Outstanding Highway Fuel Economy!

D

dave245

Member
:
CX-9 GT AWD Copper Mica Red
Over the last 2 days I travelled 407/401 from Toronto to Windsor and back (almost 800 km) and on the trip down (speed was 120+ km/h - I got almost 24 miles per imperial gallon (about 19.2 MPG US)) and on the trip back 27.9 MPIG or about 22.3 MPG US (about 10.1 litres/100 km). I slowed down a bit averaging 115 to 120 km/h.

I find this to to be better than I had dreamed (and mine is a loaded GT AWD with the 20" rims).

Ambient temperature was about 85F going to Windsor and about 93F on the way back today.

I only have 2700 km on it so the fuel economy may get even better as it breaks in.

Also, the CX-9 is a fabulous highway cruiser - after 4 hours at the wheel I felt completely relaxed & refreshed - even in heavy traffic (lots of trucks!) around Toronto.

I definitely made the right choice choosing the CX-9!

Dave
 
If the V-6 is anything like the 2.3 4 banger then you should see mileage go up as it breaks in.
 
I just drove up I-5 from So Cal to the Bay Area. I was averaging about 19mpg on the highway, I was driving pretty quick ~85mph, but considering in 6th gear that is only about 2400rpms I expected to get a little bit better mileage. I do agree that it does well on the highway, much better than my old camry.

btw, I only average about 14 mpg with city driving conditions (albiet fairly hilly), so I am hopeful the mileage goes up, as both are quite a bit below what I expected.
 
I just got my CX-9 Sport FWD last Sunday and the first tank gave 19.66 mpg on a combination 30% City 70% freeway (70 - 80 mph cruise). I'm expecting this to improve a bit as the engine loosens up - not bad at all for a car this big!
 
I have seen as little as 15mpg ( towing) and as much as 19mph ( mostly highway )... Not great, but not bad...
 
Took my first out of town trip with our CX-9 (AWD GT). Filled up, got on the interstate, got off, and filled up again. 21.0mpg with the cruise set to 75mph.
 
On my 149 mile trip back from the dealer I got 23.63 MPG on my CX-9 (FWD GT) going about 70 to 75 in cruise most of the time.
 
Wow, you guys are doing well! Mine is about 15.9 average mpg 50/50 city highway with a very light foot. It's a GT FWD with only 900 miles on it. I hope it gets better as it gets some mileage on it!.
 
RVC said:
Thanks!
Click to expand...

That fuel economy is a little dissapointing. I currently own a 2005 Pathfinder 4WD that probably has 500 lbs on the CX-9, fully boxed frame, locking differential and more power from a 4 liter V6 and I get 20 mpg on the highway, around 16 mpg in mixed driving. That is average mpg, but I dont believe I ever get below low teens in city driving.

I think this whole crossover thing is meaningless. So you get a more car like ride, but the manufacturers are making them so big there are no real weight difference between the unibody structures and body on frame SUVs of similar size. Mazda needs to put the CX-9 and CX-7 on a diet, shed a few hundred pound. Hopefully the larger engine in the CX-9 will actually help for 2008, I have a feeling that the 3.5 is somewhat taxed pulling around 4500 lbs.
 
the gamper said:
That fuel economy is a little dissapointing. I currently own a 2005 Pathfinder 4WD that probably has 500 lbs on the CX-9, fully boxed frame, locking differential and more power from a 4 liter V6 and I get 20 mpg on the highway, around 16 mpg in mixed driving. That is average mpg, but I dont believe I ever get below low teens in city driving.

I think this whole crossover thing is meaningless. So you get a more car like ride, but the manufacturers are making them so big there are no real weight difference between the unibody structures and body on frame SUVs of similar size. Mazda needs to put the CX-9 and CX-7 on a diet, shed a few hundred pound. Hopefully the larger engine in the CX-9 will actually help for 2008, I have a feeling that the 3.5 is somewhat taxed pulling around 4500 lbs.
Click to expand...

I've had 3 Pathfinders and while you are correct on the mileage, you can barely fit 5 people in that car. We just got back from our family vacation and got 25 MPG on the highway with 5 people in the CX-9 plus an 18 cu. ft. cargo carrier on top travelling across the Smoky Mountains at 70 - 80 mph avg. BTW, the car only has 3000 miles on it. My VW Touareg is full time 4WD, weighs 5800 lbs, 0 to 60 in 6.3 sec., will tow 12,000 lbs AND averages 18 mpg in town and 25 mpg on the highway. Oh, I forgot to mention it runs on clean diesel technology, which is 15 cents cheaper per gallon than regular gas in our part of the country.
 
I sure do hope it gets better. 15.9 is just plain old sucky! My friends 07' Ram 1500 4X4 with a 6 inch lift and 36" tires gets 16+ on the highway. We will see!
 
First gas tank report

Hi All, I had a an interesting gas experience today. I bought my CX9 FWD, Copper Red towing with nav, last week and decided to determine how much my first tank of gas was. I filled up last saturday and do about 50/50 highway/city.

