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http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/eng0510fue.htm?result- PageIndex=1&resultIndex=2&searchTerm=EPA%20Rating
Vince
The salesman also regaled me stories of customers who were discovering that the CX-7 got much better mpg than on the sticker, around 22/29mpg. Sounded great to me! Oh well, I guess there's one of me born every minute.
The following is from a Federal Gov't web sight.
Driving More Efficiently
Drive Sensibly
cartoon of car Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.
Fuel Economy Benefit:
5-33%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:
$0.12-$0.76/gallon
Observe the Speed Limit
Graph showing MPG VS speed MPG decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.
As a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas.
Observing the speed limit is also safer.
Fuel Economy Benefit:
7-23%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:
$0.16-$0.53/gallon
Remove Excess Weight
Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2%. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.
Fuel Economy Benefit:
1-2%/100 lbs
Equivalent Gasoline Savings:
$0.02-$0.05/gallon
Avoid Excessive Idling
Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas at idle than do cars with smaller engines.
Use Cruise Control
Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.
Use Overdrive Gears
When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear.
Note: Cost savings are based on an assumed fuel price of $2.31/gallon.
Yes, that's what I have.
I have the FWD and I sometimes wish I would have gotten the AWD, but in Texas, we don't get enough snow!
At least not Houston...
Corroborated.
FWIW, you Houston people have enough flooding to warrant AWD, probably...
You won't know the true MPG until you get at least 5K on your CX-7.
fowler3
normal LA driving
Now THAT'S an oxymoron if I'ver heard one...
we took the CX-7 all over AR. and the ozarks. Much to my surprise our whole trip of 1596 miles used only 63 gals of gas. We had a total average of 25mpg.
Tonight, I filled up the CX-7 and it made 18.2mpg is a very congested small city of 200,000.
The car is a blast to drive, very sporty in handling and very spacious for a crossover. We researched for two months and had several selections(choices) and the biggest bang for the buck
was the CX-7. We got the front wheel drive because we already have a 2006 RTL/SR Honda Ridgeline and that is our heavy duty touring vehicle.
I worked for some time to get my milage up on the Honda Truck and we now get 14.5 in town and 22.8-23-6mpg highway.
I check my tires bi-weekly, run synthetic oil in the engine
and keep my speed within the speed limits most of the time!
To the poster who said we should have gotten a FORD engine..r u nuts? Ill take a MAzda engineered in JApan motor an yday before a Ford engine winds up under my hood.
of what category??
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
So answer this:
Model you have: __ AWD / __ FWD?
City/Hwy driving: _____% / _____%
Driving: __ Lead Foot / __ Average / __ Grandma
MPG you're getting: _____
Average gas cost per week: ______
City/Hwy driving: _70____% / __30___%
Driving: __ Lead Foot / _X_ Average / __ Grandma
MPG you're getting: __20___
Average gas cost per week: ____41__
Hope this helps.
This is a bit off-topic for this thread, perhaps, but 2 weeks ago, my tire pressure warning light went off. Upon checking the manual, I found that the tires should be inflated to only 32 psi. This was confirmed a few days later when I took the car to the dealer (to have a wind deflector installed); I asked the technician about the psi, and he confirmed that 32 was the optimal number (I didn't mention that my warning light had engaged, just simply asked out of curiousity). Also, the manual mentioned that overinflating the tires can also be dangerous.
However, the ongoing debate of EPA numbers versus real ones seems to be a bit misplaced. The EPA numbers are based on specific driving criteria - which we may or not agree with. In their Hwy measures for instance the vehicle never comes to a full stop, or idles and maintains an average of 48 mph and NEVER goes over 60 mph.
Now, most of the posts I read here discuss speeds of 65-80 mph which we all know will be lower than that achieved at 60 - there is a strong correlation. And most of us probably do accelerate onto and brake off of freeway ramps and come to complete stops even in our highway driving, so this has a significant effect too (just reset your gauge before accelerating onto the hwy and see how that messes with the average!).
So I guess I am not so hung up on the EPA estimates (and they clearly say that is what they are and try to apply correction factors) but really rely on folks contributing here especially when they can specify their driving styles and speeds. I believe that averaging these out is probably always going to be a better way to go - so thanks for the contributions!
By the way, the methodology used by the EPA/DOE is found here:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml
Cheers
I've had 2 occasions when all of my miles were city miles and both were at 17.1 mpg. I never go more that 7-8 mph over the posted limits in town. Most in my area are 35 mph.
Thus, in an ideal real world situation, MY CX-7 gets:
17.1 MPG City
20.1 MPG Highway
That being said, while I wish the mileage was better and with all the other issues I've had with the CX-7, I still love it. Looks good, handles very well, great zoom zoom with the Turbo 4.
Hope this helps.
So far, based on my being at the 1/2 way point on the gauge and having driven 151 miles, I'm getting about 16mpg (purely around-town driving). I expect that to get better once I'm out of the break-in period.
Have 2000+ plus miles and average 18 mpg in town only. Haven't driven any serious country miles like you, but the vehicle should be doing better than 20.1 mpg. I set the tires at 37 psi and usually drive in the manual mode, it keeps the rpms somewhat lower than in "D" much of the time.
Also, you didn't mention if the air was running, of course that is a huge issue in determining mpg averages.
City/Hwy Driving 60% 40%
Driving: Average
MGP..............In town 16-19mpg Hwy= 24-25mpg
That's why the climate control defaults to the defrost position on cold mornings.
Also, AC technology has gotten to the point that MPG is only minimally affected by it's use. A slight drop in MPG is more than offset by the advantages of an automated, climate control.
Vince.
There are places in the book that very clearly state you cannot turn the A/C off. For example, when it's set to defrost, defrost + feet or feet. The A/C will automatically be turned on even though the light is off -- that's what it says in the Owner's Manual.
I'll be tracking MPG with all different combo's of settings... maybe it is no big deal. It just seems silly to me to design a system that makes is impossible to turn A/C off.
When it's 40deg, raining and humid, with the AC on in the defrost mode it will clear the windshield faster, so I think it's the same principle in the Auto mode of keeping the AC on to dry the air for comfort. But even in the defrost modes, the AC should not operate below freezing, and I think the car's computer also uses this point for turning off the AC in the Auto mode.
I feel like the car is finalyl broken in -
My mileage after a long highway getaway has increased big time. I am coming close to 390 miles/full tank 70highway/30 city (16 gallons filled) I think people need to give this car a chance in terms of MPG, let it break in, and then see what happens
I think his point was that typically after the low-fuel light comes on and the gauge needle gets to "E" he is putting around 16 gallons in. Same story here.