimaxie]

minis are fairly good on economy.. seems a lot of effort for not a lot of savings to be honest

[Bungle]

i can if driven very carefully get 60 MPG out of my 1300 mini

i averaged that between Bodmin and Birmingham on the way to the IMM a few years ago

[Archived2]

Have you thought about a Nissan Micra conversion? this is usually a very cheap conversion.
A 5speed 1.0 litre 16v fuel injected version should achieve this nicely in a mini.

[Wil_h]

You'd be better actually buying the whole car of the list above rather than trying to squeeze the engine in a mini.

Are the figures you quote the listed combined or extra urban?

[Ethel]

You have other running costs to add to the equation, would it effect your insurance, and as Wil points out, the donor will have cheap road tax. Unless your Min is tax exempt; in which case you'll want to think about its value.

Economy is about more than the engine. How would running one of that lot through Mini sized wheels effect those figures?

Most engine tuning tactics also benefit economy, the A Series also has a very good combustion chamber design and thermal efficiency - it's the engine management on those cars that'll be the biggest difference, notwithstanding the inherent diesel advantages.

[briain]

like the idea of a diesel conversion what about adding a 1.4 or 1.6 hdi to the list as I think someone has done an engine swap with one of these engines

[Alex_B]

I dunno if its just economy you're after, but learnt to drive in a Renault Twingo 1.2 turbo Gordini, was a great little car, very quick and that engine in a Mini would fly and also the economy would be better as its pulling less weight!

[onefastmoke]

I would say, listen to the advice above. if you are doing it to try to save money its really not worth it. if on the other hand you are just doing it because you can then go for it at least it will be a bit different from the norm. just need the right reasoning behind it

[M J W J]

Your drag co-efficient has a big effect on the miles per gallon. Things like the head lights sticking out, gutter rails, panel gaps, bumper sticking out will all increase the drag co-efficient by a lot.

If you want to improve the miles per gallon I would look at making minor changes such as low rolling resistance tyres, de bumper/seam it (a lot of work for probably little gain), make it lighter, service your engine etc.

There are no commercially available frames for any of the engines you have listed. You would have to build your own. Some of them are diesel engines so the gearing would be all wrong for the small 12" mini wheels. A lot of people who do engine conversions use a diesel gearbox on a petrol engine to sort out the final drive. If you use a diesel engine you won't have this option.

[R.S.P]

Seat Ibiza 1.2 TSI, my wife bought a brand new one in march and the best we have ever had out of it is 49 mpg so don't believe the 64 they quote

[Wil_h]

Interesting comment about drag coefficient. Remember drag is the multiple of the coefficient of drag and the frontal area. So a mini (contrary to popular opinion) is not that bad through the air compared to modern cars as the frontal area is so small.

[bamby]

FYI I've moved this to topic to match your existing thred in other projects.
Bamby