This morning the E light came on and so i drove about 3 miles on E to the office. I left the office this evening heading home and decided to see how far this CX9 runs on E. So I drive about 10 miles from work to the nearest gas station home. When I arrived at the gas station (thanking God that the vehicle didn't run out of gas) I calculated my MPG and proceeded to fill up. Based on my calculations (329 miles/20.1 gallons) my first tank of gas registered 16.1 gallons per mile. I was somewhat disappointed but knew this going into the purchase.

Here is what threw me off . The gas station attendant filled my tank which was orignally on E and the pump recorded 17.847 gallons to fill up. Now this means to me that with an additional 2.25 gallons of gas left over in the tank prior to filling up, I should have been able to travel an additional 36 to 60miles (FWD rated 18/24) or even a little bit more which would truly bring my MPG total to any where between 19-22 MPG on my first tank. This also means that I should expect some good mileage on a long highway trip.

Now this to me solidifies the comment made by folks herein that a trip computer is relevant, because I could have done a Cosmo Kramer (headshake and squeezed out a lot more MPG has I been mroe aware of the reserve in the tank.

anyway, I love my car!!! (cheers2)
 
The first tank isn't a good check as you don't know how full it was when you got it. Also, mileage is calculated based on amount of gas used (amount needed to refill tank after driving), NOT on the capacity of the tank.

So assuming your tank was actually full to start with and refilled to the same level, you actually got 18.4 mpg (329 / 17.847).

Usually the warning light comes on with at least 50 miles left.
 
To restate what he said in different terms, you fill up first, calculate MPG second. And you need to know the tank was full to begin with.

The best way to handle this:
1. Fill up, letting it click off twice (so you know it's full)
2. Drive--doesn't matter how far, though further will yield a more accurate result (dividing any error by more gallons)
3. Fill up, noting miles traveled and the gallons put in.
4. Divide miles driven by number of gallons put in.

And I hope you meant 16 miles per gallon, not 16 gallons per mile:)
 
Never thought of it that way. Thanks for the clarification. For years I have thought of it as total miles divided by total tank capacity.

Thanks again.
 
nj_jamaican said:
Hi All, I had a an interesting gas experience today. I bought my CX9 FWD, Copper Red towing with nav, last week and decided to determine how much my first tank of gas was. I filled up last saturday and do about 50/50 highway/city.

This morning the E light came on and so i drove about 3 miles on E to the office. I left the office this evening heading home and decided to see how far this CX9 runs on E. So I drive about 10 miles from work to the nearest gas station home. When I arrived at the gas station (thanking God that the vehicle didn't run out of gas) I calculated my MPG and proceeded to fill up. Based on my calculations (329 miles/20.1 gallons) my first tank of gas registered 16.1 gallons per mile. I was somewhat disappointed but knew this going into the purchase.

Here is what threw me off . The gas station attendant filled my tank which was orignally on E and the pump recorded 17.847 gallons to fill up. Now this means to me that with an additional 2.25 gallons of gas left over in the tank prior to filling up, I should have been able to travel an additional 36 to 60miles (FWD rated 18/24) or even a little bit more which would truly bring my MPG total to any where between 19-22 MPG on my first tank. This also means that I should expect some good mileage on a long highway trip.

Now this to me solidifies the comment made by folks herein that a trip computer is relevant, because I could have done a Cosmo Kramer (headshake and squeezed out a lot more MPG has I been mroe aware of the reserve in the tank.
anyway, I love my car!!! (cheers2)
Click to expand...
Your mileage is quite independent of when the E light comes on, as long as you measure it using a reliable method. Your method described above is effectively random for all intents. My suggestion is to reset either A or B trip odometer at a FULL TANK fill up, and then calculate your mileage since the last fill up on the next FULL TANK fill up using the trip odometer reading by dividing trip odometer reading by the number of gallons just filled up (this will give you MPG). Then, reset the trip odometer again, rinse, and repeat the procedure at the next FULL TANK fill up.

For Canadian to get L/100km, of course, divide litres just filled up by km travelled and multiply by 100.

For the record, my AWD GT, at 4500 km, with 2 passengers and excessive luggage, just did about 12.6L/100km (i.e. 18.7 MPG) on 80/20 highway /street driving -- I consider that pretty good. And by the way, this is about 25% better than it did at about 1500 km, so there is definite improvement as the car wears in.
 
Interestingly enough the reason why I calculated it that way for the CX9 was actually because I have always done it for me past vehicle a Ford Explorer.

With the Explorer it was a guarantee that once the fuel light came on you had a few more miles to go and could not play around. In other words hte light came on when there was bare bones left to drive on. As such, the explorer tank capacity was 22.5 to fill up. In most instances after the light came on and i drove around abit to find a gas station, to fill up it would generally take on average 22.1 gallons to fill up, which I concluded was essentially the full tank. where as with the CX9 I was thrown a loop.. The explorer mileage was terrible though at about 13-14 MPG -50/50. It was a V8.

Again thanks for the info and help. I am now better quipped to calculate true mileage from the CX9.
 
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