I drove my RX-8 back and forth to Austin today and averaged 23.9mpg over the full tank. The EPA rated the car at 24mpg in the old system. Since my 23.9 included about 60 miles of driving around in Austin traffic, I'm quite certain that my highway mileage was above 24mpg.
... and they said it couldn't be done. 
It's still a gas hog, though. 
no worse then my astro... or my volvo....
So...an RX-anything with an LS motor swap & 6speed manual would still be more fuel efficient than the 1.3L lump in there huh? tsk tsk
Sheeeeeet, I've done better than that with a 25-year-old carburetored 12A!
billy...nooooooooooo
IBTBATCB (in before thread becomes a total cluster berkeley)
this is good to hear, considering my pending application for a job 50 (as opposed to my current 6) miles from my house.
Go get a truck / tow vehical. Makes an RX seem positively fantastic in the MPG department. Yes I have had many of both.
Did it use any oil?
Woody wrote: Did it use any oil?
It's a rotary, so yes, it did. They're designed to. That's how the seals get oiled.
I think he knows that already... 
damn... being happy over 24mpg... if my Ti dips that low, I get worried
lsx+6spd in anycar = sex and good mpgs.
Was that the on board computer average or did you actually do it the proper way?
My Fit said I got like 33 on the highway but when I measured it out the proper way by filing the gas tank
the fit only gets 33? I can hit 35 in my ti at 70mph... I can get close4 to 40 if I keep it at or slightly below 65. And I am running wider than stock sticky summer tyres
disappointing for the fit, good mileage for the Ti tho.
I get 25 around town and 33 on the highway (both actual mpg figures calculated from gas receipts) in my 03 matrix which is about as aerodynamic as a brick 
it is probably more aerodynamic than you would think. Modern cars may look brick like, but a lot of thought goes into controlling the airflow in and around them
jcanracer wrote: So...an RX-anything with an LS motor swap & 6speed manual would still be more fuel efficient than the 1.3L lump in there huh? tsk tsk
+1, still less than a C5 Z06. 24MPG is nothing to brag about with such a small engine, although it may be on the high side for a Renesis.
DirtyBird222 wrote: My Fit said I got like 33 on the highway but when I measured it out the proper way by filing the gas tank
I'm hanging on every word, but it's a short ledge. Inquiring minds want to know. FWIW, I've cracked 40mpg in my wife's Fit doing some serious drafting, but can't do better.
24mpg in an RX-8 is encouraging. That's better than our last Project WRX.
I heard driving a rotary powered car will make you strangely attracted to Mitzi Gaynor movies...
...or that the sound of a rotary will make you hear colors...
...or that no one has ever ACTUALLY seen a rotor...
...or that Mazda strait out denies that they got the idea of the rotary from a crashed UFO they recovered off of Kagoshima in 1974.
How about 59.09 for my ZX2/SR. ? Of course I was really trying. I gets 35+ in regular trips. I have hit 40 a couple of times.
Then there is my Liberty. 21 at best.
And I've seen better than 25mpg in my Cobra, with it's supposedly inefficient 4.6L V8, and that wasn't doing anything resembling hypermiling. 75+mph, weaving through traffic, and spending as much time in 4th as I did in 5th.
For the record, that's actually the BEST fuel economy I've ever seen from that car. Every time I try to do standard hypermiling techniques, my fuel economy drops under 20. Lesson learned, I just drive how I want to, and let the fuel economy fall where it may.
24mpg is terrific for a 2900lb sports car with .31CD.
I get 22 mpg (measured) out of my 1993 GMC Sonoma. the Porsche however is not fairing as well, I think there may be something wrong with it though as it smells like an outboard boat motor, I wonder if it is running too rich....
My 1997 Saturn SC2 5-speed will get close to 40 if I behave. 38 w a/c and 80mph.
Woody wrote: Did it use any oil?
Some, but not enough to be noticeable over one tank. It's burned just under a pint and a half in the last 2500 miles of street driving. OTOH, it burns about a pint per hour on track.
DirtyBird222 wrote: Was that the on board computer average or did you actually do it the proper way?
I am the on-board computer, so I guess that makes it the proper way (fill to first shut-off click, drive, refill to first shut-off click, divide miles driven by gallons in second purchase).
I get an honest, calculated many times, 36USMPG driving like a D-bag through the mountains to Merritt, BC and back in the Swift GTi. Considering my d-bagginess (think, every opportunity to pass will be taken at 9 gazillion rpm), and massive cams I was thoroughly surprised.
And its cooler then an RX8 natch! 
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