Gas mileage

[brianseto]

Hi all

My gas mileage seems to be pretty dinky on my MSP. I'm running stock, with the PCM flash and a K&N panel filter. I don't drive my car very hard, but not like a granny either. (Been shifting about 4K, occasional shifts at 5K) I do a bit of highway driving, and a bit of city driving. About 50/50, I would say. I'm only getting 23-24 MPG average.

Anyone getting the same? I know the supposed estimates are 30 Highway/24 city.

I'm going to try and drive my car a bit easier (3-3.5K RPM shifts) and see what happens.

Regards
Brian

[Geo212]

u should shift at 3k, and try to (key word try) not to use the boost

[mspracer21]

yea dont shift at high rpms keep it at 3k

[jersey_emt]

Bah, I'm getting 19 MPG on average.

[RyanJayG]

take your right foot off of the floor to see improvements.

[mspracer21]

dam howmuch does your foot wiegh

[2K3 MSP]

Originally posted by brianseto
I don't drive my car very hard, but not like a granny either. (Been shifting about 4K, occasional shifts at 5K) I do a bit of highway driving, and a bit of city driving. About 50/50, I would say. I'm only getting 23-24 MPG average.
I'm sorry, but I drive about 100 miles a day, 50/50 as well, and I get on my car pretty hard(ok, pretty much redline it gear to gear:)). I've got a CAI, DP, catback, boosting 10psi, and I still get 25mpg average. Something isn't right with your car...

[jersey_emt]

Originally posted by RyanJayG
take your right foot off of the floor to see improvements.

Improvements, shaminprovements. :D

I like to keep the revs high...just about the only time I shift under 3K is when I'm warming the car up.

Two tanks of gas I went easy on (just to see the difference) and I got 29 MPG. But it wasn't any fun that way...I'd rather pay for more gas & have more fun. :D

[RyanJayG]

reset the ecu, and see if it changes... mine did, for the better, but I'm a mp3 though

[BrianV]

I just took a 500 mile road trip, about 75% highway, 25% city and got 27-28 mpg. My speeds on the highway varied from 65-90 averaging about 77 or so.

My aruond town driving was quite spritied since I had just rolled over 1000 miles and wanted to excersize my car. Before 1000 I hadn't taken it over 5K, and hardly ever over 4k. Now I hardly take it over 5K, and haven't taken it over 6k yet.

[jersey_emt]

Originally posted by BrianV
haven't taken it over 6k yet.

What are you waiting for? LOL

[t3ase]

Originally posted by BrianV
I just took a 500 mile road trip, about 75% highway, 25% city and got 27-28 mpg. My speeds on the highway varied from 65-90 averaging about 77 or so.

My aruond town driving was quite spritied since I had just rolled over 1000 miles and wanted to excersize my car. Before 1000 I hadn't taken it over 5K, and hardly ever over 4k. Now I hardly take it over 5K, and haven't taken it over 6k yet.
Uh, Brian.. Come to 183 & Ohlen at the Van's parking lot on Wednesday and Saturday nights at around 10pm if you can. Or if you want, we can meet up and take a few trips up and down Lime Creek Rd.

[CarlM2]

I had my car flashed and I changed my oil. I went from an average of 26 to 30 mpg with mixed driving. I get about 31 on the highway. When I first got it I was getting about 23-25 in the city only, boosting aplenty... I rev it above 6,k daily but, I try to keep from going WOT. (just close to it)

[brianseto]

Hmmm

Maybe something isn't right in my car. I had my oil changed about 1K ago (Mobil 1), and I just got the flash last week. I check my tire pressure pretty religiously (about every 3 days or so.) 32PSI all around.

I haven't driven on a full tank of gas with the flash and the filter yet, though. I'll drive this tank @ 3K shifts and see how it goes, and on the next tank drive like I was before. If it still sux, I'll take it in.

And I've only gone WOT one time, FYI. :P I usually drive 1/4 throttle or so.

Brian

[JTP]

Well with my experiences with new cars I usually dont get good gas milage until I had a few miles on my car like 10k. And also the k&n filter really messes with you gas milage. I dropped a few mpg on my Eclipse when I used the K&N.

[JPBlackMP5]

23-25 mpg.....mostly city....shifting @3k....minimal lead footedness!

[tttP5]

24 sounds good for MSP... considering you have the thrill of a turbo...

i get 25 on my slow as hell P5.... 10% A/c useage.... 50% highway 50% city.... I usually shift at 3k too

I am nowhere near ppls 28mpg that many other P5s say they get...

[JPBlackMP5]

?? I had a P5 and regularly got 28 mpg... BTW - is the gas tank smaller in the msp than the P5?? too lazy to do a search...so don't flame me!! j/k.

