Ok, Gas Mileage SUCKS!

Have had my CX-5 AWD since early April. Lived with the sub-par mpg initially thinking the car needed to be broken in. After 1000 miles, I was only getting 22.6mpg. Now, at 3034 (at the dealership for its 1st oil change), I'm still only getting 22.6mpg.

Seriously disappointed in this thing. Not even getting the 28mpg that was advertised.

Will likely be trading this thing in the first chance I get. :'(

I get 29.5mpg avg. That's a far cry from what the specs tell me my 6spd fwd sport should get.
BUT I know I am aggressively pulling away from every stoplight, I know I am going 75-80mph on the freeways, and I know I am downshifting in expectation of all corners.

My point? The mileage is never going to be as good as the advertisements, but driving style has the most to do with your car's fuel economy. Add to that: you have AWD which is also a detriment to fuel economy. I bet if you got a 2012 Imprezza hatch (non turbo) which is rated at 36 hwy mpg, you'd probably still only get 30mpg if as much.

RS1 Read the "Gas Mileage Question" under Reception area. You are at least 5 mpg below other posters. I suggest you have the dealer check it out, you may have a bad sensor somewhere in the engine. My to-date mileage is 32.9 with GT FWD in rural/interstate driving @ 5 over speed limit with 6000 miles, it only went up about 1 after break-in. Do you drive hard and fast? Mostly city?

Jcanracer said:

I get 29.5mpg avg. That's a far cry from what the specs tell me my 6spd fwd sport should get.
BUT I know I am aggressively pulling away from every stoplight, I know I am going 75-80mph on the freeways, and I know I am downshifting in expectation of all corners.

My point? The mileage is never going to be as good as the advertisements, but driving style has the most to do with your car's fuel economy. Add to that: you have AWD which is also a detriment to fuel economy. I bet if you got a 2012 Imprezza hatch (non turbo) which is rated at 36 hwy mpg, you'd probably still only get 30mpg if as much.

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The 6-speed manual is EPA certified at 29 average. You are doing better then the EPA said you would....

My wife is getting 25 in hers with mostly city driving, A/C all the time with seating capacity to the max and cargo. We have a 10 month old, 3 1/2 year old and she nanny's 2 other kids over the summer. Needless to say, the car is full and all city with A/C 100% of the time and she gets around 25. Can't complain too much. It's better than the 4 cylinder Mazda6 we had.

It is all in how you drive it. Which is why I tell people not to get one of these if they think it is underpowered. Because they will be wringing all the power they can get out of the engine which will kill the mpg. If you are a mellow driver it is a great vehicle but start driving spirited on a regular basis and the mpg drops quickly. I do about 80% highway and with just a bit more aggressive driving mine quickly dropped 3 mpg and that was just a very slight increase in my driving style. I'm sure I could easily get mine down to 25 or below even with just highway driving. And yet if I really watch it I can get it around 32 for an average. And that is actual since the dash guesses high on the numbers.

When I bought ours I reset the average at the start of our test drive to see what it would show at the end of a long test drive to make sure it was around a number I could live with.

On the freeway I'm now mostly content to flow with the traffic in the right hand lanes rather than the speeding up and slowing down in the left hand lanes or the zipping around cars to find openings.

I wish rather than an instant readout it was a 5 minute or so average for the MPG reading. But at the start just reset the average readout fairly often and you will quickly find exactly what it is that is killing your mpg. That being said it is probably just not the car for you.

Top Gear UK did a stunt where they had a guy in a Prius race around a course as fast as they could go and a guy in a BMW M5 follow them. At the end of the 'test' the M5 had gotten better mileage than the Prius. They said that showed that the Prius wasn't any good. What it really showed is that you should buy the car that fits your driving style. The unsaid moral of their test was don't buy a car that you are going to have full throttle a lot and expect good mileage.

I see it a lot online with the new smaller engined cars like the Cruze with its 1.4l turbo, where people bash the mileage they get in tests. If you try to drive the Cruze like it is a GTI it will get worse MPG than the GTI not because it is a bad car but because it wasn't designed for that type of driving.

ta240 said:

Top Gear UK did a stunt where they had a guy in a Prius race around a course as fast as they could go and a guy in a BMW M5 follow them. At the end of the 'test' the M5 had gotten better mileage than the Prius. They said that showed that the Prius wasn't any good. What it really showed is that you should buy the car that fits your driving style.

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sounds like a good episode, will have to google that.

I have a fairly lead foot so im not to deceived of my 23mpg, but still even when im a little more carefull it doesn't drop much.

It is still a lot better than the 18mpg i use to get with my Mazda3 speed. Im only at 1500 miles so i think it's going to get a bit better over time.

I do have to adjust my driving, this is no speed3 for sure.

