1998 Chevrolet Tracker(aka Suzuki Sidekick). 1.6 liter 16 valve 4 banger. 95 screaming horsepower. 4 door hardtop. Auto trans, air cond on most of the time. 20 plus MPG with no highway driving at all, just driving around town.
The newer models have bigger engines (2.5L V-6's) available. Why??? I bought this car because it is SMALL (2900 lb). I love this little motor, smooth as silk and rev's like crazy. When I want to drive a big behemoth I use my AWD Astro Van. The Tracker is great for around town.
About 16 in the city, 18 on the highway if driving below 70mph and not carrying a lot stuff, especially on the roof rack. When loaded up for a trip, even highway gets 16 or 17mph.
Yukon 2001, 5.3 2WD ON LONG TRIPS FROM FLORIDA TO NORTH CAROLINA AND TO MEMPHIS TENN. 70 MI PER HR 21 MPG 75 MI PER HR 20 MPG, 80 MI PER HR,19MPG. SHORT TRIPS IN TOWN FROM 13 MPG UP THIS YUKON DRIVES AND RIDES AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN ANY AUTO THAT I HAVE OWNED (CADS, OLDS, BUICKS,). HAVE HAD NO PROBLENS WITH 10,000 MILES SO FAR.
Just back from long trip (2000 miles) ...averaged 25-26 mpg. Best: 31 mpg on all flat freeway in northern Calif. Worst: 20 mpg on all "in-city" stop-and-go. 25-26 on northern CA hill/mtn country. Automatic w/roof rack, average speed 70mph...very noticeable decline in mileage over 70mph. Handles well..was worried about effects of wind (2000 RAV4, new to me) ...didn't push that little car around at all!
Anyone know if running the rear air in a car has any effect on gas milage? I know there's only one compressor but I'd swear I get nearly a mile per gallon better with the rear air off.
I recently got 12mpg on my Trooper while towing a 3500lb boat trailer @ 75-77mph. The terrain was interstate, hilly area of upstate NY, also lots of slow downs to 50mph, and then back to 75 due to sunday night traffic.
I usually average 20-22 mpg (mixed city/highway) with some traffic jams. The worst one was around 18mph on 250 miles trip at speeds 80-85 mph. The truck had only 800 miles on it at that time, so may be it just wasn't fully broken in yet. Plus the beautiful brick-like aerodynamics :-)
I don't think I'm going to get that good of a mileage when wither hits though - 4Wd, cold starts, traffic etc...
Getting about 18.3 - 18.5 on average.. Shocked at the pump Saturday, Sam's Club near I-40 in NE Memphis, TN.. Had to do a triple take when I got to the pump. $0.949 ...first time under a dollar in a couple of years.
Worst was 10 mpg city in 95 degree w/air cranked all day. I think the best was probably around 20 on the highway. Of course, the car now has 80k miles and may not be in the best of tune.
I was wondering how much the supposed mileage figures vary due to how fuel is actually put in the tank. It seems as though the gas pump at the station must introduce air into the fluid, which causes bubbles/foam to form on top of the gas, which then backs up into the filler neck and then the sensor tells the pump to shut off because it is full. I wonder how large a variance this causes, and misleads our simple fuel consumption calculation? Another note: I have a hard time believing a lot the posts here are actual numbers and not just guesses. Yukon getting + 20 mpg. with a big v8 and all that wind/road resistance?
ob11: I agree that for one tank it may not be very accurate, but if you keep logging your mileage you'll have a better and more accurate idea of the kind of efficiency you're getting.
Two 1999 AWD RX300s (auto, 3.0-liter V6) and both average 18-19 MPG in mixed driving on regular unleaded.
2000 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 (auto, 4.0-liter I6) averages 20-21 MPG in mixed driving on regular unleaded.
I attribute the better mileage in the Jeep versus the RX300 due to the fact that I'm usually the only occupant in the Jeep and lighter weight of the Jeep (<600 lbs.)
