Great MPG so far on 2023 CX-5 Turbo

RedBaron said:
I'd hardly call them bricks. Worse than many modern sedans, true, but not bad actually. 0.33 is the same as the Mazda RX-9 and BETTER than an MX-5/Miata (0.36). Oh, and there's NO WAY that a stock 60s Dart was 0.30. 0.40 maybe, but even that's a stretch. You may be referring to the highly aerodynamically modified Daytona, but that's a bit unfair, don't you think?
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And lets not forget the truck of our "dreams", Tesla.

Tesla claims .34 and an independent test .38. Too bad the truck won't do much more than attract attention...ugh

 
AL Cx5 said:
And lets not forget the truck of our "dreams", Tesla.

Tesla claims .34 and an independent test .38. Too bad the truck won't do much more than attract attention...ugh

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well they do haul ass and you can pull a pretty big trailer with one. There is one in my town and almost every time I see it is towing a good size camp trailer..looks odd and figured it is a test unit as otherwise not sure why they are always towing a trailer.
 
jadmt said:
well they do haul ass and you can pull a pretty big trailer with one. There is one in my town and almost every time I see it is towing a good size camp trailer..looks odd and figured it is a test unit as otherwise not sure why they are always towing a trailer.
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Yep it has an impressive 0 to 60. I don't buy trucks to race. My truck is my tow pig for my race car...

AI says Tesla truck towing the a10K trailer is 150 miles HOWEVER real world testing shows it pulls a trailer 50 miles....:rolleyes:

Even if it would go 150 mi, that might get me halfway to my destination. Then cool my heals a few hours while it charges. If it get's 50 miles, I have to stay home and learn how to treat a brushed SS finish..

Buyer be ware....

I'm not scraping my dinosaur diesel. :LOL:
 
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I drive based on many circumstances so I wouldn't say deliberate driving is in my menu. One thing I did change was staying back further from others during winter months to avoid paint chips in the front. My basic b**** is if driving 65-70mph and the rpms are 2400ish that's not good. And don't say drive 55mph cause no one around me does that or any other places I've been. I can get better mpg in my sports cars. Do I get better mpg then the computer says, sure but minimal.
 
Charmer383 said:
I drive based on many circumstances so I wouldn't say deliberate driving is in my menu. One thing I did change was staying back further from others during winter months to avoid paint chips in the front. My basic b**** is if driving 65-70mph and the rpms are 2400ish that's not good. And don't say drive 55mph cause no one around me does that or any other places I've been. I can get better mpg in my sports cars. Do I get better mpg then the computer says, sure but minimal.
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It took me several years of my long haul truck driver friend chirping at me to try his "SLOWMOVER" deliberate driving style.

It just about killed me the first few hours driving in the right lane and watch folks fly by. I gave up "having to keep up with the crowd". They pass me as I chill. After a month or so, I like driving in the right lane with know body near me. It's less stressful, less wear and tear on the car and way safer. I arrive within 10 or 15 minutes of driving +70.

Having a tuned turbo with other mods and driving in the right lane seems to be counterintuitive. It maybe. I really like the FE and the power. Even with an extra 60 HP, it's still no hot rod. So when I go WOT, it's not that much comparable fun. It's more like a sport cross over.

I joined the slow mover crowd a couple years back, saving $$ mile after mile. :ROFLMAO::cool::eek:
 
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I agree with you to a point. Most of the time I'm thinking about what needs done and the time to get that accomplished so time = money. One day I hope to move to the right lane and be carefree but not now. I do the like power of the CX5 for a daily driver but with all the R&D I find it hard to believe they can't get better mpg. Prior to this I had a 2018 F150 with the 10 speed TTV6 as summer truck :) 2 years in a row I drover from PA to OBX and got a displayed reading of 25.5mpg. It would have been even better if I did it by hand I bet. The kicker is for fun I ran it at the strip and ran 14.9 @ 92 with a 2.0 60' time. Sometimes I think if I would have kept the truck I'd get better mpg overall for daily driving.
 
Charmer383 said:
I agree with you to a point. Most of the time I'm thinking about what needs done and the time to get that accomplished so time = money. One day I hope to move to the right lane and be carefree but not now. I do the like power of the CX5 for a daily driver but with all the R&D I find it hard to believe they can't get better mpg. Prior to this I had a 2018 F150 with the 10 speed TTV6 as summer truck :) 2 years in a row I drover from PA to OBX and got a displayed reading of 25.5mpg. It would have been even better if I did it by hand I bet. The kicker is for fun I ran it at the strip and ran 14.9 @ 92 with a 2.0 60' time. Sometimes I think if I would have kept the truck I'd get better mpg overall for daily driving.
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25.5 MPG on the LOM is good on a truck. Did you ever hand calculate your F150? My Dodge Ram LOM varies up to 5 MPG! The Mazda 1.5 MPG is the most I've observed so far. Normally it's .5 less than hand calc. Yesterday I drove my 2500 truck 180 miles. LOM said 30.1. Hand calculated said 24.9. Popped my balloon! Still not to bad for a 6500#, old technology, 2006, brick.

