MPG's

[zoomzoom9]

Either all of you drive 20mph or my 2 hates me. I've had my 2 since it came stateside in August of 08' and after almost 11,000 miles on my car, the best I've been able to achieve was 35mpg and that was while drafting a semi going 65mph during a 200 mile trip. On average I get between 27-30mpg. This is with only myself in the car and no extra weight whatsoever. Filling up my tank after only 7.5 gallons of gas used and 215 miles driven is kind of annoying as well but whatever, I digress.

Actually, the answer is quite simple: you have an automatic, we drive manuals. The extra weight of the automatic transmission results in lower fuel economy. I'd guess it would reduce your fuel economy at least 3 MPG.

I think you're doing just fine for an automatic.

 

[zoomzoom9]

Really? Last week I had a 50 mile highway trip which I did at 75-80mph along with my normal work/school commute which is at 45mph. I was driving it "fast" and still got 35.9mpg (calculated from gas receipt). The last fill up before that I averaged 38mpg (indicated) just commuting around town and school. I wonder if this will hold up as the car racks up the miles. My car has about 800 miles now.

How do you guys drive your 2 "fast"? I go full throttle in 1st and 2nd to about 5k, then full throttle in 3rd to about 4k and then just drive normally after that. Feels plenty peppy driving around like that. I hardly ever go full on throttle to redline for 1, 2 and 3 even when merging on the highway. The car just doesn't feel fast at all in anything beyond 3rd gear and it just sounds terrible as the revs build. It feels the funnest to me at around 3-4k rpms. that must be the torque peak?

I've got almost 7k miles on my 2 over the past 3-4 months since I bought it. I was very impressed with the initial MPG and expected it to go down, but it hasn't yet. I imagine that, under proper maintenance and periodic tuning, it should be able to keep those numbers up in the long run.

I don't drive mine fast. I do speed up quickly when getting onto certain freeways when necessary, but for the most part I accelerate at a leisurely rate in order to get the best mileage. This car isn't really made for fast starts, so why sacrifice the mileage? Corners, however, are made for this car, so feel free to push it a bit on turns ;-)

 

[Richard_rsp]

The extra weight of the automatic transmission results in lower fuel economy.

I'm pretty sure that the extra 53lbs of the automatic doesnt cause a huge loss in mileage. I dont know the gear ratios on the auto, but the fact that the Auto is a 4-speed i would think would make a larger difference. Having only 4 gears means that the engine is in its "optimum" RPM range less of the time. Also, "autos use a hydraulic fluid coupling rather than a clutch, in order to serve as a buffer between the engine crankshaft and the gearbox to prevent damage to both from speed/torque disparities. Anytime you have a fluid coupling in an open looped system there is a certain amount of energy lost in the form of heat within the coupling, as it slips to accomodate speed differences."

However, the mileage does seem a bit low: The big things that seem to affect this car is:
a) weight - dont carry more than you need.
b) tire pressure - make sure your tires are at the specified PSI (i like to run 3psi more),
c) Length of drive - short drives of less than 10 minutes really use more gas (the engine has to warm up to proper temperature for emission control). I have a 5 mile city commute to work and I average around 30mpg - in Atlanta this weekend, I averaged 35.8mpg due to the longer drives between stops.

At least thats what I would think. Bump up your tire pressure if you havent.

 

[MazdaTwo]

I've had my 2 since early November of 2010 and I've already got 13,000 miles on the odometer (ridiculous). My MPGs have only gotten better with time. I think for my area it's temperature that plays the biggest roll. As the weather got warmer, my MPGs have gotten up over 37 consistently.

 

[Joker2]

My low was 24, high was 39, 2600 miles and average of 31. Mostly city some highway, I shift high up on the tach though I have not done bouncy off limiter yet.

UPDATE:
Average is 31.4 at 3500 miles (mildly aggressive driver).
Today over 230 mile trip (mostly highway) with intermittent AC due to rain, a passenger and some 400 pounds of stuff in back I averaged 40.2 MPG. Speeds up to 75.
I guess I broke her in right. Very happy with MPG.

 

[roy obanion]

damn, I almost want to dump my p5 for a 2..

 

[armrobc]

40 mpg

At 1600 miles, we are averaging 40 mpg in mixed driving, 65% highway and 35% two lane roads. We have a Touring 5 Speed. Very happy.

