FredB

neit_jnf: That a pretty good summary about using regular. I sent it to 8_wannabe yesterday (see previous page) and he's going to use premium or now.

rxeightr

Just had 2nd fill-up. Went 307 miles & averaged 21.77 mpg.

mx32mpsrx8

218.6 Miles / 14.066 Gallons = 15.54 mpg

8_wannabe

Way to go. What were your driving habits like during this period. City/highway, hi/low acceleration, etc.

FredB

Ok, here's a quick update from the data keeper:

Rx-U-UP 16.1
RX-U-UP 16.6
Zoom49 18.9
Gettingan8 18.0
JR_TX 19.0
RX_NUT 18.5
RX_NUT 18.5
Rotary_It_Up 18.1
8-Wannabe 17.0
RXeightr 21.4
Ahura 20.2
JR_TX 20.8
RXeightr 21.8
mx32mpsrx 15.5

Average = 18.6
Range = 15.5-21.8

Wow a new low and a new high and the average stays the same.. You two should get together. Get the lead out of that foot mx32mpsrx and have some coffee Rxeightr, lol!

8_wannabe

So would one more of you drive like grandma so I can have some fun? That way, it'll all work out. Thanks, Fred, for your statistical services.

daedelgt

God, 21.8MPG. I just scored a flat 28MPG on the way from Baton Rouge to Houston.

mx32mpsrx8

I don't have a lead foot and didn't go over 5000-6000 RPM. I have to run the AC at 3 or 4 almost all the time...

DreamWarrior

I'll be filling up shortly, however currently I'm sitting as follows:

185.6 miles on the tank, and the needle reads half way between 1/2 and 1/4 tank.

I think I'm doing pretty well...it looks like I'll probably see 18 MPG. That's driving the car pretty similarly to how I'd drive my Z28 and I'm getting pretty much the same gas milage. I haven't gone over 7k RPM (and typically stay with 4-5).

Question for all you though, I'm not exactly following the shift points in the book, however I do attempt to get into 5th, 6th as much as possible, and I find myself rowing this gear box a lot more than I did in the Z28...I probably don't have to...but for now I'm trying to get use to it. I'm just wondering what you all are doing for typical gear changes. I typically shift out of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd around 4-5k, then into 5th or 6th depending on how fast I'm going...I typically try to leave it in 5th or 6th making that change somewhere at 45 MPH (as long as I'll be going that speed for a little bit).

rx8daniel

Not many of us can (are willing) to use the shift points in the owner's manual - IMHO. Sounds like you have it about right.
I'm just now allowing myself to hit 5K (700+ miles) regularly - hit 100MPH first time this AM(okay, that's about 5075RPM).
My 2nd tank was almost exactly 21MPG. By Sunday morning, I'll be able to report on tanks 3 through 6 if not 7 or 8 through about 2000 miles.

eclps0

anything can be better than my 2001 eclipse. Like i said before it was a lemon and my mpg city were supossed to be about 22 and city 30 some where around there. i was getting 12 mpg city not going over 3000 rpms on a 16.4 tank i would only get 220 miles thast city and highway togeather. so compared to the eclipse my soon to be rx8 is like a civic ( i mean by better mph not pertformance.


ps dont mind speeling i can find my glasses and my face is about 3 inches away from the screen to see.

rotary-tt

Can confirm the '93 RX-7 numbers: 12 - 17 mpg, more on the lower end when you're in the boost. Don't drive it on the highway enough to get a good reading. I only drive it 4k miles/yr so mileage does not really matter to me:p

Now our 135hp Elantra GLS gets 29 mpg no matter how hard you beat it :D

wakeech

so, in the end the RENESIS is better on gas...

revhappy

I don't think he drove it much on the highway, so his numbers are probobly skewed downward. Still, after all of the hype for more than 2 years, its not much (if any) of an improvement considering it has less performance and a 6th gear that is really just for fuel economy. Maybe it improved in terms of emissions? Does anyone know what the EPA Smog rating was for the RX8?

FredB

It's still too early to say for sure but I'm starting to think the RX-8 is indeed 20-30% better than the RX-7 on gas mileage.

