Not Very Happy, 2002 Protege Poor gas mileage

[fkmp5]

What's the correct way to calculate the gas mileage?? I get almost 350 miles out of a tank of gas. I fill up when I see the light. Anyone??

after you fill up, note how many gallons it took.. then you divide the number of miles you drove since your last fill up by the amount of gallons it took to fill it back up.. it's going to be a really really really close estimate.. you've got to remember each gas pump may fill it up more or less than the last pump.. but it's a general idea.

example:

12 gallons
350 miles since last fillup
=

350 divided by 12 = 28MPG

 

[uclap5]

i fill up, reset the trip odo. then next time i fill up i take down how many miles it is, write it on the reciept. then just devide the miles by the gallons.

 

[alexlitov]

thx guys

 

[b_real45]

My car started out with bad gas mileage... i got it with 4 miles on it. But now (after 4 12.xxgal fills) I am getting lots better gas mileage. I am around 25mpg city and I have an Auto. I drive like a granny too. I think it'll only get better. Plus I live in Miami.. very hot so cars run richer. Time for my first oil change too... 1500miles.

 

[WaatDaHell]

You know what? I've given up finding out why our gas mileage is low. I have a 2002.5 with the Sport automatic. And no, I don't want to hear any comments about it being an automatic. However, I have had the problem checked by an auto mechanic with 25 years of experience. Note, I took it to a mechanic, not a dealership. Dealerships no didly squat, even though they're supposed to know. People there work for a company, not for themselves, therefore don't put as much effort into their work as they should. To get back to the point. Tests were ran on a dyno and whatever else he was using to see if the car was burning more gas than it should have. Initially, before the test, he assumed that there was something wrong with the emissions system that is causing more gas to be used than necessary. Unfortunately, everything was fine. It was burning gas like it should. The answer I got was typical. "I can't really tell you what's wrong. Besides the fact that I've had similar experiences with other Mazda engines. Mazda gas mileage just.....sucks!"

Maybe this doesn't help you at all, but just do what I do now. Forget driving like a grandma to save gas. Stop thinking about it too much. Just enjoy the ride and drive it like it's meant to be driven, like a "Sport" wagon.

 

[chuyler1]

I get a consistant 30-31mpg on my car on my P5 w/ 13,000 miles on it. I write down the trip and milage on the receipt at every fillup and calculate it on Quicken when I go through my receipts at home. I could print you out a paper that shows my gas milage for the past 6 months if I wanted.

I drive mainly on backroads and occasional highway so I'm going between 35-45mph with minimal idle stop and go.

I'm sure you already know and you don't need us to tell you that your car is a lemon. However, its difficult to diagnose something like that and you're definatly getting the cold shoulder from Mazda. I don't know what else to say other than harass the dealership(s) until you get something from them (maybe a deal on a new car if they're not going to fix yours). Go in once a week and ask for the general manager...until he gets to know you well. You can always get what you want if you put enough effort into it.

 

[240Z Turbo]

Thank you again for all your repsonses. I pulled the plugs last night and the carbon is only on the base and not working its way up the tip as in the pictures. Also, there are no signs of pinging on the new plugs. I did also notice the new plugs are the "V" spark plugs instead of the flat top style. Since fillup the car has 100miles on it and I will probably wait until the tank is close to 1/4 full before rechecking the gas mileage. I was also advised by Mazda to seek another dealer, so I have contacted the dealer in Valdosta and the dealer in Panama City and advised them of my problems. If it continues to get poor mileage I will seek their help. Mazda Customer service has been Mazda's only saving grace in my opinion throughout this whole ordeal. My only advice to Mazda Headquarters is to punish those dealers who are known to be dishonest.
BTW, the OD is on at all times. I do have a question, does the converter have lockup and at what mph does lockup occur or more specifically, what triggers the lockup? I will verify the lockup is working.

 

[mikeyb]

BTW, the OD is on at all times. I do have a question, does the converter have lockup and at what mph does lockup occur or more specifically, what triggers the lockup? I will verify the lockup is working.

That is a good question. That would be a question for a Tech. Or maybe someone else here could answer that.

