Gas mileage problems

[midgarr30]

hey there. I'm new to this forum. I'm a long-time ex-VW owner. Bought my MS3 on monday. It had 9 miles on it. I just about emptied my tank today. i put 230 miles on it from full to empty.

please tell me that the engine needs to break in properly before getting better gas mileage. because as of right now, i'm highly disappointed in my gas mileage. any ideas? running rich? bad injectors? is this normal? thanks in advance.

 

[nig3]

i only got like 190 with a full tank and my car had 10 miles on it. it will get better after you break the motor in.

 

[Hikaru9]

When you say "full to empty" just how many gallons did your tank take to refill? (I average 12 gallons)

I get about 280~300 a tank with mixed driving (city/ hwy). Chances are your tank wasn't really 100% full to begin with. Even when the needle indicated it's full, it might have been missing a couple of gallons in the tank.

Either that or you drove like a bankrobber? *^_^*

 

[midgarr30]

When you say "full to empty" just how many gallons did your tank take to refill? (I average 12 gallons)

I get about 280~300 a tank with mixed driving (city/ hwy). Chances are your tank wasn't really 100% full to begin with. Even when the needle indicated it's full, it might have been missing a couple of gallons in the tank.

Either that or you drove like a bankrobber? *^_^*

well, to be honest. i drove a little hard on the first day. but not flogging.

i have not filled her up actually. she came with a "full tank" when i bought her. the gas gauge read as full too. i will fill up today, the gas gauge is close to empty now.

 

[Hikaru9]

well, to be honest. i drove a little hard on the first day. but not flogging.

i have not filled her up actually. she came with a "full tank" when i bought her. the gas gauge read as full too. i will fill up today, the gas gauge is close to empty now.

ic... my guess is that the tank wasn't really "full".

I know it's hard, but try not to be "too happy" when you drive. lol~

Congrats btw! ^_^

 

[midgarr30]

ic... my guess is that the tank wasn't really "full".

I know it's hard, but try not to be "too happy" when you drive. lol~

Congrats btw! ^_^

so what do you get for mpg these days (after break-in)?

i was hoping for the 23-25 mpg zone.

 

[BluMicaR]

14.5 gallon tank, my estimate when the 'light' comes on you still have 2 gallons in there sloshing about. I'm getting about 27-29 highway, think I can get 30 highway if I just set it on 69mph and never looked back. Easily 400 miles on a full tank highway if you are moderate-minded; best I've ever done in a car is 325ish so I'm happy. I'm pulling maybe 23mpg city driving. Give or take depending on my week.

 

[midgarr30]

14.5 gallon tank, my estimate when the 'light' comes on you still have 2 gallons in there sloshing about. I'm getting about 27-29 highway, think I can get 30 highway if I just set it on 69mph and never looked back. Easily 400 miles on a full tank highway if you are moderate-minded; best I've ever done in a car is 325ish so I'm happy. I'm pulling maybe 23mpg city driving. Give or take depending on my week.

interesting to know. how was your mileage when you first got the car? lower? same?

thanks for the info.

 

[Hikaru9]

so what do you get for mpg these days (after break-in)?

i was hoping for the 23-25 mpg zone.

I usually get 23 mpg and that's with driving in heavy traffic mostly. I've gotten as high as 26 mpg, and based on other folks' experiences here, I bet I can do better if I took the car on a road trip with sustained speeds.

 

[Jays07MS3]

I'm currently getting around 23 mpg and I have about 11K on the car. It gets a little better after breakin but not much. I saw about a 1-1.5 mpg increase once I got my CAI. Here's my mileage chart in case you're interested.

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123686069

 

[redspeed3tk]

i get 21 mpg but i never really drive on a hw and last week i got 19 ha guess i was goin a little hard i can get 26 ish if its a long drive but i just drive 10 mins too work and back get about 250mi to a tank

 

[fourthmeal]

I average pretty low compared to most, and I assume it is due to the stop-and-go traffic combined with my impatience for other drivers on the road.

I'm going on a LONG road trip coming up late this month, and one of the things I'm looking forward to on this 3200+ mile round trip is getting GREAT gas mileage. We'll see what I get. I'm hoping for 28-30 mpg+, since I'll be traveling all highway, at 70+ mph, with a soft foot.

 

[midgarr30]

i get 21 mpg but i never really drive on a hw and last week i got 19 ha guess i was goin a little hard i can get 26 ish if its a long drive but i just drive 10 mins too work and back get about 250mi to a tank

that's a bit of a let down given the fact that it's a 4-cylinder. i was averaging 20 mpg in my vw R32, which is a 3.2L 6-cylinder.

i know that the MS3 is a torque-laiden beast, but i figured 23 mpg avg, with 30 on the hwy would be completely reasonable. either way, it doesn't matter too much.

quick question off topic. what's the break-in period for our engines?

 

[Derek88]

Most people will say "it's ready to go from mile 1," which I guess it is. I broke mine in kinda hard. The owner's manual says to go easy for the first 600 miles and let the turbo cool off 30 seconds after a long duration of highway speeds.

