Official: What are your real world MPG Numbers

[mitdr774]

First mistake is going by the DIC.

Accelerate easy, brake easy, try to maintain speed where possible. take routes with less traffic or do what you can to drive in a non peak time.

I have a 1.8 5MT and usually shift between 1500 and 2000 RPM. Idle time kills MPG. The first 1500 miles on my car was done without reseting the DIC display and as a result only made it up to 26.x MPG even though it hand calculated above 30. I do not know how long it spent idling at the dealer, but it was enough to cause the average to remain low.

 

[joe truck driver]

49.286

first is start of tank 10 miles in, next is miles at fill up(only 5 legs this time instead of 6...price of fuel jumped so i saved 16 cents), next is pump read, and final is average speed at fill up. tank reads 616 miles poss(sic.. not) 355.8 miles 7.219 gallons 8 23 2012.

too answer the other question: stock, 1Lt, turbo, 6 man, mostly highway little city, 1500 shifts, no fast starts, 7500 mile oil changes.

 

[joe truck driver]

Great MPGs! What model/engine/trans? Did you get a tune yet, or are you still stock? What was the majority of your driving like (highway/back roads/80/70/60)?

I want to get numbers like that too!

Thanks,
Jim

63 mgh, rolling hill and flat, no tune yet. probably after summer or winter. 1.4 turbo 6 speed manuel hatch.. i like black cars

 

[Maddog2020]

63 mgh, rolling hill and flat, no tune yet. probably after summer or winter. 1.4 turbo 6 speed manuel hatch.. i like black cars

Thanks, I'm trying to figure out if a tune bumps up the MPG or is it more driving conditions and driving style. Based on 355.8 miles and 7.219 gal, you averaged 49.3 MPG. I think low 60's MPH is a sweet spot for this car. I'm glad to here you were able to do that stock, I will probably hold off on a tune for now.

 

[Eric Smit]

Thanks, I'm trying to figure out if a tune bumps up the MPG or is it more driving conditions and driving style. Based on 355.8 miles and 7.219 gal, you averaged 49.3 MPG. I think low 60's MPH is a sweet spot for this car. I'm glad to here you were able to do that stock, I will probably hold off on a tune for now.

The tune increases gas mileage, assuming driving style stays the same.
45 is the sweet spot.


-Eric Smit

 

[joe truck driver]

tried 45 for 30 min....car showed little improvement on fresh tank. no better than what i get nowhoweve; i did stall first ,this was on 3rd tank, and car wasn't broke in yet... found increases at 5000 and then at 12000 aveage 1 mpg and 2 mpg respectively. found no real reason or indication for improvement.

 

[Eric Smit]

I just know that I get ~75 MPG at <46 MPH.


-Eric Smit

 

[Maddog2020]

The tune increases gas mileage, assuming driving style stays the same.
45 is the sweet spot.


-Eric Smit

Hey Eric, What is your best guess as to what the actual gain was from the tune (MPG wise)? My gain should be the same since our cars are (or were) the same color . Reading through countless posts, I still haven't been able to determine that. Thanks!

 

[Bogus]

I recorded this a week or two ago. Just now getting to posting it.

This was early in the morning on the way to work, approx 5:30am. Every once in a long while I get outstanding MPG's out of my auto 1.8. This time I was only going about 60mph but last time I got these kind of numbers I was going 75-80. Haven't been able to record that yet..

2012 Chevrolet Sonic 2LS Hatchback MPG - YouTube

 

[billboening]

i have the 1.8 with the manual 5 speed and my total average for 7000 miles is 31.465 my best for a tank was 39.537 and that was at 55 the hole tank i have built my own air dam and tuck out the muffler so it just has the resonator and cat. i have a turbo for it but i need to save mony for it because when i put it in i am going to do a ram air hood and custom tune so i will be looking at a good junk of change

 

[mitdr774]

I wonder if it would be of any benefit to the 1.8 to use the 6 speed from the Cruze, assuming it mates up to the engine, axles, and mounting points without issue and doesnt cause any sensor issues.

 

[J T]

I drove through bumper to bumper traffic for about the first 60 miles of my tank on Saturday. I was in 1st and 2nd gear most of the time. The lowest the mpg read on the DIC was 28mpg. A half a tank later, with normal driving (50/50), it's back up to about 32.

Based on what people have been saying about how bad their mpg is with city commutes, I was expecting that 28mpg to be much lower.

 

[mitdr774]

My commute for the last job site I was on was probably 35% highway at 60mph, 35% highway averaging maybe 25mph (lots of traffic on the commute home, stop and go with an occasional couple mile stretch of clear sailing), and 30% city. Was not uncommon to average in the 35-37 range. Now I am driving 4 miles to work all city with maybe one highway trip leaving me with a 60-70% city tank. Still pulling off 34 no problem. I am still a little dumbfounded at some of the really low numbers some people are getting. I do drive for economy, but I dont see how "normal" driving could be costing up to 14 mpg for some people.

 

[Bogus]

I've noticed this car's fuel economy varies greatly.

 

[sbpphoenix]

It's not the car. It's the driver.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bogus]

It's not the car. It's the driver.

Thanks for rephrasing my statement.

 

[dangerfield007]

2012 Sonic 1LT w/ 1.4 turbo MPG

well I just hit 3000 miles today. Averaged 37-39 mpg combined with concervitive driving. 35 mpg with spirited driving. I drove from Knoxville TN to Cleveland OH and back on 85 dollars! over 1000 miles, I averaged 41.25 mpg. My best section was Cleveland OH to cincinnati OH with hypermiling the car at 71 MPH i achieved 45 mpg. Also, the sections through KY and TN were hilly to mountanous terrain at 75+ mph

 

[joe truck driver]

yup,driver

the shift points seem to matter greatly. 1500 seems to be the beginning of the turbo. need to stay out of it till reach the speed you want then set the cruise. i wasn't able to duplicate my mileagte without cruise. new constuction.still learning best way to work so i had to run 80. coming home doing 60 help round out my numbers but down to 45 plus this tank:banana:

 

[Eric Smit]

If I'm really trying for mileage, I shift before 1500 RPMs.


-Eric Smit

 

[mitdr774]

I usually shift between 1500 and 2000.