I have an automatic, so it's not like I horse it...it's got 19000 miles on it, so it's not that it's new....any ideas? Maybe I don't have the right fuel maps?

 

I dunno, but here is my best guess. The coolant is not fully warming up because the thermostat is stuck open.
If I was you I would have a mazda tech look into it. 12ish mpg is not normal.

 

"miles per tank" is a difficult figure to work with. But if you're like most, your fuel light comes on at about 13.5 gallons. That would give you around 15 mpg which is actually fairly normal in city/mixed driving.

 

200 miles out of a full tank (15.9 gal) is only 12.5 and even for that car, that is pretty bad if you baby it. I think its more likely that your getting 200 miles per 15 gal and thats around 13-14 range, still bad, but closer on par with what a lot of people get.

its hard to say why your miliage is what it is. It could be driving style, even though you might not feel like you push the car, you might.....for example me and my girlfriend have a 2002 ford ranger with a 4L v6, that we share, its a 4speed auto. When I drive it, I get 400 miles per tank, when she drives it, she gets about 300......why? we both use the ac, we both drive in the same area of town....its all driving style....she feels like she goes easy on it but burns more gas than me.

I would guess you drive in the city a lot, use the ac, and take off from stop lights at the same speed as everyone else (and everyone else around here takes off pretty quick)

 

Probably only city driving, I get that bad of mileage because I only live 4 miles from work. Most of the fuel is used when I start her up.

 

That's why "miles per tank" isn't very useful for this discussion because we don't know what is meant by "tank". Personally I've never put 15 gallons in; I think the highest has been 14.7 gallons but that was the exception. More typically I get gas soon after the light comes on and it's right around 13.5 gallons. I think the poster needs to get an accurate mpg number before they make any conclusions. There are posts on how to do this if one is unfamiliar.

 

rigth most fill 13- 13.5gallons which puts him in the normal range for city mpg. he needs to shift more often into higher gears to getbetrter mpg as has been discussed in many many threads he can search for and read himself.

 

Like others said, get back to us with a real MPG figure and then we'll see if it's bad. I'm personally getting in the 14s and I'd consider it normal for city driving with this car. None of the flashes have ever helped my MPG either.

Using 4th gear with the AT while moping around the city absolutely sucks. There's no way I could drive mine in 4th gear while in the city...never have, never will. The car lugs horribly and feels like a bucking bronco all the time.

 

2 words...right foot.

Even if you're not hot-footing it, you probably aren't babying it as much as you think. I hit redline at least twice a trip, but notice a significant difference in mileage if I get to 4th gear as early as possible. If you're just cruising along at 25mph, do it in 4th gear. It's easy to find yourself doing 25 in 2nd or 3rd for extended periods of time. Try shifting to one higher gear than you'd normally use, and you'll see the difference. This is the difference between 250 miles and 280+ miles on my normal tank for a week's commute. Use 4th gear for low speed cruising and if you need some more acceleration, just pop it in 2nd.

Edit: I just realized that I assumed you drive around in manual mode all the time, like I do. If you don't disregard what I said above.

 

I cruise in 4th at 22mph (shifts to 3rd at 20) on a long 20mph speed limit stretch on my commute. I have zero problems doing so. In fact I just apply a very small amount of throttle and the car will practically coast along at 1000rpm.