cx-5 sport manual acheiving 35mpg or better

[guido2358]

I just purchased a 2015 cx-5 sport, with a 6spd manual transmission. I have noticed on fuelly.com that some drivers can acheive 35mpg+ on the highway. Also, autotrader.com review this vehicle and claimed averaging 32 city/38 hwy during testing. I do about 95% highway driving, where the speed limit is 60mph. I have only driven one tank so far with an average of 30mpg(using actual calculator method of miles driven divided by gallons at fill up).

I have noticed driving on the highway that if I am in 6th gear I get the best mileage(according to current mpg monitor on dash) at about 70mph. This is because speed is fast enough when going up hills to not drop the average mpg down too much. In 5th gear, the best mpg is acheived at about 60mph.

What I have noticed is at both the above speed/gear combinations the engine is at about 3000rpm. Keeping the engine at this speed seems to yield the best fuel economy when cruising.

Every car I have ever owned has averaged at least the highway rated mpg listed by the epa. Examples: 90 accord 5spd averaged 28mpg. 95 maxima 5spd averaged 27mpg. 2008 scion XD automatic averaged 33mpg.

Suggestions? Thanks

 

[inlinev]

The cx5 is my wife's DD and in 60% highway and 40% light stop and go she is averaging 33.1 mpg. She typically drives at 70 when on the highway. This is with about 2200 miles on the car. Tires cold inflated to 38 PSI.

 

[guido2358]

i will check tire pressure, drive a few more tanks and see if there's any improvement. If not, I may consider raising tire pressure to 38psi. Is your wife's car a manual? How does she feel about the ride with 4psi higher than factory recommendation?

How did you get a GT? I thought only Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring were USA trim levels.

 

[yrwei52]

i will check tire pressure, drive a few more tanks and see if there's any improvement. If not, I may consider raising tire pressure to 38psi. Is your wife's car a manual? How does she feel about the ride with 4psi higher than factory recommendation?
How did you get a GT? I thought only Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring were USA trim levels.

GT = Grand Touring

CX-5 is a CUV and it's taller than your previous cars. The wind resistance may affect your gas mileage greatly on the highway.

Do check your tire pressure the first thing in the morning. Factory spec of tire pressure on GT's 19" tires is 36 psi. I believe 17" tires are less. I put in 38 psi too as you normally put 2~3 psi more when you drive on the highway. Your 17" tires are a bit softer than 19"'s, so don't worry about 2~3 psi more will affect your ride too much.

Another thing is the oil in your engine. If you use super slick Mazda Moly oil, you may gain a bit on mpg too.

 

[piotrek91]

Congrats on your new CX-5!

I currently have 45k on mine and I easily get 35MPG when I want to. Most tanks I get ~30MPG, but I frequently drive spiritedly.

As long as there is no wind, cruising at any speed lower than 70 should get you 35MPG.

Suggestions?

Drive a few thousand miles. Your MPG should go up as your car breaks-in.
On flat roads, I find that I get the best fuel economy in 6th gear at any speed over ~35mph.

Monitor the current MPG display. You'll find that as you push the gas pedal down more than ~50% the number displayed will drop suddenly without giving you much extra power. At that point the sound of the engine will also become slightly different. Stay in 6th, but avoid using too much throttle when going up small hills by letting your speed drop slightly.

More so than other cars, the CX-5 gets absolutely horrible gas mileage on short trips.
The "accelerated warm up" that occurs basically dumps fuel onto the catalytic converter and eats up a large amount of fuel.

 

[MikeM.]

I have noticed driving on the highway that if I am in 6th gear I get the best mileage(according to current mpg monitor on dash) at about 70mph. This is because speed is fast enough when going up hills to not drop the average mpg down too much. In 5th gear, the best mpg is acheived at about 60mph.

With only one tank you need to drive it more before your engine and bearings wear in a little. Your MPG will get better and one tank is not enough to tell much of anything. If you continue to observe your best MPG at 70mph, then there is something wrong with your particular unit. Never hesitate to drop it into 5th to maintain speed up a hill. And a manual transmission is more dependent upon driver skills (particularly clutch/throttle coordination) than an automatic.

What I have noticed is at both the above speed/gear combinations the engine is at about 3000rpm. Keeping the engine at this speed seems to yield the best fuel economy when cruising.

