Everyone's Fuelly MPG seems very high compared to mine. :(

I'm always, between 20-21mpgs. I drive slow and short distances, in the crowded LA traffic. Rarely reach freeway speeds.
 
I tried 91 octane once and didn't notice any real improvement in mpg so I went back to 87. I'm gonna add a can of Sea Foam next time I fill the tank to clean the whole fuel system.

Because of ~15-20% fuel remaining in the tank at 0 miles remaining, you would have to run about 4 full tanks through before your engine was actually getting 91 octane, so doing it for just 1 tank is not going to do anything noticeable. Don't expect to be popping wheelies out of the gas station on your first 91-93 fill-up. (cheers)
 
Because of ~15-20% fuel remaining in the tank at 0 miles remaining, you would have to run about 4 full tanks through before your engine was actually getting 91 octane, so doing it for just 1 tank is not going to do anything noticeable. Don't expect to be popping wheelies out of the gas station on your first 91-93 fill-up. (cheers)

Regardless how many gallons of old 87 gas remain in the bottom of the tank, I can't justify an increase of 15% of the price for a very marginal mpg improvement.
 
Because of ~15-20% fuel remaining in the tank at 0 miles remaining, you would have to run about 4 full tanks through before your engine was actually getting 91 octane, so doing it for just 1 tank is not going to do anything noticeable. Don't expect to be popping wheelies out of the gas station on your first 91-93 fill-up. (cheers)

I put in 93 octane. Run 87 octane normally. Tank has about 2 gallons in it when I fuel up. Total capacity is what, 15ish? Means my tank is probably AT LEAST 91 octane when I'm done. Seems if it were gonna matter...it would.

Getting Ethanol-free fuel today, FYI, will see how that goes.
 
So far, very little in this thread addresses what I feel are the biggest variables with mileage: where and how you drive your car. Use the Fuel Economy Monitor screen to see what I mean. It will tell you just when you use the most fuel. Once you understand where it goes, you can manage it's use. Every time you stop and go, drive up hill, power around a turn, or blast onto the highway, you are using more gas. The CX-5 is easy to drive gently, even if it is more fun not to. Also I have noticed a 2MPG difference when it really heats up here in AZ. It seems like a combination of summer-blend gas and heavy use of A/C. Before that, I was exceeding the EPA City estimates for around town driving. Give it a try.
 
I put in 93 octane. Run 87 octane normally. Tank has about 2 gallons in it when I fuel up. Total capacity is what, 15ish? Means my tank is probably AT LEAST 91 octane when I'm done. Seems if it were gonna matter...it would.

Getting Ethanol-free fuel today, FYI, will see how that goes.

Yes, 14.8 gallons for the FWD, and 15.3 for the AWD...

Your math sounds right.

I just wish we had a few dyno runs of data to see what impact there is for octane on the Skyactiv 2.5G...

At this point I would only use high octane when I was using an alternate ENGINE TUNE, or perhaps towing something up a hill on a hot day...
 
Yes, 14.8 gallons for the FWD, and 15.3 for the AWD...

Your math sounds right.

I just wish we had a few dyno runs of data to see what impact there is for octane on the Skyactiv 2.5G...

At this point I would only use high octane when I was using an alternate ENGINE TUNE, or perhaps towing something up a hill on a hot day...

I just don't feel that the money is worth it. I think one should buy a pre-owned GLK350, or a Forester Turbo, or something. The CX-5 just isn't fast enough, or easy at all to make fast, to justify it. It's kindof like installing a 12,000# capable trailer hitch on the CX-5. Or making sure to get tires capable of dealing with mud for your Corvette. The amount of momentum in one direction (performance envelope) that you are trying to overcome makes it spit in a hurricane, really.

Now economy...that's serious business, IMO. because it's the one thing that these class of vehicles DO bill themselves as, and are engineered around.
 
These posted Fuelly MPG's seem exaggerated like most guys bench press. 2016 CX5 GT AWD, only use sport mode on freeway merges, not too aggressive on the gas pedal, 3150 miles. Best MPG was 26.2, overall avg. is 24.7, 70% highway, 30% city mix. My last vehicle, who I was happy to give back to my wife, averaged 14.2 so I'm very happy with 24.7 but I can't help but wonder how can I be down with the high 20 mpg club!!!

Not too different from my 2.5 AWD. Overall average on the interstate at 70 on cruise with A/C is 29-ish. Reset the counter at speed on interstate and it will avg 33+ mpg strictly on the highway. It is common for me to get 20 - 22 avg on the computer with only suburban driving.

Avoid gasoline contaminated with ethanol. It cuts fuel mileage about 10% in everything I have. A chemist friend told me it had 7% fewer BTUs. combined with a Stoichiometric A/F ratio of ~6:1 (vs 14.7:1) and its a wonder (to me) the loss isn't worse than 10%!

Increase tire pressure. I run 40F/38R, but it is safe to run even higher, check your sidewalls.
 
Last edited:
These posted Fuelly MPG's seem exaggerated like most guys bench press. 2016 CX5 GT AWD, only use sport mode on freeway merges, not too aggressive on the gas pedal, 3150 miles. Best MPG was 26.2, overall avg. is 24.7, 70% highway, 30% city mix. My last vehicle, who I was happy to give back to my wife, averaged 14.2 so I'm very happy with 24.7 but I can't help but wonder how can I be down with the high 20 mpg club!!!