 

[MacAttack7]

At 1600 miles, we are averaging 40 mpg in mixed driving, 65% highway and 35% two lane roads. We have a Touring 5 Speed. Very happy.

You must try pretty hard to get really good mileage.
I don't think you'd "average" 40 unless you really, really tried.
Do you use the hypermiling techniques like shifting into 5th as soon as possible & coasting & staying under 65 and all that good stuff?
If you don't, there's something wrong with your car.

 

[ItaloMike]

I've got 32,6 MPG with my first tank.. Not bad, since I did not drove easy with it.. So I would get a higher MPG when I really would try.. (naughty)

 

[MacAttack7]

I've got 32,6 MPG with my first tank.. Not bad, since I did not drove easy with it.. So I would get a higher MPG when I really would try.. (naughty)

I got 34 on my first tank which surprised me as I wasn't really trying either, and the epa estimates weren't that good.
I think one thing that helps is that you don't really have to brake to go around a lot of corners.
Just take your foot off the gas & that's good enough since the car corners so well.

 

[ItaloMike]

Thats what i like about this car.. It really eats corners! Love it!

This weekend i will do some highway km's/miles, so then i would know what it does with the mpg..

 

[MacAttack7]

It's also easy to skip gears I've found out lately.
If you're on flat ground you can go from 1st to 2nd to 4th.
Don't even need 3rd if you're just cruising along on a flat road.

Also if you're in gas saving mode you can drive around in 5th at really low speeds; it doesn't seem to mind at all unless you're going uphill.

 

[shortfuse12]

since none of my parts arrive i will be driving to vegas tomorrow nite we will see how much it will cost me to drive from san jose, ca. to las vegas, nv. i say imma spend $70 for gas each way.

 

[Domii3925]

I've only had my 2 for about 3 weeks or so and I've only filled up twice. I have put only 850mi on it with mostly city driving. Check my fuelly below.... mind you, this my FIRST manual car so I'm still new with driving. I believe getting 36mpg avg is good with all the stalling there was lol :X

 

[MacAttack7]

I've only had my 2 for about 3 weeks or so and I've only filled up twice. I have put only 850mi on it with mostly city driving. Check my fuelly below.... mind you, this my FIRST manual car so I'm still new with driving. I believe getting 36mpg avg is good with all the stalling there was lol :X

I had the same feeling regarding all the stalling. I drove like a major rookie the first few weeks & still got 36 avg. I don't know where they come up with those EPA numbers, but I needed to get 32 mpg average to make the finances work out, so 36 mpg's works out much better. The only downside is I seem to drive more. By the way I've had mine almost 2 months now; still stalling (but down to about once every other day or two instead of everyday).

 

[Domii3925]

I had the same feeling regarding all the stalling. I drove like a major rookie the first few weeks & still got 36 avg. I don't know where they come up with those EPA numbers, but I needed to get 32 mpg average to make the finances work out, so 36 mpg's works out much better. The only downside is I seem to drive more. By the way I've had mine almost 2 months now; still stalling (but down to about once every other day or two instead of everyday).

LOL! Yeah, same here. Every now and then when I get stuck on any type of hill is where my problem is. I get nervous of hitting the car behind me or just spinning the tires =| oh well. we will get the hang of it all sooner or later!

 

[roy obanion]

Don't feel too bad, I've been driving stick for over 10 years and I killed my miata twice yesterday

 

[gvblake22]

The Edmunds Inside Line team averaged 31.3 with their manual Touring 2.

 

[zoomzoom9]

The Edmunds Inside Line team averaged 31.3 with their manual Touring 2.

How in the world did they manage 21.2 MPG as the "worst"? I don't think I could get that low if I tried!

 

[Axela05]

Did you buy your 2 in another country in August 2008? I'm sure they changed some things since then with the facelift for 2011. I think I drive pretty normal, maybe a little on the conservative side sometimes. I average 36.5 after 2800 miles now. If I'm trying to get going fairly fast I shift between 3k & 4k............rarely above 4k. If I'm just taking my time then most shifts are between 2500 & 3000 rpm. I'm not sure where to take 1st gear; I was going probably close to 4k, then this week I've been shifting sooner just to experiment. I'm not sure what's best for 1st.

Lol, sorry for the typo. I bought my 2 in August of 2010, not 08. I guess I can see why the Slow-matic gets less than the manual transmission so I'll just be happy that I'm getting 30mpg every now and then, lol.