I use to justify fast driving in the name of making a buck. I used it as my excuse to drive fast. Latter, I ran out the time savings over a 100k mi on my truck. Stuff like going a 100k mi on brakes instead of 40K and 80k mi vs 40K on tires. The time I lost taking my truck in to get tires, do brakes and so forth off set my fast driving many times over. My long haul truck driver gets to his destination as soon as the faster drivers. He goes 30% further between fill ups. He catches the faster drivers just on fill ups. When I looked at the time/cost over 1 year or more, slow driving saves $$, I have more time and feel better. It definingly requires conscious and deliberate driving habits.

We get 23 to 25 MPG in town driving with our CX 5. Lots of short trips less than 10 miles and over steep hills. As mentioned, 31 to 33 highway.

From what I've read, our Cx5s FE is inline with the other crossover gas burners. Like you I was surprised when I put a pencil to HP/Liter on our NA 2.5l. It's not as efficient as a Dodge 6.4l push rod Hemi. That is, our 2.5s make less HP per liter than the Detroit push rod V8. Popped my Mazda balloon. I STILL like our CX 5 and baby 2.5l engine. The over all package is good.

I've done a few bolt on mods and bought a tune. The mods are simple stuff I made. Turning vane in the fist elbow off the air filter box. CAI with back flow damper on the side of the air filter box. Grounds on the cylinder head and trans. I logged WOT before and after on each of these mods to confirm the gains. FE shows these mods work.

The ECU tune helped FE and added 60 HP. It added power right were it's useful. Even with the tune, the car is no hot rod. I don't get any pleasure dogging it. My last street legal hot rod would spin the tires on a down shift at 60 MPH. It was a handful, begging to be mistreated.

We lowered the car about 1.5" with coilovers and put lighter, spun forged wheels on it. The wheels are about 30% lighter than the factory wheels. Both help FE and handling. It has a look but doesn't scream tuner car.

I swapped out the factory sway bars and bushing for aftermarket. This holds the car steady going down the road. It handles much better and less sway translates into better FE.

Today we got a block heater kit. I'll install it next week. Pre heating will help FE and reduce engine wear. I found a surplus Mazda kit on eBay. $60.

All the mods turned it into this CX 5 into a fun sport crossover that is FE.
 
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Soba1 said:
I have been considering moving away from Mazda, for more leg space. But I actually really like my Mazda. I upgraded from a 2017 CX5 FWD to a 2020 CX5 AWD. Slight drop in mpg but I love the handling, also thinking about going back to FWD because of slightly better MPG.
But yesterday I test drove a 23 Turbo. 😳😳😳😳😳WOW! The punch the way it handles.
I am strongly considering this model, I wouldn’t push it all the time. But 26/28 combined MPG is not too bad.
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Ya in Dec 2020 I went from a 16.5 to a 21 Signature and the turbo is a big difference. Still running great but only have 25k miles on it. My miles are put on my motorcycle. About 20k a year :)
 
Tonight our 24 CX 5, Turbo LOM said 29.2 MPG driving in Christmas traffic 18 miles. About 8 of the 18 miles was interstate. I was bumper to bumper from traffic light to traffic light. If you have been out in suburbia you know the drill this time of year.

I'm seeing a nice bump in FE with Marine StaBil fuel additive, like +2 miles per gallon. Costs $0.10 per gallon. Power is NICE. Plenty of torque right where it's needed at low RPM. Zero hesitation on down shift and it takes off like it's hair is on fire. Has anyone else tried this fuel additive?

Other mods are working to provide a fun, FE driving experience. FE mods include grounds on the head, trans. Turning vane in the intake tube, Variable flow CAI built into the OEM air filter box, lowered about 1.5" and ECU tuned for +60 HP or better FE.

Aside, again I'm STILL impressed with the build of these little cars. The hoses and wiring support is over the top. Mazda designs and installs support brackets all over the car supporting wiring about every 2". This makes working and modifying the car tedious. For the other 98% of your folks, this is a good thing.

I agree with Mazda, the 6 speed trans is geared to provide good FE and delivers good performance. I will resist owning a CVT trans for as long as possible. The turbo has PLENTY of torque to power the car with the stepper gear ratios vs and 8 or 10 speed. 8 and 10 speed trans are heavier, more complicated and more expensive to rebuild. An Acura RDX 10 speed is the same FE as a turbo CX 5.
 
AL Cx5 said:
We are adding 1 oz of Sta Bil per 10 gallons. That is next to nothing. I've been adding all kinds of fuel additives to my 2006 Cummins diesel. It has 270K mi on the clock. Many of the additives were to extend the life of the injectors. Most guys go about 150K mi on injectors. Mine are at 270K and going strong. We add all kinds of crazy stuff like ATF and 2 stroke oil. Guy on the Cummins forum made all kinds of predictions how the ATF would kill the engine. My friend just passed 400K on his truck and changed the injectors out.
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Different reason, but you may be interested in this.

 
jadmt said:
well they do haul ass and you can pull a pretty big trailer with one. There is one in my town and almost every time I see it is towing a good size camp trailer..looks odd and figured it is a test unit as otherwise not sure why they are always towing a trailer.
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I don't know about some folks, but where I go camping there are no charging stations, LOL
I did go from an old diesel F250 to a new gasser F350 2 years ago and have no regrets.
 
where i go camping there is barely any roads...:)
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Love trucks (would be cool to have an "Off Topic" truck thread in the Lounge) but please keep threads on topic...This one being "Great MPG so far on 2023 CX-5 Turbo"...Much appreciated, thanks!
 
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