Please Try This Fuel Test...

[Pete47]

Hi everyone I'm new to this Protege 5 stuff so please excuse me for any messups... I just recently purchased a used 2002 MP5 about a month ago and the reason why I brought it was for reliabilty and gas economy. My car doesn't feel like a fuel economical car! It sucks up gas just like my old 6cyl buick wagon.

I would like to know what are you other MP5 owners getting for gas mileage.
How much should I be getting? I put Chevron 91oct in my car, is this good or should I put a lower octain?
Heres a test that I 've been trying...I put the tripometer on zero with a full tank of gas and drive around untill I get a half-a-tank. When I look at the tripometer I'm usally around 110 miles average. Is this what I should be reading off the tripometer? Could it be that the octain that I'm using is burning up fast causing me to have a low mileage reading?

Please conduct this test and see where your car is at and reply back A.S.A.P. This would realy help us MP5 owners all out to see if are car is running right.
By the way how many miles are we suppose to get off of a full or three quarters of a tank avg?

 

[jersey_emt]

You only need 87 octane...it's cheaper anyway

 

[mountjonas]

i'm was at 326 miles on 1/4 tank when i filled up this afternoon. i only use 87 octane.

 

[Turbo Matty P]

<~~~was 87 octane....I could get 120miles on 1/4 tank....when gas light comes on I have about 2.5 gallons left.

 

[sgryzko]

I have 300km right now on almost exactly a half tank. For you Americans, that is around 186 miles.

 

[mypfizzle]

automatics will get less. especially if u have intake exhaust. stuff like that.. with my car i get about 290 miles pertank..before the light comes on..i have a auto with intake exhaust large stereo and 18s.. -=P

 

[cyc]

Try this:
-Full your tank
-Set your odo to 0
-Drive till you need gas.
-Check how much gas you need to full your tank (to see how much gas you used)
-Check how many miles you got with the amount of gas that you consumed
-Calculate your mpg (miles per galloN)

 

[sgryzko]

automatics will get less. especially if u have intake exhaust. stuff like that.. with my car i get about 290 miles pertank..before the light comes on..i have a auto with intake exhaust large stereo and 18s.. -=P

I thought that intakes give better mileage.
http://www.protege5online.com/For_Sale_Page/Injen_Intakes/injen_intakes.html

Also,
I dont think that the stereo makes a difference for gas mileage other than a little bit of weight.

 

[Kansei]

hmm driving (about 75% highway) back from Cape Cod to my house ( ~3 hours) and got 35mpg (and i wasn't driving the car that lightly, i was driving it home right after buying it). last fillup driving it hard on twisties in upstate new york i got 31mpg.. i'm so pleased with the gas mileage coming from a truck that got 8-10mpg.

 

[mypfizzle]

stereo maked the electicle system run harder.. im thinking.. which draws more power.. i donno.. just goin with everything that could cause something. -=P
i used to get about 30 to the gallon on freeway.. now i average 24 - 28. depending how i drive. -=\

 

[jersey_emt]

I thought that intakes give better mileage.
http://www.protege5online.com/For_Sale_Page/Injen_Intakes/injen_intakes.html

Also,
I dont think that the stereo makes a difference for gas mileage other than a little bit of weight.

Any modification that improves performance is going to decrease gas mileage.

 

[alexlitov]

I get about 350-360 miles when the gas light turns on.

 

[DeanSweet]

2003.5 PR4, SportShift Automatic, I get 300-320 miles when the yellow light turns on.
I think it averages out to 24-26mpg. If I keep the car below 3k rpms I can hit 360 miles til the yellow light but that won;r ever happen again.

 

[fkmp5]

I dont think that the stereo makes a difference for gas mileage other than a little bit of weight.

a strong enough stereo will put a drain on your electrical system and keep the alternator running more often.. this could potentially cut into your fuel economy.. lose maybe 1 mpg at most?? i don't think it's anything serious, but definately possible..

for the record.. i've got an 03.5 P5, 5-Speed, injen intake, hks exhaust, 87 octane... i average 27.5 MPG. mostly city driving.

 

[Action Jackson]

If I drive "normally" then I can see 250 to 280 km by half tank.

If I don't then I can see 210 km by half tank.

 

[PeaB0dy]

I get anywhere from 250 to 330 till I reach half tank, depending on wether I do spirited driving or not..

 

[rookie]

My wife gets about 320 miles / tank in the Auto P5.

Hardly impressive though. I get 27 MPG combo driving in my 175 HP Altima and that is redline few times per tank.

We love this car but - I am just not too impressed with MPG, that is all.

The car is close to 6000 miles now on odo, not sure if it will be better at all...

 

[FunkyBuddha]

I used to get 530 - 550km before my fuel light comes on. I've gotten the car up to 601km and there was 1 Litre left when I filled up. I drove nice..that means under 3000rpm before each gear change and going the speed limit. Now that I got the cams in, I get around 490 - 520 before the fuel light comes on. Plus I drive a bit harder now because it's just too hard and too fun to keep it below 3500rpm.

 

[johnjay5]

i did a test to see how many miles i was getting off 89 octane. For two weeks (2 times) i recorded my mileage and then again after the light went on. I averaged about 23.6 miles per gallon on 89. so mypfizzle, im getting less mileage with my injen intake, hks exhaust, and ground kit? i thought it the other way around..?

 

[elfhearse]

I've seen the Premium vs. Regular threads in other forums before. If your car only needs Regular your wasting your $$ putting in Premium and in the long run can even make things worse.
Premium is required in high(er) compression engines and has a higher detonation point (can be compressed "longer" in the cylinder). Premium will tend to carbon up an engine that only need Regular = lower compression ratio.
(I'm going from memory here so any engineers in this area can fine tune the general message above).
I use Redline S1 fuel system cleaner or Techron and that's it. When I'm not flogging the P5 too hard I get 31mpg highway as advertised. The cold, snowy Winter driving in 2nd and 3rd gear obviously hurts the mpg.