May be trading 2012 Focus Titanium for 2014 Mazda3s GT

[npaladin2000]

Yeah, now you want to know the best part? That's Mr. Hyde. I on the other hand, have been going Dr. Jekyll. Decided to start seeing how far I could stretch a tank after I filled up today. First thing: when the low fuel light comes on and there's two bars left, there's actually still 3 gallons in the tank it looks like, I could only get 10 into it. Overly cautious. Especially given this: I spent my whole commute home hypermiling around 65 MPH. about a 75-80% highway drive, though there's some hilly sections. And I averaged 40 MPG. Averaged, mind you. That a car could in one moment be a "holy crap fun!" car in one breath, and in the next make hybrids wonder why they bother existing...Mazda really did something here.

Still wish it wouldn't flip on the fuel light when you've got 75 miles left. But what can you do? Anyway, that average will probably go down. Much as I want to see how far a tank can me stretched, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to resist that "Sport" button.

 

[Chibana]

I actually started setting my cruise control to 67mph several years ago for a few reasons. It doesn't affect drive time as much as most people think it would, I suspect, even with my 85 mile (one way) commute. It makes for a much more relaxing commute compared to catching up to schmucks sitting in the left lane all the time. Finally, it's great for gas mileage. In my 2005 Mazda3, for every 5mph I lowered my cruise control set speed, I gained 2mpg. My city/highway mix average in the Focus was usually 33 to 34mpg, and on pure highway driving I would frequently hit 38 or even 39mpg by the time I go to work or home. This car has a larger engine, but I also noticed that the engine spins a lot slower than the Focus did at 67mph. I'm curious to see how it does after the engine has more time to break in. Today after filling up around half the way in, I set cruise for 68mph (seems to end up actually going 67mph much of the time for some reason). I ended up with 36.9mpg when I pulled into the parking lot at work. That's with just under 600 miles on the tank and 87 octane. I plan to use 93 octane gas from now on. I'm assuming that this car is like my Focus was, and from what I've read, most new cars, in that it will automatically adjust timing to take advantage of higher octane to make more power.

 

[npaladin2000]

My issue when i set for 67 MPH is I always end up finding the idiot that set his for 66.5 MPH. Or wors 56.5 MPH.

I'm actually not sure it'll adjust itself to take advantage of the higher quality fuel. With 91 octane overseas the engine is tuned with a higher compression ratio, and I'm not sure if that can be done dynamically.

 

[Chibana]

Around here, at 67mph, I rarely catch up to anyone other than semi trucks! That's why I chose that speed. It's just fast enough that semis aren't catching me, causing traffic backups, but slow enough that I don't catch up to others, either. What does drive me nuts is people who are incapable of getting up to speed on the on-ramp like you're supposed to. Even the Michigan "What Every Driver Must Know" booklet states this fact, and yet, most drivers merge much slower than they end up driving, causing me to deal with idiots merging in front of me going as slow as 45mph on a 70mph expressway.

I know that the car *can* use the knock sensors to automatically adjust timing. That ability has been present in pretty much all cars for many years. The question is whether Mazda allowed that kind of freedom in this car. I wish I could find out. The only reason I knew for sure the Focus does is because someone on the Blue Oval Forums released an internal Ford Focus Source Book to everyone there that specifically states the car will make more than the stated 160hp with higher octane gas. More recently I read a response to a letter in Road & Track where they said that most modern cars will do this now. I would like to think this brand new Mazda3 can, but I don't want to waste the money on 93 octane if it won't do anything. The difference was noticeable in the Focus. I'll just have to give it a try and see if I feel any difference.