Mileage question new car

Our 2016 AWD with a little less than 2k has dropped from 25.5 from the dealer to 23.2. The 25.5 from the dealer is the best mileage we ever had in this car. My wife drives it to work and back, around 9 miles each way. She doesn't have a heavy foot. I understand it is getting colder and that can have an affect, but it seems we are past the break-in period and the mileage is dropping pretty significantly. Has anyone else had the same experience?
 
I realize comparing average mpg isn't saying much as we are all subject to varying road, environmental and traffic conditions. Our cx5 just turned 10k and we are consistently averaging 31.5 to 33 mpg. We are out in the country so no real "city" driving to contend with.
 
I took my CX5 touring 2.5L out today and got some data. I tried various speeds using cruse control and also using a steady accelerator pedal. The cruse control instantaneous reading varied widely do to slight variation/bumps in the road while the cruse tried to readjust power. I use a steady pedal to get the following values and even these were difficult to obtain. The best way would be to reset odometer and fill tank, then drive 20 miles with cruse on and calculate mpg and, do this for every speed wanted. I will try to cut and paste my results and if that doesn't work, I will type them in. here goes. Would be nice to have someone do the fill gas tank, then drive 20 miles on cruse and calculate to value. I'm sure it would be more accurate but, I don't live in an area where I can set the cruse for even 50 mph and expect to hold that speed for over 5 minutes. Ed
Makes a nice graph.
Speed
mpg
40

53.3

50

41.6

60

34.7

70

29.3


<tbody>
</tbody>
 
Last edited:
If you can't get even somewhat close to my values then something is wrong with the vehicle or more likely it is a nervous right foot driver. :)
 
erhayes said:
I took my CX5 touring 2.5L out today and got some data. I tried various speeds using cruse control and also using a steady accelerator pedal. The cruse control instantaneous reading varied widely do to slight variation/bumps in the road while the cruse tried to readjust power. I use a steady pedal to get the following values and even these were difficult to obtain. The best way would be to reset odometer and fill tank, then drive 20 miles with cruse on and calculate mpg and, do this for every speed wanted. I will try to cut and paste my results and if that doesn't work, I will type them in. here goes. Would be nice to have someone do the fill gas tank, then drive 20 miles on cruse and calculate to value. I'm sure it would be more accurate but, I don't live in an area where I can set the cruse for even 50 mph and expect to hold that speed for over 5 minutes. Ed
Makes a nice graph.
Speed mpg
40
53.3
50
41.6
60
34.7
70
29.3

<tbody>
</tbody>
Click to expand...

Thanks for doing that. I will point out that using cruise control (on every vehicle I've owned) returns worse mpg figures than simply holding a steady speed manually.

Also, most people who can't beat the EPA estimates have AWD. I suspect part of the problem is inefficiencies introduced by not maintaining all four tires at the exact same pressures. This causes the tires to have different diameters which is not as efficient.
 
Lbear said:
Any tests to verify or deny??
Click to expand...

Yes, I've tried it as have others who found the same (or worse) MPG from premium. Which makes sense because higher octane fuels typically have less embodied energy per gallon and the CX-5 is not tuned to take advantage of the higher octane.
 
bluecrab said:
Our 2016 AWD with a little less than 2k has dropped from 25.5 from the dealer to 23.2. The 25.5 from the dealer is the best mileage we ever had in this car. My wife drives it to work and back, around 9 miles each way. She doesn't have a heavy foot. I understand it is getting colder and that can have an affect, but it seems we are past the break-in period and the mileage is dropping pretty significantly. Has anyone else had the same experience?
Click to expand...
We have the same experience as the MPGs are dropping since new. Our 2016 CX-5 AWD started with 27.2 MPG in the first 1,500 miles, then gradually dropped to 27.0, 26.5, and now 26.2 MPG at 5,500 miles with all city driving. According to EPA estimates, CX-5 AWD is not as efficient as other competitors between FWD and AWD. But in real world environment it seems the difference is even worse on highways.
 
yrwei52 said:
We have the same experience as the MPGs are dropping since new. Our 2016 CX-5 AWD started with 27.2 MPG in the first 1,500 miles, then gradually dropped to 27.0, 26.5, and now 26.2 MPG at 5,500 miles with all city driving.
Click to expand...


That's not right and you need to find out what's wrong.

The normal progression is for a gradual increase in MPG as bearings loosen up, piston rings and valves seal better and the transmission gears wear in. Dropping mpg's is a bad sign.
 
Kinghardcor said:
I think some engines just run less efficient than other identical engines.
Click to expand...
I totally agree with you on this. I believe our particular 2.5L SA-G is unfortunately an inferior one from production line, having less stated horse power and hence less fuel efficient. I just hope Mazda can manufacture more engines which consistently meet the specs and discard those which are far off the specs!

With fresh Mazda moly oil and 39 psi on all four tires, I tested out the instant MPGs based on computer readouts during our recent trip to Houston. The computer readout on average MPG is very close to fill-the-tank calculation based on my experience. Here are my data with the best "average" instant MPG I could get on a flat and straight I-45 with steady speed at least for more than 10 seconds:

MPHInstant MPG
5529.0
6028.5
6528.0
7027.0
7526.5
8025.5

Of course these numbers were achieved by manual gas pedal control, cruise control would never get these numbers. And the final average MPG for our 300-mile road trip on I-45 was 26.5.
 
