MPG's

[MacAttack7]

How's everyone doing on the mpg's?

So far I've gotten an average of 36.26 which is surprising. Is there something wrong with my car?

Anyway that's with just me in the car most of the time at sea level with a pretty even mix of city/hwy including the morning traffic jam commute.

And that's also without trying to get good mpg's. I always shift above 3000 rpm & have a little bit of fun. I tried to be smoother on this last tank as far as braking & accelerating & got the best yet at 38.38, but I still wasn't really trying; I even took it up near 4500 a couple times.

35.42
37.77
34.1
34.62
37.25
38.38

 

[Slow Paul]

My average is at 30.1. I've only got 1200 miles on my car but that seems a little low. I shift at about 4k or a little higher. Most all of my driving is city too.

 

[MacAttack7]

My average is at 30.1. I've only got 1200 miles on my car but that seems a little low. I shift at about 4k or a little higher. Most all of my driving is city too.

Wonder why our mpg's are so different. Do you have more than just you in the car? I've read that weight makes a big difference. Could just be your shifting I guess. I rarely go above 4k, so maybe that's it. You must not drive very slow, "Slow Paul".

 

[Joker2]

My low was 24, high was 39, 2600 miles and average of 31. Mostly city some highway, I shift high up on the tach though I have not done bouncy off limiter yet.

 

[MacAttack7]

My low was 24, high was 39, 2600 miles and average of 31. Mostly city some highway, I shift high up on the tach though I have not done bouncy off limiter yet.

What were you doing when you got 24???
I thought I was having a little fun on one tank, but still I only got down to 34.
My idea of fun must be on the mild side.

 

[Joker2]

City driving, shifting above 5000 each gear. Part of break-in. 4-800 ft long blocks. Some longer but not much. Tried to keep it in VICS territory.
Heehee! That was fun.

 

[Joker2]

PS. Do not worry. My NA Miata averages 10 mpg during track days. 135 miles and some 10 sessions required run to pump for more juice. I am sure that a B-Spec racer will average 12-14 mpg on track.

 

[MacAttack7]

So is it actually a good idea to take the car above 5000 rpm now & then? I'm at 1500 miles right now. Maybe I should've done it at break in which I read pros & cons of, but too late for that now. I didn't drive it incredibly mild during the first 600 miles which is break in according to the manual, but I think I only got up to 5000 rpm probably once or twice during that time.

 

[industrial]

Some break in theories involve beating on the car a little once it's warmed up to seat the rings properly. I broke in my STI this way and it never burned oil or had low compression. I'm breaking in my M2 this way too. With 300 miles on the odo, I'm getting 38mpg average so far.

 

[Slow Paul]

Wonder why our mpg's are so different. Do you have more than just you in the car? I've read that weight makes a big difference. Could just be your shifting I guess. I rarely go above 4k, so maybe that's it. You must not drive very slow, "Slow Paul".

Usually it is just me in the car. I guess stirring the little engine past 4k can do some damage on mpg's.

 

[MacAttack7]

I just filled up again and got 36.
I was actually trying to drive it more aggressively this tank to see how it would affect the mpg's, so I was pretty surprised to still get 36.

This new tank I'm going to try the opposite & be real smooth with everything................wonder if 40 is possible while still driving in a normal manner (I'm not into hypermiling).
I'll find out in 300 miles or so.

 

[Joker2]

MacAttack7 if you can keep at 65 highway you should be able to do 40 or better. Experiment. My Miata does better when shifting at higher RPM and not lugging the engine. I got as high as 33 on the Miata with the 1.8 and 39 on the Mazda2 without being conservative. I'll update you in a few weeks as I have to take a 250 mile highway round trip. Till then, I need to mix city and highway so off to low 30s territory I go.

 

[zoomzoom9]

You can check my fuelly stats, but I've been getting consistently high mileage, around 37 MPG. It seems to be slightly lower now that I've changed from around 70/30 highway/city to nearly 100% highway. Primary reason I think I'm getting slightly lower gas mileage now is that I drive through a lot of mountains and keep it around 70 MPH -- most of my prior highway driving was around 55/60 MPH.

I think the primary difference isn't necessarily the car, but the method of driving and the speed. I drive around 600-800 miles a week with the same route, so I'm going to experiment with some other techniques (such as coasting down mountains in neutral or using cruise control more).

I did change my oil recently and went with Amsoil, which is supposed to give you better mileage. I'm not really sure about that claim and unfortunately I didn't have a way to test it since I moved soon after the oil change so I'm no longer taking the same route.

I am interested in trying increasing tire pressure. I have nitrogen in my tires, but have had some success in the past with inflating it to around 90% of tire-listed max pressure. However, this car already feels most bumps when going around 70 MPH, so I'm not sure I really want to make the ride any more rough.

By the way, if you check out my fuelly page, you'll notice I randomly went from 31.4 MPG to 49.2 MPG...that's basically because I fill up in NJ and the people pumping the gas sometimes top it off and sometimes don't. It drives me nuts because I want consistent readings, but I figure as long as it averages it out, no big deal.

 

[MacAttack7]

I read somewhere that coasting in neutral will use more gas than leaving it in gear. I don't know if that's factual or not, but it was on the internet so it must be true.

I got over 40 once, but I don't know if it's because the gas pumper guy topped it off or not. I'll see if I can do it again one of these days. I'm in Oregon, the only other state besides New Jersey that requires someone else to pump your gas for you. I hate it !!!

