Yes,
I thought that might be the case. Could also be that I was making more power with the extremely cold air. The temps are still staying low (low 30 highs 45) so I will see if the MPG stay consistent. I think the current tank is going faster than normal, but I should know for sure in a couple of days.

 

I'm going on my 4th tank of gas.
First and second tankful were a mix of highway and city driving -

16 MPG.

3rd was ONLY highway mileage (204 miles around the beltway and down 95 to La Plata and back) -

15 MPG

Now I am on tank 4 and I have a little over 640 miles total on the car.

When I fill it, it takes about 14 gallons, so I am getting a flat gauge and light at about two gallons remaining in tank.

We'll see how the fuel consumption goes now that I am passed the break-in period and can start thrashing the motor a bit more.

 

I completed a trip to a Civil War re-enactment today. Approximately 100 miles each way -- all highway. I set the cruise control at the speed limit (65 mph) and cruised. When I got home I refueled. Got 22.2 mpg. The car is just past the 600 mile break-in period. I used 87 octane gas. The 8 had a two people and about 150 pounds of re-enacting gear in it. I'm pretty pleased!

 

Rabinado, Aussie is right. It's common sense the point he's trying to make.

I once asked my advisor how a famous neuroscience lab continued to get published in Science (one of the top two nonspecific science journals in the world) without statistics. My advisor replied, "The earth is round, p < .05."

Anyhow, the math you talked about pertains to what is known as the "average rate trap." Most commonly, we see it in "mile per hour" scenarios. "Mile per gallon" is every bit a rate as well, and the thinking works much the same way. And this thinking has NOTHING to do with the point Aussie was trying to make!!!!!

Congratulations on the Ph.d. Are you jobless now?

 

I have a job for the next few months, but soon enough I'll need another job. Don't worry, I should have one lined up soon, and then I'll be dropping by several Mazda dealerships

Actually, it was Ron's argument that I was thinking about, and then I got carried away with it. I know, what I said had nothing to do with what Aussie was saying, I just thought it was interesting, hence the apology. Of course going from 13 mpg to 21.5 mpg is a big turnaround. I wasn't arguing against that, just making a separate point.

 

I consistantly get about 14.9 MPG. I barely do any highway driving maybe 15 miles/week. Mainly I do all stoplight driving not much traffic just stop-n-go at lights. Right now I'm right at the 3/4 tank marker with 46 miles on it. Pretty pathetic. I shift at 4-5K and relly never rev higher than 7. I cruise in 6th gear at about 45 MPH. I barely break 200 miles per tank. The last 1/4 tank doesn't ever last me 1.5 days. I'm not sure what happens but when I get down to 1/4 tank left I know I need gas either that day or the next. It is very frustrating because I'm not getting near the EPA estimate AND I am NOT driving it hard. I think the next time I fill up I'm gonna drive it like real hard just to see what I get. But I'm waiting for the day Mazda has a MPG recall flash of the ECU. If that doesn't happen before next winter, I'm afraid I may have to sell the 8 and get something else. I know I didn't buy this car for the MPG, but I'm not getting anywhere close to what I should be, I don't drive it hard and when I do the lack of power is really frustrating. I feel like I've been duped. I'm gonna have to dump more money into the car to get the car I thought I was buying. I LOVE the looks and the feel and that is why I didn't trade it in. I'm hoping there is a recall and that is why I kept it. But if there isn't a recall before next winter I'm afraid there won't be one. Sigh...

 

golden how many miles on your 8?

 

about 1700. Why?

 

just wondering if yours was past the break in stage. some people are reporting better MPG at anywhere between 1500 and 2500 miles. the only difference i noticed was i used mobil premium for a tank and my MPG went to about 17.5 MPG whereas usually its around 15-16 90% city driving. other than that i had 1 highway trip of about 110 miles and got 21 MPG. i have about the same mileage as you.

 

Did you contact Mazda or your dealer about it? Otherwise they will always claim that they've never heard about it, therefore there is no problem, therefore no one is working on "fixing" anything...

 

The dealer(s) still claims the the mileage will increase afther the break in period.
What they DON'T agree on is the time frame. They range from 1200 to 6000 miles.
I can't say I believe any of them.