That shouldn't be the case either. 3000 rpm's shouldn't be the sweet spot.

 

[inlinev]

i will check tire pressure, drive a few more tanks and see if there's any improvement. If not, I may consider raising tire pressure to 38psi. Is your wife's car a manual? How does she feel about the ride with 4psi higher than factory recommendation?

How did you get a GT? I thought only Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring were USA trim levels.

It is an automatic. No complaints with the ride. The 2 PSI increase over stock pressure is negligible in ride quality. The car handles bumps with little stress.

 

[guido2358]

I forgot to mention I bought the car certified pre owned, with 10k miles on it already. Its already broken in.

Got it for $20k, which is its value if I traded it in right now. Certified pre owned mazdas extend the factory bumper to bumper warranty to 48 month, 48k. The powertrain warranty is also extended to 7yr, 100k.

 

[CX-5um]

I'd reset the trip monitor and mpg calculator to remove the previous driver's averages and start off with a clean slate.

 

[rjdee]

Congrats on the CX-5.

35mpg is very attainable on the manual depending on your driving style. You should find the max mileage will come when driving 50-60 mph. I know I do. I drive very with a heavier foot and my mileage on the all day highway trips 65-75 mph is much less than my country road travels at 50-60 mph. Part of that is the fact I run a rooftop box which introduces much more drag at higher speeds.

As said above, clear out the current data, do the hand calculating like you're doing, and one tank doesn't really give you any good data. if it was filled a .5 gallon less, if you idled for a bit, driving in windy weather and just the fact of getting used to the car all come into play.

I have 75k miles on my car and have averaged 30-31 mpg lifetime. Again this is driving with a cargo box on the roof rack, bike rack on the back and usually a few hundred pounds of work supplies in the cargo area. I usually drive speed limit +10 on a variety of highway, country and intown roads. I try to minimize my in city (Boston) travels when possible.

 

[Ride92]

I don't have the manual transmission but I find that if I drive normally, which is somewhat spirited, I get around 27mpg with the 2.5 AWD. If I drive very cautiously all the time I can keep the MPG's above 30mpg for the deration of the tank with probably 60/40 city/highway driving. For the Manual you probably have to drive conservatively and keep your shift points at around 2500rpm or so, maybe 3000rpm with no hard acceleration. It could also be the tire preasure and to some degree the oil used in the engine. The Moly oil is suppose to be great and would maybe net a few mpg's but it's hard to say. 70mph is above the threshold for optimum mpg. 55mph is closer to the correct speed in 6 gear to get optimum mpg. It why most interstates had a 55mph speed limit awhile back. It was in response to the oil crisis of the 70's

 

[piotrek91]

For the Manual you probably have to drive conservatively and keep your shift points at around 2500rpm or so, maybe 3000rpm with no hard acceleration.

As long as you don't need to use the brakes to burn off speed, hard acceleration doesn't necessarily have to be bad for fuel economy. Getting up to speed very quickly and shifting into 6th once cruising is good fun and can still be pretty efficient.

70mph is above the threshold for optimum mpg. 55mph is closer to the correct speed in 6 gear to get optimum mpg. It why most interstates had a 55mph speed limit awhile back. It was in response to the oil crisis of the 70's

True. 70MPH is way too fast for optimum mpg.

 

[iced_theater]

I'm disappointed when I don't get at least 35 mpg in mine. I keep it at 65mph on the interstate, I shift into 5th gear at 30 mph and 6th at 35 mph. I have my tires inflated to 42 psi all around and I shift around 2500-3000 rpm if I'm just cruising. Though I still see redline fairly often.

 

[guido2358]

I'm disappointed when I don't get at least 35 mpg in mine. I keep it at 65mph on the interstate, I shift into 5th gear at 30 mph and 6th at 35 mph. I have my tires inflated to 42 psi all around and I shift around 2500-3000 rpm if I'm just cruising. Though I still see redline fairly often.

How do you accelerate in 6th gear at 35? 6th gear makes it hard to accelerate on the interstate if not doing at least 65mph

 

[DBLXX]

I'm a right lane driver - speed limit - and very light on the pedal.

I plan on getting 35 regularly.