2012 5 fuel economy reports

[dieseldriver]

Thanks Hi5_0. I must of missed this post a while back. I was chatting with my coworker the other day and he mentioned that a new header does wonders to the car as well. I will look up MaxSpeed as well.

Hey dieseldriver, I got my exhaust system from a local shop here in Hawaii. The brand name of the system is MaxSpeed. I'm sure you can find a distributor there in NJ. I think its a combination stainless steel/aluminum, fiberglass baffles with about a 4" opening pipe, maybe larger. I was told that the type that I have was the "softest" sounding of the rest but beware, my wife could detect it as I pulled in my parking stall while she was in the house, 60 feet away! (boom06) Good luck with your selection.

 

[Nurburgringer]

I missed NJ roads - my parents live in Ringoes (near Hopewell/Princeton) and there are some GREAT twisty country roads I used to rip around. The 100+ miles of I80 East until crossing over the Water Gap (then going south on Rt31 near Hackettstown) are sweet!! Reminded me of a Bavarian autobahn.

Looking forward to seeing how your subwoofer install goes.

Here's the cargo/pet area of the 5 close to 12 hours into the trip on Wed. Soon after this pic I climbed into the back to keep them company, snoozing with one of them on my lap for a while.

Packing up tonight and leaving Sunday 5AM for the trek home....

 

[dieseldriver]

I used to live in Montgomery, about 2 miles from Princeton off of 27. I used to take the back roads up to my job in Basking Ridge - Great Mt. Road. Now I live up near the Hudson River overlooking Yonkers NY -- right next to Armstrong Tower, the man that invented FM radio. If you had some time, you could come up here near exit 2 off of Palisades Interstate Parkway -- very different and scenic up here. It leads off to Bear Mountain Bridge, and Bear Mountain. It has couple of overlooks over the cliff overlooking NYC. Maybe a quick GTG for couple of shots (photos, not drinks)??

I am done with my sub install, I have a video posted on Youtube and there's the link for the video on one of the thread here somewhere.

Adjusted the signal gain setting and now the music sounds awesome, and kind of stealthy too, until you open the trunk. It takes up the left side of the trunk. Which isn't bad, considering the enjoyment I'll get out of my music. I am also considering getting a replacement front speaker, either Polk Audio or Boston Acoustics. I'm procrastinating because I want to get me an Amazon Kindle too -- Kindle Touch Wifi.

I might wait a bit to replace the stock rear speakers as it's a bit more involved in taking the panels off. BTW, my coworker has a Shittzu (sorry for my misspelling), and he always tells me how smart they are.

Here's the link to the video...

'Already Gone' does not sound that good because the camera isn't able to handle the lows like the our ears can. It start distorting it when recording.. I know it sounds horrible but actually sounds crystal clear in person. We call that the "passband" heh heh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CzXTDGHEGI

Here are some more videos!

EDIT:

I've gotten a bit side tracked with these videos. Anyway, back to fuel economy. In the 80's, when I used to have a Mustang GT, after giving it a good waxing, I felt the car had less resistance moving on the highway. I waxed the car this weekend with Mother's -- and I will be making long commutes back and forth starting Monday for training. I will let you folks know if I notice anything different with fuel economy as a result (though probably not make a huge difference, not expecting it anyway.)
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I missed NJ roads - my parents live in Ringoes (near Hopewell/Princeton) and there are some GREAT twisty country roads I used to rip around. The 100+ miles of I80 East until crossing over the Water Gap (then going south on Rt31 near Hackettstown) are sweet!! Reminded me of a Bavarian autobahn.

Looking forward to seeing how your subwoofer install goes.

Here's the cargo/pet area of the 5 close to 12 hours into the trip on Wed. Soon after this pic I climbed into the back to keep them company, snoozing with one of them on my lap for a while.

Packing up tonight and leaving Sunday 5AM for the trek home....

 

[dieseldriver]

Okay, today was sort of my first "real" commute for over 60 miles each way to my office for training. I was averaging 31.4 miles per gallon on the car going about 65-70; part of the time on cruise. I was really surprised by the fuel economy. That I can live with.

EDIT: Here's the picture showing MPG on my car this morning.

881 miles trip to NJ on Wednesday. Took ~16 hours total including 4 stops, average of about 62 mph moving and 27.1mpg according to scangauge and confirmed by fillups.
Checking the scangauge for instand MPG helped to pass the miles. Setting the cruise and using the +/- to go up and down, interesting to watch the instant mpg chage from 65,66,67......75mph. 70-73mph seemed to be the sweet spot for ~30mpg.
Doing the return trip on Sunday. The 5 was a great chariot for me, the wife, and 2 shih tzus. 4 hour stints with no leg cramping or back issues (my lower back is pretty finicky).
The younger doggies spent 90% of the time in his little crate in the back, while the 6 yr old prefered to snooze on a pillow we put on the front armrests.

View attachment 189896

 

[neoplasticity]

My first fuel up in a GT auto was 28.9mpg with a 50/50 mix of city and highway driving. It is higher than I expected before break in on a 50/50 mix so maybe when the dealer filled it up, they filled it up to the very top and the station I went to didn't fill it very much so we'll have to see what the next few fill ups show.

