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Real-world 2.5 NA fuel mileage / economy


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I've never gotten the actual mileage that the computer has calculated. Typically 1 - 1.5 mpg less. I see about 28mpg with mostly hilly highway commutes.

 

I have a bigger question for you folks...

 

At medium to highway speeds (50mph+), whenever I pass one of those radar/flashing speedometer signs on the road, they consistently indicate that I'm going 3mph slower than my speedometer indicates. 3mph always.

 

That means my odometer is rolling about 5% (3mph at 60mph) faster than actual miles.

 

The way I see it, this is cutting into my warranty.

 

Has anyone else noticed this? Should I slow down and enjoy the view? Do we have a class action suit?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I have never met the computer calculated mpg either. It is too optimistic. Are you on stock tires still? I don't see too much variation on the radar signs, but I'm on 225/45/17's.

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I have never met the computer calculated mpg either. It is too optimistic. Are you on stock tires still? I don't see too much variation on the radar signs, but I'm on 225/45/17's.

 

Stock everything. 4 speed auto. I just feel that the odometer is reading on the high side. I read somewhere that Honda got in trouble for this a few years ago. It turns out that all their cars were indicating high odometer readings. Honda claimed that they were within tolerance. Still, it behooves the manufacturer to get the vehicles out of warranty as quickly as possible.

 

I just wanted to get a feel for whether it's just my ride or this is happening across the fleet.

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Stock everything. 4 speed auto. I just feel that the odometer is reading on the high side. I read somewhere that Honda got in trouble for this a few years ago. It turns out that all their cars were indicating high odometer readings. Honda claimed that they were within tolerance. Still, it behooves the manufacturer to get the vehicles out of warranty as quickly as possible.

 

I just wanted to get a feel for whether it's just my ride or this is happening across the fleet.

 

You could measure this yourself and see - I'd be intrested in seeing the answer. Some road have a set of measured mile signposts (always wondered why) or, compare with another car.

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I get pretty bad gas mileage =( 09 4EAT +awd gets me 15ish in the city and 25+ freeway(depending if I gas it alot or not) This car rivals my rx-7 83 in gas mileage, but I get to fit more ppl in it and it doesn't smell like burning oil/coolant. Seems to average out to 20 MPG with 70 city/30 freeway.

 

Forgot to mention I am a feather foot on the gas. People who sit in my car say i'm driving too slow, but i'm actually over the speed limit by 5mph usually

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I get pretty bad gas mileage =( 09 4EAT +awd gets me 15ish in the city and 25+ freeway(depending if I gas it alot or not) This car rivals my rx-7 83 in gas mileage, but I get to fit more ppl in it and it doesn't smell like burning oil/coolant. Seems to average out to 20 MPG with 70 city/30 freeway.

 

Forgot to mention I am a feather foot on the gas. People who sit in my car say i'm driving too slow, but I'm actually over the speed limit by 5mph usually

 

I get about 28 on the highway, and no way do I baby it. The only time i see the speed limit is accelerating and decelerating through it. Typical cruise for me (conditions permitting) is 75-80.

 

When my ride was new, I too was disappointed with the mileage. It started at about 24 on the highway. But I noticed that it slowly crept up with every tank. It took about 10k miles for the engine to break in and the mpg finally stabilized at 28. The engine loosened up a bit and I find it now accelerates a lot better than when new.

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I don't think something is wrong with it, even with my mileage it is still around what the EPA ratings, just on the low side =(

 

That's good to hear but I don't drive it often, had the car for maybe 4-5 months and only hit 2k. On a side note, my sister and mother was surprised how fast the needle drops (doesn't help gas mileage if your carrying 4 ppl)

 

Funny thing is if I feather foot the car, the AVG MPG from the display will rarely go up, but if I drive more aggressively it will definitely drop.

 

I think I do have to drive it more.

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Dad's 2009 Outback 2.5i has less than 1500 on the odometer and he's averaging about 24-25 mpg, 100 mile daily commute, all highway, 75-80 mph. And is kinda upset that his previous car (1994 Accord EX wagon) was better in terms of mpg. I keep telling him things will improve, car isn't even broken in yet. :D

 

Yes, but Bart, more importantly, how big is your junk?

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Everyone's MPG should start dropping compared to summer. Cold air + "winter" gasoline kills the mileage a bit.

 

I usually get 22MPG, usually goes up a couple MPG during the summer. I've got my 30,000 mile service next week so I'm hoping that will bring mileage up a bit.

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i know the mpg gauge is not accurate, but its a good way to gauge how you car is doing, either better or worst. from new to about 20k miles, i used regular oil. i got about 28.5mpg on the computer or usually about 28.0 calculated. then i switched over to synthetic and got 27.6mpg consistantly on the computer, and 26.8 calculated. most of the driving i do is a combo of country roads and highway.

 

this past friday i was going to do a 280mi trip so i changed my oil. i was feeling cheap so i switched back to the regular oil. the computer hovered around 24-25mpg for about 50 miles doing 65-70mph. funny thing happened when i decided to do roughly 80mph, mpg started to climb all the way up to 30.6mpg for the rest of the trip. now back to my daily driving routine the computer is back at 28.5mpg.

 

so did switching back to regular oil return me back to some better gas mileage? i always change my oil between 5-6k miles. i never loose a drop. my driving is pretty consistant. this is not an oil thread but should i just stay with regular oil?

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no. mixed driving before i was getting 28.5 on the computer. when i switched to synthetic, i was getting 27.6 on the computer (mixed driving). when i switched back to regular it spiked to 30.6 on the highway but is 28.5 again mixed driving. of course it changes here and there, but these are the consistant numbers i get which is kinda odd. it did feel smoother with synthetic, but it can just be my head, i can't really tell anymore really. i was expecting the mpg to drop with winter fuel and colder temps.
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ok cool. i'm using supertech oil by the way if that makes a difference? i know its a cheap ass oil but it gets good UOA's according to what i've read. i went from regular supertech, to the sythetic supertech, back to regular supertech. i change my oil 5-6k miles, and N/A 4 cylinder should be easy on oil compared to turbos. i don't race or anything either so i might just stay regular from now on, especially at $9.50/5qt.
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  • 2 weeks later...

At medium to highway speeds (50mph+), whenever I pass one of those radar/flashing speedometer signs on the road, they consistently indicate that I'm going 3mph slower than my speedometer indicates. 3mph always.

 

That means my odometer is rolling about 5% (3mph at 60mph) faster than actual miles.

 

 

I have noticed this on my 06 2.5i wagon with the 4 speed auto as well, the weird part is that it says I'm going faster then what the radar picks up, I have even noticed on the GPS it says Im going slower then what the speedo. says. The weird part is that on the freeway I watched the ODO as it rolls mile for mile even with the Milepost makers... Im not sure but it seems like speed is off but the ODO. is correct?

 

AS FOR the original topic at hand I have 25k on the car since i bought it and am averaging 27.1 mpg. with about 85% highway 15% city.

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I recently drove from Austin to Houston in my '10 Outback CVT with 1,500 miles on it and a full cargo hold. The computer said I averaged 31.5 mpg. I figured that since Houston is slightly lower than Austin then I wouldn't quite get that on the way back. I actually got 32.0 on the return trip.
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  • 1 month later...
i have an 07 with 28k and i get 21 city/ 24.5 highway. Any ideas why it seems to be lower. I know it is winter but it seems low

 

- Check tire pressure

- your 30k maintenance is coming soon: some fresh spark plugs and fuel injector cleaner may help (I use BG 44K)

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