jsh1120

Looks like Washington State Nordic Green RX-8's are identical. My mileage through about 10 tanks is virtually the same as you report.

About 60% of my time in the car is in stop-and-go Seattle traffic, with the remaining time split about evenly between freeway and rural highway driving. (Note that time, not miles is critical here. About 1/2 of my daily commute time averages 4-5 mph. The remainder averages 70 mph on cruise control.) I've noticed considerably worse mpg if a tank includes several of these infuriating creeping commutes.)

I can certainly understand that if someone is spending a lot of time in stop-and-go commuter traffic that their mpg might be in the 14-15 range. I have to say, however, that consistent mileage in the 11-12 mpg range suggests something is wrong with a vehicle (or, less likely, something very wrong with one's driving style.)

There have been innumerable threads on this topic. If I were getting mileage in the 11-12 mpg range, I'd be banging on my dealer's door every day.

EvilBostonRX8

I did a long way round trip from Boston to Hartford and back via Foxwoods and had 265 before light coming on. Best mileage I've gotten yet. Still nothing to write home about. Pretty shitty to be honest.

fizzer

I generally get about 13mpg city and 19-20 hwy but I have gotten up to 23.5 mpg on the highway w/ some stop & go (i think 24+ would be possible if the roads were flat enough and not using (possibly) crappy winter gas), here's how:

The EPA tests mandate accelleration on the highway around 3 mph/sec, so accellerate GENTLY.

Shift before 3750 rpm to avoid the secondary fuel injectors.

Use cruise control, the 8's CC is excellent at maintaining pace.

Set CC at 73 or below and leave it there, changing speeds is a killer on mileage and above 73 is the dreaded/draining above 3750 rpm range.

I've gotten that mileage using a mix of 89 and 93 octane on a 360 mile trip from Boston to Wilmington, DE. That's with some hills, some traffic, some rest-stop pitstops and the ambient temp around 45F.

MPG thoughts:
supposedly winter gas is crappier than in the summer... some additive or something, is this really true or urban legend?

When its cold out, air density is higher so more gas would be needed to maintain the correct AFR, theoretically, less throttle opening would be needed to maintain power, but could this be a factor?

...Hoping that the summer may bring better numbers...

Maolin34

I have posted several times about my poor gas mileage. I have been getting pretty poor mileage with mixed driving...range is 12-15.5mpg

I went on a 330 mile road trip this past weekend, and being in the midwest it was in the teens or single digit temps for the whole way. I stopped and bought gas with 168miles on my trip meter and it took 7.5 gallons to fill back up. I knew it would be decent mileage based on the fact that my fuel guage was at half, and in this case (but not very often) the guage was pretty accurate. Anyway, that equates to ~22.4mpg!!! Huge increase. I have never seen my trip meter higher than 215 running on fumes. I reached my destination in about another 160 miles. I bought gas on the way back with my trip meter reading 192 after some local driving, it took 8.2 gallons....23.4mpg!!! I was very pleased by this. In all a 680 mile round trip cost me little more than $30 in gas at $2 a gallon. If only I could get mileage like this all the time.

I have 16000 miles on my car and I use premium all the time.

balletsushigirl

i get 14mpg , 15 if i'm *super* lucky, and i'm still displeased with that.

10 is just awful. i would try complaining more to your local dealership.

i have thought since the beginning that it is a defect. some cars get 20 some 10? that's rediculous. it's not just different driving habits or conditions. that's just crap.

on the other hand, my car doesn't use any oil. is there a possibility that those of you who get poor mileage have no noticed this in your car?

happy new year everyone,
laura

balletsushigirl

me too. i save all my gas receipts and document my mpg every fill up.

one day i'm hoping mazda will admit it's a defect (of which i have no doubt) and *maybe* will be willing to compensate or at least make an effort with some kind of gift certificate to mazda accessories or service ...

i should probably keep dreaming.
but they really should step up to the plate.

balletsushigirl

i shift between 3 and 4 almost exclusively. i still get poor mpg.

dwill9578

i don't get it people getting 10mpg?, at the very lowest i got a little over 17. I feel I drive pretty hard and mostly in city. I wonder what"defect" would cause such a large diffrence in MPG from one car to another?? But with some people getting "decent"mileage and some not; trying to get a large company to compensate for the diffrence might be next too impossibly.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

My car gets 12 to 13 miles per gallon now. But this is with reving to 4000 and shifting. When I used to shift at 3000 my mileage was usually 13 to 14 miles per gallon. However, my car didn't use any oil as well. Its still at the same place as it was when I first got my car. And now it is 2000 miles later. I drive an automatic by the way.

Tbone

It's not too hard, if you think about it. What if your car was one of the ones that sucked gas. You'd be complaining too. I get about 17 driving normal/fun. the worst I have ever had was 15.5, and that was pushing it hard quite a bit on that tank. 21-22 on the fwy doing 70-75.

