disappointed in MPG

[Excoastie]

Hi folks:

The kid and I recently went on an (almost) 400 mile round trip to help out with belt testing for one of the other schools in the our karate federation.

I've noted more or less about 32 MPG around town, which I've been very happy with. On the trip to Texas (we're in northwestern Louisiana) I only got 37 MPG and it was about 98% highway. I was cruising along about 70 MPH with the cruise set where possible (about 95% of the time). I was in "normal" mode except for a few times when I switched over to "sport" in order to merge on to another road in heavy traffic, but this was for short periods of time (less than a mile), and I didn't really do anything crazy, maybe just stretched out 3rd and 4th gear a little bit. For the most part I tried to keep the RPMs below 3000.

Granted it only cost me $22 round trip, and I drove around for an additional week before filling up again after I got back, so it was considerably cheaper than driving my Ram 1500. I think on my next road trip, damn the cost I'm gonna take the Ram, it's much more comfortable, has more room, and doesn't have a sign on the front saying "cut me off" or "try to kill me"

Exco

[terrysmith22]

On the freeway, I always use econ mode, then around town its sport mode. Normal is rather pointless.

In its life mine is bang on 40mpg - yes OK it could be better for a hybrid, but I do drive it hard sometimes and its good fun - just could do with a little more power.

[psu2k5]

I made a similar trip and wasn't worried about speed so put the cruise on 65, the speed limit here, was in ECON mode and got 47.5 MPG.

Of course I was in the right-lane almost the whole time but was going for max MPG over length of time in the car.

[Neutron256]

I don't do much highway driving myself, but I suspect the 70mph speed is what did it. 5 to 10 mph can = a huge difference in effeciency.

[ocorreia]

How long have you had your car? Your mpg will improve with your mileage.

I've had my CRZ for 1 year (~ 10,000 km) and at the moment I'm having an average of 5.5 l/100km (~ 42 US mpg). In town, I mostly drive in eco mode and like an old lady and I don't get any worse than 6 lphk ~ 39 mpg). Sometimes on the motorway, I drive like a maniac on sport mode, and still will get something like 5.7 lphk (~ 41 mpg).

I always shift up as soon as possible (below or around 2,000 rpm) and on the motorway I let the car lose speed going up a hill. I also try to adjust my speed according to the instant mpg, even if it means going at 80 km/h (~ 50 mph) on the motorway. I don't have cruise control and I seldom drive the car at a constant speed on the motorways (no flat terrains around!).

[Jayemtee]

A little extra tire pressure will help too. Bump the tires up 10 psi and do some tests at different speeds. You might be surprised.

[Excoastie]

Originally Posted by ocorreia

How long have you had your car? Your mpg will improve with your mileage.

I filled up yesterday and the mileage was 1801, so I don't have much on the clock as of now. I hope that you're right that the mileage will improve as the miles rack up.

I was getting similar mileage with my '08 Civic Si on the highway (~35 MPG).

I can't do the econ mode... I've tried. There just seems to be too much lag and have the urge to get out and push. I also can't seem to get the gas/ clutch coordination down either... I stall more often than not. I've tried using econ on short runs on the highway and I can't seem to maintain speed, even with cruise set, there is a difference of almost 3 MPH and after awhile my son starts to get motion sick, at least in either norm or sport the set speed is maintained for the most part, even on most hills.

Exco

[jcramin]

Well I can tell you this, at 75-90 MPH you will only get 30-31mpg on long trips.
Went Memphis to St Louis and back 300 miles each way. Got 31mpg both directions. but I never really went slower than 75 MPH. I have a 6MT trans. NOW I did reset the MPG at one point and drove about 62 MPH for about 20 minutes (thats all I could handle that slow) and I got 42mpg.

[GoHuskies]

On my roadtrip to FL I never got any higher than 35 mpg doing 75-80 MPH.

Sounds normal. Most cars fall of a cliff so to speak after passing 65 MPH. I remember for my former Civic Hybrid one owner did a very detailed speed test on the same stretch of LA roadway where he measured fuel economy with cruise control. Maximum mpg was in the 50 MPH range slightly decreasing up until 62 MPH where it began dropping substantially.

[ShazzNADES]

I average 44-45 mpg on the freeway with speeds of 70-80 (rarely 80, usually drive around 73-75) no cruise control in a 6MT. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my mods though.

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