Since Nov. 1, mileage on my '01 RAV4 (auto, AWD) has dropped from 25.4 to about 23 in similar usage - 60/40 hiway/suburbs. I attribute this drop to NJ's winter gas (with the additive MBTE, or is it MTBE?). And if this additive is no longer used, then I have no idea what to attribute it to.
Similar to SUVshopper... Whether it's the cold or the "winter gas", a number of CR-V owners have reported a 2 mpg drop during the winter. My warm weather average is about 25-27 mpg. Cold weather ranges from 23-25.
I once thought that it might have to do with how cold air alters combustion. Then I read up on it in this older Edmunds tech story.
One thing that I thought of when I read the article is that snow often acccompanies cold weather and that might actually decrease fuel efficiency - on two grounds.
First, your vechicle has the extra burden of having to push snow or slush out of the way. This should decrease your mileage since your engine has to do more work to travel a given distance.
Second, you will tend to drive slower with snow on the roads. This could go either way in terms of gas mileage and depends on the specific road conditions. Lower speed usually means better gas mileage but below some speed your gas mileage gets worse. In the extreme case of standing still with your engine running, your gas mileage becomes 0 mpg.
In the past year the Jeep gets 16 in town and 20-22 on the road. On the most recent trip over Christmas it got 21.7mpg. on the road. Cherokee before this one got around the same. Automatics both.
Tidester - That's true, but what I (and other that have discussed the topic) have experienced happens even when there is no snow.
There is also another factor Which may be a work in some cases. Tire pressure can be affected by the cold. Running around on slightly deflated tires can lower fuel efficiency. This still isn't the answer in my case, but it may be for others.
Our winter temperatures average around -15C between December and March and I usually see a 10-20% decrease in fuel efficiency. I always thought it was cold starts, warm up time, snow, wind, etc. that leads to the change. I know we use the same gas here year round.
As the temperature drops, my guess is fuel consumption increases due to two primary reasons: - increased rich duty cycle from longer warm-up periods. - cooler air which provides a denser air/fuel mixture. Hence, your engine is able to consume both more air and fuel in cooler months. Ever notice your car/truck has more pep when it is cooler outside? Those extra ponies don't come for free.
Have been averaging a whooping 14 MPG over the laast 5 tanks. Am taking a 600 mile trip this weekend maybe. I'll let you know how it does Freeway style
Varmit, the Edmund's link you mentioned above basically talks in layman's terms about how cooler air improves an engines operating efficiency by providing a denser intake air charge. What isn't mentioned in the article is that all of those additional air molecules still need to be mixed with fuel in an approximate 14:1 (ideal stoichiometric) ratio. Hence, you are also increasing the ability of the engine to consume fuel as the air temperature drops. Engine computers are designed to compensate for the denser air charge by adding the appropriate additional amount of fuel to the mix.
In one of the last paragraphs, they remark that this is a power boost without a loss in mpg. I'm taking them literally, but I suppose it could mean "without a significant loss in mpg". Let's get the author in here to straighten this out!
3/4 ton, 4WD, 6.0 liter, 5.73 rear end, all options except sunroof, and block heater. 9-10 mpg in town, 12-14 mpg on road. Love it. Did not buy it for the gas mileage. I tried to by a M-60 tank but the military won't let civilians have them.
Great Gohgly Mohgly! I'd recommend getting that tire pressure down. Running the tires at that psi may be enough to deform the contact patch. You'll decrease the car's ability to stop during emergency braking. You'll also wear out the "middle" of the tire tread sooner than the outer edges. Not to mention it must ride awfully rough. IMHO, the extra 2-3 mpg isn't worth the risk.
Paisan - Actually, you would end up like the Explorer. The Explorer's tires failed because they fell apart at the end of their lifespan. Riding on overinflated tires will wear out the tires much faster.
If this were a matter of overinflating by 5 psi for better handling, I wouldn't worry about it. But the manufacturer's rating for a 2000 CR-V is 26 psi. 35 is way over the recommendations.
