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Have you been keeping track of the overall mpg for all the 25K miles? Since numbers fluctuate quite a bit in different seasons and likely in different parts of the country (i.e. snow belt vs. southern comfort) it would be interesting to hear what you and others are averaging long term across the continent.
For example, in parts of Canada and likely the northern states a big dip (20% to 40%)in fuel efficiency starts happening once the snow falls.
I now live in Colorado where we get cold weather but not a real winter, i.e., tomorrow the expected high is about 25 degrees but the next day high will be 50. Our entire winter can be like that. Cold weather does have an influence on gas mileage, like you say, but that influence is not present continuously here as it was when I lived in northern NY.
While living in Germany and driving on the autobahn routinely, one day when driving at 130 mph, a guy on a motorcycle with his girfriend on the back passed me. At that point I finally realized that going faster than others may not indicate that you have a better car or are a better driver, but simply that you are crazy/reckless. So now getting good gas mileage is my satisfaction.
Bear in mind I live at 4500ft elevation (Nevada) and about 80%+ of my driving is city driving. I'm not a lead foot, but occasionally I do open it up a little (who doesn't)
I'm seriously hoping this improves soon. My Miata got much better mileage!
Try reducing your average speed by 10% for one tankfull. I think you'll find that your mpg will improve significantly. When gas prices hit the skies this fall, I slowed down a bit and was astonished at how much effect it had on my fuel economy. Of course, once the prices levelled off, I resumed fun driving!
Also, those trip computers tend to calculate "instant" gas mileage. Do it the easy way ... record your odometer reading next time you fill up. Then take note of how many miles you go on that tankful, and divide that number by the number of gallons you need to fill up the next time.
My 2005 5-speed hatch has been getting 27 mpg in town and 32 on the highway, like clockwork, for 12,500 miles now ... except for one 700-mile highway trip, where I got 34.
Meade
Meade
This is my first posting and I hope you or the others can help. What is the deal with the term "5 Speed Overdrive". I E-Mailed Mazda and they gave me the expected answer that there is no overdrive. So, why do they say I have a "5 Speed Overdrive" on my 05 5 door. I am only getting 24.5 MPG and would love to do better. Can you help me?
In the 5MT Mazda3 the 4th gear has a ratio of 0.970:1 and 5th is 0.755:1. Both the fourth and fifth gears are "overdrive" gears.
In fact, the auto transmissions available on the 3 both have "overdrive" gears as well (4AT and 5AT).
I'm excited to join this forum! After having a "sh-load" of good and bad domestic vehicles, I have decided to take on my first import and after researching long and hard for the "perfect" lux-sport economy car, I decided to take the plunge for a 2006 Mazda 3s GT sedan loaded with every possible option and I am LOVING IT. In addition to the Mazda 3, I have a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica AWD Limited which both share the core features that I always wanted on a vehicle: Xenon's, Navigation System, Trip Computer and Premium Audio systems with Satellite radio.
I opted for the Titanium color since it's very popular whenever I am looking at 3's on the road. BULLIT (as I call her) has approximately 700 miles on the odometer after approximately one-month of ownership. I just relocated from the midwest (Ohio) to California, therefore the vehicle hasn't been driven that much given that I have been traveling back and forth up until now. Today was my first "long drive" experience here in Southern California and I was sure to get acclimated to all the features of the vehicle including the trip computer.
With moderate to heavy acceleration over a 200+ mile trip, I averaged approximately 27.5 MPG according to the computer. Overall, I found this to be quite impressive given that a good portion of my commute was in heavy traffic. Goldie (my pacifica) would have averaged a horrendous 14 mpg or less given the same scenario. I plan on testing this route again next week once "Goldie" comes off the transportation truck. This will help to give me a good comparison in terms of "real mpg."
Quick question? What type of octane gasoline are you all using and has there been any correlation to an improvement in MPG given the difference in octane? Thus far, I have used premium fuel just to keep things clean for the first 1K. After this, I plan on switching over to mid-grade gasoline, and dumping the standard oil and switching over to synthetic.
Thanks for reading and I look forward getting to chat with everyone!
IExplore2000
Premium gas is required in vehicles that have a high compression ratio - normally if the ratio is 10.5 to 1 or higher premium will be required. It prevents the fuel from pre-igniting (burning before it should) which will cause engine knock. Octane rating is a measure a fuels ability to prevent this knock.
Some companies use to advertise that they put special
additives in premium gas - Chevron was the major one that I know of - now they put it in all grades. Maybe someone is still putting additional additives in their premium gas - but not that I know of - if anyone knows of someone who does - please post it.
