Good luck with the 24mpg... I did a road trip and pulled out 320 miles to my tank until the light came on... you do the math... is it possible... 320/14=22.85 - that is with ALL highway and using cruise control at appx 75 mph the entire way...

 

i know your not saying that you cant hit redline around town, and if you dont use the freeway I admit it is a little harder, I take 429 toll road to work every morning (for about 6 miles) and I can hit redline in 3rd just before the entrance ramp ends (starting off at 35 in 2nd gear from the toll booth) I know out around 417 you could get some good speed up and some high RPMs without to much attention, if your so inclined. :P

 

Yeah....on the highway it's different. I take advantage of (like the commercial) of every on/off ramp and every toll...lol.

I love on-ramps for 9K...and I love off ramps for the g's! :D

 

yeah it is, but you would have to cruise SLOW enough, 75mph in 6th gear means your running 4 injectors, I think 72/73 is the fastest you can go and still be on the primarys only. I was on the highway once and cruised at 65mph, no trafic, it was cool and dark out, no AC and windows/sunroof, up i only went 200 miles but from full to half tank is all it took, when I filled it up it was just over 7.5 gals.

200miles - 7.5 gal = ~26mpg I dont know if I could have kept it up if nothing changed but I definetly saw that this car CAN pull these numbers for at least a short time. But that has happened only once....and it wasnt that much fun, the closest ive ever gotten to that was a 23mpg run on my way back from the F1 race this year at Indy, that was 70mph, AC on.

I find if I really baby the car on my weekly commute (I fill up every sunday night), I can just get into 22mpg (22.1-22.2) if I just put MPGs on the back burner and enjoy the car, enjoy the drive and have fun I can stay in the 18's (18.1-18.2) so for me losing 4mpg and enjoying the car I am paying for is more than worth it.

That about 30 bucks a month differnce, hell Ill just skip going to the movies with my girlfriend, or going out to eat one week. its really not a big deal, for me at least.

sadly there will always be people who are unhappy with the ammount of gas it uses. if your really that unhappy about the car, get rid of it, but I have a feeling that people will be unhappy about the gas issue, but the other things that the car offers make then happy enough to keep it.

I loved this car when I saw the first one on the road, I loved this car when i signed the papers to take ownership of it, and everytime I drive it I love it more each day, this car is everything I wanted, and with a few modifications I will be in heaven (i mean really happy, not going so fast I crash and die, lol) 3 months with the car so far, and it just keeps getting better

 

hells yeah! something I saw in a ad for the new miata that mazda sent me :

"There is a difference between you driving a car, and you and the car driving" I feel the same about the rx8, its a class of its own.

EDIT : just wanted to remove soemthing that was gonna be off topic, I took it to PMs instead.

 

you guys are getting incredible mileage, wtf is wrong with my car.

 

hills? heavy, long lasting traffic? long startups before driving? heavy right foot? slightly underinflated tires (but not enough to trigger the dash light)?

 

My right foot is no where near as heavy as it use to be, not too many hills, i commute in traffic daily, no long start ups, i just start and go instantly. Perhaps underinflated tires.. hmm.

 

there are more issues that effect fuel economy than i listed, those were just some of the ones that popped in my head. other could be different fuel blends that are delived to different markets, frequency of oil changes, types of oil used, clean air filter, proper alignment, where you shift...

its actually a very complex series of interactions that ultimately determine gas mileage, so trying to determine which one(s) are having the largest negative impact can be kinda tricky.

 

Mine is still this way. Still on M-flash; don't know if the flashes recalibrate the gauge....

 

Driving style and conditions.


And, I think some people like to inflate their mileage to make us jealous :p

jk - it's probably more likely that folks with good mileage are more likely to post in mileage threads. The others have pretty much learned to live with whatever they're getting and tired of the subject. Driving style and conditions explain most of it though. That was the conclusion of a fairly detailed survey done a while back on the forum.

 

i'm happy with mine at 17-18mpg city... Haven't really tried pure hwy driving yet though...

 

The EPA test is a joke. The AVERAGE speed on the highway test is 48mph and the max is 60mph and no stops and no idling.

City: The test is started with the car's engine cold. The car then is operated in such a way as to replicate 11 miles of stop-and-go rush-hour traffic. Periods of idling are included in the test; average speed is 20 mph and top speed is 56 mph.

Highway: This test represents 10 miles of a mixture of rural and interstate highway driving. The engine is warmed up before the test begins and the average test speed of about 48 mph is maintained. The top speed reached is 60 mph. No intermediate stops or idling are included in the test.

I got over 20mpg (just) driving my loaner 8 back about 175 miles from the dealership and did it again with my car when I picked it up. I was varying the speed - not driving with the cruise locked on any speed - since both cars were new "no mile" cars when I got them. So it should be possible to get over 20mpg if you fill up, hop on the freeway and drive, then get off and fill up again.

Dennis

 

Do you check your mileage by:

1) Fill up until the pump clicks off
2) Reset the trip meter
3) Drive until the tank is 1/4 full or less
4) Fill up until the pump clicks off
4) Divide the miles on the trip meter by the gallons on the pump at step 4
5) Repeat steps 2-5 every time.

You would be surprised how many folks drive until "about empty" then divide the miles drive by the stated capacity of the fuel tank (15.9 gal from the owner' manual). Since most folks say that with the low fuel light on they can't get much more than 13 or 14 gallons in the tank this is a big difference.

220 miles / 15.9 = 13.84 mpg
220 miles / 13.2 = 16.67 mpg

Dennis

 

While my gauge is very non-linear, it is extremely consistent.

Without a highway stretch

first 1/4 = 50-55
half = 115-120
next 1/4 = 200-205
light on at 230
fill up at 241 with 13.6 gal.

 

Funny enough i've only encountered the empty tank calculators on this forum :D Everywhere else people are smart enough to figure out how to do it. I do it the way you described and consitently run in the 16's.

 

^ no way! People actually calculate it like that? miles/tank capacity?! That's funny. It doesn't even make sense :D

 

Some people don't care about mileage as much as range. I'm not thrilled with the mileage, but would like it if the tank held a gallon or two more so I could at least get through a full week between fill ups.

 

when i fill up I usualy go till the pump stops and then one more pump after that, but on long road trips I always top off till the gas if full and up to the filler neck. It takes a few mins extra cause you have to wait for it to settle and rock the car to get rid of air pockets. It really only makes a big differnece on highway driving as I can get a little over 2.5 gals in after it stops, for me on the freeway that can be 50 miles

 

2 1/2 more gallons after it clicks?

 

You can ruin the charcoal canister (I assume we have one?) overfilling the tank. This can lead to not only the repair cost but a break down if the tank fails to vent.

That said, I find it hard to believe you can get 2.5 gallons extra in the tank after it has already clicked off. Does this do this at EVERY gas pump or maybe just at the one you use all the time? Maybe it has a very fast flow (so traps more air) or an overly-sensitive trip? If you don't do this does your gas gauge show full?

BTW, my VTX has a small tank and the 1.8l motor drinks gas. So I fill it on the side stand, then hold the bike upright and top it off. I can get 0.3 gal or a little more in there doing that. Rather have the extra in there if I need it, since the bike is too heavy to push

Dennis

 

my 05 GT runs 350's km per tank so how do i calculate my mpg?

 

Search the mileage threads, there's alike a million of them.

To save you a search:
(1) Fill up and reset odometer (2) drive 200 or 300 km (3) fill up and write down the gallons (3) divide the odo by gallons to get KPG or use miles to get MPG