A Real World Sports Car MPG Comparison
 

Since fuel economy is one of the greater complaints about the RX8, I thought I'd show the fuel economy per the new EPA model of some of the other sport/sporty cars on the road. Its kinda Interesting.

2007 RX8 Manual - 16 / 22 (I get more like 17 / 25 in real world driving)

2007 350Z Manual - 18/ 25

2006 Audi TT V6 Quattro - 17 /24 (there is no 2007 model)

2007 Honda S2000 - 18 /24

2007 G35 - 17 / 24

2007 WRX - 18 /25

2007 EVO - Not Available


Kinda interesting. Were really not that far off, and these numbers jive with many of my friends who have these cars. Just food for thought.

one thing to keep in mind just for fun too that I thought about is the fact that the Z has a 20.1 gallon fuel tank while we only have a 15.9 gallon tank.


Thats one more reason why a "miles per tank" figure sucks for our RX8.

My numbers:

14/22 with my RX-8. 14 mpg city with quite a bit of 3K shifting.

22 mixed (more LA traffic than highway) with my S2000. Didn't get to do a full tank on the highway yet. Knock on wood.

Heard the industry will have to undergo a new gov mileage test. All those numbers should drop if they are going for more accuracy.

it's the highway cruising gas mileage that's really biting the RX-8, we just can't run as lean as the pistons in low load highway driving mode

That is the new EPA test. These have dropped from before.

it seems most MPG just dropped by 2... their relative delta stays the same

Weird, my 8 averages around 20mpg. Lately it's been real bad, I think I may have dropped into the 16s today, but usually it's an easy 19-20.

Thats not a fair comparison. The 8 is underpowered to all those cars. That means a Z makes 50 more horsepower, but gets the same or better mileage. That is why the mpg sucks for our car. I would be happy to get 14mpg if my car made 300 horsepower.

Better than an SUV any day.

But that Lotus Elise still keeps calling my name....GO fast 0-60 4.1 sec and 25 to 29 MPG!

actually, the '07 350z gets 20/26, my cousin just got his. his fusion was totaled, and yeah.

-Cody

But the 8 handles and feels better—more responsive and lively—than those other cars. And that's because the Renesis is way smaller and lighter than the engines in those other cars.

Who says what you get in return for lower mileage HAS TO BE horsepower??? I'm happy to get only 18mpg if my car handles SO responsively with that light, agile responsive "feel" only the RX-8 has. And the way it revs to 9K so fast and so effortlessly—the only thing better is a sportsbike. What I get in exchange for mediocre mileage is way more enjoyable than mega-horsepower!

2007 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo 480hp - 16/ 23

I spent some time over on the lotus forums..

they gripe about some of the same things people here do..

For example: Practically speaking, a lotus is a 7 second car.. unless you eat the clutch on launch.

The grass is always greener on the other side...

Link to your info?
I'd like to see what some other cars get like the vette or t/a maybe even a lotus

Here's a couple of mine over the last 20 years or so;

74 Porsche 914 2.0 stock - 26 / 37 (55 limit back then, usually ran 65-70)
74 Porsche 914 2.2 with Webers & a few mods - 22 / 30
72 Lotus Europa 1.6 4 valve - 22 / 28
70 911S 2.2 Mechanical Injection - 20 / 30
85 928 Euro model manual - 16 / 21
86 944 Turbo 20 / 23
88 Fiero GT 3.4 liter + other mods - 22/30
94 Corvette 300 HP 6 speed - 18 / 24 (quickly dropped to 12 if you revved it much)
95 BMW 540 Wagon automatic - 16 / 23
97 Thunderbird (OK it's an old rainy day car we still have) 17 / 24
00 Chevy hightop conversion van 15 / 17
05 RX8 - 18/21 - (I rarely do any city driving in it)
07 Mazda5 24 / 28
07 CX7 AWD 18 / 24

I called a friend with a Lotus Esprit turbo V8 but forgot to ask him what year it was. He gets 15 / 25 but said a tank lasts him about 6 months.

The worst mileage I ever got was about 2 gallons per mile. That was in an MT5500 mining truck with a 360 ton load. :Freak_ani

Doesn't gasoline go to hell in 6 months ?

14mpg commuting in our RX-8. Never have done a full tank on the highway.

23-25 commuting in the S2000; over 30 in pure highway driving. 9mpg on the track.

Don't kid yourself; the RX-8 has gruesome gas mileage compared to practically any other small car.