Official: What are your real world MPG Numbers

[Tonyc712000]

I calculated 35 mpg on a trip back from Long Island to Ct. My average shows about 24. I don't know whats wrong......Have to check the air filter...

 

[sleepybird09]

im averaging 31mpg on screen. the best i have seen average is 34.5mpg and the worst has been 24mpg.

but it usually stays at 31. i do notice that if i reset it, i will get a current mpg and ill see crazy numbers like 45mpg but eventually it averages out to 31.

kinda dissapointed but i think it has more to do with the gas tank being so small. im refilling my car up every sunday or 1 a week.

my previous car i was also filling up every week. but it had a much bigger gas tank but less mpg. (97 z28).

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Lifetime MPG 36 @128K

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[spacedout]

kinda dissapointed but i think it has more to do with the gas tank being so small. im refilling my car up every sunday or 1 a week.

My cruze had a 15.6 gallon tank vs the Sonic 12.2 gallon one. Even that small difference is noticed, I was used to 400-500 mile tank averages with the cruze, would be lucky to get 350 miles on a Sonic.

 

[joe truck driver]

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.

one ...you have an 1.8. two-I assume its an automatic. three- you have warm up time, it matters since your commute is so short. four- some break in time might matter. five- you said surface streets, that implies use of the brakes.... NO FUEL ECONOMY FOR U.

 

[joe truck driver]

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.

keep calculating. you did not get 50 mpg at 72.....unless it was all downhill ...with a tailwind.

 

[frymaster]

My cruze had a 15.6 gallon tank vs the Sonic 12.2 gallon one. Even that small difference is noticed, I was used to 400-500 mile tank averages with the cruze, would be lucky to get 350 miles on a Sonic.

I believe the Sonic tank is less than the stated 12.2

 

[Fry]

Commuting 20 miles to work each day, I run 38.5 MPG consistently with premium gas on the 1.4L MT.

I'm good with that.

 

[sinnerone]

keep calculating. you did not get 50 mpg at 72.....unless it was all downhill ...with a tailwind.

joe,
Not much of a downhill drive from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Huron. I've been able to get over 50 5 or 6 times on cross country trips. This was the fastest avg speed of them all. So yes it can happen.

 

[ChicksHateMe]

I've got 14,000 and 30 months on my car now.

There are so many factors that it drove me insane trying to figure out my real world MPG's over that time, and how to squeeze out a little more so I can see higher numbers....

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I think I AM insane, because I DO get different results...

I like using Fuelly for my overall average, but there are soooo many factors, there's never going to be any exact MPG's.

When I drive city - approx 22-28 MPG and I drive it like a Go Kart.

When I drive my "Same ole, Usual" Highway trip, I get over 50MPG going there (downhill) and 37 MPG coming home (uphill). And I drive on the Fast side... If I drove 55 to 60 highway, I would most likely crush those numbers. I've tried, but I just can't help but press that pedal.

This might be illegal, but when I'm not in any rush, sometimes I put the car in Neutral as I go on those downhill slopes. This drops the RPM's from around 1800 to 1000 and I can feel how smooth the car is. It seemed like there was no resistance at all, and I can get 70+ MPG's. And putting the car back from Neutral to drive is very smooth.

When I go to my daughters I get between 45 and 55 MPG both ways, usually doing about 45 - 55 MPH too. It's a nice flat drive on one lane roads.

I've taken Highway trips start to finish and gotten over 50 MPG, and that's driving 65+ (sometimes up to 80+, sshhhh). So, I believe it's possible for others as well.

Too many things come into play, such as the gas I use (all 87 Octane after researching the recommendations and differences), as well as the time of year it is, the weather conditions, etc...

So, I find the cars ratings of 27 City, 37 Highway really are close to what I average.

I have been looking though. Considering the Volt for wicked good Gas Mileage, or the Trax for better winter driving or just keeping this car, cause I really do love it. It gets great gas mileage (compared to anything else I've ever owned). It's comfortable and wicked fun to drive....

