saturn

You really gotta calm down about the whole mpg calculation thing. This is like the 10th time I've seen you post about it. This guy was just trying to say that he got less miles to a tank when it was new than after he drove it for a few thousand miles. It's one dude -- I'm sure his opinion of what a "tank" means hasn't changed much in a few months. He's not saying, "hey, what's everyone else getting for miles per tank".

I don't calculate my mpg, but I always notice how many miles I got since my last fillup when I go to reset the trip odometer. Since I always get gas right about the same time (within 5 miles or so of seeing the light come on) and I always fill it to the top, I can get a pretty good idea about whether my mileage is staying consistent with the one and only time I bothered to calculate my mpg.

People know how to calculate mpg -- some just don't give a crap. They're still allowed to post "I'm getting better mileage now then when it's new" without scientific proof.

V_for_velocity

The first mpg reading I took yielded (drum roll) . . . 9.02!
But it gradually improved to around 15/city, 22/highway.
It's been a long time since I last measured it though. Guess I just don't care anymore.

TEW Rotors

Raptor, I feel for you. I know it's my drive that causes me to get about 12-15 mpg, but I drive almost exclusively on the city streets of Evanston and Chicago. All the lights and stop signs, combined with the average speed of 25 mph and the cold temps this time of year make very bad driving conditions for gas usage.

When I make longer trips, like when I visit my inlaws or my mom in the far northern 'burbs, I see my mileage skyrocket. But, I see the tradeoff like this: when I take longer trips with higher average speed, my mpg goes up, but so does my total usage. This way, I think of my mileage in terms of gallons per unit of driving time, rather than actual miles per gallon.

I also know it's due to the streets and traffic in the area because the mileage on my previous car went down dramatically when I moved here. It was a Probe GT, and when I lived in the far 'burbs and drove a lot longer trips, I got about 20 mpg. But, when I came to Evanston, my mileage went down to about 14 mpg.

I know it's a small consolation, but just be assured that everyone who drives in our area on the surface streets suffers poor mileage. (Except the people who drive a Prius!) It's the nature of the beast.

stickman

This is my second Rx8, an 05 with 9/05 build date. My first one was an early 04, in between I had an 05 Acura tl. Got 23 mpg in the tl and had excellent dealer service. Great car, great dealer; but you know what? I missed the Rx8, even with 16 to 19 mpg and not quite the same dealer service as Acura. I wake up each day wanting drive the Rx8, as nice as it was, the tl didn't do that for me. I hope you work out the mpg but for as long as the car has been out there have been wildly different mpg results among people on this board.

BunnyGirl

Well, he was saying "I get x per tank. How many miles per tank do you get?" Since we were all discussing actual MPG, it is fitting to complain with the "per tank" people. If you ask me, if you can't be bothered to calcuate out your MPG you aren't qualified to be discussing your MPG, especially on the "per tank" BS that people keep throwing in here. Especially true since no one said "I get x miles before my light comes on." Details and accurate information are much appreciated when dealing in issues that involve using math!!!

saturn

If we're talking about the guy, RX_Aight, then this is what he said:

How is that "How many miles per tank do you get"? He's clearly stating that he's getting better mileage now than when it was new, which is valuable information to everyone. He doesn't need 100% exact numbers to make a qualitative statement about getting "better" mileage.

saturn

A very good point. It's sometimes weird to talk about gallons per minute or something like that, but it is interesting. The guy that commutes and hour to work is using WAY more gas than the dude that drive 10 minutes to work even though the first guy is getting MUCH better mileage. So, in that weird way, better gas mileage doesn't always translate to saving money.

I know you gotta compare apples to apples, but it's something to maybe make the guy who lives closer to work feel a little better.

UFGator12

My car has 8k miles on it, and I get about 210 miles to the tank... all city.

Raptor75

I think you hit the nail on the head, there is wildly different gas mileage between cars and this is where I expect Mazda to standup and do something. I thing that the weather, gas blend, roads, traffic and driving styles all play a roll in the gas differences but not enough to account for the swing we see. I have heard from guys on this board that drive their cars hard and get 16 to 17 mpg, I can baby it and get only 12mpg. That is a huge discrepancy that Mazda should address, I have never seen such a huge gap in mileage among the same make of cars. Mazda has a problem and they need to stop dodging it.

