DOMINION

Yeah all I use now is Shell. What works for my love works for me too.
Wow 152 miles. I remember when I was counting the 50 miles 100 miles now I only count every 100 miles.

Old Rotor

"Drdiabloco".....I have done tanks at 55,65,75mph. I feel that takes SELF-CONTROL. Have you tried to keep at those lower speeds for hundreds of miles. First off the speed limit is 70mph(most people are doing 80). Its hard to find a group of trucks to lead that will go that slow. I have had seven rotarys and I was curious what the 8 could do at best on hwy. Normaly I get 17-23mpg city-hwy. Lets hear how you can do...................

DrDiaboloco

I can and have related "how I can do" on another thread, but there's no real reason for you to have read it before, so I'll relate it again.

I usually do 62 in a 55, 72 in a 65, and 75-76 in a 70. CC on except when conditions don't permit... And yes, I can and have done this for hundreds of miles. In the 4500-ish miles that I've had the '8, I did a round-trip to NY from IN, 700mi door-to-door in each direction. I have driven this numerous times in my prior cars, and for several years I was driving in a similar fashion from FL to NY and back when I was living in the Sunshine State... 1100mi at a trot, usually solo. I think I did that round trip 20-25 times, not to mention a similar slog from FL to OH when I had a gf that lived up that way. I don't take it personally when I'm passed by a minivan full of kids crawling all over the seats... And I don't have the mental strain of the constant cop search during a 10+ hour drive, either... I just do my set speed, make few stops, and I end up getting where I'm going with average speeds usually in the 65mph range (including all stops).

The low tank in the 8 that was ALL highway (interstate, actually) was just under 21mpg, but that was in a hellacious hours-long rainstorm which doesn't do mileage any favors (and the AC was going for four hours for demisting purposes). I actually have 7 tanks that are in the 21-25mpg range out of 17, and the only ones that were ALL highway/interstate without pouring rain were 24 and 25mpg respectively (both with some AC use). Oddly, the best tank of all was in what would theoretically be the worst for mileage, because it included the very hilly areas of eastern PA and western NJ (including the Delaware Water Gap). What this also means is that my best single-tank MPG in the 8 is only about 10% worse than my best single-tank mileage in my last car, a Mazda6S 5spd.

Overall, though, I'm averaging 19mpg because of all those 14mpg tanks that are all city/local driving. The AC going full-time in recent months hasn't helped either.

Old Rotor

Sounds like my experiences as well. It seems the fast lane is allways at 80mph here in N. Cali. I enjoy the car more now that I've retired and dont worry about the mpg much. My first rotary(71' RX-2) got 12 in town and 18 on the hwy and had 100hp. I knew what to expect from a rotary, and am happy with it.

mmetzger

Heh... and I was happy that I finally broke 15.75 mpg on my normal route (100% city)... The car oddly feels more powerful / efficient after the first oil change. I'm not particularly concerned about the mileage right now - a lot of my tanks were first learning stick and it's been consistent so I'm taking it to be operating as it should...

DrDiaboloco

My overall mileage in the 6 was something like 21.5 over 25k miles, so the 19 in the 8 isn't really poor enough for me to get hysterical about. I'll deal with it just fine.

Moostafa29

Lucky bastard, best I've ever got was about 19.1.

DrDiaboloco

Hmmm... That's my AVERAGE.

funrx8girl

Alright - I'm starting to get nervous. The first tank that I calculated fuel mileage on, my 8 had 738 miles on it. (When I bought the car it had 178 miles, but started driving it with 150mi.) The MPG on that first calculated tank? A whopping 12.84! (Only 166.7 miles on the tank.) Of course I have my dealer to thank for that because 3 different sales people told me that it was bad for the car to shift below 6500rpm's - I could've hurt them when I learned that was not true. Of course that's probably what I get for not talking to the service guys first. Anyway, after learning how to drive a standard again, (it's been 7 years), the second tank got 13.66mpg at 178.3 miles. And my last one? Only 14.04 with 192.9 miles, but drove about 10-15 miles with red light on. I probably drive 80 city/20 highway the majority of the time. Have yet to drive a full tank on highway.