My gas mileage sucked pretty bad- 19/20 when I first got her, and now with CAI and 4k on the clock, I get about 25/26 in the city (with spirited runs almost everyday) and about 28/30 on the highway. Of course, when I dont get on it, I shift at around 2000-2500rpm.

So it'll get better.

BTW, I love the R32 sound! (esp with the butterfly valve things out)

 

[fourthmeal]

T.U.R.B.O.

It's not a 4 cylinder when it comes to volumetric displacement of air within those cylinders at boost pressures. Think about it you want more power, then you add air and add fuel, right? This engine displaces a little under 2.3 liters, but produces the power of a V8 or one hell of a V6. The turbo and its supporting parts pretty much make this behave like an engine in the displacement range of 3.6-4.5 liters or so. This is all very vague and basic, but the principle of a power-adder is that it will need fuel to feed it, and so your mileage will go down. Now, if you can manage to stay out of boost, you'll get GREAT gas mileage. That is a big IF for me.

that's a bit of a let down given the fact that it's a 4-cylinder. i was averaging 20 mpg in my vw R32, which is a 3.2L 6-cylinder.

i know that the MS3 is a torque-laiden beast, but i figured 23 mpg avg, with 30 on the hwy would be completely reasonable. either way, it doesn't matter too much.

quick question off topic. what's the break-in period for our engines?

 

[robsSpeed3]

Hi,

In my commute I drive 12 miles (9 of those on the freeway) one way in no traffic and have yet to break 20 mpg. (I am getting close last tank-4th since I bought the car- was 19.98) I am driving with the traffic at arround 75-80 mph with occasional downshifts to 5th or 4th for some zoom-zoom. I am pretty sure that if you shift at 2k your mileage will improve, but then where is the fun factor?

A lot of people think that driving in stop go is the worst kind of scenario, but actually short distance driving when the engine doesn't reach all of the temps needed (not just the coolant temp indicated on your dash) will actually consume much more gas. Example - if you drive 35 miles in mixed traffic (including stop and go on the freeway) you will actaully get better MPG then if you drive just 10 miles in no traffic.

At least that was my experience in last 20 years or so of driving in SoCal in 6 different cars including an incredibly thirsty RX8.

I hope it gets better but I would not hold my breath. The best thing to rest your worries is to take a long trip of about 150 miles one way or more and then see what the car does.

In the end even if I get only 20 mpg in 263HP car that moves like MS3 I am happy.

Best

 

[khaydin]

My first tank I only got 286miles. After it was a little more broken in I got up to around 300-315 a tank. That was during the winter with a mix of highway and city. During the summer I got about 330-350 a tank. After getting a CAI it went up to anywhere between 340-380. Definately get an aftermarket intake for your car. You get more power and better mileage.

I usually don't fill the tank till it's either on the last line on the gauge or slightly past it. Usually takes around 13 gallons whenever I fill up.

 

[redspeed3tk]

i was gettin the same milage in my 1.8t audi a4 so i dont think its that bad ha i can stay out of boost some in this car the audi was either slow or go

 

[amascio]

I guess I'm lucky. I broke my car in easy and the first tank gave 30 mpg. Like I said, I took it real easy.

I started driving the hell out of the car after his 1st oil change (1100 miles).

I just got off a 2500 mile vacation going from Houston to Bisbee Az. I 10 out west Tx way has scores of hills to climb coupled with an 80 mph speed limit.

On the trip my wife and I did the speed limit and much more. Our worst tank came in at 26 mpg and our best was 29.

We used to take our Tahoe on this trip and did good to get 16 mpg with it having to downshift into 3rd to make most of the grades at 80mph.

In contrast, the 'Speed could start at the bottom of a grade at 85, get the throttle tromped and it would hit 120 by the top of the hill!!

No downshifting required...ever.

What a great car....

 

[midgarr30]

I guess I'm lucky. I broke my car in easy and the first tank gave 30 mpg. Like I said, I took it real easy.

I started driving the hell out of the car after his 1st oil change (1100 miles).

I just got off a 2500 mile vacation going from Houston to Bisbee Az. I 10 out west Tx way has scores of hills to climb coupled with an 80 mph speed limit.

On the trip my wife and I did the speed limit and much more. Our worst tank came in at 26 mpg and our best was 29.

We used to take our Tahoe on this trip and did good to get 16 mpg with it having to downshift into 3rd to make most of the grades at 80mph.

In contrast, the 'Speed could start at the bottom of a grade at 85, get the throttle tromped and it would hit 120 by the top of the hill!!

No downshifting required...ever.

What a great car....

I guess the one thing I should have watched out for was the break-in period. i kinda smashed on pretty quickly. after about 50 miles, i was doing full throttle in all gears. i've cooled out my driving for the past 2 days, though....and my gas mileage is awful even when i drive slow.

could it be this?...the ECU is adapting how it thinks I normally drive and it's keeping the injectors open a little longer or something. maybe i should reset the ECU at the dealer?

any opinions on that?