I've only had my MCS for a month and a half and I'm almost at 1000 miles.

I do mostly city driving, I'm a bit aggressive and I only use 91 octane (highest available in CA, currently at $2.34/gallon, thanks BUSH).

I am only getting 179 miles per tank. At a refill of 11.5 gallons ($26.91) that's only 15-16 MPG! What's up with that? My OBC tells me about the same.

Is my mileage going to improve as I get some more driving in?

I'm curious as to what others are getting on an average MPG and per tank.

Thanks,
Ryan


My only MOD is the ALTA Intake.

 

wow weird!

i have been getting 240-300 miles... and filling up with about 9.5

that has been the case from 400 miles up to now, ,2400 miles

and i voted for bush

 

I guess I should also note that I usually have the Auto AC on at about 66 degrees.
I know that has an effect on mileage.

 

the 300 miles i am getting are in city.hwy and once in a while with ac on..plus i have 17 inch wheels (which are bad for gas)

 

Wow, only 15-16 mpg!
I, too, do mostly city driving. I am able to stretch it on the highway on weekends.
I'm averaging 25.17 (MC w/ over 4k miles and use the A/C)
The highest mpg I ever got so far was 28.64, and that was on fill-up #2.

 

Sullivan'sDaddy,

In 50/50 driving I get at best 23 mpg according to the OBC - not that I am driving for best economy but I don't floor it everywhere. AC is on always. I use 93 fuel. 3000 miles on the clock.

If you are city driving most of the time my guess is it won't get a whole lot better.

 

Wow I get 23 to 25mpg and I just cruise on back roads and highways with my foot in it when the roads are clear.

 

I get 33 on the road and about 24-28 mpg round town going up and down mountains between town and our house. I also have measured my mileage at about 7 mpg when I autocross. If your mileage is that bad it is probably the way you drive. That supercharger really sucks up the gas when you drive with "enthuasiasm". However, enthusiasm is more fun.

 

>>In 50/50 driving I get at best 23 mpg according to the OBC - not that I am driving for best economy but I don't floor it everywhere.

For me, the car's computer always reports about 2 MPG better than my MCS actually gives. It is now ~1 year old and has ~11,000 miles on the clock, and I typically get 24-25 actual (26-28 on the computer) with 93 octane -- that's with about 50/50 mix. Actual performance depends on weather. Too hot/humid and I run the A/C, costing a couple of MPG. In winter mileage also drop as temp fall into the 30s. The best ever was nearly 30 actual MPG on a trip where I held it below 60, and the outside temp was delightful in the high 70s.

The ALTA intake box should improve things 1-2 MPG, unless you really push it because you love the sound of the bees under the hood.

Seeing numbers in the teens is definitely abnormal.

_________________
Tom Clark, Clarksville MD: CR '02 MCS

 

I have a 2003 MCS with 6200 miles on it. I never run AC. I have the madness intake, 61mm throttlebody, Quicksilver exhaust, lightweight 17x7 aftermarket wheels, and about 80 pounds extra in audio upgrades.
If I do mixed driving city and highway I can get 28 mpg using premium gas. I have no cruise control.
The best I have ever got was 34 mpg on highway only and the worst I have got was 21 mpg with a full day of track driving/car control clinic. If I drive hard and mostly city I get about 24 to 25 mpg.

So to get 15 mpg you are really reving the engine high, idling alot, and blasting the AC on to the max. If you did that in any car you'd get less than 15 mpg so it is all relative. What do your other cars get or what did your former car get in mpg?.

Will your mpg improve? Well it is only 1000 miles so since you have not passed breakin and you are driving at under 4500 rpm then I would say that no, your mpg numbers will continue close to where you are right now unless something changes. Some mods might improve mpg. Intake, exhaust, plasma booster maybe.

_________________
ALOHA

 

With 14000 miles on my MCS, I am getting about 18mpg with spirited (i dont like the term aggressive) city driving. That is in the summer heat of Alabama with the AC on and redlining it in first and second whenever possible.

On a long highway drive averaging 70mph, I get about 28-30 mpg.

I'm pretty happy with it, and know that I could easily improve my mileage if I subdued my driving style, but why would I want to do that???

