mmats69

I heard not to run it that low anyway cause the gas keeps the fuel pump cool. Hey Zoom44, someone quoted me that my cat-back exhaust may lean out my a/f ratio and get me better mileage. Could that be true?

arrow_choi

Don't know if anyone mentioned this link yet:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do

Maybe we all should participate in this research, input the MPG of our car......

JDS3

My mileage has improved since the car was brand new.. new I was getting 19 city, now with 7K on the car I am getting over 21 in the city... If you wanted fuel economy, buy a Focus.....

Raevik

JDS3 you're doing better than probably 75-80% of the people here, if not more. Maybe when you get 13-16 like some of the rest of us, you'll get off your high horse and not tell someone else what to buy.

As it stands, you're actually doing BETTER than the EPA rates...which is pretty much unheard of.

eclps0

Not to bash but i bet he is lying through his teeth.

I was getting 19 highway now i am getting 16 and i am getting 13 city. This car will be gone within a month. I will miss it but wont miss the 500 it takes away from me a month in gas

srm858

I have about 23k on mine now and consistently get 18 mpg with mixed driving. It's so frustrating, because except for huge pickup trucks, everyone I know gets better mpg. My friend with a GMC 2500 extended cab, 8' bed, gets 19mpg with the diesel. My brother gets 26 with his BMW 545i with a V8 and automatic. The new 500hp Corvette ZR1 is supposed to get 26mpg on the highway.

The mpg with the 8 is terrible and if I knew I would not even get city mpg in my driving I'm not sure I would have bought it. All my other cars return mpg in the high 20's, low 30's with mixed driving. Combine the poor mpg with all the other problems adds up to a car I am not keeping for the long term. I just hope when I go to sell it, the car's reputation has not caught up with it.

KYLiquid

I consistenly get 20-22 mph (250 miles bettween fill-ups when the light comes on I fill up) with 25miles of highway and 225miles of city each week (highway is 5 miles a day at 80ish MPH) when i go to work M-F.

I filled up last night and again got 21.3mpg, i usualy get right around 21mpg. (260 miles to the tank, 12.2 gals added)

I shift at around 5k rpm and cruise at about 3500 (except when im on the freeway, I cruise around 4k-4200 to do about 80mph) I also redline the first 3 gears (1, 2, 3) every time I drive. To keep the carbon down. I will note that I dont have the windows down, unless im going below 55mph, above that I close the windows/sunroof. I also only runn the AC 50% of the time (since its still cool enough in the AM to just cruise with the windows down, or the windows up and just the blower on vent. Even when I do run the AC i shut it off when im stoped or accele, only use it when cruising or when decell. I live in FLAT FL, so no hills.

I have a stock 05.

I dont baby the car, i dont drive like a grandma and I have lots of fun on my trips.

Not ever car can do it, but you can get good gas miliage with a few simple tricks.

Some people sound like they want to be able to blast the AC all the time, drive 80mph in 5th gear, heavy accele from every light, cruise with the windows down and STILL get 20mpg...cant have your cake and eat it to.

I run ONLY Shell 93* or Chevron 93*, I add 3oz of LUCAS fuel system treatment at EVERY fill up, and 2oz of sythetic 2 cycle oil in the gas tank (pre-mix) car runs perfect, never any problems. I did my first oil change at 2k miles (drain, filter/fill, run for 100 miles, drain filter fill again, to help flush it. then a regular drain/filter/fill at 5k miles....I have run the lucas since the first fuel fill-up and started using the premix after my first oil change.I am coming up at 8k miles and will be making the switch to syn engine oil and syn trany/diff oil.

I take good care of my cars, change the coolant once a year/15k miles, change the plugs/wires every 30k along with trany/diff fluid every 30k. Always let them warm up/cool down. Check the oil every fillup and keep it toped off, along with other fluids.

Maby some of this is why my car gets the MPG it does, or maby im one of the factory freak cars...

weekendwrench

Has anyone else noticed a drop in MPG since the fuel tank recall and new flash? MY MPG has dropped from 16 to 17 in town to about 14.

Hyperborea

I get 13-16 mpg with 50% highway, 25% city, 25% expressway (limited access roads). The 16 mpg I only got during the breakin period (never revved beyond 4K and no WOT).

- I just about always have the windows up unless at fairly slow city street speeds (sub 30 mph)
- I almost never run the AC (twice in 2000 miles)
- I drive on the highway in 6th unless merging in
- I coast it in to lights and try to time it so that I don't have to stop
- I drive in a flat valley all the time with the RX-8
- I've been driving a stick since the early 80's

I would be happy to approach 18 mpg. I would be ecstatic to get 20mpg. My RX-8 gets wose gas mileage than my dearly departed lightly modified 17 year old Porsche 944 Turbo.

However, my biggest concern is that there might be something wrong with the car. The cost is not a big factor for me - I can easily afford the extra gas cost though I wouldn't object to saving the money used on the gas for something else. Is the MAF ok? Did it get flooded before I purchased it and the cat is clogged or the O2 sensor damaged?

