how are people getting 20 mpg combined ?? are you 2007-2015 guys getting that high combined ?
please be honest
http://www.fuelly.com/car/mazda/cx-9/2013
I don't have a lead foot, there is a lot of stop and go traffic where I live, but 15 mpg is ridiculous,
I'm embarrassed to have the INFO screen show MPG when I have passengers, I switch it to range left , LOL
The city fuel economy is pretty dismal on my 2012 CX-9 Grand Touring FWD. Non-highway mileage ranges from 13-17mpg, but I admit to having a bit of a heavy foot. Overall, I average approximately 18mpg (17.5-17.8mpg is the norm per tank) with a mix of about 30% city and 70% highway.
My 2012 FWD is EPA rated at 17/24 and the AWD version is 16/22. (Just a bit of info/trivia- Mazda made some changes between the 2010 and 2011 models that improved fuel economy ratings from 16/22 on the FWD and 15/21 on the AWD to 17/24 and 16/22, respecively.)
The best I've ever managed on the highway was 20.4mpg on a 300-mile round trip from Atlanta to Greenville, SC and back. The A/C was on the whole time and the cruise was set at around 78mph. There were two people in the car that weighed about 400lbs combined.
Back in February (2016) on a 1450-mile trip from Atlanta to Pittsburgh and back, I only got 15.6mpg overall. I encountered some nasty weather going up and lots of slush and snow on part of the return trip, so that definitely had an impact. But it was still worse than I suspected, considering that my luggage and myself weighed around 300lbs and the A/C was only used when needed for defogging windows. To be completely honest, driving through most of West Virginia, I was doing 85-90mph and I passed quite a few big rigs at full-throttle.
So those are figures on my 2012 FWD. The AWD models are rated at 1mpg less in the city and 2mpg less on the highway, but the fuel economy figures reported by most owners show the AWD models to get at least 2-2.5mpg less than the FWD. So I would be getting somewhere in the 14-16mpg range if I had AWD.
When forced to name a negative trait about my CX-9, fuel economy is the only thing on my list. But I also knew what the EPA ratings were and what existing owners were reporting, so it wasn't a surprise. It's a 3-row SUV/CUV with tons of cargo room and plenty of punch under the hood. The transmission performance (which is one of my favorite attributes) is much sportier and more aggressive than any other vehicle of this size/type that I've ever driven. It translates into excellent acceleration but also contributes to the low (bordering on abysmal) city fuel economy. I also keep in mind that the Ford-designed (but Mazda built) engine debuted in late 2007 and fuel economy wasn't much of a factor then.
But it could always be worse! I visit my cousin in Los Angeles at least two to three times per year. Whenever I'm there, I drive her 2009 Lexus GX470 (4.7L V8, full-time AWD) and the combined fuel economy makes me sick to my stomach every time I check it- below the 13mpg mark....and it requires Premium. (flash)