Check back after 2 oil changes. You need time to physically break in the engine- then remove all the metal contaminants suspended in the oil.
 
I just don't feel that the money is worth it. I think one should buy a pre-owned GLK350, or a Forester Turbo, or something. The CX-5 just isn't fast enough, or easy at all to make fast, to justify it. It's kindof like installing a 12,000# capable trailer hitch on the CX-5. Or making sure to get tires capable of dealing with mud for your Corvette. The amount of momentum in one direction (performance envelope) that you are trying to overcome makes it spit in a hurricane, really.

Now economy...that's serious business, IMO. because it's the one thing that these class of vehicles DO bill themselves as, and are engineered around.

Yep.
 
I've had my CX-5 Touring FWD for about six weeks now; bought it with 18k already on it, and have now added 2k of my own. Love this vehicle! Its ride is smooth and power is excellent. So far my MPG has been about 29 mpg with mostly mixed driving. Some recent highway trips, at speeds averaging about 60 mph, have not gotten me into the 30 mpg range, but that could be due to having to run the AC the entire time. Overall, though, I'm not disappointed; my previous car, a 2013 Sonata with a 2.4 engine, didn't get much better. I hope I'll see better MPG in the future, but I won't be upset if this trend continues.
 
I just don't feel that the money is worth it. I think one should buy a pre-owned GLK350, or a Forester Turbo, or something. The CX-5 just isn't fast enough, or easy at all to make fast, to justify it. It's kindof like installing a 12,000# capable trailer hitch on the CX-5. Or making sure to get tires capable of dealing with mud for your Corvette. The amount of momentum in one direction (performance envelope) that you are trying to overcome makes it spit in a hurricane, really.

Serious? CX-5 has been more than adequate for me. I guess people in NJ/NYC just don't need to drive fast enough. I was considering Forester XT but then the lower mpg, premium gas requirement automatically increased my operating cost by 20%. I also considered a used Audi A4 as well but the TCO over 5 years was more than a new CX-5.

My experience with mpg is 60-80% hway. Best mpg is 28, average is 26mpg, worst is 23mpg. Average speed is 26 mph.
 
Quick question , are you guys using the dashboard number for your mileage ?? I have a GT awd with 3300 k on it and it seems stuck at 25 mpg . It dropped to 24.7 this week due to using AC . Took a good 120 miles hwy drive today and it moved to 24.8 . I have not seen it over 26 since I got .
 
Quick question , are you guys using the dashboard number for your mileage ?? I have a GT awd with 3300 k on it and it seems stuck at 25 mpg . It dropped to 24.7 this week due to using AC . Took a good 120 miles hwy drive today and it moved to 24.8 . I have not seen it over 26 since I got .

Are you resetting it back to 0 at every tank?

What many do not know, is that on the steering wheel, the INFO button is a 3way switch...

Press up or down on the ends of the INFO rocker to go up or down on your dash info display.
Press the CENTER of the INFO rocker switch and hold in while you are displaying the AVG item you want to reset. After a moment, you will see the previous average cleared and replaced by two dashed lines --

I do this each tank after refuel, for both the AVG SPEED, and AVG MILEAGE.

ximm
 
Last edited:
I do see a little variation between the onboard mpg calculator and what my Car Minder app shows; usually Car Minder shows a higher mpg. A comparison with a third calculator app shows the Car Minder app to be pretty close to reality. My CX-5 actually understates my mpg (good news).
 
I do see a little variation between the onboard mpg calculator and what my Car Minder app shows; usually Car Minder shows a higher mpg. A comparison with a third calculator app shows the Car Minder app to be pretty close to reality. My CX-5 actually understates my mpg (good news).

The car is probably more accurate. It gets its data directly from the fuel management system - you can see in real time what its doing, if you're coasting or going up or down hills... Minder apps need you to enter info from fuel station pumps which are not as accurate.
 
Well, no improvement. The WORST mileage of my trip actually came from putting 91 octane no ethanol in the tank after the 87 octane no ethanol. It hovered in the 25's. The second and third fuel-ups involved 87 octane regular gasoline, and I managed to over in the 26's.
 
Serious? CX-5 has been more than adequate for me. I guess people in NJ/NYC just don't need to drive fast enough. I was considering Forester XT but then the lower mpg, premium gas requirement automatically increased my operating cost by 20%. I also considered a used Audi A4 as well but the TCO over 5 years was more than a new CX-5.

My experience with mpg is 60-80% hway. Best mpg is 28, average is 26mpg, worst is 23mpg. Average speed is 26 mph.

Response makes no sense to me. Nothing you can do to your CX-5 is going to make it even as fast as a "slow" "sporty car/SUV". If you think you can hit sub 6.5-second 0-60's in it, feel free to post a vid. I just think you're wasting your money and compromising reliability when you could have saved money and bought the Forester, if you needed actual better performance.
 
Well, no improvement. The WORST mileage of my trip actually came from putting 91 octane no ethanol in the tank after the 87 octane no ethanol. It hovered in the 25's. The second and third fuel-ups involved 87 octane regular gasoline, and I managed to over in the 26's.


Funny you mention the regular gas vs ethanol laced. Check out this article:

Knock limits in spark ignited direct injected engines using gasoline/ethanol blends

And here in case you think I am trying to send you malware
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back