The explorer tires wore faster than normal due to the fact that they were UNDER inflated, causing excessive heat build up. The ford spec was 26psi, Firstone told Ford to set it at 30psi. On my trooper I run 5psi over stock pressure, did it for 35K miles and no problems of un-even wear on my stock tires, before I replaced them with bigger AT tires.
My point was that they failed at the end of this lifespan (regardless of how they became worn out). Running tires to 10 psi above their recommended pressure will contribute to wearing them out.
IMHO running higher pressure is much better and leads to less wear than the "optimal" one set by the manufacturer who wants a nice soft ride for the intial purchase. If it's a choice of 5 under or 5 over, I always err on the side of over.
Greetings Paisan, Varmit: 35 psi is the max. rated tire pressure on the tire as determined by the tire manufacturer (Bridgestone HT Duelers?), so I didn't think that was a problem. If outside temps get hot, which causes the tire pressures to increase 1 to 2 psi, I adjust them down.
The door inside-label by Honda indicates tire pressures like Varmit wrote. When my tires are at that level, the Honda is slow to move, slow to turn, quick to stop. Heavy.
2wheel drive, 5300 engine, first week, first tank, and asssuming the dealer topped it off, all city driving, and a little too much checkin' out how she runs.....14.2mpg. This compared to my x Sienna minivan that got an average 17mpg straight city driving using premium fuel (per the book). If I use $ instead of milage to compare the two cars, I paid $18.84 to drive the Tahoe 250 miles using $1.07 per gallon (at the moment for regular unleaded) as opposed to $18.68 for the same 250 miles in my x Sienna using $1.27 per gallon for premium fuel. If my math is correct that is $0.16 a week savings driving a very PC minivan instead of a giant gas hog SUV.
Don't forget you are probably babying the SUV right now since it is new, wait til it's broken in to get some real #s. Also the PCers (which I am not) don't care about $ they only care (or supposedly care) about the environment.
2002 CRV EX Auto 1st tank - 21mpg overall 2nd tank - 22.5 overall 3rd tank - 24.3 overall Tires at 30 PSI Mix of city and 75-80 mph highway travel. Should improve as the engine breaks in.
26.4 mpg on a recent ski jaunt of 280 miles round-trip, which consisted of:
1. About 1.0 hours (40 miles)stop and go in city and road-work; this included a climb from 4000 ft. to 6000 ft. going and coming, that is, clearing San Agustin Pass.
2. About 1.5 hours (40 miles) city stop and go and a ski mountain road climb and descent (the mountain entailing a gain/loss of 2000 ft. over 12 miles).
3. About 3.5 hours (200 miles)mostly highway; some level, some climbing from 4000 ft. to 7000 ft. with a descent of same. Speed limit varying from 75 mph to 45 mph.
various explanations for better mpg summer. You would think with the AC use it should be less, but my experience is mpg goes up about 10% in hot weather even with AC use.
I bought a very PC minivan for the "good" milage. My sticker promised 19/24. It averaged 17mpg city driving (and I'm nutty about checking the exact milage...fuel used/miles after each fill-up). This was using premiums fuel per my book and something you should all consider when buying a car. I traded the boring thing for a Chevy Tahoe. Love the car and it's getting very close to 15 using regular fuel. If you do the math considering $.20 more per gallon for premium, my giant gas hog is actually slightly cheaper to drive.
Comments
1.6 liter 16 valve 4 banger. 95 screaming horsepower. 4 door hardtop. Auto trans, air cond on most of the time. 20 plus MPG with no highway driving at all, just driving around town.
The newer models have bigger engines (2.5L V-6's) available. Why??? I bought this car because it is SMALL (2900 lb). I love this little motor, smooth as silk and rev's like crazy. When I want to drive a big behemoth I use my AWD Astro Van. The Tracker is great for around town.
And the way back? An even better 28.4mpg. All this with a Samsonite cargo carrier on the roof.
My 2 year average is still just over 25mpg.
-juice
TO NORTH CAROLINA AND TO MEMPHIS TENN.
