Wtf mpg!

[fathergene]

Ok, well I am new here and to the mazda brand. I bought a 02 p5 with 160k on it and I just filled up for the second time and I only got 23mpg! No mods to my knowledge other than a HKS intake and mazdaspeed exhaust. Is this normal for a engine with this much mileage or what could be the cause of this? I drive nicely for socal standards, commute at about 70-75 mph. Any help or ideas would be great, thanks.

 

[Justin2129]

check alignment, air filter, tire pressure to start off with

 

[fathergene]

alignment (drives straight with no hands on wheel), air filter (just cleaned it this weekend), tire pressure (tires changed last month and none are low). any other ideas? it does smoke on startup and I think that the valve need adjusted, little lifter tapping sound.

 

[PRO5.REL]

TUNE UP!?!?! well it is 160k might need one if you havent yet

 

[fathergene]

I just got the car last weekend, I plan on checking the valve for proper adjustment this weekend. While I have the valve cover off I am going to take a peek a the plugs too. I just changed the oil and tranny gear oil last weekend. Is there anything else I should look at on these cars for a tune up?

 

[Pmpkinhead]

I've been at 23/24 for 3 years! No mods!

 

[MAZDA_SPEED]

highway or city?

 

[Pmpkinhead]

highway or city?

I do about 50/50, maybe a lil' more highway. And I buy only Premium!

 

[HighSpeed]

My MSP gets 32-34 mpg, stock engine.....but I had the factory reflash.

 

[destineal]

My MSP gets 32-34 mpg, stock engine.....but I had the factory reflash.

reflashed and saw 31mpg once granny driving.

 

[Pmpkinhead]

Mine was flashed before I took delivery!

 

[thecrash91]

hands down MSP gets WAYYY better mileage then P5, after owning both i can say this. guess a turbo does a lot for the engine even when your not going into boost

 

[destineal]

Turbos offer better fuel economy, provided you don't have a lead foot......I do.

 

[The ManLaw]

i have a slightly longer list of mods than you do and even with winter gas and being an idiot with the pedal i still see ~29-31mpg....but i do keep everything pretty much new in my engine. honestly, spark plugs helped a lot but the best thing to get me a bump in MPG was the MP3 ecu. i was seeing maybe 26 before that. check it out, you can find one for like $150 or so. does require 93.

 

[tweety2300]

Our cars use shims so can't adjust the lifters to my knowledge. For some reson I get better milage not taking interstate... I get about 22 to 24 mpg on istate and 24-28 keeping it under 55 its mostly the way they're geared I'm sure you've noticed. If you do adjust the lifter please tell me how I've got one ticking as well. A tuneup probly would help I got 2mpg by switching to royal purple oil but it was also way over due for an oil change.

 

[Hank3]

I've had my P5 since May '10 and have been averaging close to 31 MPG after 26 fill-ups. If it's strictly city driving, it'll usually be right between 28-30 MPG. Best was my 36.6 MPG tank. Car currently is right under 80K miles and is completely stock.

 

[Justin2129]

maybe it's just your driving style. i changed mine to be more fuel efficient and now i average ~33 under normal conditions

 

[pasadena_commut]

Ok, well I am new here and to the mazda brand. I bought a 02 p5 with 160k on it and I just filled up for the second time and I only got 23mpg! No mods to my knowledge other than a HKS intake and mazdaspeed exhaust. Is this normal for a engine with this much mileage or what could be the cause of this? I drive nicely for socal standards, commute at about 70-75 mph. Any help or ideas would be great, thanks.

Manual gets better MPG than does the automatic. Not much difference on the highway but at least 3MPG difference in the city.

It has been cold lately in California, so you have probably been driving with your heater and/or defroster on. That will automatically start the A/C compressor to keep the car from fogging up. Running the A/C full time is not so great for your MPG. MPG is somewhat proportional to temperature, so when it is cold, lower MPG. Our Civic Hybrid normally gets around 42 MPG in all suburban driving, but because of these effects the last few weeks have only seen around 35.

70-75 mph is faster than the optimal speed for MPG, so you will be burning off a couple of MPG because of that. (Google, there are charts around showing typical MPG vs. MPH curves.) How long is your drive? Short drives give terrible fuel economy because the car spends little or no time fully warmed up. (MPG when it is running "open loop" is poor.) Are you really averaging 75MPH or because of typical CA traffic are you oscillating between 30 and 75? You will loose some MPG because of that too.

Since you just bought the car do change the oil (who knows what is in there now), check all the fluids, especially the transmission fluids, and check the tire pressure.

 

[shane02pro5]

You need to mod the s*** out of it and tune it properly unlike mazda did!

I can get anywhere from 8mpg-35mpg

 

[tweety2300]

Please say ur joking bout the 8... I ran this piss out of my 86 pontiac and worst I got was about 12 with a 305 v8. But I got a heavy foot sometimes if I drove it like a granny I cld prob squeeze 30mpg outa mine in warmer weather. Its averaging 27 now and half its driving time lately is in below 25. My precat being bad probly doesn't help any either...