Does mileage increase after a while?

S

seev.1

Member
:
cx5 2015
Hello folk,

picked up a 2016.5 GT FWD last week and so far have driven about 200 miles in SoCal. the driving is a mix of highway and interior roads. I am enjoying the car a lot but little disappointed with the mileage. I am averaging about 21MPG. is this common? Does the engine take sometime to pick up on the MPG?
 
Usually during break-in, it's normal for gas mileage to be worse. Once the engine and all associated components break-in then I would expect it to be within EPA ratings. I would wait at least 1000 miles before worrying about fuel consumption, though. I just got mine last saturday and I am averaging 31 mpg, but mine is a Sport with 6-speed.
 
My CX5 FWD mileage may have gone up ~ 1 MPG. Not sure if it was my driving or the AT was adjusting to my driving. No major changes that I could contribute to the break-in. The biggest thing that contributs to poor mileage is the driver not driving smoothly.
Ed
 
2016 AWD GT here and average 26 MpG commuting 16 miles to work. Two lane roads, light to moderate. Traffic. 2100 miles on car
 
seev.1 said:
Hello folk,

picked up a 2016.5 GT FWD last week and so far have driven about 200 miles in SoCal. the driving is a mix of highway and interior roads. I am enjoying the car a lot but little disappointed with the mileage. I am averaging about 21MPG. is this common? Does the engine take sometime to pick up on the MPG?
Click to expand...

I'm getting around 22.5mpg on highway/city combined driving with about 70/30. I have AWD though, and a 2015.
 
When I first purchased my CX-5 (Apr 2015) I was getting around 21 - 22 mpg. After around 2,000 miles mpg is up to around 25. I'm currently at 5,000 miles and the mpg is the same. On a road trip last summer I avgd 32 mpg with a fully loaded car. Also winter blend will reduce mpg a bit.
So in summary, you should see an improvement in the coming months.
 
I'm in 24.8- 25 pure city drive. Only 400miles on odo. Hope to get 26, if possible
 
With the diesel the MPG actually went down after the first service then the second, very strange.
43mpg after 1st service was 42, after 2nd service around 41mpg. Same sort of driving at all times.
 
Last edited:
seev.1 said:
Hello folk,

picked up a 2016.5 GT FWD last week and so far have driven about 200 miles in SoCal. the driving is a mix of highway and interior roads. I am enjoying the car a lot but little disappointed with the mileage. I am averaging about 21MPG. is this common? Does the engine take sometime to pick up on the MPG?
Click to expand...

Yes, it should get considerably better as things wear in. Another factor with automatic transmissions is that it takes a few weeks for a driver to adapt to a cars behavior to achieve smoothness/efficiency. When you get in a car that's new to you, you are unfamiliar with how it responds to driver input. As you familiarize yourself with it's behavior, you will naturally start to know how to make the car shift down when needed and how to encourage it to drop into the next highest gear at the most suitable moment.

Also, my experience was that the oil supplied with the new car is not as slick as the Mazda 0W-20. Perhaps good oil for break-in but not the best for efficiency. I would leave the initial oil in there for 4,000-5,000 miles and then switch to 0W-20 w/moly. By then the fuel might be the more expensive summer blend that is refined from better distillates. The winter blend is unregulated with regard to vapor pressure so the refineries use cheaper components in the blend and this impacts mpg. The vapor pressure regulations in the summer force refineries to make a higher quality gasoline in order to meet evaporative emission standards. If not for that, we would have the crappy winter blend year round.
 
Just came back from a 50 mile trip. I averaged 32MPG highway. (Costco Top Tier 91 octane gas)

2016 with 2.5L, AWD with roof rails, OEM mud flaps, 19" Continental Tire (Eco Plus - 40 psi cold)
 
seev.1 said:
Hello folk,

picked up a 2016.5 GT FWD last week and so far have driven about 200 miles in SoCal. the driving is a mix of highway and interior roads. I am enjoying the car a lot but little disappointed with the mileage. I am averaging about 21MPG. is this common? Does the engine take sometime to pick up on the MPG?
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, are you calculating this yourself or is this from the instrument panel or the app on the infotainment screen?
 
Lbear said:
Just came back from a 50 mile trip. I averaged 32MPG highway. (Costco Top Tier 91 octane gas)

2016 with 2.5L, AWD with roof rails, OEM mud flaps, 19" Continental Tire (Eco Plus - 40 psi cold)
Click to expand...
That's a lot of pressure. About 44 psi after driving, even in 30* weather. 47 or so on a hot day. I'd keep an eye on Treadway patterns.
 
I am using an Android app called Fuel Buddy to keep track of my gas usage/mileage. Since purchasing my 2016 GT FWD in December, I've done 8 fill-ups and my average fuel efficiency is 28.4 mpg. Live in Florida where, with a few exceptions, the only hills are bridges.
 
Lbear said:
Just came back from a 50 mile trip. I averaged 32MPG highway. (Costco Top Tier 91 octane gas)

2016 with 2.5L, AWD with roof rails, OEM mud flaps, 19" Continental Tire (Eco Plus - 40 psi cold)
Click to expand...

Doesn't the manual call for basic 87 octane? If so, that top tier 91 seems a waste.
 
Yes. Anything more than 87 octane is money wasted. Some vehicles using 91 instead of the recommended 87 preformed worse according to Car & Driver testing . I don't know about the CX5 though. Ed
 
erhayes said:
Yes. Anything more than 87 octane is money wasted. Some vehicles using 91 instead of the recommended 87 preformed worse according to Car & Driver testing . I don't know about the CX5 though. Ed
Click to expand...

87 octane, chemically, has more energy per volume than 89+, etc.
 
Unobtanium said:
That's a lot of pressure. About 44 psi after driving, even in 30* weather. 47 or so on a hot day.
Click to expand...

Tire pressure is ALWAYS specified cold. Of course it will rise as the tires heat up, that's normal. In fact, with higher cold psi you will actually see a smaller percentage gain in PSI (vs. a lower cold psi). 40 psi cold is 3 psi higher than what I've found to be optimum with my setup but is not very far off the mark.
 
seev.1 said:
yea from the instrument pannel
Click to expand...

Have you reset the Average MPG through the App in the Infotainment console? It doesn't reset with every fill up even if you reset trip A or B on the instrument panel. At your next fill up, reset the average through the Fuel Economy Monitor App in the Infotainment console. Either do that or calculate manually when you reset Trip A or B.
 
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