Fuel Economy

I can't belive many of you guys are getting >8L/100km.

I bought an 04-mazda3-gt 2.3L with 85k on it about a month ago and i've <b>consistently</b> been getting on average 7.5L/100km. This is with my spirited shifting of >4k, but aiming to shift at 3k and driving at 100-130km/h on highway/freeways.

I have a daily commute of about 50k, but drive over 75k/day mainly cause i love driving it :)

I consistenly hit 300km at the halfway mark of the tank, but I've been measuring mileage when I'm filling up.

I think that I can get <7L/100km if I drive conservatively, but since the car is still new to me, I wont be doing that anytime soon.
Am I fooling myself by thinking I can get <7L or what?

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Originally Posted by bhadreshl

I can't belive many of you guys are getting >8L/100km.

I bought an 04-mazda3-gt 2.3L with 85k on it about a month ago and i've <b>consistently</b> been getting on average 7.5L/100km. This is with my spirited shifting of >4k, but aiming to shift at 3k and driving at 100-130km/h on highway/freeways.

I have a daily commute of about 50k, but drive over 75k/day mainly cause i love driving it :)

I consistenly hit 300km at the halfway mark of the tank, but I've been measuring mileage when I'm filling up.

I think that I can get <7L/100km if I drive conservatively, but since the car is still new to me, I wont be doing that anytime soon.
Am I fooling myself by thinking I can get <7L or what?

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Is this Manual or Automatic? Best I've gotten so far is about 7.8L/100KM just recently. I'd say about 70-75% Highway / 30-25% City. I drive an Sport GT Automatic.

My gas light just came on at 601km's. That period of travel also includes a nice trip down to Niagara on the lake, where I took it easy and cruised at about 110km/h on the highway, so that might reduce the consumption a bit.

Still, 600km per tank, considering the tank's size, is decent is it not? My 2004 Nissan Pathfinder was an absolute nightmare with gas (but well worth the price in the winter....)

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Originally Posted by Iceman_F1

Is this Manual or Automatic? Best I've gotten so far is about 7.8L/100KM just recently. I'd say about 70-75% Highway / 30-25% City. I drive an Sport GT Automatic.

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5-spd with 50/50 city/hwy driving.

mixed highway/city i get 500-550/tank

all highway i get upwards of 700

all city i get about 500

never had less than 500 on a tank before

Out of my last tank I pulled 600 even and that's highway and city :)
As for all highway never really paid attention to it so it'll be my next visit to Niagara Falls or Ottawa whatever comes first!

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Originally Posted by 06Touring3

mixed highway/city i get 500-550/tank

all highway i get upwards of 700

all city i get about 500

never had less than 500 on a tank before

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Thats what I average! I have 30,000kms on it now..

There is another thread for fuel economy under Engine/Drivetrain.

I'm at half a tank right now, and I got just a bit over 400km 90% highway/10% city, but I'm also using Shell V-Power 91 octane. I was doing 120km on cruise control.

The type and brand of gas makes a HUGE difference in gas mileage.

If you want to get 7L/100km you can, but you'd have to use Sunoco Ultra 94 gas and drive mainly on the highway, and going max 120km. If you do the limit you could probably get even better mileage.

:bana2:lock:bana

i just got back from sudbury, and i was at my buddies cottage, so i was driving purely on the highway.
i ended up getting about 600kms on one tank, with room to spare, and 7.1L/100kms.
over all, i drove about 900 kms, and i have 3/4s of a tank left.
not too shabby, especially when you buddy offers to pay for gas.

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Originally Posted by dentinger

i just got back from sudbury, and i was at my buddies cottage, so i was driving purely on the highway.
i ended up getting about 600kms on one tank, with room to spare, and 7.1L/100kms.
over all, i drove about 900 kms, and i have 3/4s of a tank left.
not too shabby, especially when you buddy offers to pay for gas.