[tttP5]

crap is something wrong with my car??? how come I only get 25??
is there anyway to check?

[YuYuRena]

28 to 30(rarely). 50/50 driving pattern. DOn't check my tire pressure as religiously as you do. Use neutral alot to coast when I hit red lights though. shift 85% before 3k, I shift mostly around 2.5K

[laracroft]

All I have to say is my mpg sux. :mad:

[yashooa]

I have gotten as high as 436 miles out of 12 gallons but driving in this manner will cause your Wife to pass you in her PR5 and call you on the cell phone to let you know you drive like a Grandma :D

Under less "Geriatric" driving I get about upper 390's to lower 400's on average from 12 gallons. So far the worst I have gotten out of 12 gallons is 360 some odd miles. I mainly highway drive for about 100 miles a day at a constant steady speed, low shift, and skip gears. I coast and speed up slowly as I've got to save fuel.
I hate spending too much on gas.
I gots all dem childrens to feed. (sad1)

[mattD]

i get about 28 mpg. i read in the owners manual what speed to change gear.
1)10
to
2)16
to
3)24
to
4)32
to
5)41
im doing this for the first time on this tank of gas. im above 1/2 tank and ive gone 160 miles. im hoping for somewhere in the 30's.
oh yea and this is all CITY driving. i rarely get on the highway/expressway

mattD

[kineticSpicyMSP]

Maybe it has to do with where you live? Cuz I drive like a bat outta hell everywhere and get around 28 now post flash. before not as good maybe 25-26. but last I checked, I drove on highway half tank and town half tank and got 31.

[girth]

Originally posted by mattD
im above 1/2 tank and ive gone 160 miles. im hoping for somewhere in the 30's.
oh yea and this is all CITY driving. i rarely get on the highway/expressway

mattD

There's no way you're on pace to reach 30's on that tank. To get in the 30's you'll have to have about 220 miles on 1/2 tank (at least for me anyway). The varying gas mileage I think really boils down to how much to you sit stationary in traffic. I hardly ever have to sit in traffic and always get 31MPGs in the summer and will probably get about 28 in the winter (with the colder air). It literally is getting the EXACT same mileage as I had in my ES, which is kind of odd.

[KyRaceFan]

I avg about 23-25, but im addicted to boost, and randomly take it to 5k or more just to hear my turbo.
On a mostly highway tank, cruising at 80, i got about 320 miles. That was the most I ever have in my MSP, and normally get 270-280. Rarely do i get more. :)

[oldzoomer]

From miles 9-600 I was getting ~22 MPG - and that was babying the car.
Now that it is broken in I drive it like I feel like and I'm consistently getting 27 MPG.
This is in a mix of city/highway driving (mainly rush hour).

[msppro113]

I shift at 2.5k and below, I just dont have the money to fill up a tank of gas like every other day. The most I got on a tank is i think about 330.

[kineticSpicyMSP]

From what I have read Those of you that are shifting early are getting the worst gas mileage. Everyone that has said "I shift before 3K" are getting sucky gas mileage. Like I said I Never Shift below 5K and get 28-30. Maybe you guys should try driving this car the way it is supposed to be driven!

[SoniCraze]

hrm....i shift between 2500 and 3000; ive never paid attention untill the last time i filled up, so far im down to half a tank and ive only gone about 94 miles!!! mostly city driving but dam, thats like 13!!! miles!!....No frekin wonder i have to fill up every 3rd day.

Seriously what could this be? Could it have something to do with the lifter tick ive recently gotten?

scary shit.

[yashooa]

Originally posted by kineticSpicyMSP
From what I have read Those of you that are shifting early are getting the worst gas mileage. Everyone that has said "I shift before 3K" are getting sucky gas mileage. Like I said I Never Shift below 5K and get 28-30. Maybe you guys should try driving this car the way it is supposed to be driven!

Not me just filled up 93 octane for 1.44$ a gallon. I shift at 3k and skip gears I was at 406 miles when I put 12 gallons in. I usally never use much more than 12 gallons before filling up.
I do accelerate very slowly and just cruise all realxed and happy during the week. It's all that angry soccer Mom Minivan road rage shit that uses all the gas. :p Dose beeches is crazy (crazy)
There should be a law against driving with PMS.
I'm sorry Mam are you driving while ovulating? Oh no, we got a D.W.O. That's a serious offense could you step out of the car Madam?

[505zoom]

Originally posted by yashooa

I'm sorry Mam are you driving while ovulating? Oh no, we got a D.W.O. That's a serious offense could you step out of the car Madam?

(lol) Good one, I agree.

