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Let us assume that we can find a tire of equal or better quality than the one on our vehicles that would yield a one mile per gallon increase,and that the cost of gasoline is $0.15 per mile based on the price of gas being $2.60 and average mileage is 17 mpg.
The cost of a new set of 4 tires were to be $400.00.
The question is, how many miles would need to be driven to pay for those tires.
Divide .15 into 400.00 =2,667.00
So what I am saying is that if mileage is so important and we drive 60,000 miles on a set of tires, we would then save $9,000.00 in operating costs.
On another matter, I am in the practice of putting in 1/2 tank 93 octane and 1/2 tank 89 octane thereby saving $.10 per gallon.
Darth Vader Grey GT AWD w/Tech Package
Now, if you find a tire with a hard enough compound to do that, your CX-7's traction will likely suffer greatly reducing your CX-7 to a CRV.
Excellent example!
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
On my normal daily commute which is a mix of highway and city/town driving I have never gotten below 16 MPG.
Based on my results I honestly feel if I drove like the EPA does in their controlled environment I could get their numbers.
Speaking from experiance with motorcycles, I have seen similiar cases where the throttle body openings are small and the air has to make several turns and adding a K&N filter alone was not enough to make a real difference but the K&N was still less restrictive than a stock filter.
To get any real performance on those bikes we had to add "air kits" and in some cases modify the intake by removing the restrictive parts.
The problem with adding to much air as in an "air kit" is then you usually also have to open up the exhaust because the exhaust may be too restrictive. Of course modifying th exhaust, which means more noise. The other issue at least on motorcycles is that adding too much air causes a lean condition which in turn can cause too much heat and therefore engine damage. The only remedy was to add a fuel adjustment module and then dynotune to get the max results for performance. The problem with that is the emissions may not meet inspection requirements. I don't have any real world experiance with car mods these days and I'm not sure if in the car world, the car's computer compensates for the lean condition or if an add an module or rechipping is required.
As far as motorcycles, the answer is that they are already engineered to MUCH higher stress levels than modern car engines. Look at the HP/liter they are getting out of 600cc sportbikes these days, and ask yourself how much cylinder porting you think you will actually be able to do there...
Really! Who would stoop so low ...?
tidester, host
$400 = money saved = $2.60/gal x (Y/17mpg - Y/18mpg)
Where Y is the number of miles in question. Solve for Y, get 47,077 miles.
I just had it in to the dealer AGAIN for a check engine light. No it was not the gas cap/fuel filler neck ongoing issue. There was a problem with an actuator that was not allowing the secondary throttle plate to open as it was explained to me. They readjusted the swith and the performance has improved and on my first drive since it appears the mileage has improved. I wont know till my next fillup. I am hopeful though.
Just drove down to NYC and back on one of my favorite roads, the Taconic Parkway. Great scenery, lots of curves and hills. The CX-7 was just made for it.
It took great restraint but I wanted to check the MPG driving within the speed limits. Let me say that it was a STRAIN keeping from going over it.
Drove auto and cruise control all the way round trip of 330 miles including local country roads.
330 miles / 17 Gals. = 19.4 MPG.
Not terrific!
Oh yes, of course the CEL was on all the way and when I filled up the Gas Icon never went out, and is still on. :confuse:
Darth Vader Grey GT AWD w/Tech Package
The car prep people are told to test drive every vehicle before they put it on the lot to look for this problem because it's occuring so frequently.
Let me know if this has an effect on your performance and/or MPG. Beware though, mine came back on within 2 days of being "fixed." (For me this was about 900 miles)
Most of us would kill to get those numbers on the highway, but I can't imagine doing that unless the vehicle is babied.
While going downhill with a stiff tail wind.
Our gas milage has been good. Last fall we went on two short vacations in Northern AR in the Ozarks. The first trip was in Oct. and it was warm and we averaged 25mpg over all for the whole trip. 1590 miles and used 63 gallons of gas.
The second trip was in Dec. 2006 and it was very cold, we averaged over all 22.7mpg.
We had a mild winter with a few days below 30*F. My intown gas milage will flucuate between 17.2-19mpg. The lowest I have ever gotten was 16.6mpg when it was brand new.
We also own a Honda Ridgeline RL/SR and make about 15mpg in town and around 23mpg on the hwy. It took a long time to get up to 23mpg, have almost 24,000 miles today. Use systhetic oil in the Ridgeline also.
The CX-7 has more pick up on the low range, especially when the turbo kicks in. The only complaint that I have on the CX-7 is that it requires Premium gas 91-93 octane and that is now $2.74per gallon where we live in SW La. about 130 miles New Orleans.
The CX-7 is truly a fun vehicle to drive. It handles like a sport car and has more pep then I really need.
ZOOM ZOOM FROM LOUISIANA
Columbia County, NY near Albany, NY :mad:
It would be interesting to see what the oil companies report in profits in addition to the unpaid lease fees due to the U.S. Gov't. (Read you and I)for oil found on our shores. :mad:
Hooray, I guess. 93 gas is going for around $3.09-$3.11 in my area.
Oops, sorry...AWD.
It took the dealer a one trip to figure out the check engine light, one more to Macgyver the thing, then one more to get in the new parts from Mazda (known problem, popular part). But now, no check engine light and better MPG.
