Gas Mileage trouble

C

canpackfan97

Member
Just recently bought my wife a 2002 P5...... Kinda dissapointed that we are going through a lot of gas quickly...Could anyone plz answer me that is this a normal thing for the P5, and if it is, is there anything I can do to help this problem..

Thanx for answering..
 
What do you consider "a lot of gas quick"? Average on our cars is about 25mpg city and about 30 mpg highway. Some get way more than that but that's probably average, let us know what you approximate yours to be.

Check the tire pressure, clean your air filter, remove the roof rack (minimal gain), replace spark plugs if they're nasty ... and most of all drive like a grandma!
 
KrayzieFox said:
What do you consider "a lot of gas quick"? Average on our cars is about 25mpg city and about 30 mpg highway. Some get way more than that but that's probably average, let us know what you approximate yours to be.

Check the tire pressure, clean your air filter, remove the roof rack (minimal gain), replace spark plugs if they're nasty ... and most of all drive like a grandma!
Click to expand...

THe actual mileage hasnt been determined yet but I will look into it....Thanx for your advice
 
KrayzieFox said:
Also ... 5-speed? Auto? Any aftermarket parts installed? Give us some info about the car.
Click to expand...

its an automatic (wife likes to go through clutches like wildfire) no aftermarket parts currently
 
yeah.. auto sucks in gas mileage i can tell you that now. winter = around 22 for me, like 90% city. don't know what wrong with my gas mileage either.
 
You know I've been having the same problem. I just bought my car 3 weeks ago. Its a 5 speed, no mods, no roof rack, just a sweet ride. The problem is I am only getting about 19 mpg. I do notice that my car revs just under 3500 RPM when doing 75 MPH. Does that sounds high to anyone???? My old 91 legacy again no mods, would run around 3100 RPM, thats why I ask.
 
Since you just got the car, treat it to a set of new NGK OEM replacement spark plugs. If you have less than 85K miles on it, switch to synthetic oil. Might as well swap the tranny fluid too, since you prolly did not get mainanence records. Feel free to check the air filter too, and drop in a K&N air filter if you plan to keep it pretty stock. Panel filters are not that much money, and there tend to be a few on ebay, or even in the for sale non-vendor section for sale.

On average, I got better MPG after switcing to synthetic myself. Might just be me, and it might be my manual transmission, but I strongly believe in synthetic now.
 
I would say acetone but we all know that's just urban legend cult myth brainwashing hypnotizm subliminal suggestion snakeoil nonsense.
 
(headshake
i12drivemyMP5 said:
I would say acetone but we all know that's just urban legend cult myth brainwashing hypnotizm subliminal suggestion snakeoil nonsense.
Click to expand...
 
i12drivemyMP5 said:
I would say acetone but we all know that's just urban legend cult myth brainwashing hypnotizm subliminal suggestion snakeoil nonsense.
Click to expand...

Oh dear God, you said the A (acetone) Word. This thread will be dumpster bound in 30 seconds now....(deadhorse

just tune the car up, keep the fluids happy, and you will have the best chance at good mileage.
 
RaiderMP5 said:
Oh dear God, you said the A (acetone) Word. This thread will be dumpster bound in 30 seconds now....(deadhorse

just tune the car up, keep the fluids happy, and you will have the best chance at good mileage.
Click to expand...
I did not say it, never brought it up, didn't go there. I said I would say it IF it weren't.......
 
Are you constantly running the fan with the vent position at anything other than full face? If so, you are constantly using the A/C and killing your city gas mileage. At certain settings like feet only, it is not blatently obvious that the A/C is still on by looking at the dash controls and it is not able to be turned off by the A/C button. See your owner's manual.

The very first thing I did with mine is defeat the auto-defog for idiots feature. See here: Auto A/C Delete. I was getting about 19 mpg city until I realized what was going on, not to mention I was extremely unimpressed with the car's power and eagerness to rev when I first bought it. This is why. Since I removed this feature, I have been getting an average of 24~28 mpg city and 30~35 mpg hwy depending on the combination.