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Yeah, I just came back from a trip to Cedar Point and a visit with friends in the area near Cedar Point. 469KM there (3/4 tank and AC) and then 556.5KM back the light JUST went on like 10KM away from my local gas station (Mostly no AC). Though the weird thing was that the trip computer said about 20KM left on the tank of gas...but when I filled the car up, it did it's first click stop after 41.108L...Which was a 7.386L/100KM...but if it's a 55L tank, where did the other 100+KM go and why was the estimate so low?

Either way, for mostly highway driving, a bit city and wait at the boarder, and 3 people plus hatch full of luggage and stuff, 556KM and 7.386L/100KM wasn't too shabby for a Sport GT Auto...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dentinger

i just got back from sudbury, and i was at my buddies cottage, so i was driving purely on the highway.
i ended up getting about 600kms on one tank, with room to spare, and 7.1L/100kms.
over all, i drove about 900 kms, and i have 3/4s of a tank left.
not too shabby, especially when you buddy offers to pay for gas.

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Not too bad guys...

I'm going to NY at the end of the month and it's 800km to Times Square. I can't wait!! :chuckle

how do you guys get the numbers?

i just drive and then fill when it gets dry

if you have to fill anway why count the numbers?

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Originally Posted by cutekate85

how do you guys get the numbers?

i just drive and then fill when it gets dry

if you have to fill anway why count the numbers?

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- reset the trip odometer every time you fill up

- to see how much you can travel for the least amount of gas used then try to improve on that, making transportation a little bit cheaper.

gotcha

but i reset it and i get different numbers all the time like 300 something or 400 something

you get these decimals and stuff how??:complain

if you wnat it cheaper get an uuuuuuugly yaris or a vespa =o)

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Originally Posted by cutekate85

if you wnat it cheaper get an uuuuuuugly yaris

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Hey, watch what you call ugly. I almost bought a Yaris RS. I rather like the look of them.

I used to drive a car with no fuel light and no trip computer that would tell me how many estimated KM's left on the tank. Counting KM's was the only way to tell how close to empty I really was. If you get into the habit of it, it makes it easier to judge how good you are doing on fuel.

An example was when I owned a '98 Corolla back in 2006. I used to work in the 404/401 area and drive from Ford/Lakeshore in Oakville. It would basically be 110KM/Day so I could do 4 days easy of back and forth...but not much more than that. Sometimes, I would be at 440KM and know I would have to fill up pretty soon.

As to getting different numbers, that's normal depending on driving style and where you are going. IE More city, less KM/tank. More Highway, more KM/tank. I guess some people don't really count KM and just drive, but I've done this since I started driving so it's 2nd nature to me.

As to how we are getting the actual fuel mileage number, you use the formula of L / KM * 100 = Mileage

IE on my trip back from Ohio when I filled up, the first click was at 41.108 Liters. I did 556.5 KM on that tank...so the formula would be 41.108 / 556.5 * 100 = 7.387L/100KM

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Originally Posted by alhope34

Hey, watch what you call ugly. I almost bought a Yaris RS. I rather like the look of them.

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im sorry :blush

the hatch is ok sedan not so much

but i still wanna know how to get the numbers

im not that good with math

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Originally Posted by Iceman_F1

I used to drive a car with no fuel light and no trip computer that would tell me how many estimated KM's left on the tank. Counting KM's was the only way to tell how close to empty I really was. If you get into the habit of it, it makes it easier to judge how good you are doing on fuel.

An example was when I owned a '98 Corolla back in 2006. I used to work in the 404/401 area and drive from Ford/Lakeshore in Oakville. It would basically be 100KM/Day so I could do 4 days easy of back and forth...but not much more than that. Sometimes, I would be at 430KM and know I would have to fill up very soon.

As to getting different numbers, that's normal depending on driving style and where you are going. IE More city, less KM/tank. More Highway, more KM/tank. I guess some people don't really count KM and just drive, but I've done this since I started driving so it's 2nd nature to me.

As to how we are getting the actual fuel mileage number, you use the formula of L / KM * 100 = Mileage

IE on my trip back from Ohio when I filled up, the first click was at 41.108 Liters. I did 556.5 KM on that tank...so the formula would be 41.108 / 556.5 * 100 = 7.387L/100KM

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iceman youre awesome

ill try that next time if i can remember

ty =)

It's all about getting the best gas mileage now that prices are above a $1.00 per litre.

