New member - Advice
 

First of all, hello everybody. :)
I have been lurking in the forums for 3 months, i was conducting my research about this wonderful car - the Mazda RX8. I truly believe i can be a very good and responsible owner of an 8, after going through each sticky and most of the important threads. Now, after doing my homework, i am really close in buying one myself!

I have a question though, and it is really a weird one. First of all i live in Cyprus, and as i can see many people get around 220-250 Miles in city driving, with some fun involved to it. I dont know about you guys, but i just can't get it , since 250 miles distance in Cyprus , is like the most distant place back and forth.

At the moment i am driving a 2002 Toyota Yaris RS 1.5(NA). I don't know its mpg, if anyone knows it i'd appreciate it, since i cannot find it, for a reason. I use it daily, work - home - university etc, and i just need 40euros max worth of gas. (Per week) I am not seeking for good mpg but , how can 250 miles on a full tank be ''Horrible''. As i said, 250 miles means i can move around town for like, 4 days+. Fortunately cypus isn't large,and personally i only go for 30-40 minute "trips".

Looking forward to your replies, thanks in advance :)

if you are sitting traffic or driving at low speeds all the time you are going to get poor mileage. It is just the nature of the beast.

Short trips will also kill the mileage.

What kind of speeds are looking at in a 30-40 minute trip? Is is all city or a mix of hiway and citY?

Driving at low speeds isn't going to kill his mileage, driving at a stop and go pace will. Keeping a steady speed for a long period of time will lead to better gas mileage.

What octane gas are you using? I've notice quite a difference in gas mileage between 89 octane and 93 (which I usually use). I do 50/50 heavy city driving and highway.

how much of a difference do you see??

I see little to no improvement using 93 over 89 but I think I am kinda at the maximum the car can do reasonably in terms of MPG. (getting about 22-24 out of 13 gallons of gas), though I would say my commute is 75% constant speeds above 50mph.

Hello guys, thanks for the replies. I am using 95 octane gas,(but i dont own an 8 yet:P ) most of my driving is urban, but traffic in cyprus isnt as severe as in the UK or in other huge countries. My driving can be best described as mixed, because i drive in traffic in the morning(Not so heavy traffic, just some stop and go but around 15mph in city). In the afternoons i actually drive traffic - free. around 60 mph most of the times.

I haven't recorded an official difference yet, but I am 100% sure that 89 and 93 makes a difference in my RX8 and driving conditions. Perhaps results may vary for other 8's and their driving conditions.

I bought my RX8 Friday, and went on my first trip today. I filled it up with 93, and did 120 highway miles, and my tank is half. That means I am going to get 240 if not less per tank on the highway. That's pretty bad...

:banghead:

Where exactly in Cyprus are you? I am Greek living in the States for 5 years now. A few buddies of mine are from Larnaka. In 2000 I visited Cyprus and had lots of fun! Great place!!! The rx8 is not the most gas efficient car. Of course there is NO COMPARISON with the gas mileage and maintenance cost you get from your Yaris!!! In city driving you might get something like 15 miles per gallon. I live in a small college town myself and I get about 15 mpg for city driving (I got an 04 manual transmission). On highway things get much better since I get close to 20-21 mpg. Of course every time I start the car I let it run for 4-5 minutes so it can warm up (this definitely drops slightly my mpg).

Living in Latsia, Nicosia:) Thanks for the info mate, was useful.

Google brought me the mileage for an '07 Yaris: 34 city, 40 highway. I'd guess yours would be similar. Expect your gas bill to double. Also, check what the proper octane number is in Cyprus. Different countries use different scales. I suspect that your 95 does not line up with the 89, 93 etc that Americans have been citing.

If you can afford it, you definitely get your money's worth in driving pleasure.

Ken

I have been keeping track and my last seven tanks I have averaged 16.4 miles. My 8 has 103,000 miles but I have a new engine, BHR ignition, SOHN, I premix my gas, and I drive mixed highway/city and I do red line a few times a day but I don't drive like a maniac.

My last three highway trips of the same exact distance I have gotten 16.4,18.6, and 20.8 (I can't explain the variation since the distance and route were exactly the same). My lowest in the last 7 fill-ups has been 13.6MPG (13.1 gallons and 179 miles) and it is weird that I didn't go all the way to empty because I usually do and my average fill-up is 13.2 gallons.