is your mileage in the low 20s or worse

[gdideric]

and as for the resetting part... Dont have a clue how to reset that. and no i havent looked in the manual... Im a guy, Guys dont read manuals!

hint: button on turn signal stalk...

not reading manuals is an old person thing. guys read manuals now so that they don't look befuddled by simple technology...geeks are in.

 

[J T]

My last tank was 360 miles roundtrip Grand Rapids, MI., to Chicago. About 90/10 highway with an ending average at 38.5 mpg. I tried to average my highway speed around 75 or so. Sedan manual LTZ.

 

[Johnny Alien]

I have an automatic LT hatch with the 1.8 and my lifetime (for the past few weeks that I have owned it) according to the onstar app is 31 mpg. I have filled it three times. The first time was mostly city miles and I averaged just under 30mpg. The second tank was 85-90% highway and I got a little under 38mpg on that tank. The third tank has been a good mix and I am averaging around 36mpg.

All of those number are calculated by the gas cubby app. I have found that as long as I clear the in dash mpg counter every time I fill it gets within 1mpg of what the actual count is. I have not seen the large discrepancy that other people are seeing although it is just a notch higher than reality.

 

[Johnny Alien]

Also note I got that 38mpg tank while doing lots of hills with the AC on. Flat terrain and cooler weather would have gotten me to 40 I am sure of it.

 

[Bogus]

actually i think warmer weather gets you better mileage.. right?

 

[J T]

actually i think warmer weather gets you better mileage.. right?

Well, one thing to consider with that, with warmer weather typically comes the change in the seasons which also means different gas formulas. In the midwest, we have "summer blend" and "winter blend," and the winter blend usually leads to worse gas mileage.

 

[Johnny Alien]

actually i think warmer weather gets you better mileage.. right?

As noted the summer blends usually yield better gas mileage plus in colder months there is more time spent warming up/idling. I was noting that I was running the AC which will typically knock you down a bit mileage-wise. Plus hilly terrain can knock you down a bit and I was doing lots of uphill driving at the time.

 

[Bogus]

ah i gotcha now.

 

[RichieRocket]

Well, one thing to consider with that, with warmer weather typically comes the change in the seasons which also means different gas formulas. In the midwest, we have "summer blend" and "winter blend," and the winter blend usually leads to worse gas mileage.

We had a discussion on ethanol content on another thread:
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t1030/

Depending on what region of the country you are in, you may be able to get no-ethanol fuel, then you wouldn't have to worry about winter/summer eth content. I, unfortunately, live in the middle of the "Northern Reformulated Gas" region, so all grades have 'up-to' 10%. In winter, supposedly they increase the eth content to oxygenate the fuel for enissions, but the energy density is lower. In summer the eth can be reduced.

You just reminded me, I have not checked the eth content in a while. Back in March I purchased an Ethanol Test Kit, see post #13
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t1030-2/
My area's fuel, 87 octane at my local Mobil, has been 6-8% ethanol from late March to early May. I checked once in mid-June, it was still ~7% eth.

I need to check my next fill up to see if the eth content actually went down in late-July/August?


The other issue is the corn crop has gone to $hit this year because of the drought! With a short supply, expect ethanol and corn-based/feed foods to go up in price!

 

[RichieRocket]

As noted the summer blends usually yield better gas mileage plus in colder months there is more time spent warming up/idling. I was noting that I was running the AC which will typically knock you down a bit mileage-wise. Plus hilly terrain can knock you down a bit and I was doing lots of uphill driving at the time.

Another big factor if you do a lot of highway driving is air density/drag. The aerodynamic drag increases by 2% for every 10 drop in temperature. So driving in 40F temps has 10% higher drag than 90F. On top of that, humidity, which of course there is more of in summer LOWERS density and drag. So your car slips thru the air much easier in summer...

 

[SuperFudd]

Of coarse more humidity in summer??
Tell that to the folks in Vegas.

