Real Bad Gas Mileage!

[Antonio DiMarco]

I still have my RX 8....it's been ok. I have the automatic and I am now getting 19 mpg city after 35,000 miles! I have had a few ECU flashes, plugs switched out, brake squeaks fixed and from time to time she idles a little rough. The car loves temps around 70-75F. Right now she's running like a dream....The rotary does not like the cold...in the beginning she bucks and hesitates a little till she's warmed up, then it's fine. I just feel she's under powered and twice I had some power loss as I was turning but that's it in the three years. Tough trying to sell it and now I hear they are gonna do some testing on all of them...a recall of sorts for the engine......some may get new ones.. Today I received a notice about them extending the powertrain warranty for free. Geez, I am gonna lose some bucks when I trade it...I doubt I will be able to sell her to a private party. 4 calls no one looked in just over a month. Why can't they put the 4 cyc. turbo engine in the 8??? It is one of the most beautiful cars on the road...it's a shame!! They just need to get some kinks out of the Wankel....I think they are almost there!! Still waiting on my investment property to sell and than I will hopefully get my 7....or 5??? Preferably the CX7!!!

At least it sounds like they're fixing the problems. Everything has issues but there are some manufcturers who turn a blind eye to the customer when things get hairy.

I look at the RX8 and Rotary as more exotic anyway, so having a few headaches would be acceptable to me. Hey some manufacturers still have problems with the run of the mill engines. By comparison the Rotary is cutting edge technology.

 

[bigfootxx2]

Well i don't understand how ours gets about 25 mpg about 23 if you do tires squealing starts at the light all the time. Other forums the same 24-26 mpg. You guys are 12-13 mpg. if my cx-7 drops too 20 mpg the shop is going to be checking it out.

 

[THOUGHT OUT]

First fill up

My first fill up and I got 14.5 MPG AWD.(shocked)

Mazda filled the tank at purchase so maybe the top off and the use of 87 octane is to contribute. Also, this was the first couple of weeks with the car (what ever is is called) and a lot playing with things (while it was running) being new could also be contributing to this as well. It was my vacation week so I would say my miles were 30% highway. Let's hope the MPG improves with the 93 oct.

P.S. I love this new SUV, Car, sport wagon, space buggy thing.

 

[zentrandi]

you should stick to 91 and above octain on the cx-7

 

[G-Papi]

you should stick to 91 and above octain on the cx-7

Ditto thar!!
btw ~ how long did you sit in the driveway and play with it?

 

[THOUGHT OUT]

Ditto thar!!
btw ~ how long did you sit in the driveway and play with it?

"Yes, I played with it" (insert joke here) (open mouth, insert foot ~ I know)

Honestly, I would say no longer than a a couple of long traffic jams (less than an hour). But even an hour traveling at highway speed it should only burn 3-4 gallons which does not calculate to a loss of 12 mpg on a full tank of gas!

From here on: No more playing with it!, 91-93 octane, and 50% highway. I hope to get 18 MPG.

Funny story: I had a Dog (Dodge) Dakota with a V8 and the average MPG was 12.5. I convience my wife that we (I) would save $75-$100 a month in fuel cost with the CX-7 purchase (lease). Needless to say I am eating crow this week.

 

[zentrandi]

Ditto thar!!
btw ~ how long did you sit in the driveway and play with it?

i actually drove with it to dallas last weekend and it was a blast

 

[cruzdreamer]

At least it sounds like they're fixing the problems. Everything has issues but there are some manufcturers who turn a blind eye to the customer when things get hairy.

I look at the RX8 and Rotary as more exotic anyway, so having a few headaches would be acceptable to me. Hey some manufacturers still have problems with the run of the mill engines. By comparison the Rotary is cutting edge technology.

Yea, I am pretty happy with Mazda overall.....the bugs don't deter me from Mazda's although my husband it does somewhat! Despite it's quirks I love the car! The rotary is unique and it takes a unique person I think to buy it and not mind the quirks!! All cars have issues no doubt....as long as they fix them at no charge it's tolerable with me! I am hooked on the looks and performance of these Zoom, Zoom cars!!! Enjoy your Mazda's everyone!

 

[jjardine]

First trip in CX-7

I bought an Ice Blue CX-7 last monday and drove it on a trip to Las Vegas wednesday. I live 450 miles from Vegas. While there I stayed about 15 miles from downtown, each day I had to drive in and out of vegas twice so I was putting on about 70-80 miles of city driving a day. I was there for 4 days so I got a pretty good sampling for what the city gas mileage was. I got 22 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. After ready this forum, I was pretty happy with that. I had no idea and was never told at the dealer that I needed to use premium fuel, so I have been using just plain regular gas. I haven't noticed any issues and the car has run great. I guess I should read the manual.

 

[zentrandi]

I bought an Ice Blue CX-7 last monday and drove it on a trip to Las Vegas wednesday. I live 450 miles from Vegas. While there I stayed about 15 miles from downtown, each day I had to drive in and out of vegas twice so I was putting on about 70-80 miles of city driving a day. I was there for 4 days so I got a pretty good sampling for what the city gas mileage was. I got 22 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. After ready this forum, I was pretty happy with that. I had no idea and was never told at the dealer that I needed to use premium fuel, so I have been using just plain regular gas. I haven't noticed any issues and the car has run great. I guess I should read the manual.

