I was wondering today what the Audi Q5 average MPG is – recently it’s on-board computer has been showing figures as high as 27mpg for my easy drive home from work (a bit lower to work in the morning, when the engine is cold).

So … on 2,305 miles at 111 gallons, the Q5 averages 20.8mpg. Not great, but comfortable!

And seeing I have spreadsheets for my MINIs too (except GBMINI#1), let’s compare:
GBMINI#2: 28,676 miles, 1058 gallons -> 27.1mpg
GBMINI#3: 23,803 miles, 902 gallons -> 26.4mpg (not so much of a hit, really, for an automatic!)
GBMINI#4: 28,599 miles, 1049 gallons -> 27.3mpg (I always claimed GPMINI was more economical, there’s the proof!)
GBMINI#5: 716 miles, 25.2 gallons -> 28.4mpg (Of course an average on so few miles isn’t very indicative, but 4% better than my GP isn’t close to the claimed improvements of the “Prince” engine, and no way justifies the downsides!)
GBMINI#6: 6,747 miles, 256 gallons -> 26.3mpg (not much of a hit for the convertible, either)

And, just so there’s a picture in the post here is GPMINI’s mpg chart:

I know other MINI owners get much worse mpg (and doubtless some get better) – but these figures are pretty comparable since it’s the same driver doing largely the same driving on the same routes!

Well, at least according to Google Street View, there are three MINIs in the parking lot at PG Trionic:

View Larger Map

Front left is Christian’s wifes convertible; in the distance you see Josh‘s black MINI, and then the front of GBMINI#6 – this picture was taken some time last summer!

(screenshot captured here, in case Google updates their view!)

More like “doors closed, engine off, staying indoors” actually …

Winter returned with a vengeance today, dumping snow all up the East Coast from as far down as Georgia(!), to Maine. Here in Gloucester, we got 8″-9″, hard to tell because it came with hefty winds that did some drifting …

And guess what – it’s just started snowing again! They say another inch or so is coming

A “bonus” day today, with temperature up to 60 and sunshine – good enough to drop the top, even if there’s still snow on the ground …

(last time?)

Also today, GBMINI#6 hit 15,000 (but less than 7,000 driven by me!)

More like de-hosed actually …
For a while now, the passenger side washer jet on GBMINI#6 has not been working. I assumed it was due to the cold weather – although the car has heated washer jets, I figured maybe one heater was broken, and hoped to find time to visit MINI of Peabody one day (it’s been ages!)

Well yesterday was up to 40, and today we got to 50; but still the washer jet wasn’t working, so I decided to see if there were any kinked hoses.
When I opened the hood, I noticed a puddle of greenish fluid collected around the passenger side suspension strut! Looks like washer fluid, I thought – and proceeded to unscrew/unclip the sound deadening sheet from the underside of the hood. And there, I found a loose hose from the washer jet:

Once found, it was easy to re-attach, and hey presto I have two washer jets again! This must be the first ever MINI repair that I’ve done for myself

Photographic evidence; MINI’s are smaller than snow!

A little reminiscent of a picture I took of GBMINI#1, long ago …

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the “-” symbol on the temperature display – and I’m not happy to see it!

A bit of a strange sight this morning …

… less mysterious once you notice the blue ice melt scattered over the office footpath!

It’s getting a bit tedious now!

Should have stayed in Florida

A snow storm which made it’s way across the whole country (and shut down Las Vegas!) arrived here Friday afternoon and snowed through Saturday – in fact it never completely stopped falling here in Gloucester, and now another snow storm is dropping what looks like LOTS more!
But yesterday morning, Margaret & I dug out the cars from 6″-8″ of snow, which had drifted interestingly around the cars to create a sharp-edged profile for GBMINI#6 (maybe this is what the MINI SUV will look like!) …

Before:

Lop-sided GBMINI#6:

After:

Of course with the snow falling as it is right now, our cars will need digging out again tonight!

UPDATE: GBMINI#6 after more snow: