City MPG is lower than expected

[Flyersguy172]

Hey all

I have a 2015 CX-5 Touring that is an absolute blast to drive. I purchased the car early in November and have about 2000 miles on it. Prior to that, I had a 2011 Ford Ranger that was a handy truck, but an absolute pig on gas (I got around 16MPG). While the CX-5 is an improvement, it is not as dramatic as I expected.

About 90% of my driving is what I would rate as city driving. It's stop and go through town and neighborhoods at under 35mph. I have been trying to keep close track of fuel economy since buying the car and have noticed that it appears to be getting worse as I own the car. Originally I was averaging about 22mpg, but have since seen it fall to 21.4mpg as indicated by the onboard trip computer.

When I put a full tank of gas in the car it will tell me that it has a range of about 322mpg....but after about 2 weeks of driving, the actual range ends up being about 270-280mpg. My driving style is very conservative, I coast a lot going up to red lights and stop signs and I try to "hyper mile" which seemed to always improve MPG's in my former vehicles.

Is anyone else getting lower than expected MPGs? The only culprit I can think that might be causing this is that it is winter time, and the average temps here the past month have been in the 20s.

 

[SomeGuyFromNYC]

You are forgetting winter blend fuel which gives worse mpg. I wouldn't be concerned yet, 22mpg to 21.4mpg is not a big drop at all. Almost all my driving is city driving in stop'n go traffic. I also drive with a heavy foot and average roughly 20-22mpg during the summer. Now in winter with the winter blend fuel my gas mileage is roughly 18-20mpg. Another factor hurting mileage is letting it warm up in the morning before driving.

I would wait to see what happens to your gas mileage when it is spring/summer again.

 

[MikeM.]

About 90% of my driving is what I would rate as city driving. It's stop and go through town and neighborhoods at under 35mph. I have been trying to keep close track of fuel economy since buying the car and have noticed that it appears to be getting worse as I own the car. Originally I was averaging about 22mpg, but have since seen it fall to 21.4mpg as indicated by the onboard trip computer.

With only 2000 miles of easy driving your car is not even broken in yet. It will get better once everything is well seated. Go drive it hard at higher speeds and get into the upper rpm range.

Also, for the kind of easy city driving you do, you are grossly over-powered with the 2.5L engine. You don't need 184 hp to drive easy under 35 mph. Even the 155 hp of the 2.0L engine would be overkill. This kind of driving is not breaking in the engine ideally. Don't worry about your mpg, let that engine spin free and make the power it was designed for!

 

[Flyersguy172]

thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[robertmazda]

Remember that MPG is VERY much affected by how you drive. The fact that your first sentence says "absolute blast to drive" tells me that you're not driving like grandma. Hey - neither do I so this isn't a criticism. But I think that if you're having fun - which is great - you're not going to get the same mileage as someone who drives as if there is a raw egg under their foot. And 0.6 MPG difference is not significant in any way.

 

[piotrek91]

short trips with a cold engine absolutely KILL your MPG.
It doesn't matter that much how you drive. What really matters is where you drive. If you do any short trips you're not going to get very good results.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

It might help to turn on the instant MPG display. This may help you see driving behaviors that are lowering your MPG.

 

[tibimakai]

I get the same thing here in LA(I'm at 9.7k miles). I drive 11 miles to work in slow traffic(~45-55MPH), than on the streets back home. Short distance is very bad too. My wife works at 28 miles and she gets better MPGs(~24), because she can drive much faster(no traffic).

 

[CX5Alive]

With only 2000 miles of easy driving your car is not even broken in yet. It will get better once everything is well seated. Go drive it hard at higher speeds and get into the upper rpm range.

Also, for the kind of easy city driving you do, you are grossly over-powered with the 2.5L engine. You don't need 184 hp to drive easy under 35 mph. Even the 155 hp of the 2.0L engine would be overkill. This kind of driving is not breaking in the engine ideally. Don't worry about your mpg, let that engine spin free and make the power it was designed for!

(dunno) First time I ever heard the CX-5 labeled "grossly overpowered". Even with the 2.5L it takes about 8 seconds 0-60.

 

[CX5Alive]

We've been getting around 28.8 with a 90/10 mix of stop/go and freeway. When I did a manual calculation on my last fillup, it was over 30. I can't imagine what you guys are doing to get mid/low 20s. We have a 2014 Touring FWD, so even with the grossly overpowered 185 hp 2.5 engine, I'm breaking 30 mpg in traffic! It has been nearly perfect so far.

 

[dragonteeth]

We've been getting around 28.8 with a 90/10 mix of stop/go and freeway. When I did a manual calculation on my last fillup, it was over 30. I can't imagine what you guys are doing to get mid/low 20s. We have a 2014 Touring FWD, so even with the grossly overpowered 185 hp 2.5 engine, I'm breaking 30 mpg in traffic! It has been nearly perfect so far.

Most of my driving is city driving, sooooo... My average is ~23mpg. Not the best, but I'm aware of why it's being shot.

 

[Beefy]

We've been getting around 28.8 with a 90/10 mix of stop/go and freeway. When I did a manual calculation on my last fillup, it was over 30. I can't imagine what you guys are doing to get mid/low 20s. We have a 2014 Touring FWD, so even with the grossly overpowered 185 hp 2.5 engine, I'm breaking 30 mpg in traffic! It has been nearly perfect so far.

My overall economy last year was 11.7 L/100km, or 20MPG. It is a combination of very cold winter temperatures, city driving, snow driving, short trips, and unbridled use of the remote started and gas pedal.

 

[bxpretzel]

Most of my driving is city driving, sooooo... My average is ~23mpg. Not the best, but I'm aware of why it's being shot.

+1 I'm averaging right around 23 mpg for the last few tanks with probably 80% stop-and-go city driving and 20% "highway" (mostly me speeding 55-60+ mph on a local parkway) driving. I'm pretty heavy on the gas pedal though and try to stay close to traffic in front of me (otherwise people will dart in front of you given any opportunity). ...such is driving in one of the worst metro areas for traffic in the country! Fingers crossed that I get a job I've applied for out in the Appalachian mountains.

On full highway tanks/trips (which are somewhat rare), I've managed to get an average of 30 mpg or so. I chalk it up to the area that I live in and the traffic I deal with and am still happy, since the '05 Mazda Tribute I came from mostly got 16-18 in city driving and barely ever topped 23 on the highway (I think I got 24mpg on a tank ONE time ever), more like 21-22 on average. So the CX-5 at its worst is still better than my Tribute at its best.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I'm about 70% highway and I am typically at 27-28.5 MPG. If I dropped my speed I know it would go higher. I even turn off the AC when not needed for defogging. I'm sure that gives me a few tenths as well. IIRC my tires are at 37psi. I need to check them again.

 

[Sekmor]

We are in the middle of winter driving (crap roads, cold temps 0 to -25C) and surprised how good our CX5 is on fuel. We have 13000km (8060miles) on the clock.
Here's some numbers in US mpg. Also found that resetting the dash numbers, the fuel consumption on the gauge is pretty close to the actuals.

So last tank, all city driving.............9.0L / 100km or 26.1 mpg.
Just did a highway trip, 400kms,..........6.9L / 100km or 34.08

 

[MidwestCX5]

I would agree that the city mpg is lower than I had expected but it's still good for for an AWD SUV. During the summer I would consistently get 22 mpg mixed driving with the 19" Toyo tires; on the highway (70+ mph) 27 mpg.
Switching over to 17" Blizzak tires for the winter did not cause any noticeable change in fuel consumption. I have been getting 18 to 20 mpg in the city and 24 to 26 mpg highway (75-85mph). I do not drive conservatively, I wait for my morning coffee at the drive-thru, and I leave my engine running while I scrape the ice off my car every morning and night. I'm just glad this car starts everyday after being parked outside all night and that the unplowed roads in Detroit haven't stopped it yet.

 

[MikeM.]

So last tank, all city driving.............9.0L / 100km or 26.1 mpg.
Just did a highway trip, 400kms,..........6.9L / 100km or 34.08

That's really good for the middle of an Alberta winter and the 2.5L engine. I'm guessing you must have a FWD model?

 

[MikeM.]

I'm just glad this car starts everyday after being parked outside all night and that the unplowed roads in Detroit haven't stopped it yet.

Well it's good the unplowed roads haven't stopped it but I don't know why you would be glad it starts each morning, I would expect it to. I just left my CX-5 on the street for 16 days while I was on vacation and it didn't even hesitate before it started instantly. I'm sure the 0W20 oil helps. Of course the car and battery are only 2 1/2 years old but even my 16 year old Volvo which was left at the airport started when I returned and it's on it's second battery for the last 8 years.


I used to live at the base of Whitefish Ski Area in Montana where there was plenty of frigid weather. I've found if the proper weight of oil is used and the battery and starter terminals and cables are kept in good condition, cold starting is not an issue. It doesn't take much resistance in these high amperage circuits to start causing problems. Just because the terminals LOOK clean, doesn't mean they are. This shouldn't be an issue on a car as new as yours. I always do a little preventative maintenance on every new car by spraying every exposed electrical connection with penetrating dielectric grease. It coats the metal and stops oxidation. Because all modern cars depend upon electronics so heavily, I think this simple procedure has saved me many headaches over the last 22 years.

 

[Sekmor]

yes mine is FWD. So I guess a couple mpg extra is normal. Regardless, they all seem to be getting good mileage.

BTW, I don't like this km per 100 BS either, doesn't mean anything, but that's how our Canadian cars are built. The old mpg is still the best measure.

 

[StealthWyvern]

I have a 2015 cx-5 that already has 17k miles on it... I get bout 26mpg with 80% hwy. I did notice doing 80 kills gas mileage on these things. the sweet spot is right about 35-40mph and will get over 40mpg (according to the cluster). The CX-5 gets horrible gas mileage from 20-30mph, for some reason the mazda techs thought it would be good to cruise around in 4th or 5th at 20-30mph. My 2.5L FWD bogs down at those speeds and mazda has stated their is nothing wrong with my car and that it must be my driving habits... its a freaking automatic....