I guess it's easy to be smug when your car is getting 20mpg.

beefyjoe

My Story:
I have had my rx8 for 8 months, 10,500 miles. It's a 2004, MT.
I commute Brooklyn to Manhattan 4 times a week. I am 40, and a mature driver.

Normal driving , to me, is keeping up with the traffic, not racing around them. Normal acceleration, braking, speed, etc..

I average 12 mpg in the city. I measure the gas, I divide the miles, and I get 11.5mpg, 12.9 mpg, 12.2 mpg - I'm looking at my gas reciepts right now.

People (Including mazda USA) have responded to me:
It must be, "The way you drive/ tire pressure/ air conditioner/ revving above 3800rpm, how dare you have fun while driving, etc.."

I have defended my reasonable driving habits till I'm blue in the face. It's not me, I say, its the RX that's the problem.

So I decided to run a little test. For the past three weeks I have been driving like a maniac. Full Throttle acceleration, cruising at 7000 in traffic, going as fast as I can in traffic. I kept the car idiling when I should have shut it off. I was determined to get the LOWEST MPG possible. It's not easy driving at 95% all of the time, but I did it.

GUESS WHAT? I GOT 11.2 MPG AND 10.8 MPG (On my last two tanks).

How I drive made a 10% difference in my milage. I should be getting 15mpg minimum in the city. I have never seen above 20mpg even with all highway miles.

The point is, my car is a lemon. The motor is running too rich, and mazda wants nothing to do with the problem. I am hesitant to upgrade this car in any way.

What do I do now???

mikeb

trade it in
10mpg is not ok by anymeans

Dark8

I did. I dropped 4 mpg (city) since the recal flash. Was on N before and was averaging 17 city. Asked the delership about this and of course they just shrugged their shoulders.

Oranje

Purchase my 8 in December 2003. Tracked every fill-up to date. Data attached.

Summary 21,826 miles driven. 20.7 mpg.

Cheers,
Oranje

spieder

I measured my first 4 tanks:

Tank 1: 20.1 mpg (no recalls flashes)
Tank 2: 17.8 mpg (after recalls, latest flash in Sept 05)
Tank 3: 18.1 mpg
Tank 4: 17.9 mpg

I drive mostly city and rush hour traffic. My car is right on with the 18 city. Although, most cars I by usually do better than the sticker.

spieder

Just outta curiousity I drove my 8 to school tonight. 94 Miles round trip. I filled it up and topped it off till I could click no more. When I got home I did the same. It took 4.4 gallons. Roughly that's 21.3 mpg. The drive to school was stop and go pretty bad. The drive home was completely clear and I drove 72 the whole way back. So, the window sticker rating is working for me.

Go48

Great spreadsheet Oranje! Appreciate solid data like that. My mileage tracks almost exactly (average 20.58 for 8K miles) like that although I have fewer miles on the car than you. The best I have gotten was just under 23 mpg on an Interstate drive. My driving is about 80/20 open road/city mileage and I don't spare the revs. As far as I'm concerned, the gas mileage is very acceptable for this car.

grapes

I get over 20mpg consistantly in mixed driving conditions in a base 6sp.

Slick8

Its funny how single minded people are on gas mileage issue with the RX-8. So the gas mileage is about 2-4mpg less than to equivalent piston cars, G35, 350Z, S2000, EVO, STi, blahblahblah.

So you trade-in and sell the RX-8 and get something else, but don't take into consideration,

1) The huge depreciation cut with the RX-8 since you drove it off the lot and the trade-in loss $4K-6K
2) The taxes/tags/registration lost with buying the RX-8 first $2,500 and then the taxes/tags/registration to rebuy another vehicle $2,500
3) Then the depreciation from buying the next vehicle as you drive it off the lot $4K-6K.

Conclusion: So you eventually end up losing $10,000-15,000 dollars up front in comparison (a debt/asset hidden in the form of a payment) to save a grand total of, if you pay $2.25/gal,

1) $938 to gain 2mpg over 5 years if you drive 15K/yr
2) $1,705 to gain 4mpg over 5 years if you drive 15K/yr

Not to mention the insurance cost are far lower in the RX-8 compared to the above vehicles listed, except for the G35 which is about the same.

RotaryJeff

I have kept detailed records in a speadsheet. Every fillup is recorded, and I always do complete fillups.

My average Highway MPG is 22.182, and the best I've gotten so far is 26.224.
I have about 32K miles, and for the last 16K, I have NEVER gotten less than 21MPG on the highway. I drive between 67 and 72 on the hiway, and most of my trips are 200-800 miles.

See atch.

Jeff

dsmdriver

iTrader: (3)

Holy crap! You drive 5600 miles a month? That's almost 200 miles every day and 70K miles a year!

Math:
Assume you get 14 MPG in the 8 and could get 28 MPG in a Civic. The 8 uses twice as much fuel as the Civic, so if the 8 costs $500/month more than the Civic, the 8's monthly fuel bill must be $1000. $1000 / $2.50/gal = 400 Gallons. 400G * 14 MPG = 5600 miles.

MazdaRich

Civic will get about double what the RX-8 will on mileage. So whatever you're paying to fill your 8, you can just cut it in half, minus the cost of premium fuel. So that's about 45% the fuel cost of driving the 8.