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wtom
09-13-2005, 11:17 AM
I feel my present 3 is more sluggish than the first 3. Is there something within the engine that is causing this feeling and poor fuel efficiency compared to my first 3? Would brake calipers ever be \"too tight\"?

The 3 I drive now is my second 3. The first 3 had a good engine in terms of fuel efficiency; 8.xx to 9.xx L/100km was easily recorded most of the time unless I really pushed it. That was for about three months. Then I had to get my present 3. All I see, when I did record, are 10.xx L/100km and when I really babied throughout most of the tank of gas, 9.xx was all I could get (majority city and some highway, as usual, unless camping/fishing/etc). It has been pretty consistent with 10.xx L/100km even before I did any engine mods. I have hit 8.xx L/100km but only on long constant drives (ie. north to camping).

Although yes, I do have CAI and a full exhaust system with high-flow cat, I did record 10.xx L/100km even prior to having either item installed. Jul04 Build 3 SportGT, all specs exactly same between both 3s I owned. I swear the first 3 felt a lot more quicker.

Any ideas?

TheProfessor
09-13-2005, 11:42 AM
How long and at what time of the year did you have the 3\'s.....I heard that mileage is affected by climate. Did you switch the type/brand of gas you were using? I feel that I get more mpg using Petro gas then I do with Esso, though it could all be in my head ;)

FLIPDADY
09-13-2005, 01:22 PM
Warren time to switch to synthetic oil man.

wtom
09-13-2005, 02:18 PM
1st 3 - July 04 to Oct 04
2nd 3 - Oct 04 to present

Fuel has always been 87 octane, first 3 had almost all Shell, second 3 started with Shell, switched to Sunoco for most of winter, then back to Shell.

http://x4.putfile.com/9/25513153492-thumb.jpg (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=9/25513153492.jpg&s=x4)

July 23/05 - approx 16000km switched to Mobil1 0W20 - that\'s when Mazda of Toronto accused me of \"losing\" one of my wheel locks.

TheProfessor
09-13-2005, 02:31 PM
You mentioned that you have a CAI and a cat.....is it safe to assume that they are both clean? I know some aftermarket cats are known to clog within a year.

wtom
09-13-2005, 02:35 PM
I\'ll get around to having them checked but I\'m pretty sure they are clean. Even before I did any of the engine mods tho, the fuel economy sucked compared to the first car. I just don\'t get it though; Can two different instances of the same, not exact, car differ so much in fuel efficiency? If so, would there be anything a Mazda service dept can do to improve the overall feel?

PiCASSO
09-23-2005, 09:02 PM
Originally posted by wtom


I\'ll get around to having them checked but I\'m pretty sure they are clean. Even before I did any of the engine mods tho, the fuel economy sucked compared to the first car. I just don\'t get it though; Can two different instances of the same, not exact, car differ so much in fuel efficiency? If so, would there be anything a Mazda service dept can do to improve the overall feel?

I dunno, but I think there some correllation between sluggishness and poor feul economy. Wtom, I\'m sure you\'ve read my complaints about my poor fuel economy from the first day that I got my Mazda in October of last year. Best I ever did was 7.78 L/100km (30.3 MPG), but that was attained driving at 105 km/h. That 7.78 is still long ways away to the Canadian highway EPA of 6.7 L/100km (35.1 MPG).

Something in the fuel delivery to the engine is causing this poor fuel economy. Had the purge solenoid, engine harness, and fuel pump replaced, which did help the low RPM hesitation. But there is still the slight hesitation that I get after sitting and baking in the sun for 8+ hours.

I am confident that Mazda\'s Japanese engineers have a solution for this problem, which maybe a combination of hardware (parts) and software (reflash of the ECU). I think that a larger problem exists of existing \"faulty\" components in the service warehouses North America. Rather than recalling all the poorly manufactured components, all dealers are taking in the \"faulty\" components until all of them are exhausted and replaced by next engineering change parts.

If I was Mazda, I would wake up and clean-up all the \"faulty\" parts in the field. It\'s easy, as there are Julian build dates on each components that can be tracked to when the bad parts where manufactured, leading to essentially the \"clean point\". But that costs money... and pisses the rest of the Mazda customers.

