Mazda5 real-world Mileage numbers

[idmd]

Seems like the mpg is getting better....not sure why but every tank is going a little further. This car does seem to be very sensitive to how you drive. I did an experiment on my Mazda3 - I drove one tank really trying to maximize mpg (slow starts, limiting rpm, no speeding, trying to coast as much as possible and reduce start/stops) and one tank driving normally (I have a pretty heavy foot accelerating sometimes) and the difference was just 3 mpg.

Not sure I can get my wife's car for two tanks anytime soon to test the same with the Mazda5 but it would be interesting to compare. I'm still trying to figure out what the limitations are for the Mazda5 with mpg. I think it's a little underpowered and the 5-speed auto doesn't help but the mpg is just soooo variable.

 

[90210]

^^
For me it being underpowered allows me to achieve the MPG it does. If it had my MS3 power, I would get nowhere near the MPG i do on the 5

Good luck

 

[sac02]

... the mpg is just soooo variable.

I have noticed the same thing. I get a lot more variation in MPG on this car than any of the other previous vehicles that I have historical data for.

 

[torquelover]

Ran 800 miles fully loaded (rear suspension on bump stops) A/C on 75-85 MPH and got an indicated 28.6 MPG. Some lugging up the hills/mountains as the car tended to stay in the tallest gear possible but I am happy with the MPGs.

 

[idmd]

Ok....ran first all highway trip with 5 people in the car and a less than aerodynamic Sears X-cargo roof box on top. We averaged between 75 and 80mph. Overall I got 28.4 mpg...not bad considering weight and roof box. I did notice the fuel gage though. The first 100 miles and only one bar ticked off. The next 100 miles and I was at 1/2 tank. The next 100 miles I was down to tank and at that point I'd refuel because in my experience that last doesn't go nearly as far. It's a very non-linear gage IMO.

 

[sac02]

My gauge is pretty repeatable: 90 miles for the first bar, and then 20 miles for every subsequent bar. About 300 miles a tank.

 

[torquelover]

Ok....ran first all highway trip with 5 people in the car and a less than aerodynamic Sears X-cargo roof box on top. We averaged between 75 and 80mph. Overall I got 28.4 mpg...not bad considering weight and roof box. I did notice the fuel gage though. The first 100 miles and only one bar ticked off. The next 100 miles and I was at 1/2 tank. The next 100 miles I was down to tank and at that point I'd refuel because in my experience that last doesn't go nearly as far. It's a very non-linear gage IMO.

Very similar to my mpg. Did you have the a/c on? That is better than I would have thought while running a roof box. How was the wind noise?

 

[Secondtyme]

Since repairing my extremely worn rear suspension I am getting a very repeatable 29 MPG. 400 miles to the fuel light, in the past I was lucky to go 380 to the fuel light, 400 while biting my fingernails to the quick lol Needless to say I am very pleased...

 

[idmd]

Very similar to my mpg. Did you have the a/c on? That is better than I would have thought while running a roof box. How was the wind noise?

LOTS of wind noise! I went cheap on the box so it's tall and wide - not one of the surfboard boxes. I'm sure I could've done 350+ without the roof box.

Overall I'm happy....I was heavy footed accelerating during the trip and had a few times merging where I had the pedal to the floor.

 

[microvan]

I'm jealous. Best I've ever hit is 25 mpg, 100% highway mileage. I'm usually about 50/50 city/highway and average about 22 mpg. 75/25 city/highway nets me about 20 mpg. 25/75 city/highway nets me about 24 mpg.

Auto trans.

I live in the hilly NW part of NJ, with winding roads, so very little opportunity to capitalize on momentum to improve fuel economy. I suppose I'm probably on the throttle more often than some of you with economy numbers in the high 20s.

 

[torquelover]

I'm jealous. Best I've ever hit is 25 mpg, 100% highway mileage. I'm usually about 50/50 city/highway and average about 22 mpg. 75/25 city/highway nets me about 20 mpg. 25/75 city/highway nets me about 24 mpg.

Auto trans.

I live in the hilly NW part of NJ, with winding roads, so very little opportunity to capitalize on momentum to improve fuel economy. I suppose I'm probably on the throttle more often than some of you with economy numbers in the high 20s.

Off topic a bit but I spotted a couple with roof boxes and no rack or crossbars. Looks like the boxes were anchored to the same spots the factory roof rails anchor too. Pretty cool.


Should mention about half those miles were in the Adirondack Mountains so we had to pull some hills. Regular tire pressure this time. I usually run 38 psi or more but with the weight in the car and harsh roads I kept the factory pressure.

Gotta say in upstate NY there were a lot of Mazda 5 and all had some sort of a roof box. Most with Canadian plates too. Visited Massachusetts and Rhode Island and there were a ton of these there, too.

 

[V8toilet]

I'm jealous. Best I've ever hit is 25 mpg, 100% highway mileage. I'm usually about 50/50 city/highway and average about 22 mpg. 75/25 city/highway nets me about 20 mpg. 25/75 city/highway nets me about 24 mpg.

Auto trans.

I live in the hilly NW part of NJ, with winding roads, so very little opportunity to capitalize on momentum to improve fuel economy. I suppose I'm probably on the throttle more often than some of you with economy numbers in the high 20s.

Driving the highways in NJ is like driving in the city everywhere else. Nothing but stop and go!

 

[microvan]

Driving the highways in NJ is like driving in the city everywhere else. Nothing but stop and go!

Ha! In general, at least in the northeastern portion of the state, you are correct. However, I'm in the more rural (yes, I said rural) northwestern part. Most of the highway miles I claimed above are clear sailing on I-80 and I-287.

