i've been reading up on this site and have realized this car gets terrible gas mileage. i have around 23K miles on the car and driving to work i couldn't get more than 14-15 mpg. well, this weekend i went on a 800 mile round trip to ohio and suprisingly enough i got 23.1 and 23.5 mpg! i was using no method of keeping revs under 3.75k or anyting, actually cruised around 72-78mph with a few 90mph slips. i only have the rev8, eibach springs and some RB wires. just had to share.

 

I typically try to keep my revs under 3,500. I have the Automatic so if yours is Manual we may vary.

I tend to get 16-18mpg in the city. Sadly I am driving the 8 about 70-80 miles a day.

 

I've put about 1500 miles on mine so far and I seem to be consistently in the 14 MPG range. That probably has something to do with my inability to avoid trips to the 7.5K RPM mark almost every time I drive it

On Friday I'll be going on a 700 mile trip, so it will be interesting to see if I achieve better performance.

 

Luckily, I'm getting 20-21 routinely. Gotta love a car that handles like this as well.

 

Yea, the first 3 tanks I filled up only got 10mpg. But recently, I've been getting into the 18mpg. I think the trick was pushing the throttle not too hard, even if I rev to 7K every gear, it seems better then hitting 4K hard. Guess you hafta ease off the throttle is you want to conserve gas. But gas prices are dropping anyways right? Not for long I guess.

 

2700 miles so far, 10 plus tanks and the worst has been 19 mpg and the best 23 mpg. Multiple trips to 9k revs each and every tank - I love on ramps, extended cruising at 80. Thankfully, I haven't experienced issues with mpg. :D

 

I find that what kills my mileage more than anything is city stop and go. If I can get on a road and drive, I usually get around 17. On a trip it goes up to about 21.

 

You know there is already a sarcasm thread in the lounge
:D

 

....and why did we need ANOTHER new thread to talk about this?


I did a search on this topic and got 14 direct responses....discuss all you like, but do we need a new thread about this every week?

 

I think Mazda-Rati deserves a spanking.

 

There's that Deliverance thing again! I'm going to watch my back at the next meet!

 

And half of these threads fill up with comments about why we need a new thread.

But actually it is interesting. The newer threads, like this one, don't include any of the horror stories that the older 2004 models were plagued with. It seems that most people are getting 17-20 mpg. It would be a good idea if we knew the year of the various posters to see if it got better with the model year or the flash level.

Anyway, it has to be more interesting than a thread that starts with "wow wow wow wow wow - I peed in my pants". See below.

Oh yeah, it is now time for someone to remind us that it is a sports car (as if that had something to do with gas mileage).

 

Why are you surprised Mazda-Rati? You're going from city driving to highway driving. I know its nice to break records in mileage and all, but it would be more informative if you said that you usually get 20mpg highway then all of a sudden you're getting 24mpg highway. that would be something to celebrate.

 

What is your normal highway mileage? Is your post a big improvement? Did you just get a new flash?

Since this is everyones favorite topic .... just to remind all this is a sports car what mpg do you expect? ... 40mpg?

Much better than the usual rant about how the mileage is so bad

23k and this is your first post ... Welcome to the Cult! :D :D

Enjoy the drive!

 

I have a real problem, and I would appreciate some sympathy. Not everyone has an iron bladder, SDB. Lets try to have a little decorum.

 

From Atlanta to Mass after the ProSolo in April, I was getting 23.5-24 mpg at 70-75 mph cruise.

--kC

 

I added to a post like this....basically I think that the concern is why is the crusing mileage soo much better than city? I never got more than 15 with mixed driving, and never revving past 3750, but I drove the freeway, with some short stints following fast cars, probably an trip average of 85mph and got 26mpg. I stopped for gas before the fuel light came on with 338 miles on my trip meter, and it took 13 gallons to fill up. Is it realistic to expect such a huge difference in fuel economy between city/highway? 200/330? 15mpg/26mpg?

I would think that a reasonable range would be 19-26. My mother's LS V8 gets 22 with mixed driving, and 25 highway. 4000 pounds, and 280HP....If I drive it, I can get it to drop to 18mpg, but never seen it below that.

Does this make sense?

 

Easy, because it just is...lol

Check out the spec's on all engines...the difference in city vs highway is significant. Heck, look at the vette...it get's 18-28...that's a HUGE difference.

Personally, after 5 months of ownership (and taking my 8 to 9K weekly and NOT driving grandma style) I avg 19.2 mpg in mainly city. I have never gotten less than 18.7mpg in ALL CITY driving and frankly I'm no longer concerned with fuel economy with my 8.

I have 3010 miles on my 8 and I have never taken a trip in it but so far in MAINLY city driving the best I've gotten is 19.6-8.

I have heard stories of people getting over the EPA listed numbers on the highway but based on my city numbers I think 23mpg is all I could get out of my 8 in the highway. The day I actually take a trip in my 8...I'll list my fuel economy history for all to see.

