gas mileage is blah

[mazdasp33d]

okay i have a 09 speed3 and it has 3 miles on it when i bought it. ive been like keeping track of my mpg in my head and writing that stuff down. but im getting an average of like 225 miles before my yellow light comes on and i feel like that is extremely low. im shifting a little under 3 and idk. could it still be because its new?

 

[AutoEuphoria]

Who said they were supposed to get good gas mileage? Keep it out of boost and you'll get better mileage, but this wasn't designed to be an econo-box.

 

[Kain]

Details like city versus highway, type of traffic, calculating gallons added by miles driven... those are unimportant for this discussion.

 

[mattj3636]

just flintstone it if you want good gas mileage, shoulda bought an SI if you worry about it that much. these cars run rich stock and arent meant for going green, there meant for going fast!

 

[lestat13]

Wow, yours seems low even for me. I never let my light come on, but I usually fill up between 200 and 260 miles.

What mpg are you calculating? Even after hooking up my dashhawk, I tried to use the least ammount of fuel and completely changed my driving habbits... mpg hasn't really changed. I feel like I am getting low mileage compared to other MS3 drivers with a pretty consistent 22 mpg. If I am stuck in traffic non-stop and can't really get it above 45mph, I have seen almost 24 mpg. I put on cruise control once at 70mph when I took an 80 mile trip and only got 26.5 mpg. Even after mods mileage never changed.....

 

[mazdasp33d]

i am aware that i didnt buy some eco friendly car. i guess ill drive it out of boot

 

[mazdasp33d]

Wow, yours seems low even for me. I never let my light come on, but I usually fill up between 200 and 260 miles.

What mpg are you calculating? Even after hooking up my dashhawk, I tried to use the least ammount of fuel and completely changed my driving habbits... mpg hasn't really changed. I feel like I am getting low mileage compared to other MS3 drivers with a pretty consistent 22 mpg. If I am stuck in traffic non-stop and can't really get it above 45mph, I have seen almost 24 mpg. I put on cruise control once at 70mph when I took an 80 mile trip and only got 26.5 mpg. Even after mods mileage never changed.....

i feel like i am getting to low idk

 

[LukeP]

I just tanked up with 48 litres (12.97 US gallons) after driving 465 Kilometers (288 miles) of city driving. Thats with some hoo-ha on the whee-pedal mixed in there. Thats 22.22 MPG which is pretty much what I've been averaging since new, although I was easier on it when it was new. 4000 miles in now. So yeah...its baaad on gas. But it has 263 HP, so expect it to get in the same mileage ballpark as a mustang GT or Subaru Impreza. Costs me $60 to fill which is $15 more than my old 1.5 non-vtec civic.

By the way, if you cruised for more than 80 miles you'd see a huge difference. I got 38 MPG on a 500 mile trip (I made it back on one tank, not even to the orange light), and I was doing 70 mph. I never passed anyone though, and let it speed up down hills.

I took a cellphone picture of my trip odometer and gas situation because I knew people wouldnt believe me, but its really frugal on the highway if you don't use the throttle.

 

[DaleNixon]

20-22 MPG average using manual calculation here. I find that acceptable considering how I drive it and what it is capable of.

 

[MikeHTally]

Don't let it get so low the "low fuel" light comes on. Fill up when it gets down to 1/4 tank. Your fuel pump will appreciate it.

Yep, it'll get better, but you don't want to run a new motor that hard, either. Resist the boost drug and it'll last longer.

 

[kraz3y]

my car's trip says my average mpg is 29

 

[mazdasp33d]

the sport model doesnt have the mpg thing does it?

 

[AutoEuphoria]

no, but it's just simple math

 

[seattleMS3]

my 08 ms3 did the same thing. it got just over 250 and i was driving light. but now i average just over 300, and around 25.7 combined. so just give it a few tanks and that will go way up. your fine

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Check your tire pressure too, and replace the oil at 1,000 miles.

I usually get about 260-300 a tank. But I usually just fill up at 1/4 tank.

Since I installed my short shifter, I haven't done so well this tank..

 

[wisniaPl]

230 was the most i could get mostly city driving....usually i get 200- 210 when driving under boost if not i see 180 or even worse

 

[PCspeed3]

M3 gets better gas mileage on a track than a prius.......muhahah

 

[BillTheCat]

09 MS3 with 1,700 miles here. Daily commute is just over 50 miles, 70/30 highway/city, with AC on at all times (It's Florida), and normally shifting around 2.5-3k to avoid boost, I have thus far been getting about 22-23mpg. Best mileage I got was on a 200 mile round trip, 90% highway, cruise control used half the time, about 28mpg.

Low fuel light has been coming on around 240 miles, give or take.

 

[parkerfe]

I'm getting 30+mpg on a steady 70mph highway cruise and 26mpg on my daily commute in Atlanta area traffic...that's taking it easy though.

 

[NikonSean]

I'm getting 30+mpg on a steady 70mph highway cruise and 26mpg on my daily commute in Atlanta area traffic...that's taking it easy though.

Frank, I too am in Atlanta area (Alpharetta). I am getting 28-30 on the cars meter in non-trafic mixed driving. i seem to get 2-3 mpg less than the meter says when I calculate the fill (miles/gals).

Sean O'Connor MS3/09