My fuel light just came on at 615km and i'd say 70-80% of that was highway driving. Not bad, I personally think I can get more out of the tank.

Gunning for 700km.

:bana2:lock:bana

a quick and dirty way to get the numbers is remember that you have 45L before the light comes on; if you're sitting at 450 km on your odometer when the light comes on you're bang-on 10L/100km.

After that a little quick division in your head can get you rough numbers.

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Originally Posted by cutekate85

if you have to fill anway why count the numbers?

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Other then the reasons already mentioned, another good reason to keep track of your fuel consumption is that you'll be able to tell instantly when there might be a problem with your vehicle ie; plugs, filter etc; as you will notice a consistant increase in fuel consumption all things being equal.


_3

I am actually really surprised with my car. 2004 MAZDA 3 2.3L.

This car takes over 10l of gas per 100k. Today I did 420k and I put in 45l of gas. This is almost 10.8l of gas per 100k. I would say with about 50/50 city and highway. I was hoping for 9l or something. The car is automatic.The car has tires 215/45 R17. I am wondering if the car needs tuneup. 87k. ??? Mazda should take no more than 9L.

I have 2006 VW JETTA 2.0T with DSG ( :) )which with the same driving takes about 10.5L per 100k. Jetta is heavier and bigger. Not to mention performance even though MAZDA 3 2.3L engine is nice and drives great, is is still far outclassed by VW 2.0T Engine. (same as it is on the German Pocket Rocket GTI :chuckle)

What kind of tune up do you recommend at 90k ?

well with the tire size.. you're losing distance already since it has a smaller diameter than stock. About 2% i think.

The good thing about turbo'd cars, wen just cruising and not boosting, the 2.0 turbo will use less gas than the 2.3 just because the 2.3 has more air volume in the engine, meaning it needs more fuel to match that air volume. The 2.0T would use more gas when the turbo is in boost, because cramming air under pressure in a 2.0 will result in more air than a naturally aspirated 2.3 could use, hence then the 2.0 will need more fuel for the added pressurised air.

Is this understandable? lol.

BTW, I get 10L/100km with my MS3, 2000rpm shifts, 100% city. Take it easy and you will get beter mileage. Also remember a manual will make better milage than an auto. The DSG in the Jetta would have used clutches, not a torque converter like an auto, meaning the DSG gets similar if not the same milage as a manual. For the person who wants all the benefits of the manual but too lazy to actually do the shifting and clutch work. :chuckle

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Originally Posted by bbc20000

I am actually really surprised with my car. 2004 MAZDA 3 2.3L.

This car takes over 10l of gas per 100k. Today I did 420k and I put in 45l of gas. This is almost 10.8l of gas per 100k. I would say with about 50/50 city and highway. I was hoping for 9l or something. The car is automatic.The car has tires 215/45 R17. I am wondering if the car needs tuneup. 87k. ??? Mazda should take no more than 9L.

I have 2006 VW JETTA 2.0T with DSG ( :) )which with the same driving takes about 10.5L per 100k. Jetta is heavier and bigger. Not to mention performance even though MAZDA 3 2.3L engine is nice and drives great, is is still far outclassed by VW 2.0T Engine. (same as it is on the German Pocket Rocket GTI :chuckle)

What kind of tune up do you recommend at 90k ?

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Not knowing what your driving habits are, it's hard to say. If you gun it all the time; floor the gas at the lights, or generally accelerate quickly, your mileage suffers. If you're driving up hills a lot, your mileage suffers.

Check your owners manual for the 96K tune-up. I'd recommend at least that, possibly an injector flush, throttle body cleaning, etc, if that has never been done. This tuneup ain't cheap, so be ready to pay for it.

best suggestions: use either the stock tyre size or something closer to it, check that you tyres are inflated correctly; and watch your driving habits. If you can avoid starting and stopping continuously in the city, your can improve your mileage fairly drastically.