excruciating fuel economy

[BlueJoe]

alright so right now I drive a 2006 mazda 3 gt, averaging 12.3L/100KM

I run with 87 octane, and I literally have to fill up every 1-2 days so this makes me believe that theres something really wrong with my car.

I read up on
(http://www.auto123.com/en/mazda/3/2006/specification/gt?carid=1063900104) for specs on my car, and it says that the average gas mileage is 6.7 L/100 KM and when I saw that I was just :whoa amazed

Today I just put in a injen CAI, hopefully that helps a bit with the fuel economy.

I've always known that the mazda 3 wasn't the best on gas, but does anyone else have the same issue as I do?

[S.F.W.]

start with this thread:http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?15681-***-The-ULTIMATE-Fuel-Economy-Thread***

then spend some time searching and reading.

[m_bisson]

Do your rims weigh twice as much as the stock ones?

My last 2 fill-ups on my 2010 GX had me around 7l/100k, and i'm only at 5000k.

[Souls]

alright so right now I drive a 2006 mazda 3 gt, averaging 12.3L/100KM

DAMN! I've the same year and model.. and I thought 9L/100km was bad (only because my 15yr old VR6 ran 10/100kms and chugged a litre of oil/month - so i was disappointed at the much younger 3). Even though mine's higher than expected... the car drives so great I don't care! I avg 120kph on the 401, so unless the "testers" are grannies doing only 100kph to come out with 6.7/100, there's no way that factory number is right (for "real world" drivers).

after re-reading your post... could it be the way you drive? ie: 90%city vs 90% highway? aggressive or baby the car? makes a huge difference

[Thrizzl3]

alright so right now I drive a 2006 mazda 3 gt, averaging 12.3L/100KM

I run with 87 octane, and I literally have to fill up every 1-2 days so this makes me believe that theres something really wrong with my car.

I read up on
(http://www.auto123.com/en/mazda/3/2006/specification/gt?carid=1063900104) for specs on my car, and it says that the average gas mileage is 6.7 L/100 KM and when I saw that I was just :whoa amazed

Today I just put in a injen CAI, hopefully that helps a bit with the fuel economy.

I've always known that the mazda 3 wasn't the best on gas, but does anyone else have the same issue as I do?

do you fill the tank all the way to full?

what size are those rims..if they are heavier than stock then yes it will burn more gas...i know because im running 18's.

intake doesn't really help in this case as your sucking in more air and to balance it out more gas is mixed in.

lol do you baby the car or do u drive the shit out of it lol?

[sarujo]

Are you still using the factory oil, or have you changed it out early? Also, what kind of driving conditions do you have - highway/city? Are you rev matching?


My last 2 fill-ups on my 2010 GX had me around 7l/100k, and i'm only at 5000k.

[kimchisoup]

alright so right now I drive a 2006 mazda 3 gt, averaging 12.3L/100KM

I run with 87 octane, and I literally have to fill up every 1-2 days so this makes me believe that theres something really wrong with my car.

I read up on
(http://www.auto123.com/en/mazda/3/2006/specification/gt?carid=1063900104) for specs on my car, and it says that the average gas mileage is 6.7 L/100 KM and when I saw that I was just :whoa amazed

Today I just put in a injen CAI, hopefully that helps a bit with the fuel economy.

I've always known that the mazda 3 wasn't the best on gas, but does anyone else have the same issue as I do?

2.3L Mazda

Manual
9.2 / 6.7
Automatic
9.4 / 6.9

To convert to mpg, 235 divided by numbers above... ie 34-35mpg for highway.
This is using USA EPA cycle. Since this includes AC etc, its possible to do better, and many people do... under ideal conditions and driving at or under speed limit.

Factors that make little to no difference:
* CAI will make negligible difference - recall that it just assures slightly colder air intake
* air filter - unless really clogged, replacing will make negligible difference
* oil - synthetic vs regular will only make tiny difference in winter and extend life
* air pressure in tires
* stuff in car

Things I've found heavily affect MPG in my GT 2.3L:
* % city driving! Longer you drive < 40kph the worse.
* warmed up engine - winter kills

Assuming you don't have any OBCD codes (ie check engine light), In your case you're really either slamming gas pedal down, or have bad allignment of tires.

CHECK ALIGNMENT AND TIRE WEAR.

[trulankan]

hmm, u can try getting getting STP Ultimate Fuel Injector cleaner and see if that helps. i did that when i first got the car and was disappointed with fuel economy...ur actual fuel injectors may need to be cleaned tho. running lower than recommended tire pressure also causes issues and if u are still using winter tires that could be it as well. for me, I found that once I started driving on the highway more my fuel econ improved obviously. I dont find this car to be good for city driving, especially if u like todrive fast.

[Hoodzy]

Start up a fuelly.. If you are filling up 1-2 days and only doing a normal commute your mileage should be way worse than that..

[Wes08M3]

This thread is over 2 years old. The guy doesn't even drive a Mazda 3 anymore...

I seriously doubt he cares about the 3's fuel economy anymore lol.