A year later, still averaging 20 MPG on 2018 GT AWD Mazda CX-5. Is that normal?

I think the poster stated it was almost all city driving? So I doubt cylinder deactivation is much of a factor, if at all.
Mazda says its cylinder deactivation is more effective at low speeds, and can only be activated between 25~50 mph to improve fuel economy. If its CD can't help gas mileage at low-speed city driving, why we need this complicated cylinder deactivation system which also carries bad reputation on reliability?
 
Mazda says its cylinder deactivation is more effective at low speeds, and can only be activated between 25~50 mph to improve fuel economy. If its CD can't help gas mileage at low-speed city driving, why we need this complicated cylinder deactivation system which also carries bad reputation on reliability?

This again?

(popcorn)
 
Mazda says its cylinder deactivation is more effective at low speeds, and can only be activated between 25~50 mph to improve fuel economy. If its CD can't help gas mileage at low-speed city driving, why we need this complicated cylinder deactivation system which also carries bad reputation on reliability?
Yeah sorry, I was under the impression that cylinder deactivation came into play only at highway speeds, which is wrong. However, I did read something about a constant 25 mph being the optimal condition for it, not sure how much youll experience that in city driving. I guess it depends on your drive. For me city driving is hardly ever a constant anything, let alone 25 mph. If you can go 2 blocks at a constant speed, youre lucky.
 
Yeah sorry, I was under the impression that cylinder deactivation came into play only at highway speeds, which is wrong. However, I did read something about a constant 25 mph being the optimal condition for it, not sure how much youll experience that in city driving. I guess it depends on your drive. For me city driving is hardly ever a constant anything, let alone 25 mph. If you can go 2 blocks at a constant speed, youre lucky.
Yes, and that's why I've been against cylinder deactivation feature on 2018 and newer CX-5's, as it's almost useless like you just said. But adding all of those complicated components and weight, is it worth the effort?
 
We finally agreed on something! ;)

Better reading or not, his average MPG is only 20 for the entire year. That's very poor for a CX-5 with 2.5L. As I said before my wife's commute is only 11 miles similar to OP, but our CX-5 gets 25~26 mpg. Have you ever got average 20 mpg from your CX-5?
I don't pay much attention to that but I've seen 18 before....going 1 mile to the corner store.
 
I*ve had the car for almost four weeks now and getting 28.8 mpg average. Lowest has been 26.1 city and highest 32.2 combined after 900 miles with the 2.5L CX-5 GT

I was expecting there would be a break in period and the MPG to vary later on but based on some comments, I see that might not be the case. So it means my actual mileage should stay about the same even a year from now if I keep driving the same way? Also, how much does summer heat affect gas mileage?
 
I*ve had the car for almost four weeks now and getting 28.8 mpg average. Lowest has been 26.1 city and highest 32.2 combined after 900 miles with the 2.5L CX-5 GT

I was expecting there would be a break in period and the MPG to vary later on but based on some comments, I see that might not be the case. So it means my actual mileage should stay about the same even a year from now if I keep driving the same way? Also, how much does summer heat affect gas mileage?

I think the jury is still out on break in period. I've got a '16 FWD (so my numbers are overall higher) but I've used Fuelly to track mpg since day 1 with mine and I can state the following:

2015 (6 months) 6,200 miles 32.9 mpg
2016 11,095 miles 33.1 mpg
2017 10,266 miles 34.4 mpg
2018 7,858 miles 34.2 mpg

Oil changes were done at 5000, 12500, 20000, 27500 and 32500. Always Mazda Moly 0W-20 oil.

So I saw about a 1 mpg increase sometime after my 2nd oil change. Others haven't seen it but I have. YMMV.

My mileage gets slightly better in the summer since summer blend gas has more energy content than winter blend.
 
I'd say the jury had reached a verdict. Your numbers are close enough to prove there's no difference.
 
Side note: When I was at the San Diego auto show, recently I noticed that the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid averages 39 MPG. Its EPA rating is 41/37/39. Now THAT'S impressive for an SUV!
 
Side note: When I was at the San Diego auto show, recently I noticed that the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid averages 39 MPG. Its EPA rating is 41/37/39. Now THAT'S impressive for an SUV!
And new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid also has more power than non-hybrid RAV4 with sport suspension, thats something new too!
 
Side note: When I was at the San Diego auto show, recently I noticed that the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid averages 39 MPG. Its EPA rating is 41/37/39. Now THAT'S impressive for an SUV!

