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Mazda5 Owners MPG-Real World Numbers

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    hmiwbhmiwb Member Posts: 7
    Thanks for pointing that out to me. I just ran my first full tank through and got 26+ mpg and will hopefully do better as it gets broken in. That is mostly highway commuting with probably 25% stop and go. I'm very pleased for an automatic and that has to be the smoothest, quietest and most willing 4 cylinder engine I've ever driven. No complaints here.
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    hdlarkinhdlarkin Member Posts: 1
    Over the holidays I drove a Mazda5 Touring with 5 speed manual from Chicago to Madison, Wis., Salt Lake City, then to southern Utah and back to SLC, then back to Madison and Chicago for a total of just over 3,800 miles. Average mileage for the entire trip was almost exactly 27 mpg. Most of the highway driving was in the 70-80 mph range, and included about one-third mountain driving. Most of the trip was with two passengers on board with a lot of camping and ski equipment. Mileage was a little higher on legs with lower speeds (<70 mph), exceeding 30 mpg a couple of times. Mileage was noticably lower at speeds over 75 mph, sometimes going down as far as 24 mpg. Overall, the car got about 1/2 mpg better mileage on the way back than on the way out.

    In town, on mostly trips of 4-5 miles or less, the car is getting 18 to 21 mpg. Overall this is pretty close to the EPA estimates of 22 city and 27 highway.

    Contrary to what some reviewers have said, I can't say I have any complaints about the power. Occassionally I needed to go down to fourth gear to maintain 80 mph on steep upgrades, but there was more than enough power to accelerate with a downshift even under those conditions.

    The car was also very comfortable. While the seats do not seem conspicuously supportive on a short drive (the seat cushions seem a little short), I found that after 27 hours sitting in them on the way out, and 24 hours on the way back, I did not have a sore back or backside.

    Overall, I am very satisfied with the performance of the car. I would even consider giving up some power for better mileage. Too bad you can't get the diesel version in the US.
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    flyonthewallflyonthewall Member Posts: 41
    I just posted my mileage on http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm But, it is not yet available... here's the short of it:

    5sp Sport. USA units.
    25.5 mpg city - averaged over 1,306 miles and 4 tanks of gas. Most of my driving is around town, including cross town stints on the freeway. Many short trips, but not much LA style stop and go. I drive very easy on the pedals.

    30 mpg hwy - averaged over 1,639 miles and 5.5 tanks of gas. This was on a long road trip with 2 adults, 2 kids, a big dog, and camping gear (including a loaded rear receiver rack). On the interstate cruise was set between 75 and 80 mph.
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    bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Wow...sounds great. Was this all manually calculated?
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    flyonthewallflyonthewall Member Posts: 41
    "Was this all manually calculated?"

    I keep a log in my car and I manually calculated the numbers posted here. I excluded the first tank (don't know how full the tank was when I took delivery) and one outlier (topping off a mostly full tank before a trip).

    I latter entered the raw data into the EPA calculator and the numbers match for each tank...
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    bikeinsteadbikeinstead Member Posts: 2
    I bought an automatic Touring last month. I just filled the tank for the second time. I ignored the first fill up because the dealer had not filled it completely (just to the line). I was surprised to get 35mpg in mostly highway driving with a good bit of stop and go city driving.

    The way I did it was to keep my speed to 60 and use the manual mode in the following way:
    -- always shift to 2nd gear at a light -- you can start up in second gear
    -- keep the gear as high as possible when driving. As soon as I can shift to 3 or 4 I do it, and I leave it there until more power is needed
    -- go easy & be smooth on the gas and brake pedals
    -- use cruise control when possible :)
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    rlyonrlyon Member Posts: 57
    Wow, talk about anti-Zoom-Zoom!! I go as fast as I can as often as I can! This car is just too much fun to drive it as you described haha. I'm getting lesser mpg then you, but my smile is much bigger :)
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    frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    I'm with you. I can rarely keep my foot out of the throttle and so I've never seen better than 26 mpg with mine, and with just under 5,000 miles on the clock, I'm averaging around 21. I couldn't be happier.
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    bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Some of your tips sound good for better mpg, but I wonder how they'll affect the engine & transmission life?
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    dagmar3dagmar3 Member Posts: 8
    The Motorweek television show (on PBS and Speed TV) recently tested the Mazda5, and they raved about it - but they usually heap praise on every car they test.

    John Davis, the program host, claimed that their Mazda5 with an automatic transmission returned 31 mpg during their testing. Can this possibly be correct? 31 real-world MPG? Or did one of their staffers forget to record a gas purchase?
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    gt_fangt_fan Member Posts: 159
    I saw the same show last week. It's my understanding that the Motorweek staff has a set test loop that they drive to check for fuel mileage on every test vehicle. In the probably hundreds of episodes of Motorweek that I've seen over the last couple of decades, I don't think I've seen one where a vehicle beat the EPA estimates by that much. Most of the time they get a number somewhere between the EPA city and highway ratings, occasionally more.

