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Mazda5 Owners MPG-Real World Numbers

Karen_SKaren_S Member Posts: 5,092
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Comments

  • isda65isda65 Member Posts: 74
    No surprise here. There's lots of stops along my 5.5km 10-minute long route to the office and back and a big hill to boot. Even if I normally drive 50-60km/hr the stops could kill any car's fuel efficiency here in North Vancouver.
  • perfectofcperfectofc Member Posts: 155
    I got 29mpg on my first tank... will update as I continue to drive the heck out of this car. :-)
  • mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    I have put gas in two times so far and have gotten over 27 MPG both times.
    I drive alot of back roads and small town so don't have a lot of stop signs but also don't do much highway driving. Plus i have used the AC all the time since our temps have been in the mid 80's to the low 90's.
  • sschribersschriber Member Posts: 89
    Is this 29 mpg imperial?
  • perfectofcperfectofc Member Posts: 155
    US gallons, I did the conversion for you.
  • mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    Jut had my low gas light come on for the first time. 350 miles on the tank of gas.
    Got 27.6 MPG this tank. 1010 Miles on it since 7 July... Just to much fun to drive.
  • bjerrybjerry Member Posts: 59
    Jut had my low gas light come on for the first time

    How much did you put in the tank after the light came on, if you can remember? I only got 12 gallons in it at that point. I like to wait until the light comes on, I'm trying to figure out what my fudge factor is.
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    I got 300 miles on my first tank and managed to squeeze 15.02 gallons in. I have to note, though, that I had 4 other adults with me most of the time and the temp here in Southern California meant I had the air blasting all the time. The light went on when I was at around 270 miles and the needle ended up pointing at the fuel pump icon to the left of empty by the time I stopped.
  • bjerrybjerry Member Posts: 59
    The light came on again, and I put 12.772 gallons in, getting 22.6 mpg. It was mostly city driving.
  • ccweemsccweems Member Posts: 33
    Suggest reporting auto or manual. Thx
  • bjerrybjerry Member Posts: 59
    The light came on again, and I put 12.772 gallons in, getting 22.6 mpg. It was mostly city driving.

    Suggestion taken. This is on a touring MT 5speed.
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    So mine was 20 mpg with 5 aboard, spirited driving, air on full blast, and an auto trans left in auto mode 95% of the time.
  • momstoymomstoy Member Posts: 30
    1st tank 22 mpg - 3-4 aboard - A/C blasting - spirited driving 50/50 city/hwy
    2nd tank 24 mpg - 3-6 aboard - " "

    I think the more I get used to driving it - the more fun it is to drive!

    5spd manual
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    So the manual gets 10-20% better mileage? That's impressive. So far this second tankful looks to be giving me a better return so maybe I was just heavier on the throttle than I realized during that first one.
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    I think it's too soon to be doing a manual/automatic comparison, since there's not very much data posted here. But, yes, the manual should get better gas mileage than the automatic.

    So far I've seen the following reports:

    Manual: low of 22 MPG, high of 29 MPG (about 7 tanks reported)
    Automatic: low of 20 MPG, high of 28 MPG (about 4 tanks reported)

    These tanks are all for different load weights, etc., and I "stole" some of the mileage reports from other Mazda5 forums. But, based on these, the Mazda5's doing a good job of meeting or exceeding the EPA estimates! :D
  • sschribersschriber Member Posts: 89
    I encourage all of you MPG buffs to visit www.fueleconomy.gov. Along with tracking your own MPG, you can see real-world numbers for most cars. Sorry to say that no one has posted for the 5 yet.
  • rlawrencerlawrence Member Posts: 92
    Hi, I did my first fill-up after reaching almost a half tank. I have a Touring edition with the 5 speed manual.

    193.6 miles on 6.906 gallons = 28.03 MPG

    40% stop and go freeway traffic; 40% cruising speeds (65 MPH); 20% city streets.

    A very positive start.
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    I just filled up my Mazda5, auto trans, for the first time. 338 miles driven since the dealer filled it up, and I just put 13.35 gallons in to fill it up again: 25.3 MPG!

