2014 CX5 2.5 fuel econ horrible

Today I averaged 30.6 mpg on a 200 mile trip, at average of 69 mph. Weather was calm, 68 degrees.

My 2013 AWD CX-5 has a 15,000 mile lifetime average in all weather conditions higher than that. Details in my fully signature.

True, this is with the 2.0L engine but I assure you, I get to my destination just as quickly as 2.5L owners (unless one is using public roads as their own race track with unlimited speed limit).
 
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Pretty good! Do you have FWD or AWD?


FWD. Headwinds make a big difference. If I consistently kept it under 70, I'd probably break 31. Also, turning off the AC will earn you an extra 1 mpg. But I'm in Texas where it's hot and the roads are long.
 
First fill up yesterday on my AWD 2014.5 GT, 31.9 MPG (drive2) :)
(Yes, it's the 6 speed automatic). Best mileage speed is between 40-60 MPH range. Light foot on the brakes, and drift up to stop lights helps a lot on saving gas. Most of my driving is stop and go and often under 40 MPH. It went from 21 MPH to 26.3 on open highway doing 60 -70 MPH, It LIKES TO get up and "GO"!
 
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After 500 miles, i'm still at 21.1 mpg. This is very frustrating. I live in a very rural area, so stop in go is pretty rare for me. Not happy with the mileage.
 
My Touring AWD 2.5L been averaging around 26mpg which is decent, have 7.2k miles on it now. Best tank was around 30.6mpg.
 
After 500 miles, i'm still at 21.1 mpg. This is very frustrating. I live in a very rural area, so stop in go is pretty rare for me. Not happy with the mileage.

Do you reset the milage after each fill-up? I only got that low when I drove 100% in the city with temps in the low 20's. I am around 5000 miles now and my overall average is close to 25 MPG. This is ~90% city driving.
 
My Touring AWD 2.5L been averaging around 26mpg which is decent, have 7.2k miles on it now. Best tank was around 30.6mpg.

My numbers look very similar. I have never gotten worse than 23 mpg, even in a snow storm during my mixed commute.

Generally, a lot of short stop-and-go trips will bring the number down into the 24 - 26 mpg range. But typically I have been getting 26 - 28 mpg when mostly commuting this winter, depending on how fast I drive on the expressways. Last fall I could get around 30 mpg if I kept my foot out of the accelerator.

I expect better fuel economy as the weather gets warmer and gas gets switched over to summer blend. I just turned 8000 miles this past week.
 
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After 500 miles, i'm still at 21.1 mpg. This is very frustrating. I live in a very rural area, so stop in go is pretty rare for me. Not happy with the mileage.

It's your driving. If the car doesn't have any problems, and they would most likely throw a Check Engine Light (CEL), it is your driving style. In mixed, local driving of less than 10 miles, often in five mile spurts, we get 23-25 mpg. My wife driving gets about 10% less than I do. You are a little more than that. I'm guessing you are running 60 mph, slowing for curves, stop signs, etc, then speeding back up. Using the brakes is what kills your mileage because it is burning off energy you gained with the gas pedal.
 
It's your driving. If the car doesn't have any problems, and they would most likely throw a Check Engine Light (CEL), it is your driving style. In mixed, local driving of less than 10 miles, often in five mile spurts, we get 23-25 mpg. My wife driving gets about 10% less than I do. You are a little more than that. I'm guessing you are running 60 mph, slowing for curves, stop signs, etc, then speeding back up. Using the brakes is what kills your mileage because it is burning off energy you gained with the gas pedal.

I'm only getting slightly better gas mileage than my 2005 Tribute, which had a V6. So I'd say it's not my driving style. I drive very conservatively and I drive 20 miles 1 way to work every day and avoid stop and go traffic. I'm also not going above 55 as most of the speed limits are around 50 or 55. At a minimum I would expect to get the city range of 24 MPG. Also the weather here hasn't been lower than 25 since I've owned it, so hardly sub arctic temps.
 
Anything below 40degrees is cold for this car. Keep in mind for a good portion of your commute the engine is still cold and hasn't been completely warmed up yet. I owned a 2009 Ford EscapeV6 for a short period of time and I averaged 22MPG. Had an Acura TL after that also with a V6 and averaged the same 22mpg.

With the same driving style I'm getting 24-25 with the CX-5. So sticking with the same style is only getting me 2mpg more. If I get conservative I can easily get 27-28. Drive with the current MPG on and see what you are getting realtime. Then adjust your style accordingly.
 
