Winter Gas Mileage for Auto P5's

[dupa12345]

im glad we got this thread .. cause im on a pussy driving mission as of last fill up

im in the hard core econo mode .. finding new low points for shifts, coasting all the time, and all that .. its actually super annoying but i'm determined to last a whole tank .. as spinning around in one place doesnt help gas mileage i even gave up on some snowy lots few days ago .. all in all, i think im about at half and 150 miles and ill let you know my best possible winter mileage in a few days

 

[NoRotorNoMotor]

also if you use the defrost mode alot it automatically uses the a/c with it which reduces mileage

 

[dupa12345]

yeah .. none of that .. no heat .. no wipers .. dude im seriously giving it the total slim fast treatment

 

[aMaff]

heat's not bad if you have it on either of the 2 top-right positions (head / head-foot). those are the only 2 that don't use the compressor

 

[CTt3P5]

aMaff - Thanks for the tip on the heat settings.

I just filled my tank up this morning.....291.8 miles on the last tank and she took 11.7 gallons....just under 25mpg. I was honestly hoping to see better (30 or so) but I have hopes for summer (no 'winter blend'). Although they will jack prices up due to 'peak season' and I will still pay more to fill up a tank even if I get better mpg. :mad:

dupa12345 - I know what you mean about trying to drive easier....but it is sooooo hard to do. (drive2) This car is a blast to drive....my only regret is waiting so long to get one.

 

[xvdarkyvx]

hmmm never knew about the defroster thing... better not use it then.. haha. maybe it'll help my mpg.. also, redhotp5... do you have a manual or auto.. believe that autos get such a crappier mpg.

 

[aMaff]

From what I can gather, you have 3 things working against mileage in winter (only 2 if ur not in a winter blend gas state...)
1. Winter blend gas. Nuff said.
2. Defroster kicks the A/C compressor on (even if you have it on heat only)
3. (If I'm mistaken here, lemme know, but: ) Even w/ a stock intake, you have colder air going into the engine. Colder air is denser, meaning you get more air. ECU sees more air and compensates to get the right a:f ratio by pushing more gas out of the injectors

 

[CTt3P5]

xvdarkyvx - I have the auto. I know the 5-speed would be better but never had the oppurtunity to learn.... Reason I was hoping for better is the majority of miles driven are highway....50 mile roundtrip. I will use aMaff's advice and try running my heat w/o the compressor....should help some.

aMaff - I never actually thought about it but point three makes a lot of sense!!

 

[tokstad]

Just clocked 20.8 mpg on my p5. This was 90% city driving with defrost on most of the time. Also short trips (3 miles or so each way).

20.8 is aweful. I think I'll pull the battery cable to reset the ECU. I've also just done the grille modification so more air can flow into the snorkel on the intake.

 

[dupa12345]

AC kicks on only in two settings - windsield and windshield/feet, the other 3 are heat only
winter is good for performance if its just cold .. but moisture kills it .. so on snowy days it all goes to hell
and yeah its hard as **** .. everytime i get passed by grandma in a taurus i feel like somebody is raping my assss

anyways i pretty much mastered shifts at 0/10/20/30/40 and coasting to my target ..for example from say 42mph i can coast about at least qtr of a mile to redlight without disrupting traffic

and off course .. RR crossings engine off

as im doing all city driving .. the biggest skill is anticipating red lights and best speed for approaching them to prevent stoping and starting again from first .. so i usually let it costs somewhere in the 30's to be able to pick up in 4th and right back to 5th

speed limits are pretty much 35 around here so 40-45 in 5th is fair though i go faster sometimes

 

[aMaff]

ac kicks on in Feet only mode. Sit outside the car one time, you'll hear the compressor going on and off. Don't ask me why, it's dumb as s***, but it just does.

 

[SoonP5ismine]

ac kicks on in Feet only mode. Sit outside the car one time, you'll hear the compressor going on and off. Don't ask me why, it's dumb as s***, but it just does.

ya its true. ac goes on in 3 settings. windshield, windshield feet and feet. anyone know how to stop the ac from going without taking apart the fan speed switch. somone told me you have to disconnect some connection in there. i leave my setting on vent/feet that way the floor gets dry and blows some heat in the car too.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

ya its true. ac goes on in 3 settings. windshield, windshield feet and feet. anyone know how to stop the ac from going without taking apart the fan speed switch. somone told me you have to disconnect some connection in there. i leave my setting on vent/feet that way the floor gets dry and blows some heat in the car too.

Do a search. There is a how-to in here somewhere about disabling the auto ac function where the compressor will only run when the ac button is pushed. It involves cutting 2 pathways on the climate control circuit board with an exacto knife or razor blade. Simple to do, not quite as simple to get to.

 

[dupa12345]

thats weird .. but ok .. i've seen the how to on that before as well

but as to my best winter gas mileage ever .. I WENT 305 miles before my reserve light came on .. or somewhere there .. dont quite remember .. i do know for a fact though .. that .. i had 314.2 on my trip A when i stopped at a gas station and filled it up with 12.476 gallons of fuel

that makes for a 25.2MPG WINTER (estimated 75% city) in my stick P5 .. if you really try and smile to grannies that pass by flashing fast right by you .. thx for their support in this experiment

 

[dupa12345]

also my wheel diameter is slightly bigger so i cover a little more ground

 

[ejb2112]

25 Mpg

I get a pretty consistent 25 MPG on my all-stock '02 P5 (just hit 50K miles last week). Funny thing tho: replaced the factory Dunlops a couple years ago with Falkens (and slightly plus-sized to 205/50/16's) and immediately lost 2.5 MPG. Pretty significant difference. And the Dunlops rode slightly better, too.

 

[CTt3P5]

Just filled up this morning and mpg were just under 24. Lost one from last week but did more city driving...Seems like I am going to average 24 to 25 for the winter...still hoping to hit 30 (or higher) come summertime.

 

[bazooka joe]

just filled up sat. and calculated the mpg @ 25, mostly highway..the car is boosted, could be tuned better, so i think i can get a few more miles out of it...i dumping more fuel than i need to when in boost, so maybe i can get another 2 or 3 miles per gallon???

 

[flynP5]

Just did a long highway run and got: 23.69 miles per US gallon / 9.93 litres per 100 km.

I've seen 9 litres on SUV's, WTF is going on, I drove the speed limit the whole way, never pushed it.

 

[MazdaPam]

...anyways i pretty much mastered shifts at 0/10/20/30/40 and coasting to my target ..for example from say 42mph i can coast about at least qtr of a mile to redlight without disrupting traffic

as im doing all city driving .. the biggest skill is anticipating red lights and best speed for approaching them to prevent stoping and starting again from first .. so i usually let it costs somewhere in the 30's to be able to pick up in 4th and right back to 5th...

I am inspired and will be working on this strategy myself.

Good thread, this.