Roger that!
Displeased with mileage
- Thread starter Unobtanium
- Start date
Roger that!
I have to say that so far I'm thrilled with the fuel economy of my CX-5. I just did my first "real" fill-up (not sure the dealer had it filled all the way when I picked it up) and got a hand calculated 29.2 MPG. The onboard readout said 29.1 MPG so close enough for government work and hand grenades. This was a mix of around town errands in stop and go traffic, and a long trip to Boston and back. I had the radar cruise control set for 5 MPH over the limit for most of that trip, and the readout showed 29.1 MPG outbound and 29.4 MPG for the return trip. Not bad for cruising at 60 MPH / 70 MPH in a CUV with a smattering of city driving at each end of the trip.
The only slight mystery is that I thought the CX-5 had a 15 gallon tank, yet the fuel warning light was on and the gauge showed almost empty but the fill-up was 12.384 gallons. The prior fill-up was at an indicated 1/8th tank and was only 10.226 gallons. Is the fuel gauge notoriously pessimistic or something? Should I be concerned that something isn't functioning quite right?
The only slight mystery is that I thought the CX-5 had a 15 gallon tank, yet the fuel warning light was on and the gauge showed almost empty but the fill-up was 12.384 gallons. The prior fill-up was at an indicated 1/8th tank and was only 10.226 gallons. Is the fuel gauge notoriously pessimistic or something? Should I be concerned that something isn't functioning quite right?
Gasoline Tank
You can check the Capacities section in your manual. My 2015 GT AWD shows that the Gasoline tank holds 15.3 US Gal. My gauge is off too, but I use that as a cushion. I find the 15.3 capacity a bit small for my own 23.3mpg... 60% city, 40% hwy,combined mileage. I drive conservatively and have noticed that if I get on it, even a little, Gas Mileage suffers quite a bit...What the hell...small price to pay for Zoom Zoom
You can check the Capacities section in your manual. My 2015 GT AWD shows that the Gasoline tank holds 15.3 US Gal. My gauge is off too, but I use that as a cushion. I find the 15.3 capacity a bit small for my own 23.3mpg... 60% city, 40% hwy,combined mileage. I drive conservatively and have noticed that if I get on it, even a little, Gas Mileage suffers quite a bit...What the hell...small price to pay for Zoom Zoom
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Having moved recently from the Washington, DC metro area to north-central West Virginia, I must say I'm a bit disappointed with the new gas mileage I'm getting. It's SO mountainous around here and my commute is 100% under 40mph city driving (only 6 miles round trip) and I can't get more than 22mpg, average is closer to 21mpg. I can only imagine if I had kept my '05 Tribute..I'd probably be getting 12mpg around here. I know that it's the really steep mountain inclines on my commute, and even going on short highway trips around here I haven't been able to break 25-26mpg, tops. I even altered my route to work to be a little less hilly, and didn't see much of a difference. It's just crazy around here how they said oh, mountains? what mountains! and built up roads/houses/infrastructure right on them.
The huge plus side is that I'm spending ~25-30 minutes in my car every day instead of ~90-120 minutes like I was on my 29 mile round trip DC commute, and I'm still spending less on gas/filling up less often because I drive so much less now. I had quickly put about 10k miles on my car from last September until this May when we left DC, and I've only put about 1.5k miles on it since moving to WV, and at least 500 miles of that was actually driving to WV and going back and forth to our storage unit while moving in.
The huge plus side is that I'm spending ~25-30 minutes in my car every day instead of ~90-120 minutes like I was on my 29 mile round trip DC commute, and I'm still spending less on gas/filling up less often because I drive so much less now. I had quickly put about 10k miles on my car from last September until this May when we left DC, and I've only put about 1.5k miles on it since moving to WV, and at least 500 miles of that was actually driving to WV and going back and forth to our storage unit while moving in.
Just picked up a 2015 touring CX-5 and I have had the opposite experience. Got back from a long drive on twisty mountain highways (600 miles) and most of my driving is on rural roads, some driving in a small city. The car reports an average of 31 mph. I reset the info gauge after getting the car.
I also get 32mpg on mountain roads in the rockies. Amazingly, the ups and downs don't seem to affect mileage, as long as one keeps moving in the sweet spot of 45-55mph. Its stop and go driving in traffic that kills mpg.
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
I average around 26mpg in the ozarks. Maybe the rockies are tamer. Interesting.
I doubt Ozarks can match Rockies. I've made 100 mile loop getting 32mpg from Denver (5000ft) to Boulder, to Nederland (8200ft) to Golden, and back to Denver. That is over 3,000 feet elevation gain on twisty mountains roads averaging 45mph with virtually no stop signs. I think lack of stop signs really helps mpg. I've been to 12,000 feet with CX-5, we have highest paved road to Mt. Evans at 14,200 feet.
Normally I get 27mpg at 70mph on flat highway. One tank I got 32mpg at 80mph on flat highway with a 20mph tailwind. The CX-5 mileage is highly dependent on speed and wind. It seems to excel at 45-55mph even in high twisty mountain roads, amazingly. Also, I have FWD that gets 2mpg better than AWD.
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
Ah, elevation. EFI vehicles get better mileage the higher up they are.
After my first fillup, the mileage computer was about 1 mpg below what I hand calculated. For subsequent fillups, it's been about 0.1 -0.3 off.
