- :
- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
^^ Now you got me thinking about it, you know, convincing a wife, that is always easy... LOL
Mazda5 real-world Mileage numbers
- Thread starter perfecto
- Start date
I finally got a chance to get the 5 out on the open road. Out '07 Sport AT has about4k miles on it now.
-Spokane, WA to Ellensberg, WA through cold and rain got about 28MPG (It was 27.something) with Myself, the wife, Newborn and stuff. All Highway @ 72MPH
-Ellensberg, WA to Seattle WA and around Seattle, including 1 day with 4 adults and 2 kids while driving like a madman in Seattle traffic got 25 MPG
-Seattle, WA to Spokane, WA (with about 10-15 city miles, the rest all 60-70 mph highway @ 62-72 MPH) with the Wife, myself and Newbord returned 31.2 MPG.
I am very satisfied with the outcome. Even with only the 4sp Auto turning about 3100RPM at 72 MPH and over a wet and rainy mountain pass, we still got 31 MPG, which I consider to be very good. I was also impressed at maintaining the 25MPG average we usually get even with 6 on board while darting in and out of traffic.
-Spokane, WA to Ellensberg, WA through cold and rain got about 28MPG (It was 27.something) with Myself, the wife, Newborn and stuff. All Highway @ 72MPH
-Ellensberg, WA to Seattle WA and around Seattle, including 1 day with 4 adults and 2 kids while driving like a madman in Seattle traffic got 25 MPG
-Seattle, WA to Spokane, WA (with about 10-15 city miles, the rest all 60-70 mph highway @ 62-72 MPH) with the Wife, myself and Newbord returned 31.2 MPG.
I am very satisfied with the outcome. Even with only the 4sp Auto turning about 3100RPM at 72 MPH and over a wet and rainy mountain pass, we still got 31 MPG, which I consider to be very good. I was also impressed at maintaining the 25MPG average we usually get even with 6 on board while darting in and out of traffic.
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
I've had similar experience with my 07 auto. My best tank so far is 30.2 MPG with some city driving mixed in. The key on my car according to the Scanguage seems to be to not drive much over 60 MPH and take it easy in town. You can average near or over 30 MPG in a decent size down if you try to watch the lights and not take off fast like everyone else. If the car is warmed up it only takes 3 HP to run the engine while in neutral at lights. This takes very little fuel. Coasting up to lights with the engine speed above 1000 RPM will engage DFCO (decel fuel cut off) which saves LOTS of fuel and brakes. You'd be suprised how much this helps your average MPG in the city.
Driving around like a normal person will get you about 20-24 MPG in the city.
My personal best trip was 38.2 MPG @ 55-60 MPH and a strong tail wind. (65 mile trip)
Driving around like a normal person will get you about 20-24 MPG in the city.
My personal best trip was 38.2 MPG @ 55-60 MPH and a strong tail wind. (65 mile trip)
Rex,
Good info. I see you have a Scangauge and was wondering about your thoughts on a couple things:
- Is there any benefit to around town driving in M-3 rather than fully auto (at say 35-40ish MPH)? My thought is that the more constant RPM and load may help, but then again, the auto could be optimized, so I somewhat doubt there is much benefit.
- Driving at highway speed in hilly terrain do you thin there would be much different by manually down shifting rather than pressing down on the gas or waiting for the cruise to kick down to 3rd gear?
- Nice to see the around-town tips, but as the 5 is the wife's car, doubt I'll ever see 30MPG in town. She seems to prefer to enjoy the zoom-zoom of the 5 (not a street racer or anything, but she does like to accelerate decently)
Good info. I see you have a Scangauge and was wondering about your thoughts on a couple things:
- Is there any benefit to around town driving in M-3 rather than fully auto (at say 35-40ish MPH)? My thought is that the more constant RPM and load may help, but then again, the auto could be optimized, so I somewhat doubt there is much benefit.
- Driving at highway speed in hilly terrain do you thin there would be much different by manually down shifting rather than pressing down on the gas or waiting for the cruise to kick down to 3rd gear?