[Geo212]

When i drive my mom's '99 Eddie Bauer Explorer with the 205hp-6. I get about 23mpg going to and from school that is about 50/50 stop and go in the parking lot and highway like cruising. If i go WOT drag racing(and winning) ricer civics i still get about 19.2mpg. You should try to get a thinner synthetic oil in ur car.

Miata=28mpg before i changed my oil to 20w-50. Now it is in the high teens

'96 5-spd sick with the 2.4 4cyl.= I swear it gets about 40mpg. Maybe because it is soooo slow and you can drive for a week on Empty.

[mdaj]

Recently did my testing. On 92oct and shifting at 3k (normal driving) 75/25 (36miles to and from work on freeway) I have gotten 344miles to the tank. Which is about 28mpg if going by 12gal tank from what everyone else stated.

[oldzoomer]

I'm now overaging 26 MPG in commuter traffic shifting whenever I feel like it.
Not quite as good as my old Protege but I'm pretty happy with the mileage.

[Vicocola]

is skipping gears when u shift healthy for the car? actually does it matter at all?

[jonnydoe48]

guys. the lesser you drive daily, the worse off your mileage.

i warm my car up so much because i drive so little. oh well.

[oldzoomer]

I have owned 3 manual transmission cars and skipping gears never caused any problems. Just make sure your speed and RPMs match (don't shift into 5th at 20MPH and bog the engine).
It may help on mileage. That's why GM implemented it in their V8 muscle cars. It definitely helped on EPA tests.

[funnylittlman]

I just got the worse gas mileage yet on my speed this last fill up:

19 mpg

I have reset the ECU and got a new tank of gas and fixed the tire pressure to 32 psi all the way around. We'll see how this goes :mad:

[oldzoomer]

funnylittlman - have you checked your air filter to ensure it is clean? have you checked spark plugs as well?
I thought 32lbs was the minimum pressure for the stock tires.

[marashka]

damn it i got 300 on a tank all freeway miles..........
in the city i get same MPG as my buddies C5 vette...14 mpg......not same performence though....hehe
i dunno whats wrong with my car......who cares though , still enjoy my MSP

[DeputySherif]

i usually get 320-340 miles before the fuel light is activated. Most of the time, that mileage relates to about 12-12.5 gallons of gas added. (All city driving)

However, on road trips, I usually can milk out a good 400-425 miles before needing to fill her up (again between 12-13 gallons).

I use 93/94 octane gas and usually shift between 3,000-4,000rpms. Unlike the high-motion soccer moms, usually the best way is slow and steady.

[BremertonMSP]

Just filled up this morning on the way to work. 12.77 Gal and 318 miles = 24.9mpg. All city driving with a little zoom-zoom thrown in the mix.

[funnylittlman]

Originally posted by oldzoomer
funnylittlman - have you checked your air filter to ensure it is clean? have you checked spark plugs as well?
I thought 32lbs was the minimum pressure for the stock tires.

I haven't checked my air filter, but it's the original and I only have 9400 miles on it. I'll check that once the weather gets a little warmer (and there is no ice sheering down on me)

When you read the inside of the driver's side door (or passenger, I can't remember) it says 32psi. When I asked the dealer they said that was what I should run. Is this incorrect?

[oldzoomer]

The dealer and the door are correct on the tire pressure (32lb).
Weirdos like me read the sidewall treads and bump the pressure up to aid in handling and gas mileage.

[gboromsp]

I usually average about 24. The best I have got is 27 mpg, that was staying out of boost almost completely. I figure its a lot more fun to drive the car, so I can deal with losing 3 mpg.

[MrDiggler]

Just got in the door. Flew from TN to Springfield, MO early this morning to pick up my recently purchased orange MSP and drove it back 610 miles. Whew. I didn't keep track the whole way back, but over the first two fill ups I was getting about 28-29 mpg, and that was playing with it some and cruising between 65-80 mph. Not too shabby at all. That's as good as my daily beater '91 Escort GT.

[fatorangecat]

70 mile daily hwy commute-- 32-34mpg.

[TheJohnny]

I drive mine each and everyday in the boost and hard. I get around 22 mpg, in Las Vegas running 91 octane. I've been flashed and running stock boost for now and an INJEN CAI.

[velokid]

I've been getting 22 or 23 mpg in mostly city driving since I got my MSP. I keep the tire pressure at 32, and generally try to keep RPMs below 3K. It is unflashed. Does the ECU flashing really have a big effect on gas mileage? What else can be done to bump up the MPG?

[rocketspeed]

I usually run about 325 miles to a tank in mixed driving. I usually keep the revs over 2.5k.

[MrDiggler]

Originally posted by velokid
I've been getting 22 or 23 mpg in mostly city driving since I got my MSP. I keep the tire pressure at 32, and generally try to keep RPMs below 3K. It is unflashed. Does the ECU flashing really have a big effect on gas mileage? What else can be done to bump up the MPG?