Worst tank I experienced in over 3 months was 25 mpg, usually between 26- 27 with a lots of commute traffic.

totally agree with Ta240, it is highly dependent on how you drive it. don't drive like if you stole it

personally, I drive a lot more carefully than with my previous car, anyway the car doesn't have the engine power, and I am achieving pretty satisfactory milleage, for sure higher than advertised, but still pretty good ( I wont post mine because I am in metric here).

well for those who may care, I am doing about 10.0-10.5 litre/ 100km on pure city driving (a lot of stops and go)

on the highway with 115km/h speed, I am doing 7.5l/100 (average over 400km) with the car fully loaded (4 persons and the trunk full + roof rack). this could easily drop to 6.5l/100 by reducing my speed to 100-105km/h.

So not as advertized, but way better than my Outlander v6 or WRX.

I guess I've been pretty lucky. I've have 2200 miles on my CX-5 and have never gotten less that 30mpg. This is way better than I expected from this vehicle. I drive mostly freeway with about 20% on street. I do baby the car and keep within speed limit. But thats just me. I do agree with others that it all depends on how you drive. The CX-5 doesn't have a lot of horsepower so I don't drive it like it does nor do I try to make it do something it can't. Hopefully the dealer can sort this out.

ZuluCX said:

personally, I drive a lot more carefully than with my previous car,

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In my underpowered Toyota Tacoma 2.4 I'd drive with it to the floor a lot and it never edged over 20 mpg even on the highway. This car is just so much more comfortable that I'm not in that much of a hurry to get out of it like the tiny regular cab Tacoma. I no longer get nervous when I see a cop because I really don't speed anymore. And I'm less stressed when I get to my destination.

Watching the average MPG readout will definitely tell you when you are doing things that aren't good for the mpg. Then, don't do those things.

There's always the possibility of a problem with the car but set the cruise control for a bit around 60 or 65 on flat road and reset the Average MPG and see where it sits. On my first trip into work (50+ miles) I got stuck behind a few slow vehicles and got to work with 32.9 on the readout. And that was with in town driving on both ends of the drive.

26mpg on mine and that's including last weeks "power" driving mpg @ 24.9. That is almost all city driving and a portion of it going up hill @ 55. This is running the A/C at all times.. it's 110 today.

I am averaging between 28-32mpg with 80% highway AC all the time. I used to baby the pedal and i was getting 32.5mpg but I am now back to normal driving 70-75mph with fairly quick acceleration and i am now about 31.5 consistently for the past few tanks.

Jcanracer said:

sounds like a good episode, will have to google that.

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It is one of those that makes me wonder if they believe what they are saying or are just trying to get people riled up for ratings. Whenever they don't like a type of car they test it in a way it was never meant to be driven and then say "see, it isn't any good".

Another good example was one we just watched where they took two electric cars on a road trip. Well, duhhhh. A car with less than 100 miles in range and that takes 8+ hours to charge isn't a good cross country trip car.
They don't take their precious super cars out to pick up the kids after school and stop by the grocery store. Or make a quick run for mulch for the garden in one.

ta240 said:

Top Gear UK did a stunt where they had a guy in a Prius race around a course as fast as they could go and a guy in a BMW M5 follow them. At the end of the 'test' the M5 had gotten better mileage than the Prius. They said that showed that the Prius wasn't any good. What it really showed is that you should buy the car that fits your driving style. The unsaid moral of their test was don't buy a car that you are going to have full throttle a lot and expect good mileage.

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I totally thought of that episode when reading the OP's post! (But it was an M3, not an M5)

Here's the video if anyone wants to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badoMjA_rW0

I've only had mine about a month so not a lot of data to go on yet, but am averaging 28-29 mpg with probably 65% hwy, I've only been able to use my cruise control twice for short periods. I don't sit in stop and go traffic, but am mostly in crowded conditions. I'm happy with what I'm getting, I'm not a lead foot, but I'm not a feather foot either!

edit: used AC maybe half the time.

You must have a bad apple. On fuelly, the average is 28.3. I don't know what the dealer could do for you but good luck.

Any response from the OP about driving style and environment. EPA City is 25mpg...

I have to agree with the how you drive it thought from the other posters. I traded in a fast supercharged car that I blew gas on racing from light to light for no apparent reason other than it could, now I drive my FWD Touring like a sane person and I am getting 28mpg even with a bit of spirit here and there passing grandmas and such. I am very very pleased with the milage. I was filling up my last cars 16 gallon tank every 3 days at $60+ a pop (needed premium) and now I am going 6-7 days on 12 gallons of regular for ~$30. I love it.

If you only get 22.6mpg with proven best-in-class fuel consumption CUV, you will definitely get worse mileage in any other CUV that you pick.
Unless you traded it with a mini sedan/hatchback or something... Which you will lose the advantages/perks of a CUV.