Why isn't the fuel economy better?

[#87]

Originally Posted by smallfun

How are you getting that kind of mileage on yours? My avg after 1400 miles so far is 30.8mpg MT, commuting to work 70/30 fwy/street going around 70mph.

As hard as it may be, drive a tank at 60 mph and dont go over 3k rpm. You will be amazed what a light foot can achieve.

[JDMenrique]

im getting around 24.5mpg, all street with plenty of stops driving like a grandpa

[brichard0625]

Honestly i never go by the estimated gas, or the dash. To get realworld numbers you have to fill up drive all the way to about 1/4 tank or E and then refill again and calculate how many miles/numbers of gallons filled. My GF has a 2012 328xi and she averages 22-24mpg(mixed) FR-S tells you went to shift and if you follow it you'll average about 27-30mpg (mixed). highest ive hit is 38-39mpg driving like a grandma and lowest was 25mpg and that was me driving like i was in fast in the furious..i'm very impressed with the fuel consumption in this car in a positive way. Someone mentioned the tc couldnt even get that and i owned a tc before this car and they were right! 19mpg-24mpg.

[Turbowned]

You can't compare cars like the BMW that cost twice as much. That's like saying "Look, Subaru's 3.6L flat six only makes 256hp and Porsche's 3.6L makes 400hp." Why isn't it better? Because you're getting the car for $25k. It's a 2.0L, high-strung boxer engine producing 100hp per liter, and it's inexpensive. Boxers aren't known for being princely on fuel, either. I'd say we're lucky to get up to 30mpg.

[Gearhd79]

yea, Im getting about 33 to 36 MPG on highway trips. I never expected that type of milege. This is a great freakin car and I dont care about the MPG but its nice to know that it gets great MPG for the type of car it is.

[industrial]

Everyone here that is complaining is forgetting about the ridiculous emissions and safety requirements oems have to meet.

You want great mpg? It's easy, remove the cats and lean out the fuel maps. Probably get 35mpg easy with +20hp.

[Vracer111]

It really depends on how you drive the car...stay off throttle as much as possible and keep the rpms low and you will get better fuel mileage. Personally I can't do that, once the car is warmed up 5k-7k rpm is my shifting range much of the time...average about 22-24 mpg daily, sometimes 20 mpg. I did recently get 33 mpg (calculated at fuel stops) fairly consistently during an ~3,500 mile round trip on vacation - which is not bad considering my FR-S has maximum performance sticky tires (in stock size, aired to 45 psi for the trip), uses 10-W30 weight oil, and had 200+lbs of cargo with me. Also seemed easier to get 33 mpg in the mountains than on flat interstate, though in the flatter interstate regions it was getting the 33 mpg at 80 mph (cruise set at 3.5k rpm) versus about 70 mph up in the mountains.

[Shagaliscious]

I've been getting just under 30mpg's. And I don't try to get good gas mileage either.

I personally think the gas mileage on the highway is superb, and that is where everyone is getting great numbers from. From what I've read, the lower numbers are generally coming from people doing more city driving then highway driving.

[Rampage]

Gearing makes a difference in fuel mileage too. Look at the difference between the manual and auto FT-86. What is the gearing of those cars you mentioned. How many gears. How many gears are overdrive?

The twins are geared lower to raise the fun factor at the cost of a little fuel mileage. Most small displacement sports cars are the same. The Miata, S2000 and MR-S were not fuel mileage champs either despite their small engines and light weight.

[wbradley]

According to my trip computer I have averaged 8.7 l/100km over approximately 8200 km.

In American English, I have averaged 32.7 mi/gal based on the imperial gallon.

In real American English, I have averaged 26.9 mi/gallon over a total distance of roughly 5100 miles. I completely disregarded the break in procedure WRT to max rpm's but didnt sustain throttle up high..

Mostly highway commute to and from work but have also had lots of fun, get the drift? Gone out with my 3rd seat occupied by my 5 yr old many times too (not deliberately sliding).

[muffinman]

Originally Posted by rikdrt1

the rating on the car is much less than the actual #'s you get in real life. This is the only car i have ever owned that does that

wouldnt toyota have a problem with the epa's mpg ratings if that were the case?

[Celica00]

Originally Posted by smallfun

How are you getting that kind of mileage on yours? My avg after 1400 miles so far is 30.8mpg MT, commuting to work 70/30 fwy/street going around 70mph.

the aftermarket exhaust helps as it helps the engine run more effeciently and since its louder, i can hear and control the throttle to not use extra gas unecessarily if i dont want to

[TVC15]

Simple -
When I drive like a fool, I'm getting 23 - 24mpg.
When I drive like a gentleman, I'm getting 30 - 32mpg

[White Shadow]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

You can't compare cars like the BMW that cost twice as much. That's like saying "Look, Subaru's 3.6L flat six only makes 256hp and Porsche's 3.6L makes 400hp." Why isn't it better? Because you're getting the car for $25k. It's a 2.0L, high-strung boxer engine producing 100hp per liter, and it's inexpensive. Boxers aren't known for being princely on fuel, either. I'd say we're lucky to get up to 30mpg.

Forget the price of the car. The reason I chose to compare the 328i is because it has a 2.0L 4-cylinder engine, although it's also turbocharged. I'm just surprised that the BMW has an engine with the same displacement, pushing a much heavier car, and still has a significantly higher highway fuel economy rating. But like others have said, real-world mileage can vary. Maybe the ratings are misleading.