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If you want a different point of view on MPG check out the thread titled " How to get the best MPG on the rx8 ". I read the whole thread and i came away with two things: !) The rx8 wasn't designed for economy ( My 04 series one automatic gets average 20 MPG). 2) It is interesting to see how when this older thread was written ( 7 or 8 years ago ), how the low attitudes changed as the post counts rose in number. As post counts rise you can see the snarkey ness of some got worse. For me the end result is yes there are some things one can do to increase your MPG with k&N filters and driving habits, lighter wheels and lighter batterys etc but at the end of the day acumulative gas mileage is a rather moot point in view of the fact when you delve too far into MPh efforts you do sacrifice the fun of the car which is the pure fun of unbridled RPM and the cars handling efforts. My 2004 series one automatic does get an average of 20 to 22 MPG with out any sacrificing of the pure fun of driving the 8. In the thread titled " How to get the best MPG on the rx8 " some one made the comment that trying to get high MPG out of the rx8 was like arranging deck chairs on the titanic lol , and that is my point. I am only stating the obvious , the rx8 has a average of 20 to may be 22 MPG and maybe 10 to 15 MPG if you track your car. The car wasn't made for ecconomy , it was made for fun and i for one after 110,000 miles love the car even more than i did when it was new .
This isn't the "how to get better gas mileage" thread. This is "cumulative gas mileage" thread. People are in here to get plain answers, not opinions.
Telling someone to buy something else based on a plain and simple number isn't contributing.
A minivan was meant for large families. Yet you sometimes see teens driving them because it's what they have to drive. Would you tell them to take a bus instead of drive the van? If yes, you would be a moron.
The rx8 is an affordable car (unfortunately), and so you see many people driving them. Not everyone buys it for "handling" and "9k rpm". They buy it because it looks nice, and it's affordable. And in doing so, they would like to know how much mileage they could get. Maybe they don't want "best mileage". Just a ballpark figure. Of course they don't know the pitfalls of purchasing for that reason, but everyone has their reasons. Just like opinions.
Mod Edit:
Final paragraph removed, as it triggered all posts deleted after this point
A relatively high percentage of members here are, or were, military, and of more than 1 country. Getting involved in an argument over service respect/credibility is pointless.
If you really want to discuss how someone does or does not have a right to get irritated or annoyed by various mentions/gestures/bragging/thanks/praise/boasting ... start a lounge thread and I'll be happy to weigh in.
My results thus far show that the amount of city driving then to a lesser extent outdoor air temperature play a role in my fuel economy. Here's an analysis of my mileage so far:
17 MPG average on my '10 GT with about 41K miles. I plan to continue changing my 5W20 oil every 1000 miles (I changed it 4 times in succession within 1000 miles after I bought it off of the original owner at 37K). Consult the attached PDF for more analysis (hey I'm an engineer)!
I have a 2012 with about 2600 miles now. It's catless and I'm always in the city, at rush hour, doing around 10-20mph, and whenever I see an empty stretch I floor it :D aaaaand then slam on the brakes
My milage is... wait for it... 9MPG!!
At first I was kinda worried, but then again, all cars here do terrible on fuel, because of the crazy traffic. After I met other RX-8 owners, I heard that they got similar fuel milage out of their cars. That calmed me down. I believe part of it is because there's no cat. Oh well.
My results thus far show that the amount of city driving then to a lesser extent outdoor air temperature play a role in my fuel economy. Here's an analysis of my mileage so far:
17 MPG average on my '10 GT with about 41K miles. I plan to continue changing my 5W20 oil every 1000 miles (I changed it 4 times in succession within 1000 miles after I bought it off of the original owner at 37K). Consult the attached PDF for more analysis (hey I'm an engineer)!
That is a fancy chart that demonstrates only that the rx8 is not an economy car
So far I've driven through about a tank and a half and I'm getting less than 10mpg :| my cat is in good shape might need to do plugs, wires, and coils but I'm waiting on service records to see when previous owner had them done. Just cleaned maf and throttle body, hopefully I can get it up to at least 14mpg 135000 miles on original engine
When I first bought it 6 months ago it got 13mpg city. I think it was only used around town. It would grind going into 5th & 6th.
Now it shifts perfectly. I think the 5th & 6th synchros were almost never used by the previous owner. Also it seems to run even better now that it's been driven daily at a high rpm.
After ten years and almost 35K miles, I generally get around 18 mpg. Mostly open road driving, not a lot of stop & go. I use 5W-20, change it about every four months.
2004 Mazda RX8
6-speed
72,500 miles
Original engine
Decatted
Recently drove from Florida to Wisconsin. New coils, plugs, wires, air filter, cabin air filter, oil, oil filter, diff oil, and transmission oil done with 200 miles of trip.
I never let the car drop below a quarter of a tank. Mileage from both odometers was compared to my (handheld) GPS unit.
At 85mph, the car got 19.8mpg.
At 80mph, the car got 20.6mpg.
At 70mph (power steering went out due to coolant reservoir leak and it was pouring rain so I had to slow down), the car got 23.6mpg.
This has been an amazing thread to read through. Gas is EXTREMELY expensive where I live (In USD, apox $6.50/Gal) so getting good miles on each tank is a plus.
So far in the week i've had it, getting roughly 11MPG on average. Temps have been averaging 115F with Humidex so I trust that is having an effect. Lots of tips in here that I plan to follow up on though.
This has been an amazing thread to read through. Gas is EXTREMELY expensive where I live (In USD, apox $6.50/Gal) so getting good miles on each tank is a plus.
So far in the week i've had it, getting roughly 11MPG on average. Temps have been averaging 115F with Humidex so I trust that is having an effect. Lots of tips in here that I plan to follow up on though.
Thanks again!
That's low even for high heat unless you're hammering on it with pure city driving.
That's low even for high heat unless you're hammering on it with pure city driving.
Yes, very. My island is quite small with no real "highway" so I would classify everything as city driving. I suspect, reading through this thread, that I may want to tackle some basic cleaning of sensors, etc. The car sat on boat crossing the pacific for 3 months so chances are some things are in need of touching up.
gas mileage also matters based upon age since maintenance was performed, city driving, outdoor temperature. see attached for my case (I am coming up on a coil/MAF sensor, ESS sensor, ....30000 mile mtce update).
However, when I had my engine rebuilt 1.5 years ago I drove from San Diego to Vegas and back to break it in. I kept the rev between 4k-50k and no hight than 5k durning the drive/breaking process. For some reason I got 24 mpg there in back.
After that I drove it like I normally do and it went back down to 20 mph...give or take.
I've been watching the MAF air flow rate and MPG on my OBD-II reader and what I've noticed -even at a sensible 55 mph - is that the engine is burning more fuel per mass air flow (richer state) that piston engined cars when the car is coasting (moving with closed throttle). I wonder if that has to do with the rich burn conditions set for engine health at idle or when the throttle is closed?
I will get about 250 miles on a tank of gas. That sucks! An engine like this should do solo o much better. Every rx7 I owned did a ton better and was just as fast. Technology should push this car to something like 70 mpg but people would never believe it because they buy into marketing ploys and silly propaganda, but hey, it is what makes this world go round while we educate new drones to work at factories and walmart so they can be better yes men
gas mileage also matters based upon age since maintenance was performed, city driving, outdoor temperature. see attached for my case (I am coming up on a coil/MAF sensor, ESS sensor, ....30000 mile mtce update).
I haven't done half the crap mazda says to do. I care for it like a wankel or worse and I have always had the same milage give or take on how I drove it. Bat out of hell or grandma style. always 15-19, for the most part. average is ~17