Mileage question new car

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bmninada

Contributor
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2016 CX-5 AWD GT+iActive Soul Red
What's the expectations here? Have just crossed 1k and getting 25 mpg 60/40 driving and got 28 mpg 99% highway today. Is this supposed to increase as my engine is rather new? My driving habits are good. I can guarantee it.

I see usually folks crossing 30 mpg by many when mostly highway traffic.
 
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bmninada said:
What's the expectations here? Have just crossed 1k and getting 25 mpg 60/40 driving and got 28 mpg 99% highway today. Is this supposed to increase as my engine is rather new? My driving habits are good. I can guarantee it.

I see usually folks crossing 30 mpg by many when mostly highway traffic.
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The 2.0L Skyactiv is the go to engine if you want the best possible MPG but it is normal for the MPG to very slowly increase as the engine/drivetrain/wheel bearings wear in.
 
bmninada said:
What's the expectations here? Have just crossed 1k and getting 25 mpg 60/40 driving and got 28 mpg 99% highway today. Is this supposed to increase as my engine is rather new? My driving habits are good. I can guarantee it.

I see usually folks crossing 30 mpg by many when mostly highway traffic.
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I didn't see 30 mpg highway until I had 2,000 on the odometer. Fully loaded on vacation with two normal sized adults, luggage, supplies and a dog I was averaging 32 mpg.
 
The #1 impact of mileage on the highway is speed, headwind and hills. If you're averaging above 70 long term you can expect 28-31 depending on the wind and terrain you're driving on.
 
Also, check your tire pressure more often. My CX-5 mileage drops on even slightly low pressure. On the OE 19" Toyo's I run about 38 psi.
 
Excellent, I read thru the forum and what I understood is: the break-in from mileage perspective is indeed around 2k to 3k miles. Furthermore many it seems reported mileage increase after the oil change to GF-5 by Mazda.
Tire pressure is good, why because where I work offers free tire pressure and fill. I have it at 39 all 4 tires.
 
I have just under 800 miles on mine and just got 28mpg on my last tank of gas. 75% city driving. It's slowly been going up, so far I'm impressed.
 
I get 30-31 MPG with my 2.5L AWD with the roof rails and OEM mudflaps. It's 90% rural driving at speeds around 60MPH.

Once you go above 65MPH the MPG will drop and if there is a lot of city driving then of course it will drop into the mid 20's.
 
At 9k miles getting 32 to 34 mpg with almost entirely rural driving with speeds from 45 to 75 mph.
 
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~28.5 Measured on easy local suburban type driving with AC on 100%: Dash readout agrees to +/- 0.5MPG Ed
 
Lbear said:
I get 30-31 MPG with my 2.5L AWD with the roof rails and OEM mudflaps. It's 90% rural driving at speeds around 60MPH.

Once you go above 65MPH the MPG will drop and if there is a lot of city driving then of course it will drop into the mid 20's.
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Does mudflaps really affect that much mileage? I meant the OEM ones - which are short and only slightly thicker.
 
I believe I'm still over 37 mpg overall, but this winter has been killing my mpg since I can't park in my garage and I'm warming up my car for 10 minutes or so before leaving (negative -15 degree weather isn't pleasant). I'm probably only getting 32-33 mpg currently
 
runtohell121 said:
Don't think I ever reach 30mpg on my 2.5L AWD
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Confirmed that! We could only get 26.5 MPG for a 300-mile trip from Dallas to Houston. We mostly drove 75~80 mph with speed limit at 75. Even if we drove at 65 mph, according to instant MPG readout we could hardly get over 28 MPG!

I was wondering what brand of gas was used for those who had better highway MPGs? I noticed I could get 2~3 better MPG (28 MPG) by using Shell gas instead of Chevron or other name brands with our 2000 BMW 528i for the same trip! Shell gas is the only brand been used for our CX-5 so far.
 
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yrwei52 said:
Confirmed that! We could only get 26.5 MPG for a 300-mile trip from Dallas to Houston. We mostly drove 75~80 mph with speed limit at 75. Even if we drove at 65 mph, according instant MPG readout we could hardly get over 28 MPG!

I was wondering what brand of gas was used for those who had better highway MPGs? I noticed I could get 2~3 better MPG (28 MPG) by using Shell gas instead of Chevron or other name brands with our 2000 BMW 528i for the same trip! Shell gas is the only brand been used for our CX-5 so far.
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Yeah, most of the time I average around 27 to 28 mpg, occasionally if I'm lucky, I might get 29mpg on my CX-5 2.5 AWD (~30,xxx miles). I usually use Chevron. Shell is the next option when there is no Chevron around or if it's quite a bit cheaper, I would use Shell. Costco is my last option and would only get if the gas price is a huge difference (~$0.50 or more per gallon).

Since I live in California (NorCal), gas price range from $2.70 to $3.00 now... and Costco is usually cheaper by like 30 to 50 cent
 
yrwei52 said:
Confirmed that! We could only get 26.5 MPG for a 300-mile trip from Dallas to Houston. We mostly drove 75~80 mph with speed limit at 75. Even if we drove at 65 mph, according instant MPG readout we could hardly get over 28 MPG!