So, if your mpg is bad, the check engine light is on, don't let them adjust or reposition (MacGyver) the pin, make them replace it. the length of the pin is a known issue and won't fully open/close the throttle plate. If they don't get a new pin it will just keep needing adjustment. Probably after warranty too. Get it fixed RIGHT while its still covered. *deposits 2 cents*
Gas milage has continued to increase over the months.
I got about 15.5mpg in town at first, now it is closer to
17-18 mpg. in town. Last big trip, 1659 miles made 25mpg for the whole trip.
I just had a 6,000 inspection and put synthetic oil, Castrol Syntex 5W-30W. Seems to run a little cooler, the gas pedal is very sensitive,you push...............it goes and can run up on someone in a hurry.
My mileage had been 16-18mpg in a mix of city/highway driving.
I just got a gas cap replaced, and I guess the program was updated. I'm not sure what they did, but it seems to shift like butter.
After the service, my mileage has increased to maybe 18-20? On an all highway trip, I got 22.
I'm an extremely aggressive driver, and I don't use the manual shift, so I expect I could get another 1-2 out of it if my driving style were different.
James
- 23 mpg Boston - Toronto
- 17 mpg driving through Boston (only town traffic)
However, in contrast to many CX-7 owners, the Acura owners are very PLEASED with their mileage. I find this rather odd, because the Acura is based on the Honda CRV, a 4cyl mini-ute tuned for economy. You'd think the Acura owners would want their ute to more closely mirror the CRV's economy.
On the other hand, perhaps no Acura owner wants to admit that their SUV has such pedestrian underpinnings. Perhaps the lower mpg is a badge of honor for them....
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
My average mileage with mainly city driving is about 22 mpg.
The odometer is just about 2000 miles.
Please set up your CarSpace page so we can talk Elvis and Saltillo. I spent a bit of time in Lee County years ago. :shades:
trips taken were in Oct. and Dec. 2006.
Gas milage was over 24mpg overall for the two trips.
Did have synthetic oil put in in Dec. Castrol Syntex 5W-30W.
Our in town milage in a very congested med. size city has been
running 17.25 - 18.0 mpg. I did try a tank with 89 octane and my gas milage dropped to 15.8mpg.
Premium 92-93 octane use Shell mostly prices have come down
from $3.29 per gallon to $3.15 per gallon.
The performance is so much better with Premium gas.
The Turbo charged engine has been used in other models , Mazda speed 6. The CX-7 has been detuned to 244 HP, 258lbs
of tourque.
I'll change the original oil at 2000 miles. Then I'll run a synthetic blend like Syntec for 3000. After that I'm going to use ELF full synthetic. I've used it for a year or so in my Chevy SS V-8 pickup with great results. I picked up 1.5 mpg (freeway) by changing to ELF. Also it's formulated to run 15K per change. I run it 7K and it comes out as clean or cleaner than standard oils at 3500 miles.
Most new oil will get "dirty-looking" within days of use, and the coloration is more from cylinder blow-by and results of the combustion process rather than the oil degrading.
So, you have to wonder, if it is a given that your engine makes "soot" and your oil comes out clean, without that soot in it - where did the soot go?
At any rate, I totally agree with the notion of using full-synthetic in a turbo engine if you've purchased the car and plan to keep it a while. I've got two turbos in my garage now, and the older of them has been on Mobil 1 for 90K miles. I'd expect to find clean innards - relatively speaking, anyway - if I ever broke into the engine (knock on wood).
It's true that the only "real" test is to send the used oil to a lab. Often the discoloration can be carbon, ash, aluminum oxidation, and a number of other things. My feeling is that if the oil looks cleaner and still "feels" oily compared to other oils I've used then that's a good thing.
I have friends who own an oil distribution business. I've been lucky enough to attend some of their meetings with various manufacturers. It's true they ALL can tell you the virtues of their product and why it's better than the rest. What's interesting is they all agree that modern oils, especially synthetics, should be run from 10 to 15K before changing. I haven't been able to wrap my mind around that interval yet. That's why I opted to run the oil in my truck for 7K. I'll do the same in my CX7 and post my opinion. I'm curious to see if my mileage increases just by changing to ELF synthetic like my truck did. For now though my CX-7 is NEW and sure is COOL! :shades:
I am not an aggressive driver, although I probably do drive somewhat faster in this car than any other vehicle I have owned. Driving style doesn't seem to affect the poor mileage any. I did a test on a partial tank where I tried to keep the RPM's down when starting off at stoplights etc (tried to keep RPM's around 2k or less - really conservative driving). I got 15.8 MPG on that test (100% city).
I'm wondering if I'm missing the latest PCM flash and if that would improve the mileage. I did have the CEL light, but that was for the gas cap and hasn't come on since it was fixed in December, so I don't suspect a bad throttle plate thingy. Overall the mileage seems to be off by about 2MPG consistently based on EPA ratings and what others are reporting here.
Maybe more air in the tires or less weight in the trunk or a new air filter will get you another mpg or two?
I average about 300 miles to a tank full. I don't measure or worry about MPG, as that wasn't a consideration or concern when I bought the CX-7. I simply "zoom-zoom" wherever I go and enjoy the car.
IMHO, fretting about MPG for the CX-7 is only going to put more gray hair on your head.
Vince.
MPG Posters: Let us know if you are equipped with AWD for comparison.