    About 80% of the miles were highway. Most of the miles were with only 2 people in the car (driver + passenger) but some of the miles were with 4 people. We actually drove it up a small mountain when we had 4 people in it, so I thought that our MPG would suffer...it doesn't seem like it did.

    Considering that we had the AC on 100% of the time during these 338 miles, I'm very satisfied with the MPG that I got!

    By the way, my gas light went on 18 miles before I filled up my tank, and when I filled it up I only put 13.35 gallons into the 15.9-gallon tank. Based on these numbers, I think that I had a little more than 3 gallons left in the tank when the gas light went on...that's kinda early for it to come on, but better early than too late! My Civic is the same way: it has a 13-gallon tank, but I've never put more than 11 gallons into it because the gas light goes on when there are about 3-4 gallons left in the tank.
  • rlawrencerlawrence Member Posts: 92
    I got a little over 28 mpg again. This time I had a passenger and gear in the car at least 25% of the time.

    I think once the engine really gets broken in, 30 mpg may not be out of the question.
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    265 miles/ 12 gallons this time. So a 10 % improvement to 22 mpg. No passengers, no cargo 90 % of the time. 80/20 mix of city/ highway.
  • rlawrencerlawrence Member Posts: 92
    I am replying to myself :blush: But I wanted to report the latest. I drove 205.2 miles on 6.829 gallons for 30 MPG. Mostly freeway, with a fair amount of heavy SoCal traffic mixed in for good measure.
  • mrgarymrgary Member Posts: 33
    So far I have put 2027.3 Miles on my car and put in 71.66 gallons of gas for an average of 28.3 MPG. The lowest I have had so far is 27.4 MPG and the best was 31.7 :D MPG. I have been using the AC most of the time but it has finally cooled down here into the 80s so will see if MPG goes up as windows come down. As I said before I do mostly rural roads. more stop signs then traffic lights so that helps. ;) So I have put alot of miles on in a short time..to much fun to drive. But I am enjoying it.
  • r2kr2k Member Posts: 25
    mrgary:

    Auto or manual trans?

    Tnx
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    The "5-speed" in his subject line means manual transmission.

    The manual does seem to be doing significantly better than the automatic. I've got an auto, 25 MPG on the first tank...I'll be able ot report on the second tank within a few days.
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    I have been using the AC most of the time but it has finally cooled down here into the 80s so will see if MPG goes up as windows come down.

    The increased wind resistance when the windows are open may actually hurt your MPG. I'd be curious to see if your MPG goes up or down after turing off the AC and opening windows...
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    The increased wind resistance when the windows are open may actually hurt your MPG. I'd be curious to see if your MPG goes up or down after turing off the AC and opening windows...

    They did a segment on this in an episode of Mythbusters (Discovery Channel) a few weeks ago. They tested two identical SUVs on a track and they came out just about even in mpg's after an entire tank of gas -- one running the A/C full blast, the other with the windows down. Wind resistance was the agreed-upon mileage buster for the one with the windows down.

    Meade
  • r2kr2k Member Posts: 25
    Ooops, missed the subject line info...
  • 5thave5thave Member Posts: 13
    BEWARE!!! --

    Quote:
    "So far I've seen the following reports:

    Manual: low of 22 MPG, high of 29 MPG (about 7 tanks reported)
    Automatic: low of 20 MPG, high of 28 MPG (about 4 tanks reported)"

    Some of these reports (around low 20's) are probably calculating in Miles per U.S. gallon and others (those reporting in the high 20's) are probably reporting in Miles per IMPERIAL GALLON -- fellow Canadians, you know who you are -- and the two figures are therefore surprisingly similar.

