Not Very Happy, 2002 Protege Poor gas mileage
- Thread starter 240Z Turbo
- Start date
If you're looking to get good gas milage you are usually looking to save money on gas. Any better milage you get from high-octane gas is lost in the price you pay for it. On top of that, if your car is not designed for high-octane gas, it will only harm your engine and cause it to overheat in the summer time.DrAsperigus said:
That is asuming the price of gas does not change. Around here it as been going up.dficken said:
15,000mi / 25mpg X $1.79/g = $1074
15,000mi / 31mpg X $1.79/g = $866
a difference of $208
and if the price of gas increases by 10 cents...
15,000mi / 25mpg X $1.89/g = 1134
15,000mi / 31mpg X $1.89/g = 914
a difference of $220
if you drive 25,000 miles in a year like me...
25,000mi / 25mpg X $1.79 = $1790
25,000mi / 31mpg X $1.79 = $1444
a difference of $346
the difference between my P5 and my 1990 Grand Marquis which is comparable to many full sized SUVs on the road...
25,000mi / 11mpg X $1.79 = $4068
25,000mi / 31mpg X $1.79 = $1444
a difference of $2624!
So in my mind, yes, gas milage is very important.
(note: 31mpg is what I average for my driving)
LA dreamer
Member
Due to the fact that my automatic MP5 gets so much less than the advertised gas mileage, this will likely be the only Mazda car I ever buy.
It was my first new car buying experience and as much as I like the car in general, gas mileage was an extremely important deciding factor for me. 25/30 was my minimum requirement and since it's turned out to be more like 19/26 I am disappointed. I feel lied too. And when you're spending a lot of money on something as major as a car, I think it's important to get what you paid for.
Even when I drive like a grandmother, don't have the a/c on, all the tires are inflated properly and there is no extra weight in the car, I get pretty much the same result. I have noticed that the times I do get good mileage I am going 70 mph over a long distance. I get around 28-32 mpg that way, which is perfectly acceptable. The only problem is that I RARELY do that kind of driving because most of the driving I do is a mix of freeway and city, which in LA means a lot of stop and go.
If gas were only $1 a gallon or I were rich, it wouldn't bother me. But neither of them are the case and it does.
It was my first new car buying experience and as much as I like the car in general, gas mileage was an extremely important deciding factor for me. 25/30 was my minimum requirement and since it's turned out to be more like 19/26 I am disappointed. I feel lied too. And when you're spending a lot of money on something as major as a car, I think it's important to get what you paid for.
Even when I drive like a grandmother, don't have the a/c on, all the tires are inflated properly and there is no extra weight in the car, I get pretty much the same result. I have noticed that the times I do get good mileage I am going 70 mph over a long distance. I get around 28-32 mpg that way, which is perfectly acceptable. The only problem is that I RARELY do that kind of driving because most of the driving I do is a mix of freeway and city, which in LA means a lot of stop and go.
If gas were only $1 a gallon or I were rich, it wouldn't bother me. But neither of them are the case and it does.
hahaha... you want 25-30 in LA traffic??? good lord! my cousin's civic who claims to get something like 39mpg on the freeway gets 26mpg on the freeway from all that stop and go. be glad you're getting the 19/26 figures, ESPECIALLY for LA. and trust me, the civic is nowhere near as fun to drive.
(werd)
with my CEL fix installed, i just got 335 for this tank, i was getting like 295 without. im gonna average it over about 3 tanks to decide what mpg i got back from installing the fix. granted this tank was a lot of racing and driving like a ******* maniac when i was running late to work a few times
plus i changed my oil to synthetic and i want to see if that factors in at all.
with my CEL fix installed, i just got 335 for this tank, i was getting like 295 without. im gonna average it over about 3 tanks to decide what mpg i got back from installing the fix. granted this tank was a lot of racing and driving like a ******* maniac when i was running late to work a few times
plus i changed my oil to synthetic and i want to see if that factors in at all.
the only time i got 430 miles to the tank (filled to roughly 12.5 gallons) was when i went to california. averaged 78mph the whole way. there were times when traffic was slowed to about 60 and other times when i was tearing it up at 95 (for short periods), so it's definitely possible. i even have an automagic.
LA dreamer
Member
Thanks for the lack of understanding. I've had enough tankfuls where my car was moving more so than not to make my judgment.
Perhaps it would be more fair to us as car buyers if they rated anticipated gas mileage per state or per region than in general. That way there wouldn't be any confusion. So for example if it's expected that the car would only get 15-20 miles per gallon in LOS ANGELES driving, than people like myself who need good gas mileage could look for a more appropriate car. If not, I think they should just remove the gas mileage estimates altogether. If they are misleading in any way then who needs them?
Incidently, I drove an automatic Honda Civic for four years in LA and never got less than 30mpg. If I didn't need more cargo space I would have just gotten another one.