BunnyGirl

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...6&postcount=22

That post is how. Had he asked how many before the light came on, that would be a more accurate gauge, since the light is supposed to come on at the same approximate spot on each car (with 2 gallons left, per dealersrhip). That would be a more accurate indication of "tank" but nobody ever indicates what qualifies a tank other than at what point they decided to buy gas, which in itself can vary greatly even per the same person. Even saying "I used to get x per tank but now get x per tank" doesn't necessarily mean their mileage improved. Who's to say they aren't just getting gas a little later on than they used to? I know people (several actually) who never let their car get below half a tank and when it hits that halfway mark they get all panicked thinking they need to get gas soon. For them, half a tank of gas equals "a tank." Is that really accurate as to how much you can drive per tank? If somebody relayed how many miles they got while driving to the halfway mark and called it a tank, you're going to think they had really, really terrible mileage, when they probably don't. It just happens to be their definiation of a tank. If the halfway tank person at some point decides they can drive down to a quarter being left, suddenly their x miles per tank gets a lot higher, and essentially all they did was start driving more on the same tank of gas, not getting better mileage out of the same amount of gas. This is my point in why it is stupid to keep comparing everything by "tanks."

saturn

Ever heard the expression, "what kind of car do you drive when your Jaguar is in the shop?" I'd rather have a more reliable car and never have to deal with the service people ever.

Also, dunno where you go, but you gotta find a dealer that doesn't suck. My friends both go to different dealers that give free rentals per Mazda's Service Transportation Solution:

You just need to find a good dealer that's not going to jerk you around. And if you think maintenance costs on a Mazda are anything near Jag's and Lexus's you're out of your mind. There's no way you should bother comparing the two. You want that kind of service, drop another $30k on cost of car and maintenance costs.

BunnyGirl

I'm looking forward to seeing how my car does mileage wise and it should be soon that I find that out.

MI_FamilyMan

Don't you think making such a harsh judgement on your gas mileage after 1,000 miles is going a little overboard?

I think you need to get more than about 4 fill-ups under your belt before you really figure out what the car is getting. Just the way I see it.

I rag on the car pretty good when I drive it in more or less mixed conditions, and I am almost always within 0.5mpg on every tank. The worst was probably in the upper 16's, and my best in the mid 18's. But on average, probably around 17.8-18.2 if I had to guess.

Hope you find out what's wrong.

RotoRocket

iTrader: (1)

I haven't gotten less than 260 on a tank, which was full of city driving, and have gotten over 300 miles on occassion (6 Speed with DSC).

A lot of people have reported mileage in line with mine: about 20 mpg mixed.

I don't understand why some people, especially with an '05 build, are getting such ****-poor mileage.

The poor mileage of the RX-8 reputation has a lot to do with a few very unlucky people.

snizzle

Those are luxury car companies. Owners should expect service of that caliber from them.

Mazda need to improve regardless though, I agree.

As far as the MPG goes, it sounds like that commute is extreme city driving so while your car may be on the low end of the scale.... it's fairly reasonable for a commute like that IMO.

BunnyGirl

The only thing I can think of that could be wrong (although should give CELs periodically) is if there is a problem with the EGR. My mom's MPV is starting to have problems with the EGR and it needs replacing (whenever they get the part in). Anyways, her mileage started dropping (3-4 miles per gallon from normal), started smelling gassy, and the CEL keeps coming on. At one point the CEL came on and started flashing and the car was running extremely rough and chugging and the engine actually kept cutting out. Apparently the EGR was sticking. We were able to get it to the dealership which was fortunately less than 10 miles away and the mechanic took it apart and "unstuck" it and they now ordered a new part. The guy in the shop said when the mileage drops below usual it usually indicates you are having a problem with your EGR.

If your mileage is always that low potentially there could be a problem with it tostart with and something to be looked at. It is probably more likely, however, that since you drive 9 miles in about a half an hour, it is your commute that is really sucking your gas.

saturn

I didn't even see that post. Guess that settles that. Yeah, I don't agree with people using miles per tank as a means to compare with one another, but it's a useful metric for comparing different trips ONE person makes as long as their definition stays the same (e.g. - like when the light comes on).