 

I've got 4500 miles on myy MCS now. I don't run the AC much, the milage to date is about 27. My commute is 17 miles including 7-8 stops and 13 miles of 60-75mph. The OBC is 3mpg optimistic. The best I've seen is around 30 (33.6 OBC), cruising with an average speed (OBC) of 71mph.

I'm a little disapointed that it isn't better. I had a Toyotoa FX16 that got 30mpg, against and EPA highway rating of 28, for the life of the car.

On the other hand the grins per mile can't be beat!

 

I drive about 17 miles each way in my MC. Most of it is stop and go, especially on the way home. I have about 1500 miles on the clock and have been getting 26.7 or 27 consistently since the second tank. My OBC reports the mileage to within a tenth or two. I drive with enthusiasm whenever I get the chance. I have had the mileage go as high as 40 when I reset the OBC just before hitting the open highway at 60-70.

 

That sounds too low. Are you following the break in procedure? If you are and don't have too much stop and go, you should be getting mid 20's in my experience.

Maybe the handbrake is on? :smile:

Regards,
Red

 

>>I drive about 17 miles each way in my MC. Most of it is stop and go, especially on the way home. I have about 1500 miles on the clock and have been getting 26.7 or 27 consistently since the second tank. My OBC reports the mileage to within a tenth or two. I drive with enthusiasm whenever I get the chance. I have had the mileage go as high as 40 when I reset the OBC just before hitting the open highway at 60-70.

I also have a Cooper. I have played with resetting the computer trying to understand what it is reporting but have never felt confidence in the numbers I see. Even hand computing the mileage from tank to tank will give wild fluctuations. I did keep receipts and didn't reset the trip mileage for some time while driving a combination of city, highway and backroad driving. Over 750 miles I used 25 gallons. I seem to be getting 30mpg average. I stopped resetting the computer about 2000 miles ago and it now reports 31.4 mpg. I think this is a shade optimistic.

While the MCS is supposed to get less mileage (as a penalty for having more fun) I would say some 50% than what the EPA average says it should be would be cause for concern. If one is relying on the computer and frequently resetting it to zero one may be getting more pessimistic numbers than are real. Could I suggest driving for some 1000 miles, keeping a record of the amount pumped into the tank, and then averaging based on those two cumulative numbers?

 

Now who is going for mileage and who is beating the crap out of their cars? I now have over 14000 miles on my '02 MCS ,I drive 15 miles to work on congested roads here on Long Island and consistantly average 28 mpg . I have found that if you accelerate briskly and after you reach speed to lightly press the gas pedal the mileage will improve. I get approx. 300 mile on a tank ,so I know the computer is AVERAGING the MPG for the ENTIRE tank (or the last time you reset). I have both 16 and 17 inch wheel /tire sets ,and the 16" set gets better mileage by almost 5mpg! BTW the ride is also vastly improved with the 16's . :smile:

 

Wow - 15-16 sounds very low.

I have a totally stock MCS with about 3k on the clock, and a very consistent commute of 17 miles each way; about 1/3 surface streets and 2/3 highway (but with a lot of stop-and-go traffic).

I get around 27-28 mpg on average. When I drive in a very "spirited" manner, with the auto ac on full time, the worst I've seen is about 25 mpg. I did an experiment through two tank-fulls last month, driving very reserved, keeping to 70 mph on the highway, and running the ac only when absolutely necessary. I got 32 mpg and change from both tanks. No matter how I drive, my average speed is always around 30 mph, so I think that is more a function of the traffic than my driving style. I'm pretty certain if I took a long highway road trip and kept to moderate speeds, I'd see 35-36 out of it. All these numbers are direct from the OBC; I've never checked/verified the OBC accuracy with manual calculations.

As a side note, during my experimental "conservative driving" phase, the car stayed a lot cleaner; especially the wheels (much less hard braking).....kind of a reward for gentle driving; but I didn't buy my MCS to drive "gently"!

Also, the temperature you have the auto ac set to shouldn't really matter. I believe the ac compressor runs the same at any temp setting when the ac is on. Cabin temperature is moderated by the system mixing cold ac air and warm air from the heater core. Where you set the temp just determines how much cold and warm air get mixed in. Turning the ac off seems to be good for about 2-3 more mpg, on average (quite significant).

