Mini Cooper D wins Bathurst
October 1, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Thirty-three years after it won the Bathurst endurance event outright, a new Mini Cooper has returned to victory lane at Mt Panorama.
Not since 1966 when the Morris Cooper S of Finn Rauno Aaltonen and Aussie Bob Holden won the Gallagher 500 mile event has a Mini won an event at the famed home of Australian motorsport, but last week, a special Mini conquered its own lofty goal.
A showroom standard Mini Cooper D completed the race distance of 1000km – 161 laps of the 6.2km circuit – on a single 40-litre tank; a remarkable achievement given the circumstances and parameters of the challenge.
The target was to achieve 1000km around the Mt Panorama circuit during a normal public day, negotiating the typical rigours of the public day, such as residential and tourist traffic, wildlife and, significantly, the 60km/h maximum speed limit.
Devised by Tarmac magazine, the test involved driving the Mini Cooper D around Bathurst’s hills and dips on a single tank. With a combined city/freeway fuel consumption figure of 3.9L/100km, the theoretical range of 1025km meant the biggest question hung over whether the 174m vertical climb each lap would greatly affect the consumption.
Starting at 7am and finishing almost 17 hours later, the Mini Cooper D remained below 2500rpm the entire day, and used its gearshift-suggester and instantaneous fuel use gauge to good effect, helping to refine driving styles throughout the test and stretching the single tank to the absolute limit.
Two drivers rotated through the pilot seat three times during the endurance test, limited by their bodies fuel systems rather than the car’s. And during every stop, the Mini’s stop-start technology ensured there was no wasted fuel.
National manager for Mini, Justin Hocevar praised the efforts of the Mini Cooper D, and the feat, saying:
“Bathurst holds a significant place in MINI history and this recent achievement is yet another victory for Mini. Whilst the Mini Cooper D is all about maximising efficiency this does not come at the expense of performance, which is very unique in the small car arena.”
Tarmac magazine editor Dean Evans was also enthused about the project:
“Though Tarmac is a performance magazine, we wanted to prove you can still have fun with eco cars. The Mini Cooper D combines the two ideally. Its history at the track was simply a bonus.
“We also knew the Cooper’s handling would help a lot and though 60km/h was our maximum legal speed, we held 60 through even the tightest corners of Mt Panorama, maintaining corner speed and minimise throttle input. Many people thought we were crazy, but we just like to do things a little differently – a bit like Mini itself.”
The Mini Cooper D achieved a remarkable 161 laps of Mt Panorama at a distance of 1001.7km on the single 40-litre tank.
For a full review click Mini Cooper D review.
With Tarmac Magazine and BMW Australia.
Print it: 
Impressive feat, but is anyone else starting to get a little bored of Minis “look how little fuel we use” plugs – after all, 1000km is 1000km, regardless of the scenery.
Yes but going up and down hills for 161 laps in a FWD car that can go on for 1000km is truly remarkable.
What on the earth has FWD got to do with it? Do remember the old fwd minis outperforming the RWD mustangs through the twisties years back.
This is a remarkable achievement. Mini (BMW) pending marketing could be on a good thing here. Good product at a good price, but give me an appropriately spec’ed Roomster any day.
Looks a bit suss that top photo.
He obviously forgot to kick the extra 2 20L jerry cans out of the way before the photo
Also A little suss that the economy figure on the side of the car happened to match the trial results…..
Andrew, the 3.9L is the ADR combined cycle economy of the car, NOT what they achieved during the trial. Try reading the whole paragraph again! :-)
Yes devil, I now realise that, but when I just crunched the numbers at the bottom of the page, It does seem that it did return 3.9L/100k……..
3.9L IS what they achieved
Still it is good to see a car that can finally match it’s ADR fuel rating! :-)
Yes it is good to see the ADR matched.
So you agree that my statement wasnt incorrect now??? ;)
I still wouldnt call it a real test though.
No stopping, and I would imagine the extra effort used to cilmb the mountain would be balanced out by the zero fuel used running down the other side.
Now let’s see a Prius do it LOL.
Yawn! Wake me up when there is something exciting to read………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
So true!
Your turn Toyota!
I hope the drivers recieved some sort of award for their super-human level of self-control. Who on this earth could possibly resist exceeding 60km/h on a race track for 17 hours straight? I wouldn’t last one pass down conrod straight let alone 161.
If it had done it at race pace, or even as you would normally, then I’d be impressed. They were driving the car for economy, rigorously abiding by the shift indicator and keeping it under 2500 RPM.
In the real world you don’t drive for absolute economy, you drive in a fassion that’s comfortable to you and the car, not short shifting all the way. The results are in no way meaningfull to anyone driving it in real world conditions
Gidge,
I think you’ll find that the ‘economy’ indicators in modern fuel saving and hybrid cars are there in a bid to CHANGE the way people drive. Shifting early is not short-shifting if the car is designed to operate in this range. Although you and others may put your selfish desires ahead of the environemnt, there are equally as many people who are willing to use these technologies to teach themselves how to EFFECT CHANGE in the way they operate a vehicle for the benefit of the environment.
Horses for courses, no?