Bad MPG

[96racerc]

Well being a gm tech i will keep everyone up to date on this my 13 sonic 1.4 turbo has been only averaging about 20-21 mpg. So needless to say i am very unpleased. i have even tried granny driving never above 2200 rpm.

 

[sx sonic]

What's your commute like? Is it cold out? Idle much? Short trips?

Need more info.

 

[ahtoxa]

Without any of the background info, commute info, etc., the original post is useless. For all we know you commute 3 miles one way to work.

 

[sx sonic]

Without any of the background info, commute info, etc., the original post is useless. For all we know you commute 3 miles one way to work.

For a supposed "Tech" the lack of info is baffling!

As a former tech I can say that info is paramount for diag. So either more info will be coming soon or It's a troll post.

 

[Swordsmith]

There are some reports of this sort of thing that seem to stem from more than driving habits. But I agree, we don't really have enough information to come close to diagnosing the problem. Just knowing the engine and max rpm isn't close to sufficient.

I get 22mpg in my 1.4T with the LT 6M... running pure E85, doing jackrabbit starts and driving well over the speed limit. Driving sensibly, with 93 octane gasoline, I've gotten 44mpg out of a tank. I could probably manage to get 22mpg on 87 octane while keeping it under 2200rpm, if I deliberately stuck to short trips and let the engine cool off in between, spent a lot of time idling (and oh, how about letting the engine warm up for ten minutes every start), running the AC or Defrost constantly... auto transmission would help too.

 

[ColonelPanic]

While gathering details, also post up the average speed for a tank...

 

[ShadowRS]

As of recently, I am netting around 24-26 mpg in my RS MT Sonic.... But I drive roughly 5-10 miles a day... with average speeds per tank being about 25 mph or under. I only live about 2 miles from work. I'd be willing to be your commute is similar to mine.

 

[attrapereves]

As of recently, I am netting around 24-26 mpg in my RS MT Sonic.... But I drive roughly 5-10 miles a day... with average speeds per tank being about 25 mph or under. I only live about 2 miles from work. I'd be willing to be your commute is similar to mine.

Yep, and my wife's 1.8L Auto hatch gets about 2-3MPG less than you driving 5-10 miles per day around town. It gets around 33MPG on the highway, so I'm not at all concerned.

 

[pounamu]

I average 24 mpg. I drive about 25 miles a day; because of the traffic and the 30mph speed limit, it normally takes me about 35-40 minutes to get to work (approx. 12 miles from home). My average speed is about 15mph. I have an automatic transmission with a 1.4 turbo. I do occasionally rev the car above 2500 (but not often). I do run the AC / heater about 70% of the time. When I get on the highway, the mpg goes up very significantly. Comparing it to the rest of the posts in this thread, I think this sounds about right.

 

[ahtoxa]

OP posts little to no info and doesn't return for days.

 

[SPOTWORK]

A good old Canadian boy like me gets 6.9liters/100km. Driving her a tad hard

 

[mowcowbell]

Definitely short distance trips at slow speeds kills mileage.

I just logged 24.97 mpg on my Sonic 1.4 on the last tank. Normally, I see about 30-35 mpg.

I no longer have the 25 mile each-way highway commute to work, and am only driving short distances and rarely get the engine up to full operating temperature.

 

[Z71]

So far I have averaged about 35 MPG (40% city, 60% highway) with my 1.8 liter, 5 speed sedan on regular 87 octane E10. This is composite mileage over the first 1250 miles).

 

[$ub$onic]

So far I have averaged about 35 MPG (40% city, 60% highway) with my 1.8 liter, 5 speed sedan on regular 87 octane E10. This is composite mileage over the first 1250 miles).

That is actually pretty good for 40/60 driving

 

[Blue hedgehog]

OP posts little to no info and doesn't return at all

I fixed that for you.

Well my gas milage has gone completely down the tubes. I just started a new job and my commute has changed. I was averaging almost 33mpg on the dic. Now I'm down to 24 on the dic. My dic is always about 1-1.2 mpg optimistic. For some reason my ultragauge is even more optimistic, but I'm only on the second fill up since I got it. Anyway, this is what my ultragauge showed after driving all the way home after work today, all .9 miles.

 

[ahtoxa]

Oh yeah. My short commutes to work drop my weekly average into low 30s on the DIC. When I took a road trip to Austin, I got like 46 on a full tank without even trying. I also had city mixed into that.

Short commutes will murder your economy. That's OK, as I will take it over a longer commute any day.