CX-5 Engine & Transmission

MikeM. said:
That's not right and you need to find out what's wrong.
The normal progression is for a gradual increase in MPG as bearings loosen up, piston rings and valves seal better and the transmission gears wear in. Dropping mpg's is a bad sign.
Click to expand...
Not much we can do on this other than dump the CX-5 and get something different to try out. Dealers won't do any thing for such minor things, and Mazda North American Operations will think you're crazy and simply tell you: "This is perfectly NORMAL!"

The same on burning ⅓ quarts of oil for the first 5,000 miles...
 
yrwei52 said:
Not much we can do on this other than dump the CX-5 and get something different to try out. Dealers won't do any thing for such minor things, and Mazda North American Operations will think you're crazy and simply tell you: "This is perfectly NORMAL!"

The same on burning ⅓ quarts of oil for the first 5,000 miles...
Click to expand...

Yeah, good idea. I would dump it. Every manufacturer makes a few lemons and it looks like you got one (or somebody screwed something up). Fortunately, CX-5's for Canada and the U.S. are made in Japan using newer, state of the art, equipment and have a very low rate of this sort of thing but this fact does nothing for the unfortunate few that get one.
 
Humm...We must have a very good 2015 CX-5 AWD Touring 2.5 and it appears it survived the "quick seat the rings break in" nicely.
Odometer went over 10k miles last October when we drove from KC to Branson for a couple days.
Heading down 71 had gusting South West cross winds until turning east on I-44 .
Branson traffic was much heavier than I though it would be for that time of year. errrrrrrrrr
Heading home the way we came down had strong head winds and then cross winds all the way home..

Average hwy. speed- 75ish. (on cruise most of the time)
Tires- General Altimax RT43 225/65R17 H
Oil used- 0
Doing the math our MPG for round trip was 29.9
 
The same with me. I have the 2016 CX-5 AWD GT 2.5 engine and I've never averaged more than 28 MPG on the highway (even going 60 MPH). I get 24-26 MPG around town and 26-27.5 MPG on the highway (less in mountainous or hilly areas). I only have 4,800 miles on it but when new, I drove it like an old lady and never let the tach go above 2K unless I was in 6th gear on the highway. On my car, keeping it below 2K while accelerating really didn't help the mileage. It takes much longer to get to 40MPH and the mileage is low until it finally gets into high hear. I now accelerate faster to 40MPH and my mileage is the same or better. I'm 61 years of age and I have always gotten higher mileage than the sticker said, so I was disappointed with not getting 30 MPG, especially when my 2011 Hyundai Sonata got 35-38 MPG. But I must admit that I love driving the CX-5 and I guess the few MPG lower doesn't amount to much money in the long run. I love the looks, the ride, the visibility, and the features of my CX-5 so I'll be happy if the car remains reliable.
 
AF_Bob said:
The same with me. I have the 2016 CX-5 AWD GT 2.5 engine and I've never averaged more than 28 MPG on the highway (even going 60 MPH). I get 24-26 MPG around town and 26-27.5 MPG on the highway (less in mountainous or hilly areas). I only have 4,800 miles on it but when new, I drove it like an old lady and never let the tach go above 2K unless I was in 6th gear on the highway. On my car, keeping it below 2K while accelerating really didn't help the mileage. It takes much longer to get to 40MPH and the mileage is low until it finally gets into high hear. I now accelerate faster to 40MPH and my mileage is the same or better. I'm 61 years of age and I have always gotten higher mileage than the sticker said, so I was disappointed with not getting 30 MPG, especially when my 2011 Hyundai Sonata got 35-38 MPG. But I must admit that I love driving the CX-5 and I guess the few MPG lower doesn't amount to much money in the long run. I love the looks, the ride, the visibility, and the features of my CX-5 so I'll be happy if the car remains reliable.
Click to expand...


You'll see an improvement after the first oil change.
 
i have just over 10,000 miles and I average 25 city and never got over 28 hwy. Pretty much what Mazda states in the specs for a awd gt. Never seen 30 mpg hwy and I'm a pretty easy driver. So a bit under what Mazda states on hwy.
 
jjp735i said:
i have just over 10,000 miles and I average 25 city and never got over 28 hwy. Pretty much what Mazda states in the specs for a awd gt. Never seen 30 mpg hwy and I'm a pretty easy driver. So a bit under what Mazda states on hwy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, adding AWD and 19" wheels to the already less efficient 2.5L engine is going to put you in the least economical category of all CX-5's. All things considered, 25/28 mpg is not bad.
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
2016 CX-5 - Lower Gas Mileage after Oil and Filter Change
Replies
6
Views
4K
yrwei52
yrwei52
E
Mazda6 2.5L petrol a good car? Any problems?
Replies
3
Views
1K
Buzzman12
B
N
Bad fuel mileage 2000 protege
Replies
1
Views
1K
tireboy
T

Latest posts

Back