I'd be concerned about 15-16 mpg, and would suggest a consultation with your service department.

Best of luck,

James

 

Thanks for the input, I'll keep my eye on it. Most of my driving is around town, short trips with lost of stop and go. I think I'm a little heavy on the gas too.

 

I got my MCS at the end of last month and I too notice that gas goes quick. Not as bad as yours however. I do have my AC on all the time (its hot in So Cal right now) and I travel Ortega Hwy. I get about 240-300 depending how hard I drive it.

How does the OBC work? I have it but mine only says when the next maintenance will need to be. Forgive me as I havent read the Owners Manual yet. I just drive.

 

I was getting better gas mileage in California but I was also doing more freeway driving (31 to 32 combined). Since moving to Colorado and getting the chip upgrade I am now averaging 28 to 29 with AC on all year. Altitude is an issue here since gas can not burn as well as when one is at sea level.

Oh, and the high gas prices are Californian in nature, not national via Bush. You can thank Davis and the environmental ****’s for your gas prices. Yet another reason I don’t miss California. Now I do miss In-N-Out and some other food places, can’t beat the food diversity and quality of California.

 

I'm at 22k after 7 months and my OBC reads an average 2 mpg optimistic. When I'm at home I do mainly city driving and fill up at about 300 miles. Highway I get an average of 32-34 and fill 'er up around 350 miles. My cross country trip cost me 10k and I let the OBC go the entire time, without resetting. My average was 32mpg (34, says the OBC) with mainly highway, but a good dose of town/city driving as I stayed off the interstates.

I've heard tell of people getting pretty crappy fuel economy, and that sucks. I wish mine was better, but 33mpg is still considered *good* for petrol=powered cars.

Hope yours improves!

 

I now have about 2000 miles on the clock and I get about 34~35 MPG on the highway at 70 with the AC on. The 37 quoted could probably be achieved if I had the 15" wheels and did 60 with the AC off.

In town I easily get about 25~26 with AC on and 28 with AC off.

The numbers above were hand calculated and were within a few tenths of the OBC. I find the OBC to be very accurate. The worst it has ever been off was 1 MPG.

So far I love this car.

 

I've got a 5 day young 2003 MC with 1246 miles. I'm from CA too, though I'm in Tennessee right now on my 30 day roadtrip. 93 Octane fuel is everywhere here unlike in CA and gas prices seem to be about $1.73/gal which is nice.

I've got the Nav system with 2 MPG readings, one I'm leaving for the entire trip and the other being reset at each stop. The computer has been reading between 26 - 30 mpg. I'm driving mostly 90mph on the expressways here, keeping it between 3500 to 4000 rpm, and varying constantly.

Ac is always on set to between 66 to 74 deg. While the MPG measurement doesn't seem anywhere near the claimed 37 hway for this car, the fact it goes so far on a single tank, usually about 330 miles is amazing. I've mostly been filling up at 50% full, about 5 to 6 gallons for total damage less than $10. I love it!

Read and see more on my daily hiplog at http://www.hiplogs.com/hiplog/read/4/686
Which I'm updating along the road with my TMobile Color Sidekick.

Richard

 

I have almost 5500 miles on my May-build 2003 MCS. My overall average is 24.5 MPG: highest for a single tank of gas was 26.9, lowest was 20.1. Mostly I use Mobil premium (R+M 93), sometimes Sunoco 94. My normal commute takes me across Westchester County on about 6 or 7 miles of town and county roads as well as about 25 miles of Interstate highways. But I have lately been avoiding I-684 and I-287 and taking only the back roads, as they are just more fun.

As for servicing the car, I check both the engine oil level and tire pressures regularly, bought an "extra" engine oil & filter change at 2000 miles, had the power steering pump/fan wiring harness replaced due to a recall notice, and had the engine's main wiring harness replaced after the car went into "limp home mode".

As they say... your mileage may vary.

PS: My on-board computer always reads about 2-3 MPG higher than actual.

 

I drive with the AC on usually (I'm in FL) and manage about 22 MPG in heavy foot, city driving.