 

[djinn]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned maintaining momentum as a way to save fuel. I haul ass on the freeway usually (I drive the PA Turnpike a LOT) and by using my foot to hold constant state throttle vs constant speed, as well as going downhill faster than i go uphill (building more momentum for the next hill), I get much better mileage vs just flooring it. Also, try not using your cruise control and letting your brain do the work to keep speed, not a computer that can't see the conditions. It helped me a lot, seemingly (and now I'm mostly happy I don't have CC).

 

[J T]

We had a discussion on ethanol content on another thread:
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t1030/

Depending on what region of the country you are in, you may be able to get no-ethanol fuel, then you wouldn't have to worry about winter/summer eth content.

Michigan, so I'm stuck with the winter formula crap. Every year it's the same thing...my gas mileage plummets around Oct/Nov and then goes back up around March/April. Sometimes the difference has been 4-6 mpg.

 

[Johnny Alien]

(I drive the PA Turnpike a LOT)

I'm sorry.

 

[RichieRocket]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned maintaining momentum as a way to save fuel. I haul ass on the freeway usually (I drive the PA Turnpike a LOT) and by using my foot to hold constant state throttle vs constant speed, as well as going downhill faster than i go uphill (building more momentum for the next hill), I get much better mileage vs just flooring it. Also, try not using your cruise control and letting your brain do the work to keep speed, not a computer that can't see the conditions. It helped me a lot, seemingly (and now I'm mostly happy I don't have CC).

Yes, others have posted not using cruise control in hilly terrain to get better mpg. CC is OK in flat areas...
The road trip I did last month thru the mountians of VT, I didn't use CC for that same reason, see post #323
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t279-33/

 

[bmiles]

Havent went through all 12 pages yet, just looked at first page.. To have an accurate MPG reading you actually have to have MILES on your car. Your MPG is an average. So say you have 50 miles on the car and them 50 havent been at same speed constantly, its not going to show 30mpg. There is just no possible way. Its an average, ever average things in math class before? Once you get about 3000+ miles on it it is a way more accurate count. And to actually check it you need to reset it before you drive, and no driving anything less than 30miles is not going to be an accurate reading, u have to actually drive it. Freeway is best play to get actual reading cause if you actually drive 30miles down the road, and u use 1 gallon of gas for that the car will be accurate with 30mpg and its at a more constant drive. It will always go up and down if you just reset it all of the time and dont actually drive it, and put on enough miles for it to average it out. you cant just reset it and drive 2miles down the road and believe it to be accurate.

 

[djinn]

Yes, others have posted not using cruise control in hilly terrain to get better mpg. CC is OK in flat areas...
The road trip I did last month thru the mountians of VT, I didn't use CC for that same reason, see post #323
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t279-33/

Not a big fan of CC on flat terrain either. Even when I drove 4500 miles a month I wasn't crazy about it.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bogus]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned maintaining momentum as a way to save fuel. I haul ass on the freeway usually (I drive the PA Turnpike a LOT) and by using my foot to hold constant state throttle vs constant speed, as well as going downhill faster than i go uphill (building more momentum for the next hill), I get much better mileage vs just flooring it. Also, try not using your cruise control and letting your brain do the work to keep speed, not a computer that can't see the conditions. It helped me a lot, seemingly (and now I'm mostly happy I don't have CC).

I agree 100% here. I try to maintain as much momentum as I can when driving. It definitely helps ALOT.

 

[cbonanno]

The break in period is a truth. I have been a long time scooter rider and I have always seen this on my bikes. I have a Yamaha Zuma 50F that I first got only 96 MPG, now I easily get 110 driving it like a coo coo person.

 

[J T]

The break in period is a truth. I have been a long time scooter rider and I have always seen this on my bikes. I have a Yamaha Zuma 50F that I first got only 96 MPG, now I easily get 110 driving it like a coo coo person.

Those are some relevant real world numbers right there!