    On the other hand, if you look at what people on this thread have been reporting, 31mpg is quite possible. The Mazda5 seems to be one of those vehicles that over-achieves with mileage. Perhaps it's just tuned better for the real world than for the EPA.
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    rlyonrlyon Member Posts: 57
    Well, after 4 tanks, I'm averaging 19.5 mpg or a shade under 20. I don't drive like I'm driving with two cups of hot coffee balancing on the dash, I drive the 5 the way the zoom-zoom baby wants to be driven! I'm not over board with it, but I have my fun, quick off the line and then hover slightly over the speed limit. I'm at 95%- 100% suburb driving with automatic and can't imagine how some are getting 26 mpg.
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    PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Time again for our weekly Mazda Club chat. So stop on in tonight to discuss how things are going with your Mazda5!

    PF Flyer
    Host
    Automotive News & Views, Wagons, & Hybrid Vehicles

    The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
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    bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Based on your driving almost all in the suburbs, 20mpg is probably reasonable. Now if you drove 95% of the time on highways going 65mph using cruise control and were only getting 20mpg, then I'd be concerned.
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    7red77red7 Member Posts: 8
    My wife and I just purchased our 5 last Sunday, and aside from the initial full tank the dealership comped us, we've only had to fill up three times...We even drove it from SoCal to NorCal on Monday and the 5+ hour/435 mile trip was a breeze :)

    I'm unaware of what that breaks down to in terms of exact figures, but I can vouch that our 5 is getting some killer gas mileage, even beating out my xB :)
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    frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    With slightly more highway driving than you, I'm at 21 for my first 5,000 miles. I apparently drive like you do and am quite content with this mileage for this type of vehicle and the level of enjoyment I get from behind the wheel.
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    mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    After 10437 mile i am averaging over all 27.5 MPG. I drive 9 miles each way to work rual driving. My worst tank was 21.8 MPG back in November and my best tank was 32.7 back in September. Over all very goo numbers. I do have bad news though. My wife dose not like it at all so i am looking to get a different vehicle. Maybe a new Dodge Caliper, Subaru Outback or a Toyota Rav 4. Wish I had I could sell the car on my own but not likely to happen.
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    whobodymwhobodym Member Posts: 190
    one month, about 1400 miles mixed urban suburban driving. 70ish when on the freeway. 24 mpg. No long trips yet.

    Note to my fellow Manual Transmission Clutchhead Geeks: Help Preserve the Manual!! I think that automatic transmissions, for mysterious reasons, are a big factor in the current buzz about EPA mileage estimates being overly optimistic. My manual Jetta, Accord, Integra, and now 5 have all easily beaten their EPA city mpg, every gosh darn tank, over 20 years. Mazda deserves huge positive PR for giving us all the choice of an economical 6 passenger car with simple and dependable manual trans. It's icing on the cake that it's so pleasantly precise and nimble to drive. Let's talk it up!! (if vanity license plates ever become free, I'm getting NOPRNDL)
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    usarpusarp Member Posts: 1
    Almost 3 months and less than 5000 mi with my M5. About 95% suburban driving and always getting well over 22 mpg. Sure better than the Liberty that I traded in. I'm on a 2 year lease because I know changes will be coming. Can't wait to see what Mazda dreams up.
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    bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Just curious...what about the 5 doesn't your wife like?
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    shasta5shasta5 Member Posts: 7
    Has anyone replaced their stock air filter with an K&N? I know on my gas piggy PT Cruiser it made a good difference on mileage. I'm going to see about one for the GT.
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    shasta5shasta5 Member Posts: 7
    Anyone installed one of these?
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    rlyonrlyon Member Posts: 57
    K, I've had a few more tanks, and I;m getting about 21 mpg city (exactly what I should be) and went on a 3 hour trip. Wow, I went up to almost 25 mpg! The tanks were split so I could not calculate, but it sounds closer to what it's rated to get.
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    fnewbyfnewby Member Posts: 4
    Bought a used Mazda5 last week with 6200 miles on it. Put over 1000 miles on it since the purchase and have averaged about 32.5 MPG with 75% of those miles being highway. During one stretch of 275 miles with the cruise control on 70 I averaged 35.4 MPG. I'm amazed and obviously very happy!!!!
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    ansatzjpansatzjp Member Posts: 6
    It's out of topic here, but how much did you pay for your used Mazda5? I am also looking for a used Mazda5, but it seems so scarse.
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    frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    I drive it like I stole it and am quite pleased to still be getting better than 21 mpg overall after about 10 months of ownership. Mileage actually dropped after my first oil change so I'm thinking that's a myth or I started to push it a little harder knowing it was broken in already. Either way I have to say I'd love to be getting 30 mpg but considering the way I drive and all of the stuff I'm usually toting around, this compares quite favorably to the 24 i was getting with my old Civic.
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    menmy5menmy5 Member Posts: 12
    After two weeks and a few fill ups here's what we're getting