70 MI PER HR 21 MPG 75 MI PER HR 20 MPG, 80 MI PER HR,19MPG. SHORT TRIPS IN TOWN FROM 13 MPG UP
THIS YUKON DRIVES AND RIDES AS GOOD OR BETTER
THAN ANY AUTO THAT I HAVE OWNED (CADS, OLDS, BUICKS,). HAVE HAD NO PROBLENS WITH 10,000 MILES
SO FAR.
-juice
The Escape is also supposed to have a hybrid option as early as next year.
-juice
-mike
I don't think I'm going to get that good of a mileage when wither hits though - 4Wd, cold starts, traffic etc...
Tom
~14 mpg city
~18 mpg highway@75-80 mph
Worst was 10 mpg city in 95 degree w/air cranked all day. I think the best was probably around 20 on the highway. Of course, the car now has 80k miles and may not be in the best of tune.
-mike
-juice
2000 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 (auto, 4.0-liter I6) averages 20-21 MPG in mixed driving on regular unleaded.
I attribute the better mileage in the Jeep versus the RX300 due to the fact that I'm usually the only occupant in the Jeep and lighter weight of the Jeep (<600 lbs.)
I once thought that it might have to do with how cold air alters combustion. Then I read up on it in this older Edmunds tech story.
One thing that I thought of when I read the article is that snow often acccompanies cold weather and that might actually decrease fuel efficiency - on two grounds.
First, your vechicle has the extra burden of having to push snow or slush out of the way. This should decrease your mileage since your engine has to do more work to travel a given distance.
Second, you will tend to drive slower with snow on the roads. This could go either way in terms of gas mileage and depends on the specific road conditions. Lower speed usually means better gas mileage but below some speed your gas mileage gets worse. In the extreme case of standing still with your engine running, your gas mileage becomes 0 mpg.
tidester
Host
SUVs
Cherokee before this one got around the same.
Automatics both.
There is also another factor Which may be a work in some cases. Tire pressure can be affected by the cold. Running around on slightly deflated tires can lower fuel efficiency. This still isn't the answer in my case, but it may be for others.
Everybody here is just used to it and expects it.
- increased rich duty cycle from longer warm-up periods.
- cooler air which provides a denser air/fuel mixture. Hence, your engine is able to consume both more air and fuel in cooler months. Ever notice your car/truck has more pep when it is cooler outside? Those extra ponies don't come for free.
Short trips (1 mile or less):
11MPG AVG
City Driving:
15.5MPG AVG
Highway:
19MPG AVG
4X4ing:
12 or less MPG
I think it would be better if I didn't have such a heavy right foot though.
My other car is a modded up Z28, darn that thing gave me bad driving habits!
Real World - My figures remarkably close at 22/27. Overall average around 24 mpg.
Best highway - 33 mpg at 60-65 mph. If traveling 70-75 mph, highway mileage drops to 26-28 (depending on wind direction!).
I keep tire pressures at 35 psi max all around, which makes a difference.
-mike
If this were a matter of overinflating by 5 psi for better handling, I wouldn't worry about it. But the manufacturer's rating for a 2000 CR-V is 26 psi. 35 is way over the recommendations.
-mike
-mike
The door inside-label by Honda indicates tire pressures like Varmit wrote. When my tires are at that level, the Honda is slow to move, slow to turn, quick to stop. Heavy.
-mike
1st tank - 21mpg overall
2nd tank - 22.5 overall
3rd tank - 24.3 overall
Tires at 30 PSI
Mix of city and 75-80 mph highway travel. Should improve as the engine breaks in.
1. About 1.0 hours (40 miles)stop and go in city and road-work; this included a climb from 4000 ft. to 6000 ft. going and coming, that is, clearing San Agustin Pass.
2. About 1.5 hours (40 miles) city stop and go and a ski mountain road climb and descent (the mountain entailing a gain/loss of 2000 ft. over 12 miles).
3. About 3.5 hours (200 miles)mostly highway; some level, some climbing from 4000 ft. to 7000 ft. with a descent of same. Speed limit varying from 75 mph to 45 mph.
73
Randy