Will I buy another Mazda? Most likely not, because of the poor experience I\'ve been having with this vehicle. Fortunately, it\'s a lease and after 2-years, I will return the keys and not look back. I will return back to Honda...

TheProfessor
09-23-2005, 11:21 PM
Picasso, do you have any proof of your claims? I\'ve never seen a car actually meet the EPA ratings posted by the manufacturer under real world driving conditions. They typically post numbers that are \"optimistic\" at best. If you\'re getting 7.78L/100km that\'s not too bad considering other members are getting between 9 and 10!

SABIO
09-24-2005, 01:57 AM
my car is not sluggish.. sometimes it feels like it.. don\'t know why.
and yes.. gas mileage sux. not even 500km to a tank... and that before mods.

PiCASSO
09-24-2005, 10:10 AM
Originally posted by PSIVIC


Picasso, do you have any proof of your claims? I\'ve never seen a car actually meet the EPA ratings posted by the manufacturer under real world driving conditions. They typically post numbers that are \"optimistic\" at best. If you\'re getting 7.78L/100km that\'s not too bad considering other members are getting between 9 and 10!

PSIVIC, please read my complete post before opening your mouth:

\"Best I ever did was 7.78 L/100km (30.3 MPG), but that was attained driving at 105 km/h. That 7.78 is still long ways away to the Canadian highway EPA of 6.7 L/100km (35.1 MPG).\"

I am averaging OVER 10 L/100km. The last fill-up during 100% city driving I got 13.3 L/100km, which if you speak American is 17.7 MPG. Please tell me that this is normal, and I will feel much better.

My father\'s 3.9L V8 Lincoln is barely scratching 11 L/100km through city/driving conditions. I don\'t think I should be comparing my 2.3L inline 4 to a near double the displacement and double the cylinder vehicle, that weighs nearly 1,000 pounds more (2826 versus 3728 lbs).

TheProfessor
09-24-2005, 03:32 PM
Originally posted by PiCASSO

PSIVIC, please read my complete post before opening your mouth:


Dude, I think you\'re the one who needs to read it again......where in the post does it state that you\'re averaging 10L/100km or worse?

Also, everyone knows the fuel economy isn\'t the greatest, and this info is not top secret.....don\'t get upset with me cause you should\'ve done your homework before you agreed to a contract in which you would drive the car for three to four years :sarc

MAZDA Kitten
09-24-2005, 04:29 PM
Originally posted by SABIO


my car is not sluggish.. sometimes it feels like it.. don\'t know why.
and yes.. gas mileage sux. not even 500km to a tank... and that before mods.

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/traurig/sad-smiley-023.gif

HOW?? I dont get it..

majic
09-24-2005, 10:37 PM
Originally posted by MAZDA Kitten


http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/traurig/sad-smiley-023.gif

HOW?? I dont get it..

that\'s cuz u have a sperfreak car!! seriously.. u must have some gnomes pushing it or topping up a few L every night :p MOST of us are getting a decent 8-9L/km some are closer to the EPAs and some are way off.. IIRC EPA #s are calculated at 40-50mph speeds in IDEAL conditions.. add 10-20% and you have REAL world conditions.. *sigh* too bad i like hearing the engine roar at WOT with the new SRI :p

PiCASSO
09-25-2005, 03:49 PM
Originally posted by PSIVIC



Originally posted by PiCASSO

PSIVIC, please read my complete post before opening your mouth:


Dude, I think you\'re the one who needs to read it again......where in the post does it state that you\'re averaging 10L/100km or worse?

Also, everyone knows the fuel economy isn\'t the greatest, and this info is not top secret.....don\'t get upset with me cause you should\'ve done your homework before you agreed to a contract in which you would drive the car for three to four years :sarc

PSIVIC: My best fuel economy figure was 7.78 L/100km. That happened once. Perhaps if you understood the context of what I was writing, I was not implying that I was getting an average of 7.78 L/100km.