 

[dieseldriver]

I am happy to report that so far, I am very impressed with fuel economy of my M5GT -- averaging about 31 MPG overall on mostly highway driving. There were some reviews on Youtube that the Mazda's 2.5L engine is a bit dated but to me, it's a nice engine overall. Very quiet compared to some other Japanse brand that I've owned over the years with 4 cylinder engine. If I was Mazda however, I would have thrown in the iSTOP on this engine too so that we can squeeze out a bit more in City which robs of the overall good fuel economy.

My first fuel up in a GT auto was 28.9mpg with a 50/50 mix of city and highway driving. It is higher than I expected before break in on a 50/50 mix so maybe when the dealer filled it up, they filled it up to the very top and the station I went to didn't fill it very much so we'll have to see what the next few fill ups show.

 

[DynoBunny]

So far with two fill ups I've been averaging around 18.4mpg. I do about 50%city/50%hwy and I am on the gas hard. I'm so used to the power of my MS3 and Integra that it's almost painful accelerating in this. But I love it and it is a blast to drive!

 

[dieseldriver]

Now now, I had a MS3 for about a week and that's not being fair comparing it against the microvan

So far with two fill ups I've been averaging around 18.4mpg. I do about 50%city/50%hwy and I am on the gas hard. I'm so used to the power of my MS3 and Integra that it's almost painful accelerating in this. But I love it and it is a blast to drive!

 

[DynoBunny]

:lol but look at the mpg stats in my sig, tell me why my 2.3T gets that much better milage then my 2.5? I know it's a 400 pound difference but really?

Now now, I had a MS3 for about a week and that's not being fair comparing it against the microvan

 

[dieseldriver]

When I really push my M5GT, I rarely get below 25MPG combined, it always hovers around 25.1-25.3MPG. Never got below the 24 mark. Now on the MS3 I had (for a week now), I saw some astounding numbers -- 32+

I think the weight plus efficiency of the engine is what doing it. I think if you push the 2.5 a bit in terms of compression, just a hare, I think you'd see improvement, and maybe slightly more torque to boot.

I do want to get the MS3 as my next car though, something about that car that's just so appealing to me. But I need to keep this car for at least 6 years however. Maybe we'll keep it around as a daily slush-box-beater and get the MS3 as a weekend pocket rocket.

Oh that reminds me, I have to change my Sig now, I prefer Mazdas over Subarus... I've been reborn.

:lol but look at the mpg stats in my sig, tell me why my 2.3T gets that much better milage then my 2.5? I know it's a 400 pound difference but really?

 

[chandlerGTi]

I now have 5900 miles on and I am averaging just over 27. Not sure how y'all are pilling down those high numbers; I commute 100 miles a day.

 

[dieseldriver]

If I drive mostly highway with mostly set to cruise, then 31+ is not a big deal. Mind you, this is with Shell regular gasoline and no passengers. I don't go above 75MPH either to conserve fuel.

I now have 5900 miles on and I am averaging just over 27. Not sure how y'all are pilling down those high numbers; I commute 100 miles a day.

 

[torquelover]

Took the MZ5 on a 7-hour drive today. Averaged 30 MPG per the dash readout on the way there, 24 MPG around town once there, and 31 MPG back. Conditions:
60*F
All highway 70 MPH
Stock tire pressure
3 passengers
A/C off
Shell 87 octane

 

[Orangutan]

What does it come out to if you calculate it yourself (not the onboard trip computer)?

 

[torquelover]

What does it come out to if you calculate it yourself (not the onboard trip computer)?

I don't have enough mileage on the car to tell you, but I will say that on a shorter run using the same pump at fill-up and top-off the computer read high 2 MPG. Today's trip we left with 3/4 tank, arrived with a 1/4 tank and filled up, then came home with the same amount of fuel. I reset the trip computer once on the highway on the way up, then again once we got in town, then again once back on the highway. I was in a hurry so I didn't think to top off before we left. The MZ5 is my wife's daily driver so I don't plan to accurately log it. To do so would take some effort on her part, which I don't see happening. I do log my other cars and can tell you our Town and Country reads high 1-2 MPG. The Mustang does not have a trip computer to compare to, which is probably a good thing, lol.

BTW, gas was $4.29 at home, but only $4.09 in the far West suburbs (drinks)

 

[Nurburgringer]

Just broke 10k miles on our 6 month old 5.
At the last fill up took on 12.9g, which was good for 350 miles = 27mpg.
This was 90% highway, mostly 70-75mph, stock 16" wheels and just me in the car.

 

[chandlerGTi]

Just broke 13000, it looks like overall mileage is just over 28. I'm not going to complain since I drive it hard most of the time. No hyper-miling for me!

 

[Orangutan]

Just broke 10k miles on our 6 month old 5.
At the last fill up took on 12.9g, which was good for 350 miles = 27mpg.
This was 90% highway, mostly 70-75mph, stock 16" wheels and just me in the car.

I'm at 22k and this approximates most of my driving. I put 120 miles/day on my 5 when it's my turn in the carpool. I have more city driving and lower highway speeds, usually about 67-68 when I am cruising. I can't seem to bust 30 even with conservative driving.

 

[90210]

We always have people in the car. We do 40% stop and go, and 60% 70-75mph on highway. 17" wheels. Just turned 9500 miles. Getting 29.2 MPG

 

[Nurburgringer]

Yesterday took a drive down to IL, then northern IN, then back to Milwaukee for a 344 mile day. This morning filled the tank with 11.3g for a rather surprising average of 30.4mpg. (idhitit)
This was 80% highway at ~75mph with the AC running probably 75% of the time.
M5 has 14,500 miles, 16" wheels stock tires.