Official: What are your real world MPG Numbers

[joe truck driver]

Honestly I have no idea how you guys do it. I think mountains sometimes help with average mpgs...I know my truck did better in them than I ever get out here on the flat prairies.

I drove my 1.8 all summer - 4 months while the kid was back from university...and as an average, the best I could muster was 6.5l/100 over 10 tanks...which is 43 Imperial mpg...which works out to 36 US mpg...and I was driving like Joe Truck up top. Shifting at 2500 or less, and driving mostly 90 kmh (that's 55 mph to ya'all), taking it nice and easy (turns out it's kind of relaxing going to work slow too, I mean, what's the rush to get there!? ). Occasionally up to 100 kmh/60 mph. On that point I'll wholeheartedly agree with JTD that even 10 kmh (5-6 mph) slower makes a difference. I could drive "$5 more" on a tank of gas at 90-100 than if I went 100-110 kmh. Well worth it if you're filling up 3 times per month!

What I don't get is how anyone can get anywhere near 40's, and US mpg to boot, at anything north of 50 mph. At 70!? Not possible. I never did better than a 6.1l/100 (38 US mpg) granny shifting and going slow. :blankface: Oh well, I still like that car for what it is...and it's kinda a hoot to drive even if it's not the RS model I lust after.

first,you have a 1.8, they just don't get what the 1.4 turbo's do.
any cold weather will hurt. my best mileages came in summer, warmer weather definitely improves mileage in these cars.
lots of hills will hurt. I agree, you can't get the mileage I did at 70... I couldn't get it at 65.
I will say it again. " premium doesn't make a difference in these cars for fuel economy".
my shift points were 1500, 1800 max, not 2500
just so you know that fuel mileage was not all I did...I know they will travel faster than 120mph, but not in 6th. and on that run, my shift points were 6200.

 

[joe truck driver]

picture of one of my best

I have more, but this one was hard to beat. I believe I have 2 different pics with more than 600 mile on trip odometer, but this is more believable. I was working toward a 700 mile tank before I was rear ended in multicar wreck in a white out in Indiana( south bound 69 is a bitch sometimes in winter).opcorn:

 

[RobbyS]

I used to average about 28 in the city because I would drive it pretty hard, but now I only drive my car on the highway about 120 miles each way from school to home on some weekends. I can average anywhere between 47-51 mpg on that trip.

 

[Wub2Dub]

I average 36.6mpg on 93. Mostly highway.


2012 Chevy Sonic LTZ (hatch)
MPFab CAI, Forge BOV, 2.5" SS turbo back, Trifecta Elite Tuned, bypass valve "bypass", MPFab FMIC, Ultra Gauge, ported intake mani

 

[Natesriv]

last fill up, 39.991 mpg. On 91 octane no ethanol gas...95% highway

 

[bluejay]

1700 km on the car so far , overall avg is 8.3l/100km - 28.3 mpg 50% highway driving. and today i wanted to see how low i could get on the highway on my way to work today. 6.7 l/100km-35.1 mpg . and my speed was 110 kph -68.75mph , the needle was just barely under 3,000 rpm. im pretty impressed with the numbers on the highway as i wasnt expecting to see lower than the posted 34 mpg.

 

[Natesriv]

The 1.4T comes into its own on the highway... down low (in the city i.e.) it's using more boost and gas pedal to scoot around... so I've dropped below 30 on some city only runs.

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

My MPG numbers are:

1......41.39 MPG
2......28.07 MPG
3......35.01 MPG
4......34.14 MPG
5......32.55 MPG
6......35.97 MPG
7......35.39 MPG
8......34.68 MPG
9......35.19 MPG
10....33.88 MPG

Those are the numbers I've gotten on the first ten tanks of owning this car. My driving is, I'd say about 70% highway 30% city. The car is stock and I always fill up 87.

 

[semperteneo]

DIC readout always levels around 29 mpg, give or take. tracking via aCar for life of vehicle (new-to-me @ 15k, currently 35k) 28.781.

1.4t auto.

20-22 mi commute one way, 60(ish) mph with one town to roll through @ 25-30 mph.

not entirely pleased.

 

[Qlix]

Why does mine seem to suck? New car break-in time? I drive 10 miles round trip daily. All surface streets, avg 40 mph - my read out is pretty much locked in at 23 mpg. 1.8 Auto, 87 octane, no mods.

 

[bluejay]

maybe its because you're only driving 10 miles a day , i bet all the ppl getting great mpg drive close to 50 - 100 miles. i know i only get decent numbers because i spend most of my time on the highways, turbo seems to kick in at 70 mph or 3000 rpm so i cruise just below that

 

[AndrewGS]

I average about 28-29MPG around town in my RS automatic. My old LT 6-speed averaged 32-33MPG on narrower wheels and tires, so I'm not too disappointed.

 

[psquare75]

maybe its because you're only driving 10 miles a day , i bet all the ppl getting great mpg drive close to 50 - 100 miles. i know i only get decent numbers because i spend most of my time on the highways, turbo seems to kick in at 70 mph or 3000 rpm so i cruise just below that

^^ this

If I see below 34.5 with my 1.8 I think something's wrong. but I drive 75 miles a day all highway.

 

[SonicFlow]

According to On-Star

Lifetime 28 mpg 1876 miles.
Tank 25 mpg 104 miles.

2016 Sonic LTZ Turbo 6AT

 

[joe truck driver]

^^ this

If I see below 34.5 with my 1.8 I think something's wrong. but I drive 75 miles a day all highway.

if you had a 1.4 turbo, it could be even better.

 

[psquare75]

I have no complaints, and I stayed away from a turbo on purpose. opcorn:

 

[Isoruku]

19 mpg average, but...

Have had my 2012 Sonic about 15 months, and kept thinking that surely my mileage would improve or that somehow the avg mpg I was seeing on the dashboard was not accurate. But I manually calculated the mileage on one tank at random, and sure enough, it confirmed that I was getting 19-20 mpg. So recently, I took it to the local dealer who said the fuel injector was fine, but added that they had found a cracked fuel nozzle, which they replaced, along with a bit of tweaking the fuel line. I filled up two days ago and will do another manual calculation after about 200 miles or so when I fill it again. Am crossing my fingers.

 

[sinnerone]

70,000 miles on my 2012 1.4 6M. I just made a trip from Cape Cod to Michigan about 1,000 miles. Cruise set at 72 I hand calculated 50.3 MPG with a light crosswind. My lifetime DIC has never been reset and is at 43.5. The vast majority of my miles are highway.

I am amazed at the efficiency of this car.

 

[spacedout]

Had my 2012 1LT cruze 1.4T automatic for 95,000 miles, averaged 35.7mpg. I traded for a 2015 Sonic LTZ hatchback 1.4T automatic, after 10,000 miles I'm averaging 36.9mpg. By the EPA numbers the sonic combined average is 1MPG better, so I guess the EPA is right about that. can't imagine what my MPg would be if these 17in wheels coasted as well as my cruze 1LT 16in wheels.

I drive about 80% highway usually between 45-70mph and run premium gas on every tank.

 

[Tod up north]

39 average with my 1.8 manual, but I've hit 60 on longer highway trips. Not quite sure how, but I'm not complaining! I put on close to 50 miles a day commuting to work and back - I routinely hit 50mpg on the 25 miles going downhill to work, and about 36 going back uphill to get home.