First long trip coming up, up to the UP

[gregbe]

We are leaving tomorrow on our first long drive in our new CX5. I'm real curious on how good of a traveler its going to be & what the highway milage will be. It will be about a 600 mile drive.

The roads up there can be rather exciting. You can be driving along and suddenly see a sign "pavement ends, 300 feet". The wife normally freaks out but hopefully the CX5 should hopefully handle
the logging trails

 

[sound_man]

It all depends on the model you have.
2.0L FWD Hwy rating is; 35MPG X 14.8 gallons (size of gas tank)= 518 miles on a single tank
2.5L FWD Hwy rating is; 32MPG X 14.8 gallons (size of gas tank)= 473 miles on single tank
2.5L AWD Hwy rating is: 30MPG X 15.3 gallons (size of tank. AWD has bigger tank) = 459 miles on a single tank

So this are VERY rough estimates. It all depends on altitude, cruise control, acceleration, weight in vehicle, traffic and etc.

 

[runtohell121]

Just be prepared to put more gas in around 350 miles or less... Well for me, I try to avoid the light coming on. I've driven the car from the Bay Area to Vegas (roughly 500 miles one way) and from the Bay to Fresno to Tahoe and back, that trip was about 800+ miles round trip and I normally average around 28-29mpg on my Touring AWD 2.5L.

 

[gregbe]

I have an 2.5 AWD. You can't really run the tank too low as some areas gas is not easy to find. If I can approach 30 MPG I'll be thrilled.
We've have taken this trip numerous times in our old Lexus IS250. There so little cargo room in that vehicle that CX5 is a revelation.
We are taking tons of stuff this time. Well mostly beer but still

 

[CC58]

I have an 2.5 AWD. You can't really run the tank too low as some areas gas is not easy to find. If I can approach 30 MPG I'll be thrilled.
We've have taken this trip numerous times in our old Lexus IS250. There so little cargo room in that vehicle that CX5 is a revelation.
We are taking tons of stuff this time. Well mostly beer but still

Don't let it get too empty because you don't want to accidently run the tank empty. If you accidently run the tank empty in the CX-5 you can damage the $600 1000psi fuel pump. When the range indicator says you have 0 miles left there are a couple of gallons left in the tank for this reason.

 

[CX-SV]

I have an 2.5 AWD. You can't really run the tank too low as some areas gas is not easy to find. If I can approach 30 MPG I'll be thrilled.
We've have taken this trip numerous times in our old Lexus IS250. There so little cargo room in that vehicle that CX5 is a revelation.
We are taking tons of stuff this time. Well mostly beer but still

What was your mpg on trips like that in the IS250?

 

[ALafya]

With the 2.5L I think you can get 30MPG if you have mostly highway miles and you can keep your speed at 70 or below.
If you can keep close to constant speed at about 55MPH or so, I think you can do significantly better, but never had the chance or inclination to drive slow for so many miles...

 

[gregbe]

What was your mpg on trips like that in the IS250?

When it was newer, I might hit 30 MPG on the highway. The last couple of years it dropped to 27-28. I don't know if it was because of the more miles on the car or perhaps I was driving faster

 

[CX-SV]

When it was newer, I might hit 30 MPG on the highway. The last couple of years it dropped to 27-28. I don't know if it was because of the more miles on the car or perhaps I was driving faster

Thanks for mpg report. I also have a IS350, get around 27-28 mpg on freeways. The highway efficiency of the CX-5 is very good for a tall SUV/crossover with awd.

 

[V8toilet]

You can do better than 30 mpg. I've gotten more than a few 36 mpg with the 2.5 FWD and cruise on 68-69 mph. Lately I've been doing between 70 and 75 mph and still get 32.5. Key is to not follow too close to other drivers and to let it coast as much as possible when approaching off ramps or stopped traffic.

 

[Buddyb]

You can do better than 30 mpg. I've gotten more than a few 36 mpg with the 2.5 FWD and cruise on 68-69 mph. Lately I've been doing between 70 and 75 mph and still get 32.5. Key is to not follow too close to other drivers and to let it coast as much as possible when approaching off ramps or stopped traffic.

If your cruise is set at 70 mph, what current mpg's are displayed on the info screen? Going 70 mph on cruise on a level road, my '15 GT FWD usually reads 28-29 current mpg.

 

[Maineiac]

You guys are doing a lot better on MPG then I am-and I don't have a lead foot. 300 miles between fill ups seems about normal for combined, but mostly highway speed (70-75 mph) driving.