Anyways, I have done my homework. I used my 2002 Honda Civic Si coupe as my basis for determining the output of the 2005 Mazda 3 Sport GT. The EPA figures on the 1.7L VTEC compared to my 7.7L/100km overall average through out 90,000km (3-years). I expected the approximately same difference on the Mazda. But to get another 2.3 L/100km with the Mazda was severely over the EPA figures. Bottom line, Honda\'s generate figures that are relatively close to EPA\'s. Mazda, on the other hand is completely off, which is why I am upset with Mazda all together. If there are people who are getting 8-9 L/100km with their 2.3L Mazda, I should be able to pull these figures as well if I \"took easy\" on my car (which is what I\'ve been doing since getting 13.3L/100km in my last fill).

I have confirmed with my sister\'s former 2002 Mazda Protege, that had a 2.0L 4-speed automatic. After a 5,000 km road trip to the east coast, we averaged 9.312 L/100km (or 25.406 mpg) with mostly 80% highway driving.

Bottom-line, I\'m very disappointed with the figures I\'ve been accumulating with this car. While at the same time, I\'ve gone to the dealership more times for repairs with this Mazda in 1-year than I have with my Civic in 3-years. That whole thing about \"Made in Japan\" means nothing to me anymore. It\'s bottom line dollar to stretch profits as much as possible and pushing suppliers to build inferior parts to the OEM. Why is it that a good 30% of the large Tier 1 suppliers are going Chapter 11? Well... that\'s another discussion all together... but still related to Wtom\'s \"sluggish\" performance of his Mazda.

My 2-cents,

PiCASSO

akherad
09-26-2005, 03:53 PM
Well,

I got 7.9/100 KM. I just filled my car today for the first time. It\'s a 2.0 Auto 4 Speed GS.

I think it\'s pretty good as I had a mixed highway/city driving (Busy highway. You know how 401 looks in rush hours!!!!). So I feel good about this number.

;)

M3-GTFX
09-27-2005, 04:02 PM
I have 6000kms and have been keeping track of every fill-up.
I average 7.9L/100Kms, my best was 7.3L/100Kms, my worst was 8.5L/100Kms.
I have a 3GT with a 2.3, manual transmission. I do about 70/30 mix of Highway and city driving.

MAZDA Kitten
09-28-2005, 02:48 PM
I had an oil change done and the car feels awesome again. Maybe thats what it is?!

wtom
09-28-2005, 11:34 PM
Nice to hear, MK... but even after MoT changed my oil at 16K the car felt no different - and I *supposedly* went from dino oil to synthetic.

* after accusing me of losing the wheel lock nut when it was obvious the young mechanic lost it himself, i can\'t really trust these guys (http://www.torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=3119) anymore. Sorry Flipspeed.

Candyman
09-29-2005, 05:33 AM
I feel your frustration wtom.I have never gotten good milage. I drove to montreal, so all highway & still the same average.

I\'ve been to MoT twice to fix my bumper. They still haven\'t fixed it?!? I have no clue what they charged me $1.40 for a clip for. It\'s not fix.

nifty6
09-29-2005, 05:11 PM
Originally posted by MAZDA Kitten


I had an oil change done and the car feels awesome again. Maybe thats what it is?!

An oil change will not change the performance of your car...I think?? a fix in a bottle??

majic
09-29-2005, 09:56 PM
Originally posted by nifty6



Originally posted by MAZDA Kitten


I had an oil change done and the car feels awesome again. Maybe thats what it is?!

An oil change will not change the performance of your car...I think?? a fix in a bottle??

think sludge (old oil) vs water (new oil).. what flows more freely? plus you just expect it to be better so some placebo effect.. :)

mwaters
10-02-2005, 10:24 AM
If the oil is like sludge after 6-8k then you have bigger problems to deal with.

Changing the oil will not improve the performance of the car. A car is not faster after an oil change. Even using synthetic will not improve the performance of the car. I like syn and will switch to it at my next change but it\'s preventative maintenance (just like your reg oil chg) not for performance. Even if (big if)syn gives me an extra 1 or 2hp because of freer reving is this a noticeable improvement? There\'s no way I\'ll be able to feel 1 or 2hp.

I agree with maj that it\'s a placebo effect.

majic
10-02-2005, 10:47 AM
Originally posted by mwaters


If the oil is like sludge after 6-8k then you have bigger problems to deal with.


lol.. i was just trying to show the point.. i sure hope it\'s not like molasis after 6-8K but it does pick up debris and breaks down (dyno oil) so it has adds a tad more resistance to flow..