Man I hate driving my CX-5

[shadonoz]

So is there a noticeable performance (subjective) or mileage (objective) difference?

Here we have 10% ethanol. I would think that if 10% of the volume had more energy in it, mileage would be better.

But there's less in ethanol, so it makes it worse.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

But there's less in ethanol, so it makes it worse.

Yeh, that was my point.

If he substituted gas for that 10% ethanol, he should have seen better mileage...unless I misunderstand your point.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

How often would you meet that quota? Seems excessive. What would happen if you didn't?

We would hit it pretty regularly. Imagine all the cars coming in at random whose owners never checked their fluids. On average, you're talking one quart of fluid for every 10 cars.

You would get dinged (and eventually fired) if you weren't hitting all the numbers. They were serious about it. Same applied to washing all the glass/headlights/mirrors. It was not an option.

 

[40752]

I managed a 24 hour Hess gas station right before and through the Odd/Even crisis of the early 70s (I got stories of my life being threatened). I was there when Unleaded hit the stations (so we had Regular, 100 Octane and Unleaded). On holiday weekends, we would pump 3x-4x the total storage capacity out of that tiny station.

The District Manager would come into town unannounced, and sit in the parking lot across the street and do a 10 Car Survey. We had to clean all the glass, the headlights, the sideview mirrors, tailights, etc. We also had to pop every single hood (or make the attempt), and had a quota to sell at least one quart of oil/tranny fluid for every 100 gallons of gas we pumped.

On the upside, our Manager's Meeting was at a Playboy Club in New Jersey. Can't do that anymore!

Yes that was back in the day here where they had the oil supply displayed at the island with the gas pumps. They also had the oil spout that pierced the metal top of the quart of oil. Back then a lot more cars consumed oil I guess.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Yes that was back in the day here where they had the oil supply displayed at the island with the gas pumps. They also had the oil spout that pierced the metal top of the quart of oil. Back then a lot more cars consumed oil I guess.

If they weren't burning it, they were leaking it.

We had a couple of smokers with the flat head 6.

 

[shadonoz]

Yeh, that was my point.

If he substituted gas for that 10% ethanol, he should have seen better mileage...unless I misunderstand your point.

Yeah, I misunderstood yours. Lost in translation... or reading comprehension.(confused)

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Yeah, I misunderstood yours. Lost in translation... or reading comprehension.(confused)

Yay internet! (drinks)

 

[wlong01]

Yes that was back in the day here where they had the oil supply displayed at the island with the gas pumps. They also had the oil spout that pierced the metal top of the quart of oil. Back then a lot more cars consumed oil I guess.

I forgot all about the odd/even days. I had a local station a block from my apartment. The owner didn't care about odd/even plates if you were a regular.

 

[Sig cx-5]

We would hit it pretty regularly. Imagine all the cars coming in at random whose owners never checked their fluids. On average, you're talking one quart of fluid for every 10 cars. ...

Good thing there were no 1.5l Turbo CR-V's running around back then. You would need to remove a qt, not add. (rlaugh)

 

[40752]

So is there a noticeable performance (subjective) or mileage (objective) difference?

Here we have 10% ethanol. I would think that if 10% of the volume had more energy in it, mileage would be better.

I cant say Ive noticed a performance difference although Im guessing there is one however small. Ill have to do some close tracking and comparison of mileage between the two. The mileage should definitely be better with the non ethanol so price wise might be a better choice over the 93 with 10% ethanol. Plus having ethanol in gas is not a plus for engine/fuel system.

 

[finch204]

You guys are killing me.

At about 5,000 miles and 93 octane, I'm at 24 MPG.

One thing that can help you out with comparisons is if other people share what their highway cruising speed is. I believe you said you cruise at 70 mph.

While not the same as your 2.5T, I've noticed that the 2.5L SkyActiv engine struggles to get good MPG above 65 mph. Here in Texas the highway speed limit is 70 mph, which means we are all driving around at 75 mph, which makes the MPG plummet even more. If you stay below 65 mph, that is where you will get the best mileage out of the SkyActiv engine. This is not just limited to a CX-5. I recently had a loaner 2019 Mazda3 AWD sedan and with that car I also could not hit the combined MPG rating of 30 mpg, I was only getting 27.5 avg mpg. So the engine's behavior was the same with the CX-5 and newer Mazda3. Again not the same engine as your 2.5T, but it probably is the same issue.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

One thing that can help you out with comparisons is if other people share what their highway cruising speed is. I believe you said you cruise at 70 mph.

While not the same as your 2.5T, I've noticed that the 2.5L SkyActiv engine struggles to get good MPG above 65 mph. Here in Texas the highway speed limit is 70 mph, which means we are all driving around at 75 mph, which makes the MPG plummet even more. If you stay below 65 mph, that is where you will get the best mileage out of the SkyActiv engine. This is not just limited to a CX-5. I recently had a loaner 2019 Mazda3 AWD sedan and with that car I also could not hit the combined MPG rating of 30 mpg, I was only getting 27.5 avg mpg. So the engine's behavior was the same with the CX-5 and newer Mazda3. Again not the same engine as your 2.5T, but it probably is the same issue.

I read an interesting article stating that the more aerodynamic the car, the higher it's most fuel-efficient speed is. But they all have a point where MPG drop off.

It's interesting to see that the extra energy required to go faster is not linear...it's exponential.

Here it is if you're interested.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Good thing there were no 1.5l Turbo CR-V's running around back then. You would need to remove a qt, not add. (rlaugh)

Yeh, we could shove the gas nozzle in the oil fill neck and cut out the middleman!

 

[Avoidin Deer]

I forgot all about the odd/even days. I had a local station a block from my apartment. The owner didn't care about odd/even plates if you were a regular.

We always complied with the law. It was a company-owned station.

If you were driving a commercial vehicle (and thus exempted from the Odd/Even rules), you had to have an EPA Certificate. Just having a van with a logo on it didn't cut it.

It's the only job I've had where my life has been threatened.

And all I wanted to do was pump gas, wash windshields, and smile at the pretty girls getting gas on nice summer days. There was one who drove a copper Opel GT...