- Nice to see the around-town tips, but as the 5 is the wife's car, doubt I'll ever see 30MPG in town. She seems to prefer to enjoy the zoom-zoom of the 5 (not a street racer or anything, but she does like to accelerate decently)
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
From what I have seen (which I admit is limited knowledge currently because I only drive the car about once a week or less).....
I drive in M 1-4 and use auto D if I am distracted by kids or other things. I shift to the next higher gear as early as possible. Lower RPM is better and slower acceleration is best. (to a point) Get into the higher gears as quickly as possible without heavy pedal use. Maintain speed as much as possible and look far ahead to look for slowing traffic, light changes, etc. When slowing down, downshift as necessary to keep the RPM's above 1000 to keep the engine in DFCO where it uses NO fuel. It's like having the key shut off, but it helps you slow down. Using the brakes just means you weren't looking ahead enough, or it was beyond your control. I find this is difficult to do with people behind me because I feel like they think I'm going too slow, but usually it works out with the slower traffic and you don't have to stop like everyone else.
On hills let the engine do the work in as high as gear as possible. Running in M mode keeps the tranny from downshifting. This car is geared pretty low and it will have to be a pretty big hill to need 3rd gear unless going pretty slow. I think the cruise control is hyperactive at times. On rolling hills it will downshift then coast, downshift, coast, etc... Without cruise you can leave it in high gear and just drive over the hills. Perhaps cruise in manual mode is better and won't downshift to 3rd? Using the LOD function you will notice that in Auto mode "D" the trans will shift down when above around 80-90 % load. (this is not the same as throttle position) I'm not sure how far you can go when in manual mode before it will auto shift. Perhaps it won't. It will release the lockup converter though. I think it engages around 40 MPH. I try not to use more than 70% load, but I'm not sure if this really helps. I do try to keep the converter locked though because this is the most efficient mode with no slippage. I'm also not sure how high the LOD can go and stay out of power enrichment mode (open loop). Perhaps that is only dependent on TPS. I just don't drive enough to find out I guess. The HP function is pretty cool. You can do about anything including highway driving without using more than about 40 HP.
I think 30 MPG on stop and go would be very difficult, but on nicely timed lights or good moving roads with 45 MPH limits you could do very good! I've been suprised. I think the SG is probably worth the money just because you learn what works and what doesn't. I've been impressed. You can find them on group purchases for $150.
I drive in M 1-4 and use auto D if I am distracted by kids or other things. I shift to the next higher gear as early as possible. Lower RPM is better and slower acceleration is best. (to a point) Get into the higher gears as quickly as possible without heavy pedal use. Maintain speed as much as possible and look far ahead to look for slowing traffic, light changes, etc. When slowing down, downshift as necessary to keep the RPM's above 1000 to keep the engine in DFCO where it uses NO fuel. It's like having the key shut off, but it helps you slow down. Using the brakes just means you weren't looking ahead enough, or it was beyond your control. I find this is difficult to do with people behind me because I feel like they think I'm going too slow, but usually it works out with the slower traffic and you don't have to stop like everyone else.
On hills let the engine do the work in as high as gear as possible. Running in M mode keeps the tranny from downshifting. This car is geared pretty low and it will have to be a pretty big hill to need 3rd gear unless going pretty slow. I think the cruise control is hyperactive at times. On rolling hills it will downshift then coast, downshift, coast, etc... Without cruise you can leave it in high gear and just drive over the hills. Perhaps cruise in manual mode is better and won't downshift to 3rd? Using the LOD function you will notice that in Auto mode "D" the trans will shift down when above around 80-90 % load. (this is not the same as throttle position) I'm not sure how far you can go when in manual mode before it will auto shift. Perhaps it won't. It will release the lockup converter though. I think it engages around 40 MPH. I try not to use more than 70% load, but I'm not sure if this really helps. I do try to keep the converter locked though because this is the most efficient mode with no slippage. I'm also not sure how high the LOD can go and stay out of power enrichment mode (open loop). Perhaps that is only dependent on TPS. I just don't drive enough to find out I guess. The HP function is pretty cool. You can do about anything including highway driving without using more than about 40 HP.