In my opinion, its a really dumb setup since the very first thing you should do if your car overheats is turn the heater to full hot and flip on the vent fan to utilize the heating core as an additional radiator. The LAST thing you want to do is keep running the A/C during this situation. Most likely you will not want hot air blowing directly on your face so you will have the vent position at something other than full face which engages the auto A/C.

I hate having to deal with car manufacturer's catering to the general idiot car owner who cannot remember to make sure or keep their windshield defogged on their own.
 
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I would like to commend you on your observation of the brainless ass state of peoples' ignorance these days. It wouldn't be so bad if they were the victims of their own stupidity instead of others. That feature should be something for idiots to pay extra for.
 
Hi!

Bought the P5 new, a little over 4 years ago, and I keep a tight record of milleage data. So here goes :

After 4 years, 114000km, total average is 8.48l/100km (27.74mpg US, 33.3mpg IMP). This average is summer AND winter driving. I've seen -40F quite a few times.

Yearly Averages:
In 2002 : 8.67l/100km (27.13 mpg US)
In 2003 : 8.34l/100km (28.2mpg US)
In 2004 : 8.61l/100km (27.32mpg US)
In 2005 : 8.36l/100km (28.13mpg US)

My very, very best in the summer was 7.38l/100km (31.9mpg US, 38.3mpg IMP), on a long highway drive.

I drive an average of 28000km/year, about 90% highway @ an average of 105km/h (Grampa style). Cruise control, manual tranny, Mobil 1 synthetic oil and K&N drop-in air filter. Summer rubbers are Kumho 711, winter rubbers when Jack Frost shows its freezin' nose.

First thing I noticed after just a few weeks after getting the P5 was that this car is quite a guzzler ( I had a 2000 Civic 4 door before) , and instead of getting better with time, it was actually getting worse, until I dicovered that the rear brakes were seized (always applied) in May of 2005. Now things are better (average since this major fix until today is 8.19l/100km).

My advice is this : have the brakes seriously looked at, and drive like on old fart.
 
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Both of our civics, a 2000 ex auto and my 92 track-only car, get much better mpg than the protege 5. And that's after I figured out the auto A/C thing.

2700 lbs is heaaavy....that and the shifty driver's seat are my only complaints after 4 months of owning the protege.
 
eg_6 said:
Both of our civics, a 2000 ex auto and my 92 track-only car, get much better mpg than the protege 5.

2700 lbs is heaaavy.....
Click to expand...

A 2003 Civic 2 door hatchback has a curb weight of 2744. See http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/New/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/23232/Act/Specs/

So it isn't just the weight that makes the Protege burn more fuel than the Civic.

My 2003 auto P5 gets 21-23 mpg in pure city driving and maybe 28-29 on the highway, whereas the car it replaced, a manual 1988 4 door 323 SE on the same route routinely got 27 mpg in the city and well over 35 mpg on the highway. When comparing Mazda's to Mazda's weight is more relevant.

I couldn't find the weight of that 323 but a 1990 2 door hatchback was only 2238 pounds, and that sounds about right for my old sedan. So the 323/Proteges have definitely been putting on some heft over the years. The 2004 Mazda3 hatchback is listed as 2762 pounds, so not much weight change up or down at the most recent model transition.
 
pasadena_commut said:
The 2004 Mazda3 hatchback is listed as 2762 pounds
Click to expand...

This morning I was at a recycling center with a big scale and they let me drive the P5 on. 2003 P5, auto, sun roof, no roof racks, full tank of gas, bog standard. It came to 2980 pounds (accurate to 20 pounds) including me (145), a tire iron and jumper cables (5?) and about 5 pounds of misc manuals, maps, and the like. So full "wet" weight of this car 2980 - 145 - 5 - 5 = 2825. That's right in line with the numbers available on the web of about 2730 for the car plus another 100 or so for the sun roof.
 
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