While certain comparisons are kinda pointless, I still maintain that the phrase "miles per tank" shouldn't be so taboo. It has it's uses -- just like mileage. Without knowing your city and highway usage, mileage is essentially useless. Everyone knows that this cars sucks gas when idling more so than most cars. Yet most people around here describe themselves as a "x mpg person." I'm willing to bet that alot of these low mileage people would have the same exact results as the high mileage people if they just swapped driving environments.

Some number divided by some other number is not the end all and be all of comparisons. Everything has to be taken into context, just like miles per tank.

silverx8

The only way to know for sure is to swap cars. I once got 13 MPG, and started paying more attention, then got 18 MPG solid for the last 10K of 13K miles.

BunnyGirl

I thought you probably missed that one, so I figured I should clarify my position a little. I think it is useful "per tank" if "tank" means the point where the light comes on so we can all have a gauge of what that means. It is certainly helpful to the driver on a long road trip so they can be planning ahead for when they need to get gas so they don't run out.

Crazy Rx-8 Driver

just because you had a bad experience at one stealership.. doesnt mean all Mazda dealerships are bad.

"dont judge an entire race, based on one poor specimen."


I on the other hand, have had excellent service experience at Morries Mazda up here in minnesota, they called me for all information, i did not once had to call them at all for any type of service.

also i get about 12mph city/highway when driving 'spiritly' and about 18-20mph on 'gentle' days. lol

jcharm

raptor, I understand you being dissapointed, but you should at least give the car a few thousand more miles to break in before you start knocking down doors. My 8 has 1000 miles and I've had it for abouth a month. I drove mostly city driving with lots of traffic lights and traffic. After the break in, I've just started to redline it and my last tank gave me 14.5 mpg. Tank before that was 13 so I think it is improving. For reference, my Miata used to consistently give me 21 mpg. I always use Chevron gas as well. I was well aware of the mileage issues so I'm not surprised. It is a sports car so what kind of mileage can you realistically expect? Certainly not 21 like my Miata, perhaps 17-18. So really what we're talking about is 3-4 mpg, or about 6 bucks per tank, which is 30 bucks every 1000 miles. It's nothing I'm going to worry about and a small price to pay for a really unique and fun engine.

More troubling is that I've been checking oil religiously and I find it difficult to read the dipstick, I mean the stick is the color of oil for crying out loud. I thought it was full and the more I looked at it the more I realized that I was down almost a 3/4 of a quart. It's really a pain to check it at night too. I found myself using my cellphone as a flashlight. Couldn't get the stick back in.

TEW Rotors

It's a wide descrepancy, but it's a very small sample of very vocal people here on this board. No one could claim that the people on this board make a statistically significant sample. It's a lot more accurate to look at things like Consumer Reports to get an idea of the average mileage for the RX-8.

Unfortunately, you have a very difficult commute. Nine miles in half an hour is an average speed of 18 miles per hour. How can you expect any car to get good mileage on your commute?

mysql101

Mileage doesn't always get better. I got ~18 mpg my first few tanks. But that was due to me breaking it in properly... after break in it's in the 15-16 range. I've never gone on an all highway trip and stayed the speed limit, so I don't know what kind of mileage it's capable of.

papipito

The big issue is not that you get poor gas mileage...ever since this forum started, owners have complained about that and the fact that Mazda does not really acknowledge it. The gas mileage is NORMAL. The problem is Mazda refusing to acknowledge the misrepresentation. Also, for newer owners, ( I purchased mine used about a year ago), any research you you should have done through any number of websites, including this one, would have told you that this car was not the next Honda Insight. You cannot honestly tell me that gas mileage was a consideration for purchasing this car ( other than original owners that had no data to research).

Second, no, I would not expect Lexus, Jaguar, Acura level of service...but it sure would be nice to get the service promised for a new vehicle under warranty. I had an 88 Acura Legend coupe for twelve years and the Acura dealership always bent over backward to take care of me even though I would come in with a car that was nearly 20 years old, which is better service than I get from either of the two Mazda dealerships in my area.

Crappy service will not keep customers coming back.

BunnyGirl

My dealership has great service. Loaner cars if needed for long periods of time in the shop. Shuttle services withing a certain radius of the dealership. All kinds of stuff. I think it is just dealership-specific in general with what you get for service.