I think 30 MPG on stop and go would be very difficult, but on nicely timed lights or good moving roads with 45 MPH limits you could do very good! I've been suprised. I think the SG is probably worth the money just because you learn what works and what doesn't. I've been impressed. You can find them on group purchases for $150.
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I've always wondered the point where the injectors came back to life... so you sure it's 1000? If so that's be spectacular because I'd rather do long coasts in 5th than have to downshift into, say, 3rd to jump the RPM's to like over 3k... mostly because I rev match so blipping the throttle probably wastes any gas I'd save by coasting anyway.
I just filled up for my third tank of gasoline. I'm over 1000km now and I didn't baby the vehicle on this tank. Mostly highway with one blast of 100km with people in every seat travelling about 110km/hr and another 50km blast at 140km/hr for this third tank. I wound up going 380km using only 31.4L. That's now down to 8.3L/100km. Wow, I'm impressed. This vehicle just keeps getting better and better every time I drive it.
Again, anyone who says this vehicle is underpowered hasn't actually driven one. Period.
Again, anyone who says this vehicle is underpowered hasn't actually driven one. Period.
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
That is a pretty good location of where DFCO ends on my car. I don't have the exact number, but it's pretty close. You should be able to feel it. On the automatic the exhaust note changes a little.
- :
- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
24.34MPG combined, and yeah, not related, but with the yellow light yelling at me this time (@#$&^ (direct))
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
Jandree,
I noticed you were on GasSavers (I'm registered) and now on Ecomodder. I am on CleanMPG, but I'm not sure if I'm in the best place for me.... Some of the people there are... um. We'll I'm not sure... Perhaps it's the same everywhere? I've noticed several members are on about every site I go to.
Why did you change and have you been on CleanMPG?
I looked around a little on Ecomodder last night and it seemed like pretty good people.
I noticed you were on GasSavers (I'm registered) and now on Ecomodder. I am on CleanMPG, but I'm not sure if I'm in the best place for me.... Some of the people there are... um. We'll I'm not sure... Perhaps it's the same everywhere? I've noticed several members are on about every site I go to.
Why did you change and have you been on CleanMPG?
I looked around a little on Ecomodder last night and it seemed like pretty good people.
lol, this is TOTALLY the gayest reason possible, but I liked the sig design better! haha. I don't post enough on any of the hypermiler sites to really get a true feeling of the people there, where as I could probably tell you a little about individual members here. GasSavers.org does have a few know-it-all types it seems, but as long as you don't constantly fluster feathers it seems innocent enough... I've certainly been to worse. I just joined Ecomodder so no clue there. Some of those guys are NUTS with what they do to their cars to squeeze out every friggen IPG (Inch Per Gallon, lol), so I mostly just lurk and take in pointers here and there. And no, haven't gone to CleanMPG at all... don't like the sig
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
And no, haven't gone to CleanMPG at all... don't like the sig
ROFLMAO! We'll a guys gotta do what a guy's gotta do! (scratch)
FWIW, I was driving around on some back roads this afternoon playing with the cut off point. In different gears I got to the speed at around 1600 RPM then coasted down to 1000 RPM. Figured out DFCO is at like 1080-1100 RPM in my 07 5MT. 50% of the time it was truly undetectable by me. But the other 50% one or both things happened, there was either a VERY subtle 'hickup' lurch at that RPM and/or the tach needle flicked back up 20 RPM or so. It was most noticeable coasting on level roads.
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
Sounds about right. It is very subtle.
I'm hanging on a 29-30 MPG tank. I'll fill it up today and see what I really got. 1/4 still on the gauge. Big key for me has been slowing down. I'm trying to drive about 55 MPH. I can't do that everywhere, but I've been taking rural roads. I did drive 55 MPH in a 70 MPH zone 4 lane last night because it was 12:30 - 2:00 AM and NO one was out. Some rain and a mix of snow. Then when we hit the rural 2 lanes I ran 45-55 MPH because there were so many DEER! I love these headlights.
