Yea! Another MPG question!!!

[bond007taz]

well kind of...

I just got my CX-7 and was wondering if I should drive the living crap out of it while it is using its first tank of gas?

I did this with my 2004 Grand Prix and my 2006 Ford Taurus and it they both seemed to be very responsive when I accelerated from a complete stop.

I know that I am supposed to "drive it like I stole it" but just wanted to get your thoughts

 

[erhayes]

To drive it like you stole it is stupid IMO unless you don't want to keep the car very long. Your owners manual has a few comments. I sell my vehicles with 125,000 + and one at 197,000 miles without any major problems or oil consumption issues. I drive a new car normally by not jamming it nor babying it. I don't use cruse control and no full throttle although some medium heavy 10 second runs in the upper gears to seat the rings. Since most manufactures use a heavy load of moly or other anti-scuff ingredients on some parts it is not good to do an early oil drain. I do my first at ~2500 miles and again at 6,000 miles. Your car to do as you wish of course but, the above is what has served me very well. Ed

 

[bond007taz]

Thanks for the advice. I havent been pushing this car too hard because it is my car that I forked over the cash for, the other 2 cars were company cars (lol2)

 

[wongster]

well when i first got it.. i actually drove it like a stole it.. now 25k km later.. no problems with the cx7.... it still drives healthy...

 

[bond007taz]

good to know, thanks for posting - Got my turbo badge last night I got it put on today!

 

[Mazda Lover]

To drive it like you stole it is stupid IMO unless you don't want to keep the car very long. Your owners manual has a few comments. I sell my vehicles with 125,000 + and one at 197,000 miles without any major problems or oil consumption issues. I drive a new car normally by not jamming it nor babying it. I don't use cruse control and no full throttle although some medium heavy 10 second runs in the upper gears to seat the rings. Since most manufactures use a heavy load of moly or other anti-scuff ingredients on some parts it is not good to do an early oil drain. I do my first at ~2500 miles and again at 6,000 miles. Your car to do as you wish of course but, the above is what has served me very well. Ed

+1. The only people who advocate this is are people who 1) rebuild engines for a living (I wonder why), 2) want the most horsepower immediately from a vehicle, or 3) a combination of 1 & 2. Anyone who seeks longevity does not recommend the "drive it like you stole it" break-in.

 

[Osidecaliguy]

WOO HOO! 28MPG on the way to Vegas baby. I was doing anywhere from 80 to 85 most of the way. I did notice that around 83 I was able to let off the gas and still maintain a consistant speed. I think that is just about the area that the turbo kicks in. It was a beautiful thing. (cabpatch)

 

[erhayes]

WOW 28 mpg at 80-85 mph is awesome but, almost believable. Ed

 

[07LiquidCX7]

WOW 28 mpg at 80-85 mph is awesome but, almost believable. Ed

x2...

My manual 323ci BMW gets 32 mpg highway but thats at 68mph not 80-85. Did you do anything to the CX to get better mileage? Best i've gotten out of the wife's is 21mpg city. No roadtrips yet, one coming this weekend though.

 

[Alpha Wolf]

To drive it like you stole it is stupid IMO unless you don't want to keep the car very long. Your owners manual has a few comments. I sell my vehicles with 125,000 + and one at 197,000 miles without any major problems or oil consumption issues. I drive a new car normally by not jamming it nor babying it. I don't use cruse control and no full throttle although some medium heavy 10 second runs in the upper gears to seat the rings. Since most manufactures use a heavy load of moly or other anti-scuff ingredients on some parts it is not good to do an early oil drain. I do my first at ~2500 miles and again at 6,000 miles. Your car to do as you wish of course but, the above is what has served me very well. Ed

I joking list that phrase in my signature but I intended that phrase for broke in engines.

Back when I built and drag raced cars you could not put 3,000 easy miles on them before racing. Normally you had 1 or 2 test days before the first race so I did hammer it and the rings set etc but we occasionally had cams or lifters fail and had to rebuild the engine. But I was looking to go 1 season per engine which I routinely did. But that is not that many miles 1/4 mile at a shot.

I drove mine easily and changed my oil at 500 miles on a new engine to remove the metal that has come off asap and not to leave it in suspension and possible damaging parts and then again at 2,500 miles. Oil changes are cheap insurance.

 

[1Sleepy93]

I drove moderately hard for the first couple hundred miles and then proceeded to drive like I would most of the time. Which is fairly aggressive to say the least. Also I made sure it was mostly city miles so it would constantly go throughout the rev range.

I average 26-28mpg on the highway depending on how frisky I get.

 

[Osidecaliguy]

I havent done anything to my CX-7 other then run synthetic oil. I have a Touring AWD. I almost couldnt believe it myself.(wow) This is the second run that I have made out to vegas. The first time I only had roughly 1000 miles on my car. This time I had close to 10,000. Keep in mind this is only going out to Vegas from San Diego. On the return trip I am barely get 23. I dont know how many of you have the opportunity to drive 80 ~ 85 consistantly for 3 to 4 hours but it was nice. I tried to keep my RPM's right at or above 2500. At that speed and RPM range I didnt have the pedal down hardly at all. I am going to replace the intake kit and see what kind of results I get. I should be making another run out to Vegas soon.

 

[Rick's CX-7]

My best MPGs was on a trip from SA, TX to Waynesville, MO....29MPGs at 78-80mph.

Doing the same trip soon.....I'll report back what I get.

 

[4MazdaFamily]

I joined this forum just to ask this question.. how are people getting such good mileage? I'm lucky to get 16 MPG and usually am closer to 14-15 MPG..
My drive consists of going through my neighborhood and a small street, then on to a highway for about 3-4 miles and then onto another highway for another 3-4 miles followed by about 3-4 miles of 45 MPH road that I drive at about 60. I go into work at a little after 5:00 AM, so traffic isn't much of an issue. I've tried turning on my cruise to keep my speed at 65 or so and if I don't I'll drive closer to 75-80 on the highway and sometimes even faster..

I think my problem is I have a little too much fun driving the car and I absolutely LOVE smoking cars that don't see it coming.. Nothing like sitting at a light by a Maxima, 3 series or something like that and leaving them in the dust. They usually try to pick it up when they see me taking off, but by then it's too late and their ego takes a little hit..

So is that my problem? My CX-7 has not quite 5K miles on it so far and is mostly a to and from work vehicle.

 

[CX-7owner]

It's probably the left foot, the CX-7 goes into boost very easy, so you really have to take it easy to get great MPG, and MPG gets progressively better over the miles.

 

[4MazdaFamily]

That's kinda what I figured... oh well, one day I'll learn to drive slow, maybe....