Spectre5

First off, I know these threads have been posted before...but I want any suggestions with my specific problem...

I have no idea why, but my gas mileage is incredibly BAD! I have been driving it very, very lightly with no racing at all. I don't even go over the speed limit anymore (damn ticket). I drive it very nicely...

But the last few times I filled up, I go LESS THAN 13 MPG! I know these are good numbers as I have actually logged the miles and number of gallons each time I go to the gas station and computed these!

The car is actually an '05, but I bought it from a dealer about a month ago with just 92 miles on it (it was just used for showing at some other dealer that went out of business before). Now it has just over 1500 miles and my gas mileage has gotten worse every time I've filled it up. First few times it was about 18...than 16, 15.....and now under 13.

I checked the oil, it's clean and full. I use only premium gas, mostly from Arco.

Are there any specific suggestions for me to increase the gas mileage?!?! Is Arco bad, or something? This is incredibly frustrating as I almost didn't buy the car when I found out it would get only 18 MPG....but 13, this is just ridiculous now.

BTW, many (but not all....) of the miles are from a short work commute that involves no freeways, just highways and a few lights.

Spectre5

Also, what is the "ideal" shifting RPM at for this car? It is manual, so when is it best to shift for best mileage? I know high revs use lots of gas of course, but I think shifting to early may be bad too....what is the ideal RPM to have the car at for best mileage?

mac11

iTrader: (1)

Found your problem.

Spectre5

I know...but the 18 MPG I was quoted for was for city driving.....supposed to be 22 on highways/freeways...

Transam kid 01

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a problem with your pistons. I would have that checked out and if they can't fix the problem...buy a different car with the equivilent displacement and enjoy the good MPG.


Or...just deal with the fact that this car is teh suxorz with MPG, especially in the city.

Spectre5

If I could go back and get a different car right now I would, but it's a little to late for that now, I can't afford that haha

If I could have gotten 18 MPG I'd be fine, but this is just crazy...dang thing depreciates so quick though that I'd lose way to much returning it....especially since I found out that the dealer ripped me off so badly already

Spectre5

Also, not sure if this matters or not, but the car is just the basic model, no touring packages or anything.

thanks for any input!

Spectre5

I keep remembering new things to add for anyone that actually read all of this...

I don't use the AC or put the windows down when I drive. I just listen to CD's and have no extra weight in the car....literally I'm the only thing in the car...nothing in trunk or back seats, etc, etc....

mac11

iTrader: (1)

quit babying it, run the a/c. enjoy the car and its features, what you are doing now is not helping any (obviously) so you may as well be comfortable. see what happens. Driving hard generally doesn't decrease my mileage until you start talking about putting the car on the track. Premix, see if that does anything for you.

KoHC

Try different gas station. I always get bad mileage with Arco's gas for some reason.

Rems31

If you sit at a traffic light/idling you'll be using gas and getting no miles, thus reducing your mileage. Also hard acceleration will kill your mileage as well so it's not only the speed you travel, but how fast you get to that speed. Do you do hard braking in traffic or do you coast and let the car slow down by itself?

rotten42

OMG....another MPG thread but like all the rest, this one is different.


F*ck!

New Yorker

It goes without saying that the car loves to be revved, and it's lots of fun to drive it that way. But if you really want better mileage—I mean really—try Mazda's recommended shift points:

Accelerating:
1st to 2nd: 14 mph
2nd to 3rd: 22 mph
3rd to 4th: 29 mph
4th to 5th: 36 mph
5th to 6th: 46 mph

Cruising:
1st to 2nd: 14 mph
2nd to 3rd: 21 mph
3rd to 4th: 28 mph
4th to 5th: 35 mph
5th to 6th: 42 mph

Now, two things to keep in mind. First, if you try those shift points, obviously you'll be driving very leisurely, like an old man. (A very old man.) And second, many believe it's important to rev high and regularly redline the engine to help keep the engine healthy. So what I do is this…

• Redline it at least once a day (some days, a few times a day).
• Drive in upper RPMs (4K-7K) a couple of minutes, several times a day.
• Follow Mazda's boring shift points when I'm not in a hurry and when no one's behind me. Doing all that, with about 40% City/60% Highway, I average between 17 - 20 mpg. Typically about 18 mpg.