Perhaps it would be more fair to us as car buyers if they rated anticipated gas mileage per state or per region than in general. That way there wouldn't be any confusion. So for example if it's expected that the car would only get 15-20 miles per gallon in LOS ANGELES driving, than people like myself who need good gas mileage could look for a more appropriate car. If not, I think they should just remove the gas mileage estimates altogether. If they are misleading in any way then who needs them?
Incidently, I drove an automatic Honda Civic for four years in LA and never got less than 30mpg. If I didn't need more cargo space I would have just gotten another one.
chuyler1 said:
LOL, I traded my 91 GM in on my P5. The car would get 19mpg no matter how I drove it. My P5 averages 32mpg, I get 420-440 mile to a tank. I drive alot of city(DC traffic) and I drive 70-85 mph on the HW. The money I save on gas almost covers the car payment!
What really pissed me off about the marquis is that my High output converted 87 Crown Vic got 20-24mpg and was over 3 seconds quicker in the 1/4 mile and had 100 more HP!
I still think there is something wrong with your car. Mazda uses those numbers to sell cars. They may not generate them but they are the biggest number on any window sticker. If they won't hold responsibility for the biggest number on the window sticker then who should? The EPA isn't going to give your car a tune up.
Its amazing how car companies sell you a car and rave about their warantee to get you to buy it. Then as soon as something goes wrong they claim it isn't covered....well what the **** is covered?
Its amazing how car companies sell you a car and rave about their warantee to get you to buy it. Then as soon as something goes wrong they claim it isn't covered....well what the **** is covered?
240Z Turbo
Member
chuyler1 said:
That is not true, go to FUELECONOMY.GOV and it clearly states how MPG is obtained. Here is a paragraph from that site.
"The test used to determine the city fuel economy estimate simulates an 11-mile, stop-and-go trip with an average speed of 20 miles per hour (mph). The trip takes 31 minutes and has 23 stops. About 18 percent of the time is spent idling, as in waiting at traffic lights or in rush hour traffic. The maximum speed is 56 mph. The engine is initially started after being parked overnight. Vehicles are tested at 68 F to 86 F ambient temperature."
"The test to determine the highway fuel economy estimate represents a mixture of "non-city" driving. Segments corresponding to different kinds of rural roads and interstate highways are included. The test simulates a 10-mile trip and averages 48 mph. The maximum speed is 60 mph. The test is run with the engine warmed up and has little idling time and no stops (except at the end of the test). "
apparently you have never been in rush hour traffic on the east or west coast....In the morning it can take close to 3 hours to drive 30 miles into Boston from the suburbs. . .with an average speed of 5-10 mph when you're actually moving and not parked.
In that kind of environment, even my g/f's Corolla gets bad milage.
The second test seems pretty accurate to my driving habbits, which is why I get the milage on the sticker. I drive back roads all the way to work with only a few stop signs and traffic lights. I average 40mph usually, 45-50 when I'm late. I try to keep it in 5th as much as possible but I get same milage in 4th or 5th (i did a test one time). But i don't like listening to the engine so 5th at 2,000 rpms sounds better even if I have to down shift for big hills.
In that kind of environment, even my g/f's Corolla gets bad milage.
The second test seems pretty accurate to my driving habbits, which is why I get the milage on the sticker. I drive back roads all the way to work with only a few stop signs and traffic lights. I average 40mph usually, 45-50 when I'm late. I try to keep it in 5th as much as possible but I get same milage in 4th or 5th (i did a test one time). But i don't like listening to the engine so 5th at 2,000 rpms sounds better even if I have to down shift for big hills.
Just to add some insult to injury...I picked up my P5 last Friday and put 260 miles on it this weekend -- mostly highway at 70mph. I just filled up this morning and got 28.3 MPG.
God I love driving a 5 speed!!!!
I don't drive very hard -- that often. I shift out of first at about 2500-3000 rpm, and then through the other gears at 3000-3500 rpm. I'm usually in fifth gear at 40 mph. If my speed drops I'll downshift as necessary, but I won't let the engine rev higher than 3000 rpm.
Now that doesn't mean I drive like grandma either...I love to listen to that two liter wail! I just love that it doesn't sound like a rice rocket (read Honda). It has some rasp to it and it's a deeper tone.
Just my .02.....
God I love driving a 5 speed!!!!
I don't drive very hard -- that often. I shift out of first at about 2500-3000 rpm, and then through the other gears at 3000-3500 rpm. I'm usually in fifth gear at 40 mph. If my speed drops I'll downshift as necessary, but I won't let the engine rev higher than 3000 rpm.
Now that doesn't mean I drive like grandma either...I love to listen to that two liter wail! I just love that it doesn't sound like a rice rocket (read Honda). It has some rasp to it and it's a deeper tone.
Just my .02.....
