2008 Lower Fuel Consumption

I was comparing the specifications of the 07 and the 08 and I noticed the fuel consumption on the Manual Transmission went down a full litre per 100KM (L/100km) since last year.

For example the 2007 MT:
City: 10.6 L/100km
Hwy: 8.0 L/100km

2008 Manual Transmission:
City 9.6 L/100km (29.4 mpg)
Hwy: 7.1 L/100km (38.9 mpg)

What was changed on the 2008 model to make such a significant fuel saving? The fuel saving on the Automatic Transmission is even greater but that's likely because the transmission was changed from 4 to 5 speeds, but what about the Manual Transmission? Were there changes to the engine as well?

(NOTE: Mazda Canada calculated the MPG fuel consumption with Imperial Gallons. It is not the same as US Gallons)

Odd. I think the '08 is heavier, too. Different gear ratios could make a difference, but they are the same. How about different EPA formulas?

Weird, but if its true for Canada, it is always welcome

My window stickers (5MT, US, EPA):
2006 City 22MPG, Highway 27MPG
2008 City 22MPG, Highway 28MPG

22 miles per gallon (US) equals 10.69 liters/100 km.
27 miles per gallon (US) equals 8.71 liters/100 km.
28 miles per gallon (US) equals 8.40 liters/100 km.

22 miles per gallon (US) equals 26.42 miles per gallon (British/Imperial).
27 miles per gallon (US) equals 32.43 miles per gallon (British/Imperial).
28 miles per gallon (US) equals 33.63 miles per gallon (British/Imperial).

I'm assuming there are just fine-tuning improvements for the 08. I believe once the new owners start reporting their MPG numbers we will know with more detail (I actually got lower MPG on my 08 than on my 06 for the 1st and 2nd tanks, possibly as the engine is still breaking in)

A useful conversion site:
http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/fuel_economy.php

I have 25,000 miles on my 2006 Automatic, and I've averaged 24.57 American mpg since day one. I'm not impressed. I'm a boring driver and I usually get much better mileage than the window sticker says, but this car is one gas guzzler, if you ask me!! I traded in my 96 Mercedes C220 that gave me 30 mpg over 177,000 miles (window sticker said 21/27). Before that, I got 22 mpg in my Jeep Wrangler (window sticker said 14/17, I think).

i have an 08 GT.. my frist tank of gas got me 514km... so it wasn't too bad

I think it's just a typo in the canadian specs. There is no way canadian Mazda 5 is more efficient than US version

The US EPA revised their testing method for 2008, but they converted the previous years' figures so a true comparison can be made.

2007 mpg: 22/27 24 combined
2007 converted mpg: 19/25 22 combined
2008 mpg: 22/28 24 combined.

Winter I can get 27-28MPG easily. Summer I can get over 30MPG easily. Tires are at 40PSI and I shift below 2k RPM.

If I drove with aggressive moments thrown in there, take about 3MPG off.