As I remember, it only took a maybe 4 or 5 good excursions on hard boost to drive the mileage down to 12 mpg for a tank full. I you take 130% of that you get 15.6.

If driven faily normal but you still let it wind out on mostly light throttle you got around 15 mpg. 130% of that is 19.5 mpg.

Now if you really really babied it, light throttle all the time, shift around 4K and maybe 20-30% highway miles you could get around 17 mpg. 130% of that is 22.1 mpg.

All of these numbers at 130% are pretty much in line with what RX-8 owners are seeing I think. If anything I'm starting to believe that if you could do a very controlled test under similar conditions the improvement might be closer to 40%. And I'm the one of the biggest skeptics here. The data doesn't lie. Some have even passed the 24 mpg on the highway by a lot.

The RX-7 might have been capable of pretty good highway mileage (I think, but don't know for sure) if driven below 70 and not using too much AC. I know it was "rated" higher, but highway trips did not seem to improve my mileage all that much and I never saw over 17 mpg with it and I had to drive like I had an egg between my foot and the gas pedal, really!

revhappy

Still, there is also a lot less performance and a 6th gear in the RX8 soley for fuel economy. More importantly, the spread between the RX and its competition in fuel economy and fuel economy in relation to performance has increased substantially.

In the first tank in my EVO, I got 26 MPG with lots (probobly excessive) of idling for warm-up and cool down. That was in mixed driving conditions. I was driving very cautiously, but if you factor in the extra weight, power, torque, agressive gearing (highway cruising over around 70 enters the boost zone of the powerband) and AWD, its not bad. Still, a sixth gear is really needed, IMHO.

Its just hard to justify the fuel economy of the RX8 based on the performance. Of course, this is not a concern for many, but for you and me it is.

TDS

I'm almost through my second tank. City driving looks to be 18.5 for me. Kinda' discouraged.
The power is great but it's really goofy driving a performance car around this town. Now I own a really fast car but a lot of time I can only go 5 mph.
Nordic Green is awsome in sunlight but I'm going to have to wash it weekly.
AC performance is a bit spotty. At speed it works great but at idle the temp. definitely drops. If you close the passenger vent, the airflow on the driver's side jumps big time. The vent controls are really well designed.
TDS

DreamWarrior

Well I finally filled up, I didn't think I could make it home without doing so and my friends wanted to go for a ride...so here's the first fill up info:

230.9 miles using 12.194 gallons.

That works out to 18.9 MPG.

Not going to complain...I'd figure that about 70% of that was highway at around 70 MPH speeds with spirited sprints from toll booths and on ramps. The other 28% was city driving and the last 2% probably spent idling or revving it a bit in neutral while my friends listened to the sweet sound of the rotary.

So far, I'm driving it very similar to how I'd drive my Z28 and getting about 2 MPG better milage with smoother and quieter accelleration...can't bitch.

daedelgt

I'm wondering if the fuel maps are different durring the break in period resulting in much lower than anticipated gas mileage.

rotary-tt

17 mpg was typical of my '86 and '79 RX-7's. Might get up to 22mpg on highway. Now I've been known to have a heavy foot so your mileage may vary:D

8_wannabe

I'm wondering too. Each of us should be doing trend analysis. I just filled up and got 15.3 mpg on a tankful of 89. My prior tank -- also 89 -- I got 17 mpg. I'm now filled with 91 and we'll see. Per my earlier post, Mazda says grade of fuel won't affect mileage but will affect performance (i.e., power.) I'll try to see if I can verify this.

XUrotaryrocket

I also own a 2002 Sentra Spec V. I do alot of highway driving. I have had as low as 19mpg and as high as 33.9 mpg. So, it's all about how you drive it.

Doug DeBug

I got about 200 - 250 miles on my first two tanks. This was with the manual and the air on 100% of the time. I just got back from a 95% highway trip and went 299 miles using about 13.1 gallons.

DeBug

RotoRooter

My first tank gave me 19mpg. I am hoping to get a bit better with subsequent fill ups. It is only at the gas pump that I miss my beetle TDI -- 52mpg. I used to drive from Atlanta to Tampa and fill up the next day!!

jonalan

19.5 mpg on my first tank. That will go down once the engine is past the "break-in" stage.