    1. 35.4 - 115 miles all highway @ 65 to 70 mph
    2. 23.1 - zoom zooming my way thru the gears
    3. 28.9 - taking it easy in rural/town driving
    4. 30.2 - 130 miles rural/town; 215 highway @ 70 to 75 with 4 of us and our gear
    5. 28.4 - 315 miles highway @ 70 to 75; 50 miles stop and go city

    Overall 28.0 MPG -- about the same as our Camry and 7 MPG better than our old Sienna. Very happy with the mileage and the car.
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    mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    She really hate the no arm rest.
    We use my car for long trips and that really bugs her.
    It is just not as comfortable for her as my last car.
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    mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    My totals after 43 tanks of Gas
    1465 miles
    499 Gallons of gas
    average miliage 27.9 MPG
    As I said before I don't live in the city so I do more rural driving. Really impressed but then I don't try to see how fast I get to the next stop sign.
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    wa98stratwa98strat Member Posts: 66
    Something's off here, based on the numbers you posted, you're gettting 3 MPG!!!
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    mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    Ops my mistake .
    it should be 14165 miles
    499 Gallons
    Average of 27.9

    sorry about that good catch.
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    smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    Just came back from a road trip from New Jersey to Ohio in my Sport Automatic. Completely highway the whole time, filled up in NJ before we left and filled up again in Ohio when we got there:

    369 miles
    12.699 gallons
    29.1 MPG!

    My absolute lowest tank after 10,000 miles is 21.6 MPG. My average is about 25 MPG.
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    menmy5menmy5 Member Posts: 12
    after a few more tanks in the 5 speed Touring

    6. 27.6 - mixed rural/town, city and highway
    7. 33.3 - mostly highway @70 to 75
    8. 30.7 - highway and rural/town
    9. 26.6 - all rural/town
    10. 28.4 - mixed

    so far, 2811 miles, 98.452 gal = 28.55 MPG :)
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    wa98stratwa98strat Member Posts: 66
    Well after 4 tanks (yes It's a new car, 3 weeks old) I'm up to an average of 9.6 l/100km Not bad considering That's mixed city/highway about 65/35
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    evpedevped Member Posts: 39
    So far the first two tanks have yielded about 28.5 mpg. Touring manual. Hope it gets better.
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    nissmazlovernissmazlover Member Posts: 162
    I LOOOOOVE my 5 and I DO think it's an economical vehicle! Nevertheless, in reading everyone's posts about how economical their five is and the great MPG figures they are getting, I realize that I am not getting the same figures as everyone else!

    I live in NYC and when I don't take any road trips and drive mostly in the city/town, with careful driving, I normally get about 260 to 285 miles out of my tank. The BEST I have done is about 300 miles (but that usually includes some highway jaunts). Most of the times, it doesn't even reach that. Then, I usually fill up with 13 to 13.5 gallons (though recently I discovered I can squeeze in about 14 gallons). SO, if you divide up all the numbers, I am getting anywhere between 18.5 to 22 MPG in mixed cit/high driving - though mostly city. This doesn't seem to match the numbers everyone else is getting.

    Now, for road trips it's a different story, of course. I have driven to about 350 to 400 miles on one tank, which would equal to about 28 to 29 MPG, which is good. BUT, then I hear of some of my family members' V6 equipped cars getting about the same or close to highway mileage ('04 Odyssey and '05 Mazda6).

    So, I'm wondering if there is something wrong with my 5. Are the numbers I'm getting ok? I keep my 5 very well maintained and everything else is great. Though the economy is good, I don't think it's anything to write home about, especially compared to everyone else's experience with their 5's economy and compared to other owners of v6 equipped cars and minivans that seem to be getting comparable MPG numbers. What do you think? :confuse:
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    PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    We can discuss mielage for the 5 as we beat the heat tonight in the chat!

    PF Flyer
    Host
    Wagons, & Hybrid Vehicles

    The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
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    odie6lodie6l Member Posts: 1,173
    I think the problem is you live in the north-east. Most gas station up here oxygenate the fuel because of the hot summer months to cut down on emissions. But the we have to suffer for the few months during the summer because of this. I'm in Hershey, PA and the station has signs on all the pumps stating "Between June 1st and Aug. 30th all fuel will contain addative to cut down on pollution." I had never really noticed it before, and when I asked a station that did not have the sign , he said "I'm not going to hang the sign because it spooks some customers that it may be hurting their car, but it doesn't, it only decreases your mileage a few MPG."