RX8-Frontier

Seemingly stupid question, but have you checked your air filter? A sudden drop in gas mileage means something is wrong... Especially if you haven't changed the way you drive. Air filter is the first place I always start with.

mac11

iTrader: (1)

with 1500 miles on the car I would think he would have had to have sucked up some sort of animal into the air filter.

MazdaMonkey

Could be the Arco gas. I have never hit any less than 15 or 16 mpg with aggressive city driving. My gas mileage definitely improved the more miles I put on the engine.

Probably not good that the car was sitting around for a couple of years with no one driving it/changing the oil before you bought it. Especially if had the same tank of gas the whole time... Don’t know if that will affect gas mileage though.

124Spider

Gawd....

Your gas mileage is exactly what one should expect from this car with your driving pattern.

It sucks. But it's no secret. Deal with it....

Spinning Sushi

iTrader: (21)

Heh, I'm getting roughly 13-14 and I don't care. I blame myself for the fuel economy of the car....

mikeferz42

13 is really low. i drive my car in stop n go traffic (california freeways d'oh), and i don't baby it but i still get 17 mpg on the worst days. your mpg shouldn't be that low. i use shell 91, 89 occasionally and i seldom use the a/c. i shift at 3700 rpm and redline it once every couple of days.

do you warm up your car for a long period of time?
do you drive uphill?
extra weight on the car?
tire pressure at about 31-32 psi?

alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

Hahahaha

Socket7

Something is wrong. Probably something related to sitting in a showroom for so long. Take it in and get it looked at. It should be under warranty. right?

I got 15mpg on my first tank of gas I attribute this to being A: the engine breaking in and B: My inexperience in driving stick.

I now get 17-19mpg. I usually goose it up to 7500-9000rpm on highway onramps and 5000-6000 RPM when accelerating on surface streets. Once i reach the speed i want, i upshift until the engine is running about 3000RPM.

Running at 4000RPM on the highway gets me around 19mpg and 72mph, with acceleration not unlike a honda accord (but who cares, I can always down shift to pass)

Does it have the latest engine management firmware?

zoned

I drive about 60% city, only live about 2 miles from work. the things that i have done to increase my mileage:

1: Clean the air filter, i have a K&N drop in, but couldnt tell you if it gets me better mileage
2. Clean the MAF ( be really careful if you do this, they arent cheap, use MAF sensor cleaner)
3. Run Shell gas 93 octane only (i get way better mileage with this brand)

4. i run the Lucas UCL, seems to help the idling and maybe mileage

5. i ran the lucas octane booster in it and got 315 miles to a tank of gas, granted it was 80% highway on that trip

6. stay under 3750 rpms

i still redline it once a day and mix it up with some high revving

Spectre5

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone, I'll try some of them out...if nothing works I'll bring it to the dealer and ask them why it is so bad.

Sitting at the dealer for 2 years could definitely mess it up, but the first tank of gas was one of the best mileage tanks I got (mostly freeways though).

I've heard a few people mention that Arco gives worse mileage since I posted this thread, so I plan to switch to Shell or Chevron premium soon and see if that helps as well!

Thanks for the suggestions. And I don't ONLY like to drive slow for all you that seem to think so....I love driving fast and revving high....but most of the time I drive it is just a short drive to work with no chance to rev it up. I might as well get the best mileage I can while not driving the car "as it's meant to be driven". I guess I better start redlining it every day or two now though...But don't want another ticket either I have a feeling that if I tell the cop I need to redline to help my engine, he won't take it as a valid excuse...unless maybe he has an RX-8 haha

New Yorker

Don't forget, you can redline it in 1st (or 2nd) and not worry about speeding tickets.

RotaryP7

I get 13 mpg too and you don't see me complaining..