Fuel Economy Update for October - 2014 Mazda Mazda3 S Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Fuel Economy Update for October - 2014 Mazda Mazda3 S Long-Term Road Test

In October, our long-term 2014 Mazda 3 averaged 29 MPG combined over about 1,000 miles, and remains one of the more fuel-efficient cars in our fleet.

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bonzjr

2,600 miles in I'm averaging a little over 34 mpg (I use log books/Excel though the trip computer is admirably close to reality). Highway EPA is 35 mpg (I have the 2.5 manual hatch). My driving is about 80% highway. The 20% city portion can involve traffic and a lot of lights/sitting/acceleration. My best tank was the most recent at 35.3 mpg and the worst was 33.1 mpg (note the narrow range but my driving routine and conditions have been consistent in just the first month and a half of ownership).

You guys probably do a lot more city driving and in notoriously bad LA traffic to boot. So your 29 mpg is decent.

I'd say the EPA numbers for this car are anywhere from spot on to slightly conservative based on this admittedly very small sample size of two.

If the trip computer can be believed on a trip to trip basis (and based on its overall averages, it's pretty decent) I can score numbers on a 'perfect' trip (little congestion, good weather, etc) near 40 mpg. For a barely broken in engine with over 180 ponies, that's not bad.