Note: I have a 2005 Base 6spd

 

I am not speaking of the EPA range, as it is tested in ideal conditions...I mean real life numbers...

My real life numbers of 15/26 I believe are a wide spread. I'll bet that the Corvette will average with mixed driving aroung 19 or 20. About the City only number. My mixed driving number is 15, if I drove only in the city...I would expect it to be lower than 15. This makes the range even wider. You must be one of the lucky ones to have better than average mileage with your 8, I on the other do not....the only time I get more than 200 miles per tank is when I take a long trip.

 

to the people who replied with "its a sports car, expect low numbers". i was just suprised with a high number like that for highway because i've heard the complaints. i would've been fine with 17-20hwy like most seem to get. i have a crappy volvo 850 that does all my non pleasure driving and that gets 28-30hwy. i drive that monster 80% of the time. i did just buy the rx8 and few months ago used with 21K on it. i'm still in my own break-in period with this car finding new things to awe about everyday. sorry for touching on a sore subject.

 

Don't worry about it Mazda-Rati, some people in here just hate their lives and the will rain on anyones happiness whenever they can.

 

Well, to make everyone feel better...

I have been apartment hunting and as such have driven my car from Manhattan to various places to look. My range for the last tank was 110 miles. I think that this can be attributed to the starting and just idling in traffic. NYC traffic moves in inches not miles, and if you allow 4 feet in between you and the car in front, a taxi will take it. That means that you have to keep tightening the gap which means rev, slip, go, brake, repeat 1000 times. I was thoroughly disgusted but then again, I don't plan on doing that for the life of the car (thank god!!).

On my last freeway trip, I was getting around 19, but that was with stops and general bs'ing around.

 

wait wait- from the little tidbit's i've heard, is there something bad, as far as gas mileage is concerned, with the "Early 2004's"?? Was anything changed in the newer models that might affect it? I'm picking up my used 2004 and highly excited, but this just caught my eye. Assuming I'll get around 20mpg average like most people in here, but don't want to be subject to the 14mpg crap I've heard occationally....
Again, not a big concern, but caught my eye....

 

When I was deciding on my next car (G35vsGTOvs05 Mustang GTvsRX8vs...well you get the picture) one of the biggest concerns I had was with the reports from some owners that they were getting 10-13mpg in the city.

I found this to be unacceptable to say the least (it's a 1.3L for GOD's sake not a V-10!!!) but after reading and READING, and READING some more I got the feeling that VERY few people have problem 8's regarding fuel economy and the rest (most of the fuel economy complaints) is a result in driving style and conditions.

Our buddy Philodox (sorry Phil...you are just the example I remember) shared with us his turbo 8 video (thank you Phil) but one interesting thing was his cruising rpm...Phil loves the over 5K cruise...lol... :p

So, that explained his poor fuel economy in my opinion. I think I saw another video some place where another 8 driver was doing the same thing so while there might be some problem 8's out there I honestly feel that MOST of the fuel economy complaints are really based on the driver more so than the 8.

Again, I don't drive like a grandma and spin my 8 to 9K probably like twice a week (traffic just does not let me play more than that) and I shift where the car feels like it wants to (1-3 3.7-4.5K rpm, 4 3.5K, and skip 5th and hit 6th to cruise) and I get better than the EPA numbers.

Fuel economy average: 19.1mpg (during my ownership)
Worst fuel economy: 18.7mpg
Best fuel economy: 19.6 or .8 (probably 60/40 city/highway split)

The reason this topic keeps coming up is that people REALLY DO CARE about it and not everyone on this website gets paid over 65K (alone not including the wife for those married) so every little bit counts...no matter how insignificant it might look to some people.

So, in my opinion most poor fuel economy people have no one to blame but themselves. NO, I'm not saying all of them...but most of them IN MY OPINION. I say this based on my experience and my HEAVY reading into this subject.

The EPA rates our cars at 18/24 avg and gives it a range of 15/28 (If I remember right) so if you are in that range you really can't complain. I know alot of people say the EPA numbers stink but I have yet to own a car where I could not avg the EPA listed numbers. (Heck, I actually can beat their numbers)

I hope everyone keeps the range of 15-28 in their mind when buying this car remembering that their MIGHT be problem 8's out there but fuel economy is mainly based on driver and conditions. I wish the 8 had better fuel economy but at 19mpg city I'm more than happy...

Please don’t think I’m insensitive to the people with problem 8’s…if I was in your shoes I would be foaming at the mouth and calling anyone who would listen to complain about my 10mpg car. If I was you I would complain until Mazda or the dealership did something about it…the last thing they want is bad publicity.

 

elysium 19, as far as I know nothing has changed from the 2004 to 2005 year other than the key fob. As you know...the PCM/ECU has been updated a handful of times so make sure if you buy the 2004 that you don't leave the dealership without the latest and greatest PCM/ECU update. I think we are at P right now...while N is the most common at this point.