Don't Hate Your MPG!

[ErikBEggs]

It seems a lot of you are unhappy with MPG not meeting expectations. Just want to ask you to remember that this car is debuting in the fall / winter months, where most of the climates are considerably colder and windier than what the EPA tests are conducted in.

Also remember that it will take your car quite a while to break in. And by a while I mean a good 5000+ miles. My Cruze has 13,000 miles on it and the MPG are still increasing as we speak, and I purchased mine with 2,000 miles on the Odo!

So just do some good fuel economy tips and use the break-in period to get comfortable and familiar with the car and try not to worry about maximizing mileage too early. It will come with time and familiarity, especially those with manual transmissions that have complete control.

No worries though, I promise you the fuel mileage will increase. We had the same outbreak on Cruzetalk when the Cruze first debuted and people could not meet EPA ratings for the life of them.

 

[BrianJ88]

Yea I don't know what the big deal is I have been averaging 33-34 in my 1.4T, and I know it will get better. I am getting those numbers on my first manual car. I learned on a manual, but never got to drive one on a daily basis until now, and it is a lot different driving experience than in an auto. So much fun, love this car!

 

[keto06]

Most of the hate is for the 1.8L. Definitely below expectations, winter or not.

 

[Ferdie]

I make a big problem

because here is the price of 1 liter € 1,76
a full tank here cost me arround €70 thats 95 dollar

thats almost 4 times exspensiver than in the usa

and shift by 2000 rpm is not fun driving but than you make 630 km on one tank
when you drive a littlel bit sport than is you gas tank so empty! than you drive 500 on one tank..

 

[Danny5]

I have never come close to hitting the EPA number for City. My worst tank was 37mpg.

 

[Timesgodjillion]

Complaints about the 1.8? I think the complaints have been from those with an automatic. With my 1.8L manual, I've been averaging 33MPG which is sadly on par with some of the people here with the 1.4T, and that's almost all city driving. Granted, it's generally late at night since I work overnight, but there's still plenty of stoplights along the way.

 

[oldertech]

I hope that anyone considering the two engines at the time of purchase does the math as to which engine will cost more/less in gas over time. Probably few do that. But the 1.8 IS less money at time of purchase, and in actual dollars and cents, it would take a few years to justify the 1.4, to some people. Especially for those automatic-only drivers who want the turbo. That will be quite a bit more than the manual, I suspect.

And I hope these folks with low mileage 1.8s who are getting the remote start are considering what a hit that makes to their gas mileage. Us manual transmission folks probably won't be warming up our cars as much, keeping our averages higher.

Just my thoughts...

 

[sdgdf]

I consistently get 35 mpg in mixed driving, and I floor it sometimes. The car tends towards MPG, which is awesome .

I used to have a Toyota MR2 Turbo. It would get 20-25 mpg if you didn't hit boost an entire tank. Go WOT even once though, and it was good for mid teens. Hit boost a lot for an entire tank and it'd get 10-13 mpg.

Also, my Fiero. It gets decent mpg, 20-24 city. It has a 11.9 gallon tank, similar in size to the Sonic, and only gets about 180-200 miles per 8-9 gallon fillup. Fill up the Sonic the same number of gallons, and it easily gets 300-350 per tank. That's a HUGE difference, and its enough to make me happy . You want more mpg, you have to sacrifice luxury, and end up driving a tin can that rattles and has almost no conveniences like power windows, a/c, cruise control, etc. I like having something stylish and new, and a solid car, that gets good mpg.

 

[sonicR]

Danny5 thats kind of hard to believe. Whats your setup?

 

[Blue Demon]

I put 450 miles of interstate driving today on our 1.8 automatic LTZ. It only averaged 30 mpg and the driving speed was 70-74 mph. Hopefully as it gets broken more it will improve into the mid 30's.

 

[Opus51569]

I'm just over 1K miles. Drove a 100 mile round trip yesterday and broke 30mpg for the first time (33.8 according to the DIC).

1.8LT auto with cruise control set at 68.

It seems to be getting better.

 

[FloSonic]

With my 1.4T all I know is I drive very aggressively with a combo of hwy and city. Usual shifting is around 3500 rpm with me getting off the line as fast as possible. Hwy speeds usually avg 72 and I'm still getting 32.7 lifetime mpg. Not to shabby in my opinion considering my '10 Rio avg'd about 26mpg same conditions.

 

[rdss]

I'm getting between 30-33 all stop and go city (DIC says 33-36). I think once I get my tune cleaned up that might come up as well but it's notion par for the few tanks I out through it stock.

 

[Leverus]

I'm averaging 33 MPG around town and I hit 45 the other day cruising the back roads doing 50-55. Still less than 2K miles on mine. If the mileage can get better as it breaks in more I'll be ecstatic.

 

[Johnny Alien]

My OnStar lifetime MPG is 33 MPG and that is under 1500 miles total on a 1.8 automatic. Since that is combined driving 70/30 I am 3 MPG over what Chevy says I should get combined. I average in the high 30's (and higher) on the highway and have never gotten below 28 MPG in the city. It's all about driving technique. While I know I could do slightly better with the 1.4 I still see that I am getting pretty close to what the real like turbo numbers are for most people.

 

[SuperFudd]

Try never reving no more than 2500 rpm and going no faster than 65.
Once you get the hang of that, try 2000 max and 60 max.

 

[J T]

Also remember that it will take your car quite a while to break in. And by a while I mean a good 5000+ miles. My Cruze has 13,000 miles on it and the MPG are still increasing as we speak, and I purchased mine with 2,000 miles on the Odo!

Is there data to back this up? Just wondering because my car was getting 42mpg on the highway with about 300 miles on the odometer.

 

[twomanyjeeps]

I've got a LT with 1.4T and manual with about 800 miles on the odo, I drive about 90% highway at 70 ish. I don't even think I've turned off the AC at all yet, and I usually have to drive into a 20 knot head wind. I'm barely getting over 30 mpg. I'm coming from a Jeep that got about 16-17 so I'm fairly happy with it for now, but I still expect to see some improvement.

 

[Blue Demon]

Update on my recent trip mileage (2012 1.8 automatic Hatchback LTZ) Today I drove back to Fort Worth from the Texas Panhandle. Since we were not in any hurry I drove the 375 or so miles with the cruise set at 65 mph. This time we averaged 35.5 mpg (about 30 mpg at 74 mph yesterday). Just turned over 1,000 miles so I am sure it will get better as it gets broken in more.

 

[law242]

Mixing city and highway the best i have ever gotten was 27 avg mpgs. Guess i have allot of "breaking in" to do...