Nissanguy8
Member
How about a miles per tank? can it hit over 400 miles on a tank? what do you have?
Mazda5 real-world Mileage numbers
- Thread starter perfecto
- Start date
- :
- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
(shocked)
Alternate site for mileage
Hi all,
Been using gassavers.org for calculating my gas consumption, here's my stats:
http://www.gassavers.org/garage/viewgaslog/2801
Fairly poor, but I'm at least 90% stop-and-go, travelling inner-city about 3-4 times a week on trips less than 10km (around 6.5 miles), with a few weekend bike/hiking trips with cargo rack, roof bike rack, and rear rack on. No hyper-mileing techniques, just trying to be slow on the accelerator and easy on the brakes. Even so, I'm guessing that my car just doesn't have enough time to really warm up and burn fuel efficiently.
I'm planning a larger trip to Wyoming from Vancouver later this year, so we'll see what the mileage is during that trip.
Hi all,
Been using gassavers.org for calculating my gas consumption, here's my stats:
http://www.gassavers.org/garage/viewgaslog/2801
Fairly poor, but I'm at least 90% stop-and-go, travelling inner-city about 3-4 times a week on trips less than 10km (around 6.5 miles), with a few weekend bike/hiking trips with cargo rack, roof bike rack, and rear rack on. No hyper-mileing techniques, just trying to be slow on the accelerator and easy on the brakes. Even so, I'm guessing that my car just doesn't have enough time to really warm up and burn fuel efficiently.
I'm planning a larger trip to Wyoming from Vancouver later this year, so we'll see what the mileage is during that trip.
tortugazoom
Member
Fuelly is a great tool!
If you have a smartphone you can update right at the pump with their mobile site.
http://m.fuelly.com/
Over the past 4,688 miles, I am averaging 26.8 MPG.
On a recent road trip where I kept a keen eye on my speed (kept it under 70 MPH), I got 33.2 MPG. This is with the 4 speed auto trans.
Note: I inflate my tires to max sidewall pressure and run synthetic oil.
If you have a smartphone you can update right at the pump with their mobile site.
http://m.fuelly.com/
Over the past 4,688 miles, I am averaging 26.8 MPG.
On a recent road trip where I kept a keen eye on my speed (kept it under 70 MPH), I got 33.2 MPG. This is with the 4 speed auto trans.
Note: I inflate my tires to max sidewall pressure and run synthetic oil.
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ROFL!!! I bet that makes for a nice ride. If I rode around with 44 PSIG of air in my tires I'd be spending a hundred times more on a chiropractor than I'd be saving on gas.
tortugazoom
Member
I don't notice that much of a difference in ride quality. My stock toyo POS tires are nearly shot anyway, so I'll reevaluate when I get new tires installed. The fronts were worn pretty bad when I bought it with 12,000 miles on the odometer.
OK, now I get it. When you shed those Toyos, you will experience an incredibly huge difference in ride quality and never, ever go back to the 40s again. Seriously. Go for the smoothest tires you can afford. You will be so glad you did. Our 5 has over 17,000 now and the Michelins I put on it look brand new. I put them on with 95 miles on the car and sold the junk Toyos for $125 on Craigslist.
chief_wiggum
Member
- :
- 2008.5 Mazdaspeed3-2010 Mazda5 GT
Results from latest road trip, 2 adults 2 kids under 7, a beagle and lots o' luggage; 31.1 mpg (with nice tailwind) 80% interstate with cruise set at 73-75 mph and A/C on. 26.6 mpg (with a pretty stiff headwind), cruise set at 74 mph, 100% interstate with A/C on; call it a 29 MPG average. the car now has 2700 miles on it. I couldn't muster 26 with a tailwind in my CR-V, so i'm very pleased.
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Last tank was atrocious for me. I think the guy shortchanged the fill-up on the last tank so that throws it way off but I only came up with 13 MPG!!!!! If I was shorted a gallon, its still only 14 MPG!!!! I live in the city so I literally drive by accelerating to 30 MPH and then stopping again, plus I had the a/c on the whole time. I almost never cruise at a set speed and very limited highway which is usually traffic. Personally, I think for this vehicle and the compromises it makes for efficiency, this is pathetic. I suspect its because of the relatively high weight and low power, it just works really hard to get up to speed and then I'm stopping again once I'm there. The one highway trip I did, it ran over 27 MPG so I know the mileage is there, its just not a very good pure city vehicle.
Frankly had I known this was the economy I would get, I would not have bought it. I only drive about 5000 mi/year so economy is not priority for me, but for the mileage its returning, I could be in just about anything else and get the same mileage.
And no, for those wondering, it's not my driving. This is a family car and I drive it as such. Its just not good in stop and go.
edit: I still love it, just very disappointed at the mileage numbers its returning for my usage.
Frankly had I known this was the economy I would get, I would not have bought it. I only drive about 5000 mi/year so economy is not priority for me, but for the mileage its returning, I could be in just about anything else and get the same mileage.
And no, for those wondering, it's not my driving. This is a family car and I drive it as such. Its just not good in stop and go.
edit: I still love it, just very disappointed at the mileage numbers its returning for my usage.
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
(scratch)
There might be something definitely going on there. Wife and I swap cars from time to time, and my wife usually drives the car pure city (our 06 has 31000 miles after 5 years, and the car does not see 4th gear often
) but while the gas mileage on her side is somehow worse than my car it does not go below 21-22MPG on bad days (i.e. Summer). This happens with the 06 and the 08 (when swapping), although the 08 is better by 1-2MPG usually. Also, our gas is not a top-notch brand...
