3rd Gen Protege/MazdaSpeed/P5/MP3 General/Maintenance Discussion for 1999-2003.5 Models Only (BJ Chassis)

Gas mileage report

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Old April-12th-2002 | 07:46 PM
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Talking Gas mileage report

My P5 just get pass the 4000 miles mark. I have been getting 25-26 mpg. Last weekend I did 200 mile trip and I get 28.1 mpg for this tank, the best I have gotten so far. Total distance for this tank is 334 miles (70% freeway @ ~ 70 mph) and require 11.879 gallon to fill up without topping off. I could get more out of it if I didn't get stuck in heavy traffic for an hour. So what kind of gas mileage are you guys/gals getting?
Old April-12th-2002 | 09:27 PM
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I filled up my new P5 for the first time last week, got a disappointing 18.5 MPG on the first tank full. My Corvette with an extra 240HP or so got around 15MPG city!! Now this is 75% city driving, however I am a pretty conservative driver. I'm going to keep a log and watch for any improvement.
Old April-12th-2002 | 09:28 PM
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I've got almost 3000 on my Pro5 and I'm getting about the same as you... 26-27 and I get into some heavy traffic. I usually fill up at about 325-340 miles, and usually put in somewhere between 11.5 and 13 gallons.
Old April-12th-2002 | 09:30 PM
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Originally posted by ChrisR
I filled up my new P5 for the first time last week, got a disappointing 18.5 MPG on the first tank full.
Ouch... are you sure that was a full tank? If your car isn't getting better than 23-24 by 1000 miles, take it back to the dealer.

Do a search, someone else around here had the same problem, and I think they reset their ECU and fixed it.
Old April-12th-2002 | 10:16 PM
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My p5 has 5000 miles and I got an average of 29mpg (95% highway) with speeds ranging between 70 and 80 mph on a 800 mile trip back and forth to Virgina, the 29 was on the way up from SC.
Old April-12th-2002 | 11:42 PM
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6K on ours, and the only tank we measured got 30 mpg exactly.

90 miles of around town driving, followed by 270 miles of highway at 75 mph. 360 miles toal, and 12 gallons to fill.

Don

Last edited by Don M; April-17th-2002 at 12:10 PM.
Old April-13th-2002 | 12:10 AM
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I just completed 377.5 miles with one tank on my last trip...thats the best i've gotten.
Old April-13th-2002 | 12:45 AM
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Mine floats between lows of 23 and highs of 29. I have gotten over 30 twice but it is not normal. I just hit the 5k mark. I only get less than 25 when I have really being driving the vehicle hard or traffic has been esp. slow.
Old April-13th-2002 | 09:42 AM
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This post look like its almost covered.. but I'll add my mileage too... I'm averaging about 27mpg day to day driving which is about 75% highway speed @ 70+ with a little city mixed in. Most I've gotten was 32.5 mpg with all highway.. basically it was a gas station to gas station run at 80-85 mph in between. I've been a little disappointed like most... I would expect 30 should be easy for this little car but I guess not.


Mike
Old April-13th-2002 | 01:05 PM
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I generally get around 27mpg driving about 60/40 highway/city. However, on my last tank I was probably more like 75/25 and I got 31.6 mpg--kick ***!
Old April-13th-2002 | 09:23 PM
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30 every time

It seems like I get 30 mpg +/- 1mpg on every tank. Maybe 30% highway; 10% city/heavy traffic; 60% 30-40mph driving. To be sure, most of my driving is pretty gentle (no hard accelleration or whatnot).

I've got 12K miles. The only mod so far is an Injen CAI, but I think my mileage was about the same prior to installing it. I use 87 octane BP gas.
Old April-14th-2002 | 07:17 PM
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I've filled up my tank 3 times. First tank was 25.7mpg, second tank was 26.9 and third was 26.1. I do about 20% highway and 80% city driving. I don't let the gas gauge go below 1/4 tank. Helps keep the fuel injectors from sucking up all that tank scum at the bottom.
Old April-15th-2002 | 08:36 AM
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My last car was a '99 Passat that had a nifty computer in it. I would reset it every fill-up (about once a week) and it would give me my "Average Speed." This speed was usually around 35 mph. I figure about 50/50 city and highway driving. So that gives you an idea of my normal driving type.

In my 5-speed P5 with 14k miles on it, I get between 28 and 30 MPG. On long trips to Maine when I'm mostly on the highway or fast 2-lanes, I get up in the mid 32's.

This is all on 87 octane gas, mostly Texaco.
Old April-15th-2002 | 08:33 PM
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Originally posted by TheMAN
Whether your gas tank is full or not, gas is always being sucked from the bottom of the tank. If you have junk inside your tank, the moving vehicle will chug the whole tank along and everything in it swirls anyway. So if you do have the junk in there, it will all get whipped up anyay. Also, why would the fuel injectors be "sucking up all that tank scum" when 1) the fuel pump is what pumps the fuel, 2) the fuel filter is right next to the fuel tank and it filters that junk 3) fuel injectors do not suck gas, they merely are "gates" that open and close that allow pressurized fuel to spray into the combustion chamber.

Anyhow, I drive my car hard and I'm averaging 25-27mpg. I'm pretty happy about it.

Let me clarify my statement. You're right, the fuel injectors do not actually pump up the fuel from the tank. It's the fuel pump of course. However, the injectors are the end point of the fuel line from the tank. And although the fuel filter does filter out most of the tank debris, minute particles do get through and end up clogging up the injector nozzles over time. Just like an air filter cannot possibly filter out all airborne debris. Thus the nozzles are more sensitive to debris because their openings are so small.

Your other point that states "Whether your gas tank is full or not, gas is always being sucked from the bottom of the tank. If you have junk inside your tank, the moving vehicle will chug the whole tank along and everything in it swirls anyway".
This is only partially correct. Gas is always being sucked from the bottom of the tank, however, not all contaminant particles reside at the bottom of the tank. Because of the density of gasoline, it allows lighter particles to "float" at different levels in the tank. If you let the fuel level get too low, these particles will be more concentrated and thus more debris gets pumped up. If you fill up when you still have at least 1/4 tank left, the amount of debris uptake is less because the concentration is less since it is diluted in a larger volume of fuel left in the tank.
Just wanted to clarify my statement.
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