    An excellent reference for those who are confused about the conversion:

    http://www.euronet.nl/users/grantm/frans/fuel.html

    The wife and I decided tonight we're going to order a Phantom Blue GT (Touring) w/ 5-spd and A/C. Can't wait to get it! (Dealer expects a couple months' wait perhaps!)
  • rlawrencerlawrence Member Posts: 92
    I wish my mileage was in Imperial gallons. I would be getting better than 36 mpg.
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    ...with an automatic, 615 miles total on the odometer. This was 80% city driving, short commutes to and from work. So, on my first 2 tanks I've had 25 MPG (mostly highway driving) and 22 MPG (mostly city driving). I'm actually surprised that it's pretty much exactly the EPA rating.

    mrgary's got the right idea, to report long-term MPG over multiple tanks. That takes away the uncertainty of "was the tank filled exactly the same amount each time?". I can't wait to see some 10-tank average numbers once people have driven their Mazda5s longer.
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    Well, just to avoid any confusion, all of my numbers (22 and 25 MPG with an AT) have been U.S. gallons. But thanks for pointing out that the different gallon measures may confuse some people.
  • momstoymomstoy Member Posts: 30
    On our 5th tank and getting progressively better each time:

    1st tank 22.2mpg
    2nd tank 24.1mpg
    3rd tank 25.4mpg
    4th tank 29.6mpg

    Edited to add: Mixed driving with A/C on continuously (so dang hot here lately!)
  • mazdasidmazdasid Member Posts: 9
  • mazdasidmazdasid Member Posts: 9
    Sorry hit enter instead of tab. Just filled up for the 1st time before gas prices shot up because of Katrina. Got 27.8 mpg US. 80% Highway 20% City. As a side note, just got the windows tinted. Onyx metallized. Huge difference in internal temp. Cools down faster too. :) Gas mileage is in Touring with MT.
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    I'm on my 3rd tank, gas gauge 5/16 of a tank away from empty. So far I've driven 314 miles on this tank (starting mileage 651, currently at 965). Assuming the gas gauge is accurate and linear, that's over 28 MPG on this tank so far. I'm sure that's an overestimate, but I'm optimistic that I'll beat my previous best of 25.3 MPG. I'll let you all know what the final numbers are when I actually fill the tank up...

    I've got an automatic, which is rated 26 MPG highway, and I definitely did some city driving on this tank, so anything above 26 MPG will greatly impress me. Consumer Reports says that only ~10% of cars achieve or exceed their EPA ratings in real-world driving, so maybe the Mazda5 will fall into that small category!

    Steve
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    Finally getting closer to what everybody else is getting. I got 23.6 on my third tank and have an overall avg. of 21.6 now. 80 highway/20 city this time. No passengers. Less A/C. Just a sidenote on mileage: I never think of what kind of mileage I'm getting while I am driving, only when I'm at the pump. I drive fairly aggressively (read too fast) most of the time, and am over the moon that this microvan gets only slightly worse mileage than my old Civic driven in a similar manner. I used to get 22-24 with that.
  • rideyourbikerideyourbike Member Posts: 17
    Drum roll please.......

    A touch over 27 mpg (27.25) on my first tank. About 50/50 highway and suburban driving. Air conditioning on about half the time. I have used the auto stick a good bit. I'm pleasantly suprized with the mileage. I really wanted the manual transmission (but the wifey didn't, natch!), but am pretty satisfied with performance and economy. Let's see where we go from here.

    :)
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    I just calculated 27.4 MPG on my third tank! At least 20% city driving, and the AC on almost the entire time.

    On 3 tanks, I've gotten 25.3 MPG, 22.0 MPG, and 27.4 MPG. That's a total of 1151 miles driven, and a 3-tank average of 25.0 MPG.
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    Most recent tank saw me pass 1,000 miles overall and mileage is averaging 21. I'd say I've done about 50/50 city/highway with passengers riding along about half the time. I just can't seem to keep myself from zoom-zooming though ;) , and I'd have to say that although others are getting up to 30 mpg, I'm really pleased considering my driving habits.
  • bwatersbwaters Member Posts: 52
    I'll post the next few tanks if I get the chance to fill the tank and record. It is just about 80% city and 20% highway, 310 miles, a little less than 12 gallons rounded high to 26 mpg. I did top it off and bet the dealer didn't. We have three drivers. I've driven about 120, (all in city) my wife has driven about 150 ( at least 40 highway) and our son has driven about 20. :)
  • flyonthewallflyonthewall Member Posts: 41
    My first tank and I got about 30 mpg (USA#s).

    The pump shut off at 11.5 gal, but I was able to squeeze in 12.2 gal. So, if the dealer didn't top it off, I got 30.3, if he really toped it off, I got 28.5.