 

[spacedout]

I believe the Sonic tank is less than the stated 12.2

I believe the 12.2 gallon tank is accurate for my 2015 sonic, the reason you get less when you fill is GM leave a little reserve capacity so the fuel pump will remain cooled properly by the fuel.

My 2012 1LT Cruze had a 15.6 gallon tank and more than once the low fuel warning would go off as I pulled up the pump, with the Cruze the low fuel warning went off right at 13.1 gallons burned, leaving a 2.5 gallon reserve. I have not set off the sonic low fuel warning yet but I have filled up for over 9 gallons with only a couple lines left on the gauge. My guess there is a similar size reserve capacity on the sonic as my cruze had.

I've got 14,000 and 30 months on my car now.

You must never drive your car! I put 95,000 miles on my Cruze in 48 months, and have had my Sonic for 3 months and already put on over 15,000 miles.

Too many things come into play as well, such as the gas I use (all 87 Octane after researching the recommendations and differences), as well as the time of year it is, the weather conditions, etc...

So, I find the cars ratings of 27 City, 37 Highway really are close to what I average.

Cost per mile will almost always come out better on 87 octane, but I find the published MPG low when running premium gas all the time. I get 30MPG city and 41mpg highway with my 2015 Sonic LTZ hatchback automatic. My average over 15,000 miles is just under 37mpg with about 70% highway driving(not interstate). EDIT: I should add these numbers are within 1MPG of what I seen with my cruze over 100,000 miles as well.

 

[frymaster]

I believe the 12.2 gallon tank is accurate for my 2015 sonic, the reason you get less when you fill is GM leave a little reserve capacity so the fuel pump will remain cooled properly by the fuel.

My 2012 1LT Cruze had a 15.6 gallon tank and more than once the low fuel warning would go off as I pulled up the pump, with the Cruze the low fuel warning went off right at 13.1 gallons burned, leaving a 2.5 gallon reserve.

I have not set off the sonic low fuel warning yet but I have filled up for over 9 gallons with only a couple lines left on the gauge. My guess there is a similar size reserve capacity on the sonic as my cruze had.



You must never drive your car! I put 95,000 miles on my Cruze in 48 months, and have had my Sonic for 3 months and already put on over 15,000 miles.



Cost per mile will almost always come out better on 87 octane, but I find the published MPG low when running premium gas all the time. I get 30MPG city and 41mpg highway with my 2015 Sonic LTZ hatchback automatic. My average over 15,000 miles is just under 37mpg with about 70% highway driving(not interstate).

I've gotten the 30 miles remaining warning for each fill up I've done and have never put in more than 10.614 gallons.

 

[ChicksHateMe]

You must never drive your car! I put 95,000 miles on my Cruze in 48 months, and have had my Sonic for 3 months and already put on over 15,000 miles.


Cost per mile will almost always come out better on 87 octane, but I find the published MPG low when running premium gas all the time. I get 30MPG city and 41mpg highway with my 2015 Sonic LTZ hatchback automatic. My average over 15,000 miles is just under 37mpg with about 70% highway driving(not interstate). EDIT: I should add these numbers are within 1MPG of what I seen with my cruze over 100,000 miles as well.

Yeah. I have a bit of Agoraphobia, so I am don't go out a whole lot. I food shop like once every 3 months lol. I had a 93 Jeep, and only had 114K on it when I sold it, mostly from My daughter driving around in it, blowing out the speakers. Teenagers geesh. But, I love driving the Sonic, when I can get out. I calculated it cost me about $50.00 every time I drive it, which is about 5 times a month.

Not to go too far off topic, but seeing as you own(ed) both a Cruze and Sonic, what do you like or dislike about both. And do they get about same MPG's for same trip?

(Oops, I read your edit, after you edited it lol)

 

[spacedout]

Not to go too far off topic, but seeing as you own(ed) both a Cruze and Sonic, what do you like or dislike about both. And do they get about same MPG's for same trip?