Can't recall when (like 15 years ago maybe) the FCC (or some government agency) forced the major oil companies to STOP advertising that their premium gas was "better" for your car. I think the most memorable ad was something about putting a tiger in your tank (which must have been Exxon)
If that's not enough, read this:
http://theserviceadvisor.com/octane.htm
Meade
If you're in a state where it actually gets cold in the winter (i.e. not Florida or Texas or California), chances are you're using your defroster a lot more in the wintertime ... which automatically calls your air conditioner compressor online anytime it's running. There's another load (and reduced mpg) on your engine.
Meade
Maybe someone that lives "up north" where it is cold can tell us if they can hear the compressor actually turning on and off when they run the defroster.
Filled up today 22 MPG - this is much better than what I was getting in the summer.
... 22 MPG - this is much better than what I was getting in the summer.
I didn't think there was anything other than summer in Houston!
Maybe someone that lives "up north" where it is cold can tell us if they can hear the compressor actually turning on and off when they run the defroster.
While I call it the windshield deFOGGER ( i call the REAR's deFROSTER): Ican confirm it does comes on @ ~ >32 degrees if you set to the Noon or greater settings.
================================================
2006 Mazda3s hatch auto(5spd)
221mi---7.585gal--$16.45--80%c--20%h--29.1mpg
334mi--11.421gal--$24.66--0%c--100%h--29.2mpg
292mi---9.797gal--$22.13--10%c--90%h--29.8mpg
335mi--10.823gal--$23.58--20%c--80%h--31.0mpg
Total
1182mi 39.626gal $86.82 29.8mpg
===============================================
(Note: Both 2nd and 3rd fillups would have been higher if I had not encountered 20 minutes of holiday gridlock on the interstate.)
My daily commute is short, about 4 miles with little or no stop and go traffic. It's winter in central Florida, which is to say, cool to mild temperature with no A/C. I used light to moderate throttle. This is a departure from the RX-8 where I was moderate to heavy on the gas. Switching from a manual to the automatic slowed my driving habit a bit.
Are you sure about that? According to another site reporting about the car displayed at SEMA 2005 they made the statement below. In effect, this is a tricked out version of the regular Mazda3 by which Mazda is promoting its Mazdaspeed parts.
MAZDASPEED-accessorized MAZDA3 -- The already stylish MAZDA3 adds an aggressive front fascia and lower lip spoiler, customized front grille, side sill add-ons, rear under-skirt and lip spoiler and MS-TII aluminum wheels (18x7.5JJ) with diamond-cut carbon-fiber center caps and 225/45R18 Bridgestone tires. A sport shifter for shorter shifts, lightweight flywheel and sport clutch with increased clamp load and torque capacity help improve the performance of the MAZDA3.
My short commute takes me on an urban highway for a bit so I get a good mix of city/highway driving. The only downside is that the FE is only 24/29 to begin with.
For Christmas I drove from Augusta, GA to see my mother in Monroe, LA. A 645 mile trip, 99% of which is on I-20. I drove extra-fast on my way out because I was late, but I drove a cruise-controlled 73 on the way back. And I got spot on 29 mpg.
That is the highest I've ever managed to get. I'm not particularly happy the highway mileage is so low, but at least I know I can get EPA estimates by driving reasonably.
Jason
Driving on flat freeway at 65 MPH,
2005 3i (17K) = 2500 RPM
2005 3s (30K) = 3000 RPM
2006 3s (1.3k)= ~2400 RPM
This led me to investigate final drive ratio for Mazda 3. Here are what I found:
Final EPA
Drive MPG
2004-2006 Mazda 3i&s MT = 4.105 28/35,25-6/32
2004-2006 Mazda 3i AT = 3.683 26/34
2004-2005 Mazda 3s AT = 4.416 24/29
2006 Mazda 3s AT = 3.863 25/31
So for all MT regardless of year and model, the final drive has not changed and Highway MPGs remain unchanged.
However, the 2006 s final drive ratio is smaller than 2004-5, and this allows for a better fuel efficiency and this is reflected in 2+ better MPG. The 2006 s I test drive has sport AT with 5-speed.
To conclude, if you want fuel efficiency, go with 3i, both auto and manual are okay. The 3i auto with a low final drive ratio 3.683 is pretty good with fuel. If you want the 3s performance but want to save on gas, go with the 3s MT or 2006 3s with 5-speed AT.
bongjie
As per your list, the fuel economy numbers for the 2006 hatchback (3s) automatic and manual are nearly identical.