    This is a 5spd, about 70% city, AC maybe 70% of the time, and driving very mellow with just me and one or two small kids. (I drove it like I drove for my last tank in my previous vehicle. For that last tank in my previous vehicle I got 12.5 mpg (unloaded)! This is one reason I'm driving a micro van in leu of a 91 3/4 ton, 4x4, GMC w/ a 350 v8 and tow package.)

    Time will tell if this tank is really representative...
  • truckasaurustruckasaurus Member Posts: 44
    1st tank 17MPG
    2nd 18MPG
    3rd 19MPG

    Auto. Touring model.
    Austin, TX. Hills, 90+ degrees most days so A/C on high.
    US MPG's.
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    Holy cow! That's even worse than mine! Are you towing a 12 foot trailer by any chance? :) At least it appears to be getting better. After 2 months I'm averaging about 21, although I've learned that it's as quick as a first gen Miata up to 60. :D
  • elzi121elzi121 Member Posts: 4
    Just dopped my car off for the recall, have only filled up twice (first time was only about 3/4 tank).

    Auto Touring Model, US Gallons, mixed highway and city.
    1st tank: 20 mpg
    2nd tank: 24 mpg

    Can't wait to get the car back to see if it gets better.
  • bdclarybdclary Member Posts: 2
    I've been interested in the Mazda5 recently, but the other day I saw a Volvo V50 in the parking lot, and when I got home, did some research.

    Without having real world numbers from the V50, I'm only comparing EPA estimates. But even so, with both cars nearly identical in all physical dimensions including weight, how does the V50, with a higher output engine (168 hp vs 157 hp), get better gas mileage than the 5 (25/30 vs 22/27)? Even the turbo 5 gets better highway mileage (21/30) and delivers 218 hp.

    It can't be weight, as both are within 50 lbs of each other. And the 5 has a lower coefficient of drag (0.31 vs 0.32).

    Any ideas? Am I missing something?
  • frank4carsfrank4cars Member Posts: 98
    cd is only part of the equation, there is also frontal area to consider, and the Volvo uses a 5-speed auto compared to 4-speed in the 5.
  • bdclarybdclary Member Posts: 2
    The mileage I quoted for the Mazda5 is for the 5-speed manual, not the automatic. Unfortunately, I can't find any frontal area information to compare the two. Does anyone know where I can find this?
  • smariasmaria Member Posts: 279
    Here's my analysis:

    Mazda5, 5-speed manual: 22/27 MPG EPA

    Volvo V50, 5-speed auto: 22/30 MPG EPA
    (w/ T5 engine): 22/31 MPG EPA

    So, they all perform identically in the city, but the Volvo does better on the highway.

    Mazda5 Weight: 3333
    Volvo V50 Weight: 3058

    The Mazda5 is almost 300 pounds heavier than the Volvo V50, partly because the Mazda5 has a third row of seats (no third row in the Volvo V50).

    As for the drag, a rough estimate can be made by multiplying the car's width by its height (assuming the car has a square frontal area...not true but the best I can do for now):

    Mazda5: 64.2 high x 69.1 wide = 4436 square inches
    Volvo V50: 57.2 high x 69.7 wide = 3987 square inches

    Multiply by the drag coefficients (0.32 for the Volvo, 0.31 for the Mazda), and we get drag values of 1375 for the Mazda5 and 1275 for the Volvo V50. That's 7.8% more drag on the Mazda5. The extra 7 inches of height in the Mazda5 increases its drag, decreasing its highway EPA rating. You really feel those 7 inches though...I bet it's a noticable difference if you sit in the 2 cars. I love feeling high off the ground in the Mazda5.

    As for Volvo's 200-hp engine getting better gas mileage than the 160-hp engines, I guess that's just a very efficient engine.
  • rovertonroverton Member Posts: 20
    30 highway
    22.5 city
    25 mixed.

    I still cannot figure out why the mazda3 rental is getting 25mpg on the highway.
  • sandiegoguysandiegoguy Member Posts: 27
    Maybe it's the 3 extra horsepower? :)

    Or the drag of the AVAILABLE roofrack :)

    Or the extra weight of the fire resistant exhaust heatshield
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