 

[CC58]

When it was newer, I might hit 30 MPG on the highway. The last couple of years it dropped to 27-28. I don't know if it was because of the more miles on the car or perhaps I was driving faster

As a car gets older, the oxygen sensor in exhaust degrades causing engine to run richer lowering mpg. Put in a new oxygen sensor and mpg will return to normal.

 

[V8toilet]

If your cruise is set at 70 mph, what current mpg's are displayed on the info screen? Going 70 mph on cruise on a level road, my '15 GT FWD usually reads 28-29 current mpg.

Honestly I can't say for sure. Where I live there are very few places where the roads are actually straight and level enough to check. Even when I think the road is level there is a very slight incline/decline or the wind effects the readings, which also never seems to stay steady.

In steady speeds my CX5 is no different than yours is. I get big gains by driving and keeping momentum up in mind. Because the Skyactiv motor runs Atkinson cycle in low load conditions you can really take advantage of this when coasting or light cruising. I let it coast as much as possible and use it's good Corning abilities where I can safely do so. In rush hour traffic where I can only go as fast as the car in front of me, I keep enough distance so that as they speed up and slam the brakes over and over, I speed up and coast over and over. Most of the time this only requires 3-4 car lengths because I'm watching what the traffic is doing up as far as I can see while the person in front of me is focused on keeping the gap between his/her car and the one in front as small as possible. I know when the slinky effect is starting way before those short sighted drivers ever do. I'm driving proactive and they are driving reactive. Also when I'm approaching stopped traffic or a red light I immediately let her coast and hope that the light turns green before I get there.

Best example I have is if I fill up just before I get on the highway (I-290). I'll go the entire length of I-290 at 70 mph (about 10 or more miles) and the average trip may only show 29.5 mpg. I know that if I let off the gas 1/4 mile before the connector ramp to I-495 and coast through it at about 50 mph that by the time I'm on I-495 my trip can already be at 32.5 mpg and I never touched the brakes. If there is a slower driver that drives full speed and then slams on the brakes to 35 mph before the ramp than I start coasting 1/2-mile before that ramp and by the time I'm at I-495 I can merge left and either power past that car or be right behind it doing 70 mph again. Only difference between me and that person was they used more fuel and brakes but we ended up covering the distance in the same time.

 

[gregbe]

So far so good on our trip. We got 28 mpg on the way up. Its a very nice riding car on a long trip. Better than our Lexus we traded in. You really don't notice how fast you going. Michigan's finest does that though. 68 in a 55!. I got off with a warning, thank goodness.

 

[vanwyk4257]

So far so good on our trip. We got 28 mpg on the way up. Its a very nice riding car on a long trip. Better than our Lexus we traded in. You really don't notice how fast you going. Michigan's finest does that though. 68 in a 55!. I got off with a warning, thank goodness.

You definitely have to watch it up there, I was up there for a bike race a few weeks ago and saw a lot of state troopers throughout the UP. Glad they let you off with just a warning. I did a little over 800 miles round trip and averaged 27.7mpg with some spirited driving mixed in, so you're right in the ballpark.

 

[gregbe]

We are back. We did about 1500 miles. Overall this is a very confortable cruising vehicle. Much more than our Lexus IS250 we traded in. The navigation was fine once I figured out how to cancel the auto zoom. One fun feature we found is the ability to create your own warning for various points of interest. We picked an Irish womens voice for our directions and we typed in "its time to tinkle" for our rest stop warning. That was always good for a laugh.
Our gas mileage suffered on the way home. We used a roof top bag for some of our luggage. On the way up everything was secure and we didn't even notice the bag. On the way back I guess I didn't pack it well but the wind noise & the flapping nearly drove us mad. It might of been because I packed it in a steady downpour and my patience was wearing thin. We stopped numerous times to try to tighten the straps and adjust the load but nothing helped. It was like driving with a big sail on the roof. Once we got home I noiticed the bag already had holes worn in it and a seam failed. Not good. I'm hoping to try to return it or get a refund.
We did go off road a bit into the wilderness and the CX5 handled the sandy rutted roads withn ease.
It sort of freaks the wife out when we go off the paved roads but I am in constant lookout for the magic fishing hole.

Overall a good first trip with no car issues

 

[CX-SV]

^ mpg ?

 

[gregbe]

^ mpg ?

It dropped to around 23-24 with distorted roof bag. It was also very windy which most likely also hurt.