I agree about the tire pressure; too high on this car & you'll probably really feel it.

 

[zoomzoom9]

I read somewhere that coasting in neutral will use more gas than leaving it in gear. I don't know if that's factual or not, but it was on the internet so it must be true.

I got over 40 once, but I don't know if it's because the gas pumper guy topped it off or not. I'll see if I can do it again one of these days. I'm in Oregon, the only other state besides New Jersey that requires someone else to pump your gas for you. I hate it !!!

I agree about the tire pressure; too high on this car & you'll probably really feel it.

I have read that as well, and from what I can tell you from my last car, it's true. I have a ScanGauge that I have yet to put in the Mazda, but I could tell from that that coasting in neutral wastes more gas than leaving it in gear (you won't see that on a normal trip computer because they usually typically just go to 100 MPG, the ScanGauge goes to 1000 MPG, and it's always fun to see it hit that maximum...doesn't happen often though!).

However, there are two reasons I'm considering the neutral test -- first is that my last car was a diesel, so it's a completely different engine, and second is that I tend to find myself having to give the car a little gas to keep my speed up on some descents, even in 5th gear. The car just plain isn't heavy enough to keep the momentum going without a little extra push.

I mentioned the cruise control, and I'm fairly certain I won't see any mileage gains. From my experience, especially in mountain regions, it is not as efficient as managing it yourself.

I didn't even know there was another state that didn't allow you to pump your own gas, it's awful though, isn't it? I don't live in NJ anymore, but since I'm in NJ every day, I fill up there since the gas is cheaper than other states....I'd rather pay less for gas than get consistently accurate fuelly calculations ;-)

By the way, about the tire pressure -- I tried it out on a trip with our Jeep and I was very impressed with the results. Normally get 15-16 MPG on the highway with it (damn V8), but on that trip we got around 18 MPG. I can imagine on the Mazda it would be impressive, but not sure if I'm willing to sacrifice the ride quality...

 

[ddawson]

Yes the injectors turn off under the right conditions so you use no fuel coasting down a big hill.

I'm not sure at what speed these come back on, but when I tune my other car I have it set to only go off line above 45MPH.
Otherwise around down it's gets a little clunk from the drive line slack.

We only have 200 miles on the 2, but so far the display is showing 26MPG doing are normal running around. On my Mini Cooper S she was getting 18MPG so I'm happy. I'll do the normal fill up miles to gallons used on the next tank.

 

[MacAttack7]

We only have 200 miles on the 2, but so far the display is showing 26MPG doing are normal running around. On my Mini Cooper S she was getting 18MPG so I'm happy. I'll do the normal fill up miles to gallons used on the next tank.

You must be driving it in the fun way it should be driven. I'll have to do that one of these days. I thought I was having fun for 1 tank, but still got 32 mpg's, so I guess not.

 

[Axela05]

Either all of you drive 20mph or my 2 hates me. I've had my 2 since it came stateside in August of 08' and after almost 11,000 miles on my car, the best I've been able to achieve was 35mpg and that was while drafting a semi going 65mph during a 200 mile trip. On average I get between 27-30mpg. This is with only myself in the car and no extra weight whatsoever. Filling up my tank after only 7.5 gallons of gas used and 215 miles driven is kind of annoying as well but whatever, I digress.

 

[industrial]

Either all of you drive 20mph or my 2 hates me. I've had my 2 since it came stateside in August of 08' and after almost 11,000 miles on my car, the best I've been able to achieve was 35mpg and that was while drafting a semi going 65mph during a 200 mile trip. On average I get between 27-30mpg. This is with only myself in the car and no extra weight whatsoever. Filling up my tank after only 7.5 gallons of gas used and 215 miles driven is kind of annoying as well but whatever, I digress.

Really? Last week I had a 50 mile highway trip which I did at 75-80mph along with my normal work/school commute which is at 45mph. I was driving it "fast" and still got 35.9mpg (calculated from gas receipt). The last fill up before that I averaged 38mpg (indicated) just commuting around town and school. I wonder if this will hold up as the car racks up the miles. My car has about 800 miles now.

How do you guys drive your 2 "fast"? I go full throttle in 1st and 2nd to about 5k, then full throttle in 3rd to about 4k and then just drive normally after that. Feels plenty peppy driving around like that. I hardly ever go full on throttle to redline for 1, 2 and 3 even when merging on the highway. The car just doesn't feel fast at all in anything beyond 3rd gear and it just sounds terrible as the revs build. It feels the funnest to me at around 3-4k rpms. that must be the torque peak?

 

[MacAttack7]

Either all of you drive 20mph or my 2 hates me. I've had my 2 since it came stateside in August of 08' and after almost 11,000 miles on my car, the best I've been able to achieve was 35mpg and that was while drafting a semi going 65mph during a 200 mile trip. On average I get between 27-30mpg. This is with only myself in the car and no extra weight whatsoever. Filling up my tank after only 7.5 gallons of gas used and 215 miles driven is kind of annoying as well but whatever, I digress.

Did you buy your 2 in another country in August 2008? I'm sure they changed some things since then with the facelift for 2011. I think I drive pretty normal, maybe a little on the conservative side sometimes. I average 36.5 after 2800 miles now. If I'm trying to get going fairly fast I shift between 3k & 4k............rarely above 4k. If I'm just taking my time then most shifts are between 2500 & 3000 rpm. I'm not sure where to take 1st gear; I was going probably close to 4k, then this week I've been shifting sooner just to experiment. I'm not sure what's best for 1st.