Saving fuel on CX9
- Thread starter denot
- Start date
That's unfortunately about right for all city driving. Horrible, isn't it?
Apart from reducing weight (don't carry stuff you don't need), you're stuck. I've tried changing my driving style with the car (i.e. nice and easy acceleration, rarely mashing down the pedal), and didn't see much of an improvement. Look up "hypermiling" on the internet to get all kinds of tips, some of them wacky, but in all honesty they won't matter that much. This car is a heavy beast, and the beast likes gas. I don't think you'd find anything much more efficient in that same weight class, apart from a hybrid.
Apart from reducing weight (don't carry stuff you don't need), you're stuck. I've tried changing my driving style with the car (i.e. nice and easy acceleration, rarely mashing down the pedal), and didn't see much of an improvement. Look up "hypermiling" on the internet to get all kinds of tips, some of them wacky, but in all honesty they won't matter that much. This car is a heavy beast, and the beast likes gas. I don't think you'd find anything much more efficient in that same weight class, apart from a hybrid.
The oem holes in the bottom of the airbox, I drilled them larger, much larger. Put a K & N drop-in filter in, and have tried running my z-rated (low drag) tires around 40psi, removed the oem hitch, and all that does next to nothing to improve mpg.
91/92/93 octane might improve fuel economy....anyone tried that?
91/92/93 octane might improve fuel economy....anyone tried that?
I drove a '07 Ford Escape AWD hybrid for 4 years and applied hypermiling techniques yielding respectable MPGs. The gains were in city driving using a scan gauge to monitor battery charge and stay in battery mode as much as possible. Using pulse and glide so regen brakes could maintain charge. I moved out of the city to the rural mountains where 90% of my driving is 60+ MPH so the MPG fell off fast, yielding around 25 MPG so there was no advantage in having a hybrid, plus I exhausted all my tax credits so I sold it.
There isn't much you can do to improve MPG in the CX-9. It's a 5,000 lb boxy vehicle with an old school V-6. The best you can do is keep the load as light possible and try not to start and stop as often. One thing I learned from driving a hybrid is to read traffic better. keep your speed consistent so your not at the traffic lights waiting for it to change and having to start from a dead stop. slow down before the light and coast up to it. Also, invest in a scan gauge as it gives more accurate information than the factory gauges.
There isn't much you can do to improve MPG in the CX-9. It's a 5,000 lb boxy vehicle with an old school V-6. The best you can do is keep the load as light possible and try not to start and stop as often. One thing I learned from driving a hybrid is to read traffic better. keep your speed consistent so your not at the traffic lights waiting for it to change and having to start from a dead stop. slow down before the light and coast up to it. Also, invest in a scan gauge as it gives more accurate information than the factory gauges.
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- 2022 CX-5 Turbo
I drove my wife's Prius for its first 3 yrs (yes, for the HOV access) to save commute time by 15 minutes each day.
I learnt all the pulse-n-glide also.
Timing the red lights is probably the most effective way to cut down MPG on city driving.
Each acceleration gives you 5-7 mpg. (Scangauge shows that clearly)
Also, idling on red lights hurts MPG also.
Plan more right-turns than left turns whenever possible if distances are similar.
Try to maintain at 42mph+ when CX9's transmission puts you at 6th gear to cruise.
I learnt all the pulse-n-glide also.
Timing the red lights is probably the most effective way to cut down MPG on city driving.
Each acceleration gives you 5-7 mpg. (Scangauge shows that clearly)
Also, idling on red lights hurts MPG also.
Plan more right-turns than left turns whenever possible if distances are similar.
Try to maintain at 42mph+ when CX9's transmission puts you at 6th gear to cruise.
Denot - where are you located? Australia? What are the temps like?
On a Honda Pilot forum, I saw someone reporting very poor mileage and it turned out they lived in a cold region and were letting the car idle in the morning to let it warm up. Like Ceric said, the car will run rich while coming up to normal temp. The correct way to warm up a car is to start the engine and drive using easy acceleration.
I doubt this is your issue if you're in Aus, but worth mentioning anyway.
On a Honda Pilot forum, I saw someone reporting very poor mileage and it turned out they lived in a cold region and were letting the car idle in the morning to let it warm up. Like Ceric said, the car will run rich while coming up to normal temp. The correct way to warm up a car is to start the engine and drive using easy acceleration.