SOunds good, we were gonna get an Icy blue but my mom backed out it was only a Sport and she wanted the GT so we went with the silver. It's nice, and im happy with it.

PS welcome to the forums.

 

[cruzdreamer]

I bought an Ice Blue CX-7 last monday and drove it on a trip to Las Vegas wednesday. I live 450 miles from Vegas. While there I stayed about 15 miles from downtown, each day I had to drive in and out of vegas twice so I was putting on about 70-80 miles of city driving a day. I was there for 4 days so I got a pretty good sampling for what the city gas mileage was. I got 22 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. After ready this forum, I was pretty happy with that. I had no idea and was never told at the dealer that I needed to use premium fuel, so I have been using just plain regular gas. I haven't noticed any issues and the car has run great. I guess I should read the manual.

Hmmm....that could do some damage over the long run. Give the manual a read or go to the mazdaspeed 6 forum and see what they say...they have a turbo engine. Enjoy your car and happy to see you getting 22 city!!!!

 

[THOUGHT OUT]

2nd tank report on MPG

After filling up the 2nd tank of this great vehicle with half 87 and the other half 93 octane. Yup that is right, I made the mistake of grabbing the 87, all the years in my guzzling trucks I never thought about it. So half way threw I remember that WE ARE SUPPOSED TO USE 91! I stopped the pump and continued with 93. So what does that equal? half 87 and half 93 = 90 close enough to 91 this time. Well my my last fill up was 93 and I am happier to report 16.75 MPG (14.xx on first tank) and this was about 30% highway (65mph).

Talk to you in a week or so...

 

[afrost59]

Okay so I shouldn't add to this B*&^% list however, I have filled up 2x's now and calculated at 14.48 miles/gallon, 1/2 highway.
Not happy at all with that. I think this should be brought to Mazda's attention, or do they really give a s#$%? I forked out the money for this and I LOVE IT! I am having so much fun, but I also thought 18 was terrible for city driving but I swallowed it and figured I could live with it. I didn't sign up for 14 mpg. Very dissapointed.
I can afford it! I just didn't expect it.

 

[1Sleepy93]

I'm averaging around 20mpg mostly city driving now with 3200mi on the clock.

 

[G-Papi]

I'm averaging around 20mpg mostly city driving now with 3200mi on the clock.

about the same here. I'm at 5600 mi.

 

[singlemalt_18]

Okay so I shouldn't add to this B*&^% list however, I have filled up 2x's now and calculated at 14.48 miles/gallon, 1/2 highway.
Not happy at all with that. I think this should be brought to Mazda's attention, or do they really give a s#$%? ... I didn't sign up for 14 mpg. Very dissapointed. I can afford it! I just didn't expect it.

I'm not sure what may be at issue here... Obviously, different driving styles & habits have an impact, but I think something else could be contributing to the sizeable variations in the mpg numbers some owners are experiencing???

I will be filling up for the 4th time tomorrow, and I believe I will be right on the high end of my 3-tank average of 19 mpg. I have been driving a mix of city/highway, AC on/off, and I have been a bit more aggressive than usual with acceleration at times to run thru the RPM band in my first 1500 miles.

On a percentage basis, the difference between 18-19 mpg, and 14 or less seems rather significant for what are essentially identical vehicles?

 

[cruzdreamer]

Numbers soon....

I will be filling it up for the first time myself in about two days, so I will post my numbers for that. It appears it may be getting 20-21mpg city. Stay tuned. Hey Mazdaspeed girl...the CX7 to me is the only car that would be the best transition for an RX 8 if you need the space. I am extremely happy with it...had it only 4 days now. I feel it drives better than my 8...except for the turning ratio and that is because it's a different type of vehicle and heavier. It feels so comfortable to drive and it's a great feeling to zoom past someone...in my automatic 8 it would hesitate big time so I did not have the confidence always to go ahead and zoom around and pass someone...the CX 7 has no problem...smooth and fast!!! Gas mileage will be better than the rotary!!!!! Already is!! Miata is a fun car!! As far as the RAV 4 it is just so blah in looks......no sportiness, fun factor. It's a good car and maybe a little faster off the line but no comparison from there on out!! Sounds like the AWD's are just getting a little worse gas mileage. Sorry to hear that but I think there's hope...let her break in some more!! Enjoy your rides everyone!

 

[CX7_Scott]

YIKES! I thought for SURE that I'd be getting better gas mileage than this... did my first calculation yesterday and it was 18.7mpg.

Not too impressed. I mean... I'm not a jack-rabbit driver. Slow, easy starts for me. I don't do a lot of passing on the highway... using the 91-octane... I expected better than being below 19mpg.

Will try again, but was expecting at LEAST 20-22 since 95% of my driving is highway for long periods.

bummer.

-scott

 

[cruzdreamer]

First numbers in...

My first tank was at 20.6 mpg city. Just average driving not too much of a lead foot. Trying to let her break in a bit. Not too bad as I was expecting around the 18-19 mpg mark.

 

[swank_x]

You all may not believe this, but I just got 27mpg for 90% highway driving (I currently have about 1000 miles on the CX-7).