 

[mts3]

Torque convertor lockup generally occurs at speeds above 35 mph. It will be somewhere like that in the Protege. My P5 is a 5 speed, but this is how it feels in my wife's Millenia: Take off from a dead stop accelerating to at least 40 mph and you will feel all the shifts. Count them. Just after the 3-4, you will see an additional drop in RPMS, usually about 300 or so depending on the engine/transmission. This is the TC locking up.

 

[DrAsperigus]

Good gas mileage =

high octane fuel
synthetic oil
low RPM shifting
slow acceleration
no passengers
manual transmission

 

[uclap5]

dont get high octane fuel.

 

[240Z Turbo]

The MP5 automatic does have a lockup converter and I have confirmed it is working. It does come on above 30-35mph from what I can tell and is deactivated when the throttle exceeds 1/3-1/2 throttle.

 

[dficken]

My experience with my 2002.5 sport shift

I have a 2002.5 sport shift and I get crappy gas milage as well. I use 87 octane gas and dyno oil that is changed every 3k. I compared it to my friend's manual and it's night and day. He get 30 - 35 mpg while I get an average of 23 for city and highway combined.

The best answer I have is that auto's get bad gas milage. I honestly don't know of any p5 autos that get the claimed 25-30. I believe all the people that have posted kick ass gas milage (25 - 35 mpg) have manuals. Just like my friend (who makes fun of my mpg all the time).

One thing to note. I have been driving with 93 octane lately to prep for my turbo install. And on average I still get 23 mpg city/hwy combined. But when I drove out to Peoria from St. Louis a couple weeks ago, i got about 25 mpg (averaging 80mph) and on the way back I got 28mpg (averaging 75 mph).

So I can say that it seems that the sport shift's sweet spot for highway driving (and good gas milage) is in the 70-75mph range. As for city.... I think it's going to always be crappy.

Hope this helps. If you need any other testing done (compare plug pictures, etc.) let me know. I would be more than happy to provide you with another data set and help you on your quest to get better gas mileage w/ the auto tranny.

Regards,
Dale.

 

[uclap5]

i think it would be an interesting experiment to have someone trade a auto for a manual with another member for a week and to try and drive the same way with the auto and see how it goes.

just on casual observation i always see auto drivers mash the pedal on takeoff much more than i would with a manual because the torque converter needs to kick in so auto drivers tend to mash it more when taking off from a stop.

try being really gentle on take offs, and dont use the sport mode for an entire tank and see if there is an improvement

 

[dficken]

To add to my previous post, I rarely ever use sport mode and I don't mash the pedal very often (and I still average 23 mpg city/hwy combo).

 

[uclap5]

that sucks.

my friends auto golf is the same way though. he rarely can get over 25, even all highway.

 

[slug420]

Thats actually 4 questions!

yes but 3 were simple and 1 was challenging.



for what its worth, I just returned a p5 loaner (automatic) and it didnt appear to be getting very good gas mileage although i didnt calculate anything

 

[tonkabui]

i got 28 miles a gallon all city. here's what i did...

octane = 87.

around town, accelerate SLOWLY. shift at or before 3K rpms. if you don't have manual control over shift points in some form, let off the gas a tad at 3K rpms. coast for as long as possible, example: when coming up on a red light you see from half a block away, let off the gas and coast. if the light turns green, get on the gas slowly. if not, slowly come to a stop so you don't hit your gas again.

i used to get 24 mpg city only with my intake. it was so fun revving up to 5500 rpm to hear that WOOOOSH of air.

oh, during the summer months, i sometimes get only 21-22mpg, since my AC is on all the time and i was mashing the gas. now i take it easy and it seems as if the AC takes off very little fuel efficiency. the key here is gentle pressure on the gas. fight the temptation to have fun with the car if you want to maximize fuel efficiency. it's all give and take. can't have your fun and get good mileage, too!

 

[dficken]

I just caluclated out 15000 miles with a 25mpg vehicle vs. 30mpg vehicle. It comes out to $150/yr if you put 15k a year on your car.

To be honest, its not worth changing my driving habits that drastically.

I happy with the constant 23 mpg. Besides, my 77 TA gets 13 mpg if I am lucky. So I am happy.

 

[igdrasil]

dudes?

whats up with your gas out there?

I see a lot of carbon build up??? why is that?

after 16,000miles in My protege5 and my mitsu with 80,000miles; i opened both heads and never seen carbon build up.