I don't think it is an SUV, just a CUV. Still, if a high MPG CUV is the most important thing to you, then that RAV4 Hybrid is going to be tough to beat.(bow)

I love the hybrid MPG, looking forward to the Mazda's hybrids coming to USA next year!(nailbyt)

My thoughts always turn to the resale value of hybrids, as it is likely that it will be the second owner that is going to bear the cost of the battery replacement.:(
 
I*ve had the car for almost four weeks now and getting 28.8 mpg average. Lowest has been 26.1 city and highest 32.2 combined after 900 miles with the 2.5L CX-5 GT

I was expecting there would be a break in period and the MPG to vary later on but based on some comments, I see that might not be the case. So it means my actual mileage should stay about the same even a year from now if I keep driving the same way? Also, how much does summer heat affect gas mileage?

Fellow Texan here. Usually mileage improves in summer. Gas is formulated differently and has slightly more energy but the real benefit comes from the weather having less wind than in the winter and shorter engine warm up times. In theory hot summer air is less dense and that works against you, but the other factors negate it.
 
I'd say the jury had reached a verdict. Your numbers are close enough to prove there's no difference.

I find it interesting how different people interpret the same data so differently. You see no difference, while I see an increase of 4% for the last 2 years versus the first 1-1/2 years.
 
I find it interesting how different people interpret the same data so differently. You see no difference, while I see an increase of 4% for the last 2 years versus the first 1-1/2 years.

Yeah, I think that is pretty good actually. The question is if the improvements come from the engine breaking in or you learning how to eek the most MPG out of it. For me, I also saw ~5% increase in MPG but think some of it came from learning how to milk the MPG. For example, when I first got the car, I would drive slowly from a stop to try to get the best mileage but that was the wrong thing to do. Instead, getting up to speed fast and then maintaining speed was the best method for good MPG.
 
The trip computer bases it*s calculations on the way the car is driven over set periods one minute intervals. You can follow them in the bar chart on the app screen. If you drive carefully, the economy will be up and if you drive hard it will be down. It continues to build an average since the last reset and the longer that is, the less the current average will effect it. So, if the average over 10 miles is say 25 and you hammer the car for a few minutes the average will start to drop. However, if the average is 25 over 1000 miles it will take a lot longer to respond to changes in driving style.
 
I think the jury is still out on break in period. I've got a '16 FWD (so my numbers are overall higher) but I've used Fuelly to track mpg since day 1 with mine and I can state the following:

2015 (6 months) 6,200 miles 32.9 mpg
2016 11,095 miles 33.1 mpg
2017 10,266 miles 34.4 mpg
2018 7,858 miles 34.2 mpg

Oil changes were done at 5000, 12500, 20000, 27500 and 32500. Always Mazda Moly 0W-20 oil.

So I saw about a 1 mpg increase sometime after my 2nd oil change. Others haven't seen it but I have. YMMV.

My mileage gets slightly better in the summer since summer blend gas has more energy content than winter blend.

Thanks Brillo, that is helpful information.
Will look more closely to the MPG average after my 1st or second oil change
 
Fellow Texan here. Usually mileage improves in summer. Gas is formulated differently and has slightly more energy but the real benefit comes from the weather having less wind than in the winter and shorter engine warm up times. In theory hot summer air is less dense and that works against you, but the other factors negate it.

So you know how hot can it get driving the summer around here :) I didn*t knew gas was formulated differently on the summer and makes sense now why gas prices always increase just before and during the summer
 
I find it interesting how different people interpret the same data so differently. You see no difference, while I see an increase of 4% for the last 2 years versus the first 1-1/2 years.
Me too. You have to account for a margin of error. Let's say 2%. Hell, let's just say 1. Plus, let's add in other factors. You know that car a whole lot better today then you did when you bought it. How much of that improvement is due to your driving habit vs a broken in engine? Minimum 1% (I'd say 2 minimum, but let's go 1). What about environmental factors? We've had milder Winters and hotter summers the past few years. Could that be a factor? .3%?
So now were at 1.7% improvement. Pfft. Nothing. [emoji3]
 
Last edited:
(peep)(group) keep it clean thanks. Nelson stop flaming 7eregrine. Alles in ordnung
 
I don't think it is an SUV, just a CUV. Still, if a high MPG CUV is the most important thing to you, then that RAV4 Hybrid is going to be tough to beat.(bow)

I love the hybrid MPG, looking forward to the Mazda's hybrids coming to USA next year!(nailbyt)

My thoughts always turn to the resale value of hybrids, as it is likely that it will be the second owner that is going to bear the cost of the battery replacement.:(

Resale is very good for Toyota hybrids in general because the batteries rarely fail before 250,000 miles. New York taxis (at least when I was there a few years ago) are primarily Camry and Prius vehicles. Most are using NiMH batteries but I'm sure lithium batteries approved by Toyota are going to last a long time. The average owner sells his or her car long before 250K miles.
 
Back