Don't knock the other drivers. They may have a blown seal, or some other problem causing a serious lack of compression/power that could cause the mileage to be horrible. My sales guy told me to red-line the car on the test drive after it was warm. He said no break in was needed. What if a few of these sales guys have abused a brand spankin new engine, especially before it was warmed up, and toasted them. New car/bad engine/poor mileage could result. use your imagination if it doesn't hurt.

Tbone

therm8

So who do I write if I'm getting the EPA mileage?

Go48

If you haven't used "any" oil in 2000 miles and your gas mileage is that bad, perhaps the gas is migrating to your oil? Have it checked.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

Yes, I have an appointment for oil change tomorrow, and I will ask mazda about it.

Just a thought though, I know piston engines simply need to change the oil, and in rotaries its change and add oil, but how much oil is usually consumed in about 2000 miles for our cars? About how much difference on the dipstick or from the oil level gauge?

Dark8

In the first 2000 miles mine used a quart. I don't know if it was topped off when I bought it but when I added it was at the fill mark and it brought it 3/4 the way to the full mark. You have issues if it is still at the top mark after 2K miles.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

I got mine when the oil level was between 1/2 and 3/4 full. I guess I never thought it was a big deal, cuz rotaries need oil changes. But still today.. its right there.

SiCkRx-8

I have 15000 miles on my car and my last full tank of gas I ran it all the way to the fuel light and only had 184.3 miles on the tank. Im not quite sure on the mpg, but usually im getting 10-12 mpg no matter how i drive. I just had the 15,000 mile service done on the car from wayne mazda and their response is that the car is not "fuel efficient." Now im pissed because im wasting way too much money on filling the gas tank. I think its complete BS that some are getting the quoted EPA mileage and some aren't. I am going to attempt this way, but I am also bringing it back to the dealer. If Im still getting the same response I will be contacting the lemon officials. Thanks for the info skagen

rx8van

I don't want to bring up another thread on gas mileage, but I'm getting very frustrated, more so at the service than the mileage.

Honestly, I could care less how much gas my little baby eats. It's more about principle.

I'm getting 12.5 MPG on avg, City/Highway driving (01/04 build date). I called the dealer to get it looked at, and basically they said.

"You can bring it in if you want, but gas mileage totally depends on how you drive the car, there's more than likely nothing we can do about it"

18 CITY / 24 HWY This is bull. And they really should DO something about it rather than just say there's nothing they can do.

It's like me running a pizza shop, you call up, order a pepperoni and mushroom pizza. All I bring you is a Pepperoni pizza. You ask where the mushroom's are, I say oops, screwed up, too bad, live with it. I'd be out of business pretty quick.

Rather than chatting about these MPG issues, we should do something to fix it. Then noone will ever post about it again. YAY!

Again, sorry for the MPG post.

rx8wannahave

Mention this to the dealer, might help...

Yes, 18/24 is the Avg EPA but the EPA gave a range of 15/28 so we all should expect something in that range. 12.5...is rediculus!!!!!!

rx8van

Agreed. I guess this was more of a rant than anything.. don't really know what I was looking for by making this post.

12.5 is ridiculous though. Even 15 MPG I would be happy with, at least that's CLOSE to 15.. which is CLOSE to the estimated 18.

This is my favourite car ever! But it seems with Mazda we should always assume less... horsepower, MPG. The only thing doesn't seem to drop is the price!

JM1FE

Mmm, no. The EPA *tested* the RX-8 and it gave 18 on their city test, and 24 on their highway test. OTHER VEHICLES in the same category (e.g. subcompact, compact, fullsize, light truck) tested at different points, which is the comparative range that you're talking about. It does NOT mean that the RX-8 is 'given a range' of 15/28.

Old Rotor

I have got as low as 16mpg in city and as high as 29mpg on the hwy. It depends on how much you keep your foot in it. I check it once in awhile, but the rotary is thirsty I know cause its my 7th. Do you have enough discipline to keep your foot out of it for half a tank? Not many do, its to much fun to rev where the torque is up high...

JoePaterno

I feel your pain Van. I also get 12-13 mpg. I might as well be driving an H2. but the again, I zip around everywhere I go. I just love the rotary. It's like Old Rotor said, you must have the discipline to keep your foot off the gas. But if u r going to do that, you should just get a car that doesn't rattle and that u can drive in the snow

clmantis21

Hmm... how many miles do you people get per tank?


I'm est. about 220 per gallon tops. Sometimes 210.

V_for_velocity

My next to last gas mileage calculation was a Hummer-like 9.02 mi/U.S. gal. The most recent one (sound of trumpets) is . . . 12.54 mpg. Only difference, AFAIK, is warmer weather, i.e. closer to 32F above instead of 32F below. It's all been city driving. Maybe, come spring, she'll hit 16.