Transmission: City / Highway
Manual: 25 to 26 / 32
Automatic: 25 / 31
What source are you using: EPA, manufacturer, car mag, other? It would be interesting to compare these with the real world numbers that drivers are citing in Edmunds.
According to Consumer Reports, the EPA numbers are usually very optimistic, up to 30% more than what many drivers get in real world driving.
Here are the numbers on the 2006 Mazda 3GTs from Mazda website:
5-Speed manual..................Sport Auto
Reverse.........3.166...........Reverse..3.405
1st.....3.307...........1st......3.62
2nd.....1.842...........2nd......1.925
3rd.....1.310...........3rd......1.285
4th.....0.970...........4th......0.933
5th.....0.755...........5th......0.692
Final Drive.....4.105...Final Drive......3.863
My question is, based on these values wouldn't you expect the automatic to get BETTER mpg than the MT (as well as more torque in 1st and 2nd)?
WavRider
Your logic is sound - the thing you are missing is - all automatic trannys have some degree of "slip" - which means some of the power that the engine generates gets lost - a manual has a direct mechanical link from the engine to the drive wheels - although there is still a small amount of slip in a manual - it is much less than an auto.
Look at it this way - If you have a manual in gear with the clutch out and stop the car the engine will die - an auto will keep running.
I have 2005 Mazda3s Sedan 5 speed bought in may-2005 Build date march-2005. Right now it has 10,000 Miles and I am consistently getting 28-31 mpg in a 50/50 mix of city/highway traffic with my wife and 2 year son. I am neither a rough driver nor a smooth one
I never got an opportunity to go for a long highway ride but I expect the gas mileage to be nearly 32 mpg in that case.
So far absolutely no problem ( TouchWood !!! )
Mostly city driving.
22.33 mpg
23.32 mpg
22.93 mpg
Pretty close to the manufacturer's rating of 25 mpg (city). I currently have about 800 mls on the car. Never went over 70 mph. Most of the driving (80-90%) was city. For comparison, I was getting approx 25-26 mpg with my 2000 Protege ES... before trading it for the M3; and that was with v. aggressive driving.
However, for the way I drive, ranging between 22 and 26 MPG is slightly lower than I wanted, but about what I should be getting. I find it strange that the overdrive gear is geared as high as it is. Cruising in 5th gear at 80MPH, I am at about 3500RPM, which seems somewhat high for optimal mileage. The car has enough low end torque to maintain speeds easily, even on hills going 80MPH at 2800-3000RPM, where I think it should be. I haven't gone on long travels yet, but considering I speed at about 80-90MPH on the interstate, my mileage will suffer, but I'll probably have more passing power without downshifting to 4th, considering VVTi kicks in between 3500 and 4000RPMs.
A friend wants a new 3 and may get the 3i which i think is a good move since gas may hit the $4-$5 one day soon. I keep eyeing the new civic with its 30/38 mpg for the manual even though I love my 3 too regardless.
25.2 MPG in city driving is phenomenal. I get 26 combined
Tomorrow the car gets its 30K mile checkup. Recently put new tires on it; now it rides quieter than the original tires. Only complaint is that this is the weakest A/C I have ever had on a car. Otherwise handles great; feels like a larger, more expensive car.
I am probably going to be buying a 5 door Touring with moonroof/CD changer next weekend. Just have to drive one more competitor car (Honda Fit when it comes out on Thursday) before I make the final call. Every once in a while I think of going for a four door 3i Touring since it seems more efficient, but I think since I scuba dive, the tail gate will come in very handy.
Thanks.
i've been getting btwn 27-29 mpg in mixed driving (50% highway/50% city). my highway driving is done at approx 70-85mph. the 1999 honda civic ex 4 dr 5spd it replaced would get about 29-31 mpg in the same conditions. while the slightly better fuel economy was nice, the mazda3 is ALOT more fun to drive.
M3S HB 4 spd A/T
my wife got 30 mpg doing 90%/10% highway/city and 27 mpg doing 60%/40% highway/city. she accelerates more moderately than me. compared to her 04 honda CR-V, she commented that the CR-V was just a vehicle to get from point a to b while the mazda3 is more involving and fun.
I was concerned about the MPG issue and almost went with the Civic for that reason - but am now very glad I chose the 3.
After 1250 miles I'm consistantly averaging 22.5mpg with about 80% city driving. Interestingly, my trip computer consistently shows about 1mpg lower.
You're doing great. I normally only go 330 miles for that amount of gas