 

[5zoom]

I find that anything above 75 or so MPH really makes the mileage go south. I've driven 70-75mph with AC for long distances and achieved 29-31mpg consistently, even with 133k on my 08. My last trip at those speeds yielded 31mpg. If I drive faster, the mpg goes down to 27-28mpg. This is freeway driving with minimal hills.

 

[Kojack]

I am getting worse milage than before I think its a combination of things. I think my tires being worn, and the suspension being tired is contributing to the mileage. Hey, still miles better than my JK.

 

[idmd]

I find that anything above 75 or so MPH really makes the mileage go south. I've driven 70-75mph with AC for long distances and achieved 29-31mpg consistently, even with 133k on my 08. My last trip at those speeds yielded 31mpg. If I drive faster, the mpg goes down to 27-28mpg. This is freeway driving with minimal hills.

Yeah it could really use a 6th gear. At 75 mpg I believe where around 2700-2800 rpm most of the time. I say most of the time because I noticed at these speeds the tachometer needle still has a lot of movement +/- 500 rpm with no down shift. I believe this is the torque converter locking and unlocking. I notice it mostly on hills where the transmission won't down shift but engine speed will rise 500rpm and at the top of the hill the rpm goes down. I believe the transmission is allowing a little bit of slip to get the engine more in it's torque range.....driving hills vs flat ground on the highway could have very profound effects on MPG.

My MZ3 auto shows no similar behavior on the highway and seems to downshift over unlocking the torque converter.

 

[V8toilet]

If the computer is unlocking and locking the torque converter for more torque multiplication than the engine doesn't have enough power to handle a 6th gear while driving 75-80 mph. Also if the transmission is spending most of its time in the 2700 rpm range because of the way it's being driven (fast or aggressive) than its basically being driven in a fashion that will not lend to good MPG numbers.

When I ride with my wife who drives the 5 most of the time I notice that she drives too close to other drivers so every time they brake she has to too. I notice she keeps her foot on the throttle right up to a red light or stopped traffic and then hits the brakes. She doesn't drive so that she minimizes the use of the brakes and just ends up doing what every other driver does, which is to drive without paying attention to how much momentum they lose or waste and then can't understand why the mpg is so low. The tank she just got was just 22.8 mpg, which is more city than usual but not great. When I drive it in the same fashion I can get at least 2 mpg better in the same conditions just by remaining cognizant of how much throttle or braking I do. I don't drive like I have an egg under my foot either as I accelerate as hard as I can without letting the tachometer go above 3000 rpm and with the 2.5 liter engines low end torque it takes off the line pretty good.

Driving the Mazda 5 back to back with my Skyactiv CX5 I feel that the shape of the 5 cuts through the wind a little better than the CX5 does. In Consumer Reports highway MPG testing they got the Mazda 5 to get as high as 34 mpg (they do much different than EPA) and the CX5 only 32 mpg. When I recently went on vacation with the 5 with all the kids and stuff in it, I was able to get consistent numbers of over 31 MPG driving 75 MPH. I know if I drive my CX5 in the same conditions and speeds as this without all that stuff and weight in it that my MPG numbers will be around 31.5-32 mpg. Those are pretty close numbers considering they aren't true apples to apples comparisons. One of these days I need to take the 5 to work for the whole tank/week and see if I'm able to hit the 35-36 mpg numbers I can with my CX5.

 

[idmd]

I guess....the locking and unlocking occurs on open highway with my foot steady state.....the only thing different is the hill I'm going up. Not sure how I could drive less aggressively? My MZ3 all other things being equal is much better on gas than the Mazda5.

 

[Rick L.]

In Consumer Reports highway MPG testing they got the Mazda 5 to get as high as 34 mpg

I'd really like to know how they did that. I went to the CR website, but they only give out information to subscribers.

Almost all of my driving is local suburban driving. I once got 34 mpg on my old Toyota on a rare road trip. Mostly I got 21-22 in day-to-day driving, and I will be happy if I can do that with the Mazda.

On the first fill-up I got 19.4 mpg. I was still getting a feel for the stick shift, and I also used the air conditioner a lot during that period. On the second tank, I got 20.3 mpg. I didn't use the air conditioner at all during that period.

Usually I fill the tank when I get down to 1/2 tank. On the second tank, I decided to keep track of the mileage with each tick of the fuel gauge. I used trip meter A to keep track of the total mileage between fill-ups, and trip meter B to keep track of the miles with each tick of the fuel gauge. When I noticed the gauge go down a tick, I zeroed the trip meter and wrote down the result. These aren't off by more than a couple tenths of a mile.

1 55.7
2 17.9
3 30.2
4 15.0
5 22.7
6 18.1

I went partway into the seventh tick before I filled it up, so I got a total of 168.9 miles on that half-tank.

The first tick didn't surprise me. Every gas gauge I've ever had spent a long time at "full" before the needle started moving down.

But after that, the wildly different miles per tick are kind of puzzling. I did exactly the same kind of driving throughout this period, going to the same places at the same time of day.

Despite that, the fuel gauge seems to be pretty accurate overall. With the first fill-up, I did it at 1/4 tank and it took 11.8 gallons. The second was at 1/2 tank and it took 8.3.

A couple of people have told me that my mileage should improve as the car gets broken in. Does anybody know if that is true?

 

[socialcarpet]

6 Speed diesel is availible in europe....

Its gets
38/49

With todays prices that kind of pisses me off its not availible here.....

http://www.mazda.co.uk/

Yes, I'd buy the diesel version in a heartbeat if we could get it with the 6 speed manual. The odds of either are slim though.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a 2014 Sport manual on Friday. I'm psyched.