I'm only getting slightly better gas mileage than my 2005 Tribute, which had a V6. So I'd say it's not my driving style. I drive very conservatively and I drive 20 miles 1 way to work every day and avoid stop and go traffic. I'm also not going above 55 as most of the speed limits are around 50 or 55. At a minimum I would expect to get the city range of 24 MPG. Also the weather here hasn't been lower than 25 since I've owned it, so hardly sub arctic temps.

Oil temperature isn't "at operating temp" until nearly the 10-mile mark. Coolant is a bit shorter, but coolant temp gauges are measuring coolant in the engine, not coolant in the entire system. Cold as heck coolant is still being drawn in and warmed, reducing efficiency. If you want better MPG, get an engine block heater, that alone will work wonders.

You're in MINNESOTA for pete's sake, it's cold there and EPA tests are done at 75 degrees, that's a HUGE difference in air density (affects amount of air entering the engine and how much air the car has to push out of the way while traveling down the road). Also you're most likely on winter mix gas, which is not what the EPA uses in tests. And you'll get this mpg until it gets warmer, and then it'll jump up, whereas on your older vehicles it would likely never improve.

Also you have to drive newer cars in a different way to get better results. COAST A LOT. If a light down the road is red, coast, I don't care if that car in the other lane might get in front of you, they're not paying for your gas.
 
I'm only getting slightly better gas mileage than my 2005 Tribute, which had a V6. So I'd say it's not my driving style. I drive very conservatively and I drive 20 miles 1 way to work every day and avoid stop and go traffic. I'm also not going above 55 as most of the speed limits are around 50 or 55. At a minimum I would expect to get the city range of 24 MPG. Also the weather here hasn't been lower than 25 since I've owned it, so hardly sub arctic temps.

Hmmmm....lets look at this. You don't have any CELs, but you get 10-15% lower fuel mileage than most others ~24 mpg), and up to 30% lower than some of the feather footers (~30 mpg) on here. You say you avoid stop and go, which, of course, is hard on mileage. It is cold in Minnesota this time of year, and your commute will take about half that to really warm up the car. One thing about the SkyActiv engines - they are slow to warm up and quick to cool down. Watching the actual water temp, the blue "cold" light goes off about 130F water temp. It can take me 3 miles or more to get the car temp anywhere close to 170F in 60 temperatures. I would say 10 miles in cold Minnesota winters is reasonable. And the fuel mileage sucks when the engine is cold!!

So, you could alter your driving style, which would improve your mileage by, I estimate, 10%, or you can complain about the car not getting much better mileage than your old Ford. :)

Couple of tips - accelerate FASTER. You should run at half throttle or so during acceleration. Get up to speed quickly and then back off the gas. Accelerating very slowly takes a loooonggggg time and runs mileage around 16 mpg. Accelerating much faster runs mileage around 8 mpg for 1/4 mile or so, and then, at 60 mph, puts you at around 30 mpg. So after 1 mile, at which you are running 16 mpg by accelerating slooooooowly, you average 16 mpg. My approach got you 25 mpg over the same stretch. And braking, think about every time you brake. Braking is burning gas!! Coast into stop signs and lights. You should rarely need to brake when in traffic, as it speeds up and slows down, if you are watching it ahead of you. I'm betting that you brake to slow down and then slooooowwwllly get back up to speed and repeat.
 
This edmunds article demonstrates that driving style is the biggest single influence on mileage. http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/we-test-the-tips.html

Engine temp is a big one with this car though. I was getting a lowly 21mpg during the cold weeks where the engine barely came up to temp between trips. Not sure how it compares to my previous 3 though, it didn't keep track. But my feeling is probably no different.
 
Just went on a 1250 mile road trip with my 2L manual and got the worst mileage yet. I thought highway mileage was supposed to be the best. I averaged about 27.5 mpg. Of course it could have been impacted by the 200 pounds of dogs, 4 people, or two big space cases with 1 weeks worth of camping gear.
 
Couple of tips - accelerate FASTER. You should run at half throttle or so during acceleration. Get up to speed quickly and then back off the gas.

I noticed this as well. You've got to put your foot in it to get the car moving, then ease up and coast if/when you can. Accelerating slowly will not help your fuel economy.

As an added bonus, it's more fun to drive this way as well.

(drive2)
 
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