To elaborate more than above, yes my overall average is 1MPG better with the sonic, but any city trips or adding city driving to my highway trips I can maintain much higher MPG on those trip in the sonic vs the cruze. That average matchs the EPA combined average comparing the cars as well, Sonic 27city/37hwy and 31 combined, Cruze 26city/38hwy and 30 combined.

I had a 1LT cruze with 16in wheels and now a LTZ sonic with 17in, these tires don't roll as well as the cruze so I suspect if I had similar tires I would get even better MPG. The Sonic overall is bit more fun to drive, but lacks that Buick like ride and quietness my cruze had. I Miss the much nicer(though equally cheap) Drivers information center and trip computers of the cruze, hopefully the 2017 updates correct this as it looks to.

The highest highway MPG I ever got with my cruze(pump calculated) was 47MPG over a 225 mile trip. So far with the Sonic on the highway I've only gotten as high as just under 43MPG. I also miss the larger fuel tank of the cruze, even on bad days you could easily get over 400 mile range, I had one fill up where I took the cruze about 40 miles beyond the low fuel warning and made it 607 miles!!

 

[spacedout]

I've gotten the 30 miles remaining warning for each fill up I've done and have never put in more than 10.614 gallons.

Sounds like there is around a 2 gallon reserve on the sonic, which makes sense because the tank is 3 gallons overall smaller than the cruze, which has a 2.5 gallon reserve.

Again GM put this reserve in place so the fuel pump will never be starved of fuel and overheat (you have to keep it submerged and pumping fuel to stay cool). This is also part of the reason I recommend against always running the tank so low.

Fuel levels below 1/2 tank can cause condensation inside the tank with the temperature swings daytime to night. Keeping the tank as full as possible will eliminate this. Two reasons this occurs, less fuel in the tank will change temperature more readily and the airspace inside the tank being larger than the fuel level.

 

[frymaster]

Sounds like there is around a 2 gallon reserve on the sonic, which makes sense because the tank is 3 gallons overall smaller than the cruze, which has a 2.5 gallon reserve.

Again GM put this reserve in place so the fuel pump will never be starved of fuel and overheat (you have to keep it submerged and pumping fuel to stay cool). This is also part of the reason I recommend against always running the tank so low.

Fuel levels below 1/2 tank can cause condensation inside the tank with the temperature swings daytime to night. Keeping the tank as full as possible will eliminate this. Two reasons this occurs, less fuel in the tank will change temperature more readily and the airspace inside the tank being larger than the fuel level.

Interesting to know. As much as I'd like to test the reserve tank capacity, I'm comfortable filling up after using 10 or so gallons haha.

 

[Kcmo83]

I get 35mpg with 91 ethanol free, foot in it or not, typhoon intake and pcv breather. highway drive for 13 miles a day. Im satisfied.

 

[AJL13]

I'm guessing crappy CA gas is the reason I'm averaging 33 mpg lifetime right now (Granted only about 20% of those miles have been hwy miles). Not sure if this is common, but the Trifecta tune killed my mpg....even driving like there's an eggshell underneath the gas pedal, I lost about 2 mpg. Thank goodness for the Driver Selectable Mode, I probably only spend about 5-10% of my driving in tune mode to try to save on mpg.

 

[sonic2013ltz]

The wife drove this car to work for 18 months at a distance of 180 miles a day. Mostly highway, but in rush hour traffic many times. We were putting roughly 3000 miles on her in 5 to 6 weeks. We live in socal out in the Hemet Valley. She worked in La Habra area. The avg from the dash calculator showed 33. when calculated over a 5 month period under the same conditions I came up with 35.4. The car now has roughly 80,000 miles.
Stats:
2013 Sonic LTZ 1.8 Auto
80% of the time a single driver

 

[spacedout]

I'm guessing crappy CA gas is the reason I'm averaging 33 mpg lifetime right now.

I loose 3-6MPG off my typical average when I use my AC with my 1.4T automatic LTZ. I average only 33-34MPG! Most fill ups without using the AC I'm 36-40MPG.