I'm hanging on a 29-30 MPG tank. I'll fill it up today and see what I really got. 1/4 still on the gauge. Big key for me has been slowing down. I'm trying to drive about 55 MPH. I can't do that everywhere, but I've been taking rural roads. I did drive 55 MPH in a 70 MPH zone 4 lane last night because it was 12:30 - 2:00 AM and NO one was out. Some rain and a mix of snow. Then when we hit the rural 2 lanes I ran 45-55 MPH because there were so many DEER! I love these headlights.
I am not a gentle driver, and neither is my wife. We don't race it to redline every gear, but I do wring it out a bit, because this motor is designed for it.
Right now our 06 5 speed is averaging 20-21mpg in mixed city/highway (mostly city), which seems really low. We've only got 12k miles so I doubt anything like clogged injectors is a factor.
Is anyone else seeing numbers this low?
Right now our 06 5 speed is averaging 20-21mpg in mixed city/highway (mostly city), which seems really low. We've only got 12k miles so I doubt anything like clogged injectors is a factor.
Is anyone else seeing numbers this low?
danix, I don't necessarily think that something is wrong with those numbers with hard(er) driving, in the winter. In the winter I've been getting numbers in the 27-29 MPG range on a 5MT, BUT I have also been driving gentler/slower than at least 95% of others on the road (yep, I'm that guy). In summer temps I can get about 5 MPG more than that on average.
There are a few things to check for the sake of being thorough, though.
1) Make sure your tires are at least 34 PSI... mine are currently at 40. (no one flame me because I don't care
)
2) Get your alignment checked... if you're still just below 12K rpm this will be free at a Mazda dealership because adjustments are covered for a year or 12k miles for free.
3) Check your air filter. (Doubt that's dirty after only 12k, but you never know)
4) Put in a few tanks of Shell or Chevron gas. These brands use the most detergents and will clean your injectors out after a few tanks. This is especially true if you're using bargain brand cheap gas that only adds enough detergents to satisfy the EPA. All gas comes from the same batch, but before it is shipped to the station, a branded detergent package is added at the distribution point, and this makes the difference. My 5 was running really $hitty a few months ago, when I was using Sam's Club gas. I added a few tanks of Shell and then continued using Sunoco gas and the problem has been gone ever since. I know a Service Manager who has verified this as a tried & true method for some engine problems with some cars. A lot of people think this is a snake-oil solution because 'gas is gas'...that's fine to hold that belief, but I know from first hand experience that there's a difference. K, I'll shut up now, sheesh (lol2)
There are a few things to check for the sake of being thorough, though.
1) Make sure your tires are at least 34 PSI... mine are currently at 40. (no one flame me because I don't care
)2) Get your alignment checked... if you're still just below 12K rpm this will be free at a Mazda dealership because adjustments are covered for a year or 12k miles for free.
3) Check your air filter. (Doubt that's dirty after only 12k, but you never know)
4) Put in a few tanks of Shell or Chevron gas. These brands use the most detergents and will clean your injectors out after a few tanks. This is especially true if you're using bargain brand cheap gas that only adds enough detergents to satisfy the EPA. All gas comes from the same batch, but before it is shipped to the station, a branded detergent package is added at the distribution point, and this makes the difference. My 5 was running really $hitty a few months ago, when I was using Sam's Club gas. I added a few tanks of Shell and then continued using Sunoco gas and the problem has been gone ever since. I know a Service Manager who has verified this as a tried & true method for some engine problems with some cars. A lot of people think this is a snake-oil solution because 'gas is gas'...that's fine to hold that belief, but I know from first hand experience that there's a difference. K, I'll shut up now, sheesh (lol2)
I have 06 5spd as well and I'm getting 19-20 mpg having 100% quite heavy city driving. Considering it's winter I don't think it's too bad. Highway mileage it great close to 30 mpg.
rweatherford
Member
- :
- Mazda 5
I have my tires at 45 PSI. Cold weather and cold antifreeze and oil KILL mileage.
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