I doubt this is your issue if you're in Aus, but worth mentioning anyway.
Unless you're driving your car like you stole it, there might be something wrong with the car. I live in NYC and spend a good deal of time in stop and go city traffic. In all-city driving I've never gotten less than 16 mpg and on all-highway trips I've gotten as high as 22 mpg. I'm pretty diligent about tracking mpg each time I fill up (although I've found that the trip computer is pretty accurate...never more than .5 mpg too high). Most tanks I get 18-19 mpg in mixed driving.
With the CX-9 (as with any car) your driving style is the single biggest contributor to fuel efficiency. I generally drive pretty casually without much hard acceleration or hard braking. They say that if you drive as if you have a cup of water on the dash you will keep things smooth and steady and maximize efficiency. I usually have my greyhound in the cargo area and she likes to sleep but gets up every time there's a hard stop or other quick maneuver. My trick is to keep her asleep and I think that pays off in fuel efficiency as well.
With the CX-9 (as with any car) your driving style is the single biggest contributor to fuel efficiency. I generally drive pretty casually without much hard acceleration or hard braking. They say that if you drive as if you have a cup of water on the dash you will keep things smooth and steady and maximize efficiency. I usually have my greyhound in the cargo area and she likes to sleep but gets up every time there's a hard stop or other quick maneuver. My trick is to keep her asleep and I think that pays off in fuel efficiency as well.
If you're getting 16 mpg in all-city driving, then something is wrong with YOUR car! We get about 16 in mixed driving, and maybe 22 on the highway. I think my wife had once calculated something like 12 mpg during a week where she had to drive in town a lot, red light to red light, that's what I call all-city driving.
I'm not that upset about the mpg, even minivans get bad mileage.
All this talk of gas milege makes me even more thankful my commute is about a mile and a half 
Even in my 5.4l F150 I can usually go a month between fillups. Wifey works from her home office, so no commute there, but she does all her running around in the 9. Probably close to 2 tanks a month for her.
Even in my 5.4l F150 I can usually go a month between fillups. Wifey works from her home office, so no commute there, but she does all her running around in the 9. Probably close to 2 tanks a month for her.
Ok just fill him (yes my car is a "He") up today, and the meter on the car said "15.2L/100kms" (15.48MPG), but when I calculate manually, its actually 16.8L/100kms (14MPG) this is due to me driving on a motorway on the weekend (almost no traffic at all).
Not sure how you "manage" your footing, but releasing the brake and touch the pedal a bit already give me 40L/100kms (4.88MPG) on the meter, and as you need to speed up from 10km/h, it builds to 99.9L/100kms (max reading on the meter - 2.35MPG) and then down to around 30L/100kms (7.84MPG - after change gear). Then after I release the pedal and hold on the current speed, it goes down to 11-15ish (21-15MPG).
Oh and Note: my comute is around 30kms (18.64Miles) a day on almost 90% bumper to bumper and full of red light traffic. And have to go around and climb up and down a big hill for a few times a day to find a parking spot.
Not sure how you "manage" your footing, but releasing the brake and touch the pedal a bit already give me 40L/100kms (4.88MPG) on the meter, and as you need to speed up from 10km/h, it builds to 99.9L/100kms (max reading on the meter - 2.35MPG) and then down to around 30L/100kms (7.84MPG - after change gear). Then after I release the pedal and hold on the current speed, it goes down to 11-15ish (21-15MPG).
Oh and Note: my comute is around 30kms (18.64Miles) a day on almost 90% bumper to bumper and full of red light traffic. And have to go around and climb up and down a big hill for a few times a day to find a parking spot.
Last edited:
LexustoMazda
Member
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- 2008 Mazda CX-9 GT Awd
^denot
There isn't much you can do on reducing the fuel consumption of your 9. Stop & go traffic, especially combined with climbing hills will kill fuel consumption on every car. You could trade your car to a prius if you want better fuel consumption
just kidding 
There isn't much you can do on reducing the fuel consumption of your 9. Stop & go traffic, especially combined with climbing hills will kill fuel consumption on every car. You could trade your car to a prius if you want better fuel consumption
just kidding 