I was wondering what brand of gas was used for those who had better highway MPGs? I noticed I could get 2~3 better MPG (28 MPG) by using Shell gas instead of Chevron or other name brands with our 2000 BMW 528i for the same trip! Shell gas is the only brand been used for our CX-5 so far.
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Did you have strong headwinds? I was getting 27ish at those high speeds on a recent trip. At 65 I get 30. If there are strong headwinds my milage suffers of course. I was getting whatever gas was available along my route. I think once was a so-and-so something-or-other family gas. Never noticed any adverse effects or milage drop. I'm sure there could be issues with bad gas, however.
 
runtohell121 said:
Yeah, most of the time I average around 27 to 28 mpg, occasionally if I'm lucky, I might get 29mpg on my CX-5 2.5 AWD (~30,xxx miles). I usually use Chevron. Shell is the next option when there is no Chevron around or if it's quite a bit cheaper, I would use Shell. Costco is my last option and would only get if the gas price is a huge difference (~$0.50 or more per gallon).

Since I live in California (NorCal), gas price range from $2.70 to $3.00 now... and Costco is usually cheaper by like 30 to 50 cent
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Our 2.5L CX-5 AWD has 5,500 miles on it and I just changed oil with Mazda moly before the trip. Tire pressure had checked at 39 psi. I knew the AWD system on CX-5 is not as efficient as other competitors as the EPA estimates have showed the bigger differences between FWD and AWD. But I thought it should do a little better on our MPGs for the trip as Mazda claimed they did some enhancements to improve the real-world gas mileage on 2016 AWD system. Apparently switching gas brand won't do anything good to improve the gas mileage on CX-5 like our BMW did.

I actually won't hesitate to use Costco gas as it's a top-tier gasoline and should have good quality. I trust Costco and they usually sell quality products! Yeah gas prices in California are high and I pumped Shell gas in Houston for only $1.61 a gallon which is 22 cheaper than in Dallas!
 
Kinghardcor said:
Did you have strong headwinds? I was getting 27ish at those high speeds on a recent trip. At 65 I get 30. If there are strong headwinds my milage suffers of course. I was getting whatever gas was available along my route. I think once was a so-and-so something-or-other family gas. Never noticed any adverse effects or milage drop. I'm sure there could be issues with bad gas, however.
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We always have strong winds anytime of the year in Texas! We got the same 26.5 average MPG on the way back from Austin on I-35 and I suppose the wind was blowing the opposite direction against the CX-5. We could only get 24.6 MPG from Houston to Austin where part of state highway is more hilly but the speed limit is lower. I feel our CX-5 may have inferior and less efficient 2.5L comparing to others, as our 2.5L has also burned about 0.35 quarts of oil at 5,073 miles for the first oil change.

By comparison, we used to drive our '98 Honda CR-V AWD for the same trip. The return was 25~26 MPG. The EPA for the '98 CR-V is 19 city and 23 highway. We also drove our 2000 BMW 528i many times and the return was 28~29 MPG with the EPA at 16 city and 24 highway. Our CX-5 AWD has 30 EPA highway MPG and from my experience there is no way to meet that number! And with all the new technologies the gas mileage improvement for our trip has only gone up 0.5 MPG for the compact CUVs we have! So why is that we can have better real-world highway MPGs than EPA ratings on our other cars which have over-estimated, pre-2008 MY EPA fuel economy estimates but our CX-5 not only can't beat the supposedly 22% downward adjusted current EPA highway rating, but also significantly less (3.5 MPG, 12%)?
 
yrwei52 said:
We always have strong winds anytime of the year in Texas! We got the same 26.5 average MPG on the way back from Austin on I-35 and I suppose the wind was blowing the opposite direction against the CX-5. We could only get 24.6 MPG from Houston to Austin where part of state highway is more hilly but the speed limit is lower. I feel our CX-5 may have inferior and less efficient 2.5L comparing to others, as our 2.5L has also burned about 0.35 quarts of oil at 5,073 miles for the first oil change.

By comparison, we used to drive our '98 Honda CR-V AWD for the same trip. The return was 25~26 MPG. The EPA for the '98 CR-V is 19 city and 23 highway. We also drove our 2000 BMW 528i many times and the return was 28~29 MPG with the EPA at 16 city and 24 highway. Our CX-5 AWD has 30 EPA highway MPG and from my experience there is no way to meet that number! And with all the new technologies the gas mileage improvement for our trip has only gone up 0.5 MPG for the compact CUVs we have! So why is that we can have better real-world highway MPGs than EPA ratings on our other cars which have over-estimated, pre-2008 MY EPA fuel economy estimates but our CX-5 not only can't beat the supposedly 22% downward adjusted current EPA highway rating, but also significantly less (3.5 MPG, 12%)?
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Our last car was a Subaru Forester and we got crazy good milage with that. I think some engines just run less efficient than other identical engines. It could be one tiny factor that causes it too, like a slight deformity of a part or something like that. There are just too many parts involved to have everything be perfect.

My father-in-law restored an old tractor and couldn't figure out why it was over heating after a few minutes of running. Turns out he left a rag in the water pump. Sh!t happens, maybe someone left a rag or wrench or a dead mouse somewhere in your engine!

Although with 5k miles it could very well improve, as could oil usage.

I wonder if those with lower gas mileage are getting a little more HP? That could possibly be a reason too.
 
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