So what's the story? Is this normal for having just over 1,000 miles? Granted, it's been improving little by little, but I'm new to the Mazda/Rotary world and I have no idea what to expect. If I find out that it is supposed to be this low, I'll be okay with it - I think I'm just paranoid. My 8 had around 150 'demo' miles on it when I started driving her so it makes me nervous b/c we all know how people drive them during demos.

Any advice?? Is there even anything that can be done if I continue to get horrible, horrible gas mileage? Thanks

DrDiaboloco

If you're driving mostly city, 14 is not unusual. I'm on an all-city tank right now, nearing fillup, and I don't reckon it'll get much over that number...

Do an all-highway tank and you'll see what it's really capable of... On all-highway tanks with the CC on, most should be able to achieve the EPA number. If you only drive around-town, much over 16 or 17 is a bit much to ask for. If you're REALLY concerned about mileage, keep the revs under 3500 or so and see your mileage improve somewhat, but not dramatically by any stretch.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

I drive most tanks 100% city (never baby it) & always get 14 - don't be alarmed .

funrx8girl

I'll try the all-highway tank here in a couple weeks and she what she does. I knew driving mostly city would lower my MPG significantly, but since I hadn't seen many people post about getting below 15 I thought maybe my car was outside of the norm. or I was doing something wrong. Knowing that it's normal though makes me feel a lot better. I have no regrets purchasing it and would have bought it regardless. After all of the little incidents I've had with the dealership (mainly the sales dept. but the entire dealership is only 2 months old), I always question if they are telling me the correct thing. I'm so glad I found RX-8 Club - this place is great!!

maul

hmm my first tank , i bought the car with 200 miles on it. i believe i got 250 miles on the tank. the 2nd and 3rd tank i got the same, but between the 1000-3000 my tanks only got 200-215 <--- i was kind of disappointed, but after the 3000 mile break in, im getting 280-320 miles to the tank, this is
50%hghway 50%city
75/25 AC/NOac
occasional redlines here and there. other then that shifting at 4500-5000rpm. im very happy with this mileage , which is not bad!

edit: sorry, i now have 5000 miles on the car, and have changed the oil 5 times now .. maybe that had alot to do with it? only use 91 octane (highest we have here) chevron. castrol GTX 5-20 oil. and let the car warm up at least 5 mins before driving it.

BunnyGirl

I was right about that terrible non-moving traffic for two hours killing my mileage. I filled up last night. I was at the same spot on the tank as the tank before and ended up getting the same amount of gas on fill-up, except my mileage was 50 less than the last time. I only ended up getting 21.24, which is very low for me. I figure I ought to do fine again on this tank unless I get that terrible traffic again.

DrDiaboloco

Why on earth are you changing your oil every 1000 miles?

Stavesacre21

wow i wouldn't expect to get an oozing supply of simpathy for your woes. lol

knight7

iTrader: (1)

its amazing how i complaint about how many miles i drive to work, my last job was 10 miles goin and back from home , and my new job is 3 goin and comin. i dont know how some of you drive up to 80 miles both ways thats just crazy.

BunnyGirl

I pretty much have to since I live out in the country and it's 12 miles to hit the beginning of "town" (Oregon City) unless you count "downtown Beavercreek" which has a gas station, store, garage, bar, coffee hut, veterinary office. In about 15 seconds it's gone and country again. LOL

Curley

I'm consistently getting 19.6 or 19.7 mpg driving to and from work, all city. But I don't have to spend too much time sitting at red lights.

The car only has about 2600 miles on it. My first full tank was 17.6 mpg, and it's gradually been creeping up since then. Hopefully, I can average more than 20 soon.

I have not yet taken it on a road trip, but I'm planning to this fall. I expect to get over 25 mpg on that trip.

maul

have not changed every 1000 lol....... changed it at 500 miles....1000 miles.....3000miles...4000....and 5000miles just for the break in periods now im going every 3000 from here on, i like to baby my rx's =) ive owned 3 FDs and always did this with them and never had a problem with them so im going to keep doing it!

DrDiaboloco

On average you HAVE changed it every thousand miles, thus the question...

What "break in period" lasts for the first 5000mi? Mazda says 600mi, and even RB says it should be completely done by 2000mi. There's "babying" and then there's going completely overboard.

Whatever. If it makes you happy...