Saving fuel on CX9

With the talk about the high gas consumption of this vehicle I was a little worried. Especially since this is my first "family" vehicle after driving a long line of sports cars - I figured I'd really have to lay into it to appease my need for speed. As it turns out, my driving style has changed and I find I am reasonably easy on the gas. With this new driving style I did my first test to see the mileage this tank and got 13.45l/100k in virtually all city driving. (That works out to 17.5mpg for you Americans). While I'm sure this would be reduced if I drove it like I stole it, I found those figures pretty respectible considering our Canadian government rates it at 14.5l/100k (or 16.2mpg). I should also mention that while I have AWD, I also have the 2007 3.5l which I believe is a bit better on fuel.

I think when people compare this vehicle they might be doing so against brand new vehicles which typically get better mileage. But for a vehicle which was designed for 2007 and weighs some 4500 pounds, I think the mileage is very reasonable. Heck, my little itsy bitsy 99 Boxster I recently sold was epa rated at 15mpg in town, and poor mileage was never considered an issue with that car according to many forums I read. You could say - sure... but it's a sports car and not expected to get good mileage. That sounds logical until you consider the boxster only has 200 horsepower, weighs only 2800 pounds, seats 2 as opposed to 7, and gets 0-60 in 6.7 seconds... only a second quicker than the CX9.
 
I've found turning the trip computer onto the instant mpg feature helps me drive a little better. I accelerate a lot more slowly now, as I can see what is good/bad behavior by the readout.

...Then gas prices drop below $4/gallon and I'm back to my old ways :)
 
I've found turning the trip computer onto the instant mpg feature helps me drive a little better. I accelerate a lot more slowly now, as I can see what is good/bad behavior by the readout.

...Then gas prices drop below $4/gallon and I'm back to my old ways :)

(boom01)Oh No, $2.00 per gallon! With the GOVT assistance they get for research (100% reimbursement), and the allowance of speculation by our GOVT, the prices should stay between $2 and $3 per gallon. We consumers actually can drive the market (consumption gets low, prices drop), and we are letting the the speculators and the oil Co's drive the market. Stinks to high heaven!(whistle)
 
Best way to save is to go with slightly higher PSI, loose any crap your carrying around in the vehicle, regular maintenance, try the new line of tires with low rolling resistance like Pirelli Verde tires and gun the thing until cruising speed as much as you can. That actually saves MPG over a light foot. BMW proved that in their research. Taking your time getting up to 45mph actually wastes more gas then gunning it to 45mph. Another thing that can help is oil. Try using a high grade 100% synthetic oil. I use Pentosin High 5W-30, made in Germany. Or you can use Mobil 1 5W-20 but I have found the car to run much better and quitter off Synthetic 5W-30. Other than that nothing else will help.
 
Got a link to the BMW research? Sounds interesting.

Best MPG is achieved in top gear, but I doubt that flooring it at every stop light until you get to cruising speed is the best way to maximize fuel economy. The sweet spot is probably somewhere in between grandpa and Mario Andretti.
 
Alfissimoint's comments are well-known in Prius forum.
That is why Prius' Akinson gas engine when fired up maintains at 3k-4k rpm, at which it generates max torque.
When a gas engine generates max torque it is at its max efficiency. This is true for accelerating.

i.e. when you accelerate at max torque rpm to your desired speed, then maintain
that speed to cruise along, you get max fuel efficiency. That was the theory I heard.
 
That's what a continuously variable transmission (CVT) will attempt to do.
 
Trade that sucker in.

I would If I could... but since I've just bought mine few months ago (not even a year) and its still on loan (payout >>>> trade in value) I think I will keep it for a while...

Speaking of Prius, I'm currently interested on the Prius V (7 seaters) that they will release in Australia next month. Hmmmm...
 
When it comes to Prius, any variants of Prius, definitely do a few test-drives thoroughly.
Prius is not a happy machine to drive fast or on highway (due to side-wind and narrow wheel-base)
or corner quickly (the rear end hops, thanks to poor chassis and suspension).
In short, Prius is not for people who enjoy driving. It is for people who just want to go from Point A to
Point B while saving fuel.

P.S. we have one in our garage. My wife's car.
 
Welcome, smokey! I see you are a Bostonian as well. That is realistic MPG from this car. I still get close to what you get now with 10k on the odo.


im getting 14.5 mixed city/highway driving and i only got 300 miles on the odo!
 
hmm.. we get around 17 mixed about 50/50 city and freeway driving. 2011 AWD Touring. It's not quite as good as I was expecting, but I figured 18mpg would be about best I could hope for so it's not too far off. And I would expect in line with a Pilot, MDX or Highlander which are the closest competitors. The new Explorer might get 18-19 in the same mixed driving, which would be better - but not worth swapping cars over at this point. And it beats the 13-14 we got with the BMW 4.6is 350hp V8 X5!!
 
Welcome, smokey! I see you are a Bostonian as well. That is realistic MPG from this car. I still get close to what you get now with 10k on the odo.

#bostonstrong

Im getting 15.7 avg now and odometer is at 2700. I noticed a difference in mpg when i fill her up with 89/93 as opposed to 87.
 
#bostonstrong

Im getting 15.7 avg now and odometer is at 2700. I noticed a difference in mpg when i fill her up with 89/93 as opposed to 87.

That is likely just coincidence. Higher octane should not make a difference if the engine isn't recommended to take higher octane--and even if it did, you end up spending more money on higher octane to save money on mpg...
 
Probably due to mileage on the vehicle. It will go up slightly once the engine gets broken in. Brand new motors are really tight.
 
In CA, fuel is being changed to summer formula from winter's.
I have a ScanGauge. Over the years, I am used to adjusting the % from summer to winder, then summer.
The difference is close to 5%. Winter formula is bad for MPG.
 
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