Fuel Economy - or Lack Thereof

RX-7 is getting solid 23-24mpg on the highway if I use 5th gear.

When driving to work, I usually don't use 5th because it has a bad drivetrain shudder sometimes. So, mixed driving, cold starts, and buzzing 5000-6000rpm on the highway in 4th.... 12.5mpg. The .5 is important.

aussiesmg wrote: Mongo gets 7, Elantra get 40+, everything else falls in between

I was actually impressed how far Mongo would go on fuel given how huge and old it is..

also

ALL HAIL MONGO!!!

I get 32-33 combined in my SC2 5spd. 38 if strictly hwy.

48 on the 650 Burgman, Wife's auto TDI is down to 35 or so, Miata has been 28 as of late. Pickup is 18. VStrom still needs post fire repairs, so I don't count it.

I noticed today that my Mustang gets worse highway mileage on cruise control than it gets with my foot on the pedal, even running the same speeds. Every other vehicle I've ever driven does better on cruise. Also, it used to show mid twenties on the interstate, now it seems to get hight teens. I don't do enough interstate to really check though.

It actually seems to get better mpg in town than the highway. Really strange.

Sometimes I think about a diesel, then I look at local diesel prices...at a local speedway diesel is 4.34, and regular is 3.48. If the escort gets me 38 highway, and the diesel gets me 45, the payoff is a long way out. Diesel would be 9.64 to drive 100 miles. Gas would be 9.16. Ok, so it would never pay off. Even if I got the diesel to 50 mpg it would still be 8.68. At 4,000 miles a month gas would be $366 a month and diesel would 345. I'd save 20 dollars a month! As long as the car was free...

Joey

1985 RX-7 S: 25mpg
2006 RX-8 GT: 19mpg
2004 MSM: 27mpg

2001 Ford Focus - 27mpg combined even with the supercharger.
2010 Ford Transit Connect - 24mpg no matter where I drive it.
2013 Subaru Legacy 2.5L - Haven't had it long enough to be sure but expexct to get around 27mpg combined. Taking a trip to Pittsburgh next week so we should get some idea of highway mileage.

My Miata dropped from 30 or so, to about 24 when I swapped in the 1.8. Everything, trans and rear end, is the same. But, I am going from a very tired 212k mile 1.6 to a freshened up 1.8 with some recent headwork, so I may be driving it like a maroon.

Joey

rotard wrote: 1985 RX-7 S: 25mpg 2006 RX-8 GT: 19mpg 2004 MSM: 27mpg

Ugh how does everyone on the face of the planet get better MPG out of their MSM than i do?

1990 MX6 GT Turbo - 38mpg combined (Got 41mpg on the way down to Gainesville)
2000 Cherokee 4x4 - 18mpg combined, have seen a 22mpg tank.
2004 MSM - 22mpg combined, maximum of 25mpg all highway.

joey48442 wrote: Sometimes I think about a diesel, then I look at local diesel prices...at a local speedway diesel is 4.34, and regular is 3.48. If the escort gets me 38 highway, and the diesel gets me 45, the payoff is a long way out. Diesel would be 9.64 to drive 100 miles. Gas would be 9.16. Ok, so it would never pay off. Even if I got the diesel to 50 mpg it would still be 8.68. At 4,000 miles a month gas would be $366 a month and diesel would 345. I'd save 20 dollars a month! As long as the car was free... Joey

I've noticed the delta between diesel and gas varies quite a bit. A few months ago, it was about 9 cents/gallon. Right now, it's more like 60.

Keith Tanner wrote:

joey48442 wrote: Sometimes I think about a diesel, then I look at local diesel prices...at a local speedway diesel is 4.34, and regular is 3.48. If the escort gets me 38 highway, and the diesel gets me 45, the payoff is a long way out. Diesel would be 9.64 to drive 100 miles. Gas would be 9.16. Ok, so it would never pay off. Even if I got the diesel to 50 mpg it would still be 8.68. At 4,000 miles a month gas would be $366 a month and diesel would 345. I'd save 20 dollars a month! As long as the car was free... Joey

I've noticed the delta between diesel and gas varies quite a bit. A few months ago, it was about 9 cents/gallon. Right now, it's more like 60.

Thats true. Sometimes diesel is even cheaper!

Joey

joey48442 wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote:

joey48442 wrote: Sometimes I think about a diesel, then I look at local diesel prices...at a local speedway diesel is 4.34, and regular is 3.48. If the escort gets me 38 highway, and the diesel gets me 45, the payoff is a long way out. Diesel would be 9.64 to drive 100 miles. Gas would be 9.16. Ok, so it would never pay off. Even if I got the diesel to 50 mpg it would still be 8.68. At 4,000 miles a month gas would be $366 a month and diesel would 345. I'd save 20 dollars a month! As long as the car was free... Joey

I've noticed the delta between diesel and gas varies quite a bit. A few months ago, it was about 9 cents/gallon. Right now, it's more like 60.

Thats true. Sometimes diesel is even cheaper! Joey

And realistically, I probably drive my personal cars maybe 1000 miles a month. The payoff is a long way down the road...

Joey

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

rotard wrote: 1985 RX-7 S: 25mpg 2006 RX-8 GT: 19mpg 2004 MSM: 27mpg

Ugh how does everyone on the face of the planet get better MPG out of their MSM than i do? 1990 MX6 GT Turbo - 38mpg combined (Got 41mpg on the way down to Gainesville) 2000 Cherokee 4x4 - 18mpg combined, have seen a 22mpg tank. 2004 MSM - 22mpg combined, maximum of 25mpg all highway.

The best I ever saw out of my M3 was 22mpg. Everyone else was quoting 25-28mpg.

When I drive my GT hard, run it through the gears and shift at 8500, I typically get pretty close to 40 MPG. The only time I ever checked it over a weekend of commuting, and a full tank of gas, I got 52 MPG.

smart fortwo: 45mpg (Just took it to a conference in Mass and got 50 for the trip).
02 Jetta 1.8t wagon: 25mpg
75 Vette: 14 mpg

Is it weird to be happy with 20mpg? Yes, if you're coming from a 15mpg 95 Caprice to a 87 4Runner.

My Honda TwinStar never got less than 66mpgs, and that little bugger was wound out constantly,

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Ugh how does everyone on the face of the planet get better MPG out of their MSM than i do? 1990 MX6 GT Turbo - 38mpg combined (Got 41mpg on the way down to Gainesville) 2000 Cherokee 4x4 - 18mpg combined, have seen a 22mpg tank. 2004 MSM - 22mpg combined, maximum of 25mpg all highway.

My "MSM" mpg. Best yet is 26.6 all highway ~65, average of 21ish. It drops considerably at a rallycross. I think yesterday it used slightly more than a quarter tank after 20 rallycross miles.

I'm in the same boat as the op- best is my RX8. second prize goes to my 1987 E150 w/ 302, but just barely.

Integra: 32 - 36 depending on the quality of the gas ( current mag. article not withstanding...)

STS CRX: 34 - 38 highway, ~ 26 autocrossing ... ~ 15 on track

F150: 15 - 17 highway, and 13ish towing

The truck has dropped lately, but it looks like theleft front brake is dragging. It's the low one right now averaging about 18mpg mixed/hauling. the rest:

2000 Accent: 39mpg average 2010 Forte : 33mpg mixed Corvette: 2 gallons to the mile.... because I'm still "breaking it in".

I don't even measure on the Javelin. I know that I don't want to know.