Had a weird thing happen today. First time since I bought it that I went on the interstate. I was shocked to see the current mpg consistently down at 22 - 24 mpg at 75 mph, which is worse than pure city driving. Even more surprising is that on the way back, it went up to 29 -32, which is about where I expected. Both figures were on flat roads with cruise control on. Not sure what happened there. Also noticed that mileage is very sensitive to speed, more so than other cars I've owned. I've noticed that mpg drops off sharply above 70 mph. Setting the cruise control at 74 instead of 75 seems to improve the mileage between 1-2 mpg. Not sure if it's an engine thing, or the body has high drag.
Had a weird thing happen today. First time since I bought it that I went on the interstate. I was shocked to see the current mpg consistently down at 22 - 24 mpg at 75 mph, which is worse than pure city driving. Even more surprising is that on the way back, it went up to 29 -32, which is about where I expected. Both figures were on flat roads with cruise control on. Not sure what happened there. Also noticed that mileage is very sensitive to speed, more so than other cars I've owned. I've noticed that mpg drops off sharply above 70 mph. Setting the cruise control at 74 instead of 75 seems to improve the mileage between 1-2 mpg. Not sure if it's an engine thing, or the body has high drag.
mazdadude
ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
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- '16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Going 75 mph against a headwind will drop your mpg a lot, and then going with the wind will help.
I was able to gain mpg by drafting on freeway behind a very large, very square, RV trailer. At 60 mph we are talking a 5mpg difference that I held steady for several miles by drafting in the envelope. However, I do not condone this behavior, as this exact RV trailer hit a metal object blew a tire and the underside of the trailer after hitting debris on the freeway. Had I been still experimenting, I would have had a very bad experience.
Should have mentioned that mine is AWD. The driving on that trip was mainly at either around 40 on the smaller highways and at most 55 on the main artery - Hwy 101, 299 and 96 for those familiar with Northern California. This was up into the mountains in Mendocino and northern Humboldt Counties.
I've had many vehicles, cars and SUVs, and none of them have had much of a noticible change in mileage on the highway depending on which way the wind is blowing. Certainly not 5-6 mpg, and the wind doesn't always come from the same direction. I'm just not buying this. Either the CX-5 has a horrible Cd and aerodynamic drag increases exponentially above 70 mph, or there is something in the engine programming that feeds a lot more fuel as soon as you go above about 2100 rpm.
I'll check again the next time I hit the highway and if it happens again, I'll have it checked at the dealer.
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- 2021 CX-9 Sig
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- 2021 CX-5 GT
My most recent trip to State College PA resulted in a round trip MPG of 31.8- including plucking around town for 2 days and an average speed of 59 MPH. Also, on flat ground, going 65 MPH, my instant reading hovers around 43 mpg. Most of the interstate is 65 or 70 MPH and I usually drive 5-8 miles above that.
My trip gauge is almost identical to what I get by hand. I follow the same fill-up routine each time. Fill up; when the pump clicks off, let it sit for 10-15 seconds and start it again. When it stops again (clicks off), I stop filling up. I track everything on Fuelly and most often, the computer MPG is within 0.1 of the calculated.
Most of my trips are around town and my average MPG is ~26. The summer is much better - closer to 27 MPG.
Two things kill milage on this car: cold temps and idling. In winter, when it is below 20, my milage will drop to 22-23 MPG.
My trip gauge is almost identical to what I get by hand. I follow the same fill-up routine each time. Fill up; when the pump clicks off, let it sit for 10-15 seconds and start it again. When it stops again (clicks off), I stop filling up. I track everything on Fuelly and most often, the computer MPG is within 0.1 of the calculated.
Most of my trips are around town and my average MPG is ~26. The summer is much better - closer to 27 MPG.
Two things kill milage on this car: cold temps and idling. In winter, when it is below 20, my milage will drop to 22-23 MPG.
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A 5 mph headwind on the outbound leg of a trip becomes a 5 mph tailwind on the inbound trip. IOW, assuming wind speed and direction remain constant, you break even.
A 5 mph headwind has the same effect as driving 5 mph faster. It will likely use a little more fuel. Of course, slope, road surface, traffic conditions, etc. may reduce or eliminate minor wind advantages.
Will my mileage increase as the car breaks-in? I have a 2016 CX-5 AWD GT and I got 26MPG driving 105 highway miles on a relatively flat surface. I get about 24 MPG around town, which isn't too bad considering I have to come down a mountain and then back up to get home. According to the display, I get 6.5 MPG going up the mountain and frequently 99.5 MPG going down. I'm quite pleased with the local mileage but not very happy with the 26 MPG on the highway (especially going 60-65MPH). I'm hoping it gets better. The car now has 500 miles on it.
You are forgetting that air resistance increases exponentially as speed increases linearly. You do not break even in terms of fuel consumption if the outbound leg has a 5 mph headwind and the return leg has a 5 mph tailwind. The same trip will consume less fuel if there is no wind on either leg.
Yes, MPG will get a little better as everything wears in. But don't expect miracles. The biggest improvement will come from changes in driving style like anticipating traffic conditions ahead so you can coast into slowdowns instead of accel/brake. Also, I'm a big believer in keeping the engine in optimal condition by getting the engine fully warmed up and using most of the rpm range during brisk acceleration. The occasional use of higher rpm's will keep the valves sealing well and might even improve the injector spray pattern (vs. an engine that is never spun up). That's one reason of many that I prefer the 2.0L engine. It's smaller mass warms up a bit quicker and it's in it's sweet spot more often and gets considerably better MPG. An engine that freeway cruises using 35% of peak power will be happier than one that only uses 28%.