    Odie
    Odie's Carspace
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    truckasaurustruckasaurus Member Posts: 44
    Nissmazlover,

    We are getting similar numbers to you. Our 5 only gets used for city driving and its all stop/start. We typically get 21MPG. If you live in NYC I expect you have a similar driving pattern.
    We rarely get it on the highway. The one time we did an 800 mile road trip we got 27MPG with it fully loaded. We cruised at 80MPH most of the way.
    I suspect folks who are averaging higher numbers are averaging more time on the highway.
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    nissmazlovernissmazlover Member Posts: 162
    Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess I'm doin' alright, then. It must be because most of my driving is city driving that I am getting lower MPG figures then most people here that live in places where highway, or long stretch driving, is more common. Just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with my Max - that's how I named my 5.
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    muffin_manmuffin_man Member Posts: 865
    Couldn't find any reference to it in this discussion, but the Mazda5 (Premacy in Japan) received perfect scores on the Japanese test, 6 x 6 stars. If you search for NASVA you will be able to find it, but it's going to be tricky if you don't read Japanese.
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    riproyriproy Member Posts: 57
    With our GT 5 speed, we have averaged 8.1 L/100 or 29 mpg (US) during mostly highway driving at around 110 km/h with 4-5 passengers aboard plus gear and the A/C on. There have been no problems to report. I am pleased so far.
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    PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Beat the heat (going to need to do that here in the East!) tonight and stop in for a bit of car chat!

    The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
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    zoom500zoom500 Member Posts: 11
    Got 25.3 mpg on the first tank mix of city/highway and a/c on 100% of the time, always had 3 to 5 people in the car.
    Much more fun and quick than the ford station wagon I was driving. :D
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    zzoomguyzzoomguy Member Posts: 3
    We picked up our Mazda5 Touring Auto and left two days later on a trip to Maine from the New York Metro area where we live. First fill-up surprised the heck out of me with almost 30 mpg. The next few were also around 29 mpg. Once we got back home I've gotten around 22.5 on two tankfuls in suburban-type driving, which is a bit disappointing, but these were with air-con running at max because of the heat-wave. It seems the 5's mpg is very sensitive to the use of the air-con. The current tank seems to be doing much better, with little air-con use, but I'll have to see when I fill up. :shades:
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    burtlancasterburtlancaster Member Posts: 7
    My average after 1000 miles is about 24-25 MPG for every tankful. I was hoping for better mileage, but the AC has been on every moment the car was driven, so maybe it will improve. I'm not a leadfoot, and about 75% has been highway (60-70mph), so I'm hoping turning off the AC will improve MPG. In San Antonio, that won't happen for another few months...
    I am satisfied with the car, and this is much better mileage than my Honda Odyssey, which has a hard time averaging 20 MPG (usually closer to 19 MPG).
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    bcoulambcoulam Member Posts: 2
    Similar experience here in Houston.

    I've had it for 8000 miles, about a 50/50 mix of 55 - 75mph highway, and stop and go on Highway 6 and around town. In the spring I was getting 26-27mpg in AT, with the AC mostly off. In manual mode, I lead-foot it, and only get 23-24mpg. I also get 23-24mpg in AT with AC on all summer. Not as good as I'd hoped (I was hoping to double my mpg to 34, seeing how my old truck got 17mpg). Oh well, it's still good for a car

    bc
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    PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    It's Tuesday, so it's time for our weekly Mazda chat. Stop in to meet and greet some of your fellow forums enthusiasts. I'll be picking your brain for discussion ideas for the forums as well! (Trust me, I need all the help I can get! :P )

    The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
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    burtlancasterburtlancaster Member Posts: 7
    I was getting 24-25 MPG this summer, but with less A/C use and a few thousand more miles on the car I have averaged 27-28 MPG. I'm satisfied, and I like the stick (except when I'm in a traffic jam).
    IF this car can work its way up to 30 MPG, I'll be really happy, but at 28 MPG I'll still stay satisfied.
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    mammynunmammynun Member Posts: 3
    Been tracking the mileage very closely since getting my Mazda 5 and have some numbers to report:

    Model: 2006 Mazda 5 Touring 5-speed
    Driving: Commuting on mostly windy surface roads with hills, stop signs
    Period: 2006-08-15 to 2006-11-15

    Overall miles: 1502
    Overall gallons (std unleaded): 60.47
    Overall MPG: 24.84

    Best MPG: 26.94
    Worst MPG: 23.82

    Avg cost per mile: $0.10/mile

    Been loving our 5. It's a good kid hauler and even managed to get some 4'x4' plywood in there the other day when it was raining.
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