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(scratch)
There might be something definitely going on there. Wife and I swap cars from time to time, and my wife usually drives the car pure city (our 06 has 31000 miles after 5 years, and the car does not see 4th gear often
I might bring it in to have it looked at but I really dont think there is anything wrong. Sometimes I smell as if its running rich but there are no codes or lights and it drives just fine, no hesitation or stumbling etc....Usually its been getting at least 17 mpg so this is an anomaly, plus I filled it at a different station than normal. I usually use Hess, this tank was Sunoco. I think my best full tank was 21 mpg during the winter, but now with the A/C on, high teens is what I've been seeing.
You really have to understand my driving environment. I literally stop at every single corner, often I sit at lights at that corner for a while too. NYC does not allow right on red. I start it up and let it idle to cool it off while I load the kids. Its about as miserable as it sounds. I find the tranny tends to upshift too easily too, I might try a tank shifting it myself to see if thats hurting it as well. It seems every time I turn a corner it goes up to third and then has to downshift again to second, that cant be helping!
mazdadude
ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
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- '16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Something is seriously wrong here. For that MPG you should be turning 300+hp under the hood. Maybe the Trip button was reset inbetween tanks? Maybe somebody siphoned off 1/2 a tank of fuel?
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Don't waste your money on the incorrect assumption something is wrong. I say this over and over and over...and nobody listens. Filling up at a station where you are tilted forward a couple of degrees, to the side a couple of degrees, etc. will throw your readings off badly on these 5s. The only way, I mean only way, to know what your mileage really is, is to fill up at the exact same pump, parking in the exact same spot, and top it all the way to the very top. Otherwise, the numbers are garbage and useless. I've been obsessed with gas mileage on every car I've owned for 21 years. I have never had a problem even close to the 5 with regard to filling to the same spot each time. I know without a doubt, due to experience freaking out over gas mileage, that this car is very, very hard to get good scientific data from. Like I said, the only way to do it is the way I said before. Otherwise, the numbers are just skewing reality and in my opinion not only wrong, but misleading and irritating. Evidence of what I describe is seen in the wildly varying numbers that you read on this very forum.
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Just finished a business trip through 5 states, city and hwy averaged 28.7. Very pleased with this no matter how much it my calculations may be "off". I just always take the total miles driven and divide it by how much fuel I just filled my tank with. I make sure to reset my trip 1 after each fill up and my numbers are always very close to what my scan guage II reports.
judging your own driving habits is hardly unbiased. what are you using as a guide for saying "it's not my driving"? by your very description (idling while loading, lots of sitting at lights, etc) I would state is very well IS your driving.
cars waste inordinate amounts of fuel idling, and much fuel is spent getting moving from a dead stop. being familar w/ NYC driving, I also know you can't 'ease' off from a stop (lest you get rear ended or honked to death) so your acceleration from a stop is probably 'brisk'.
so, to summarize: idling extensively, A/C use, stop and go, sitting at lights, etc, is the enemy of good MPGs. get used to it.
Good points, what I meant by "my" driving is I'm not leadfooting. Yes the conditions I drive in are awful, but I meant its not bad from MY doing, its how the car gets used. I'm the guy people WANT to drive on trips. From all the track training I've attended and read about, its part of my daily routine to be smooth and efficient. As for red light racing, I dont take off very hard, the 08+ auto 5's move really nice off the line with the low first gear, it usually shifts before 3000 rpm on its own so i know I'm not beating it.
Oh and NYC also gives 10% methanol in the fuel so that kills it as well. I know its how I'm using the car but I'm amazed its as bad as it is considering its EPA ratings.
Finally, I'm not picking on the 5, I like it a lot and I have gotten 27+ on the highway so I know its potential, my usage just wont let it live up to it.
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
A couple of years ago we had another NYC owner reporting mileage here, and it was around 18-19MPG IIRC. Definitely NYC owners would benefit from the i-stop system, damn US regulations...
I have been getting around 17-18, so this tank was way off and I really do suspect the gas station! FWIW my last car was a maxima that used to do ~20 mpg when I got it. All of a sudden it was getting ~15 and I changed a few things to try to "fix" it, short of spending $400 on new fuel injectors that were prone to leaking on that model. In the end I never got the mileage back but then I realized I lived in queens when I got it and the poor mileage coincided with my move to Brooklyn! I did more highway and less stop and go when I lived there and I really believe that was the difference. Maybe I should just move
I have been getting around 17-18, so this tank was way off and I really do suspect the gas station! FWIW my last car was a maxima that used to do ~20 mpg when I got it. All of a sudden it was getting ~15 and I changed a few things to try to "fix" it, short of spending $400 on new fuel injectors that were prone to leaking on that model. In the end I never got the mileage back but then I realized I lived in queens when I got it and the poor mileage coincided with my move to Brooklyn! I did more highway and less stop and go when I lived there and I really believe that was the difference. Maybe I should just move
Heya,
I think we've got the same driving environment, except with me out on the West Coast in Vancouver, BC. No major highways going through the city proper, and a lot of start-'n-stop traffic, and with AC usage over the last 2 months, I'm also consistently getting between 17-20 MPG.
I also tend to use a brand of fuel with a 10% ethanol blend - from what I understand (and I could be wrong), the effect on fuel economy from the 10% ethanol is miinimal vs. conventional unleaded (around 3%, quoted from a 2004 Australian study), but since I live in a wetter climate and no fuel system is 100% air-tight, could water/humidity contribute cumlatively with other factors to reduce my fuel economy?
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