I would think that flashing would positively affect gas mileage. The flashing is supposed to provide more ignition advance. My experiences with my hot rod lead me to believe that more advance gets me better gas mileage, at least on the highway.

[BremertonMSP]

Originally posted by MrDiggler
I would think that flashing would positively affect gas mileage. The flashing is supposed to provide more ignition advance. My experiences with my hot rod lead me to believe that more advance gets me better gas mileage, at least on the highway.

That's the same thing I though (yeah, I'm old too!) and it just didn't turn out to be true. What happened was, with the flash, the car ran better and I drive it a little more, um aggressive ;)

On the H/W, you're just not in the RPM range and driving style to utilize the timing bump from the way I understand it.

BTW, I like your sig line:

__________________
Learn to spell. Please.

too bad these kids now days don't pay attention LOL!!

[MSBlueP]

mine definitely got better after i placed my Ground wires..

i know it might sounds funni but i was getting 230 - 240a tank

now i'm getting 260+

[velokid]

I just filled up again last night: 253 miles on 12.5 gallons of gas, in mostly stop-and-go driving. I'm not expecting it to sip fuel like a Prius, but this is ridiculous - I'm driving a turbocharged economy car, not an M5.

Would resetting the ECU help? Is resetting the ECU just a matter of disconnecting the battery for ~15 minutes?

Anything the dealer can do, or is that a waste of time?

[funnylittlman]

Try it.

I just reset mine but it's got to go through a tank before I think it's relearned it's fuel/air maps

[MazSvcAdvisor]

It's not you're car.....it's probably a combination of low overall milege andyour foot......What do all you people expect the fuel milege to be on you're car? You are driving a performance car not a hybrid.

[oldzoomer]

I'm concerned that it could be a problem with spicyzoomzoom's car. From what I see in this thread a low MPG is NOT normal. The normal ranges look like anywhere from 22-30. I think anyone running under this should start checking various things on their car - tire pressure, plugs, air filter, EGR, etc.

[funnylittlman]

I just filled up

19.8 mpg all Wash/D.C. city driving. Maybe the stop 'n go and my short (6mi) commute to work has something to do with this???

[jonnydoe48]

yes. short commutes will destroy gas mileage. its just a fact. if you guys are worried so much just go on a road trip and keep at a constant 70 mph. there is your 3940324032 miles/gallon like you wanted..but why do it? its pointless.

[jonnydoe48]

agreed. the 24/30 is actually a great figure.

[DeputySherif]

*just throwing out thoughts...*

but the guys with the low mileage ---- what do you guys rev. the rpm to from a stop. personally, at a stop sign or light, the clutch is fully released at 800rpms and I am all out on the gas shifting between 3-3.5

[MSBlueP]

i always shift before 3krpm in the city..

I drive off with 2nd gear most of the time..

i clutch in and brake most of the time when coming towards a stop light or a stop sign.. never downshifting fully..

- only downshifts during corners w/o stops.. and what not..

gas mileage: 260miles a tank in cold weather and probably around 300 this coming spring/summer.

[rocketspeed]

Any of you guys ever drive a manual car with one of those neat computer that spits out real time gas mileage? Its pretty revealing. I had one on the GTI I owned prior to the MSP. One thing that was a revelation to me was in regards to fuel economy and RPM's.

I always thought that keeping the RPM's down meant you got the best mileage. A lot of watching that gauge taught me that RPM's didn't really matter much- It was almost always more dependant on throttle position than RPM's.

You use more gas having to depress the throttle more because you were lugging the engine than if you were letting the engine spin a little bit to generate more power at a lighter throttle. This works because your engine produces a lot more power at 3k than 1.5k RPM's. Generally takes more gas to push you along at lower RPM's because of the lack of power made.

Its a hard thing to measure without that computer and it may vary car to car, but if the MSP is anything like my GTI was, you usually make better mileage at 3k RPM's than 1.5K.

[DeputySherif]

do you guys coast at all.....every chance I get, hill, coming to a red light, stop sign, traffic....I am throwing the car into neutral and coasting whatever it might be out.

once again, I am average 340mptank city and 400ish mptank highway

[t3ase]

Keep in mind, if you're in neutral, you have *no* control of the car throttlewise. I don't like having that "what if" in my head.

[MAZDA_SPEED]

my GTI get 330+ city

[JPBlackMP5]

23-25 mpg.....mostly city....shifting @3k....minimal lead footedness!


Update: I traded my msp in for a MS3 and found mileage to be almost the same.....go figure.

ps: my driving habits are unchanged....jus spoolin' up waaaaaaaaay faster than b4. (deadhorse