Just to be sure, you get the best mileage in these cars by being careful to shift only when the needle on the tachometer reaches where the red paint and the 7 meet, right? 
It's a pretty significant improvement when shifting at 3k or so. But not nearly as much fun... now what do I do?
I still got around 11mpg shifting at redline on track, that was a 1.6 though.
I drove my miata hard, still averaged 24 mpg, cruising on the interstate I pulled 28mpg. For 4mpg it's not worth the effort IMHO.
4mpg difference is 60 miles from a 15 gallon tank. That's an extra 2-gallons of fuel (or $5) at that consumption rating, OR about 2 days worth of commuting for me (well, one day and one trip one way).
sigh...
don't make fun of me. It's all I can do to stay awake on the drive home.
In my 1.6 I get 28-30 mpg in normal driving and about 15 mpg at the track shifting at redline. On the street I usually shift around 3k.
I have been tracking my mileage since I got mine 10 months or so ago. My average is 26.7 mpg driven moderately hard on a 15 mile country road commute. Best ever was 34.75 with the hardtop on a road trip, worst was 21 towing a sailboat.
All 4 miatas I've had, range from 1990 to 2002, all seem to get about 26-28 for the most part. They are not driven gently, but how Miatas are made to be driven!
My NC averages 28mpg with a commute through the city and 80mph on the highway.
Hungary Bill wrote: 4mpg difference is 60 miles from a 15 gallon tank. That's an extra 2-gallons of fuel (or $5) at that consumption rating, OR about 2 days worth of commuting for me (well, one day and one trip one way). sigh... don't make fun of me. It's all I can do to stay awake on the drive home.
Preach it brother... I'm 19mi one way, all city, and guessing I'm in the low 20's. It seems to eat a fair amount less now that I'm trying to watch shift points, comparison being 1st half of the tank/week was at higher shift points, and last half here is burning a little slower.
Picking fewer spots to have fun and driving in a more pedestrian manner. Sigh.
Is it being miserly, or is that amount of gas actually impacting your budget?
The former, loosen up a bit geez. The latter, get a different car/job.
I understand wanting to save money (I haven't had cable in 5 years), but some of you guys seem to take this to the extreme.
Miatas get terrible mileage for what they are. Not sure how you fix that on an n/a without making it a lot slower.
If you want a sports car that gets better highway mileage you could try something heavier and faster with a bigger engine like a porsche boxster. 
Engine management. You'll pick up some efficiency with a modern engine computer that runs closed loop all the time. Bonus, makes the car faster.
Turbo. Even in highway cruise, you'll see an improvement as you effectively have a zero restriction intake. Bonus, makes the car faster.
Just checked my logs - I've seen 27.8 mpg average in the past six months in the turbo 1.8 Miata. The CRX has managed 34.1.
Vigo wrote: Miatas get terrible mileage for what they are. Not sure how you fix that on an n/a without making it a lot slower. If you want a sports car that gets better highway mileage you could try something heavier and faster with a bigger engine like a porsche boxster.
You fix it by making it a lot faster.
The built motor turbo 95 i just sold was doing well into the 30s.
Install a vacuum gauge, avoid dropping the needle below 10"Hg, guaranteed couple points for a leadfoot driver. You become a lot more conscious of how much throttle you're using when you have a way of gauging when the ECU goes open loop.
Do not start it, drive 1 block at a sedate pace, rip through a first/second red line then solidly into third crossing three lanes and diving into a neat s-curve, then coast down to 42mph for the remainder of your 1.8 mile sub 8 minute commute with traffic lights if you want to get more than about 22mpg. 
Sad thing is nothing I've DD'ed since has gotten over 15mpg driving like a little old lady.
z31maniac wrote: Is it being miserly, or is that amount of gas actually impacting your budget? The former, loosen up a bit geez. The latter, get a different car/job. I understand wanting to save money (I haven't had cable in 5 years), but some of you guys seem to take this to the extreme.
Low level whining in good fun - the big fat Focus got 29.7 when I flogged it, and 31 or thereabouts driving sedately.
It doesn't kill the budget at all, but the psychological effect is "man, this little rat is a gas hog!".
Not giving it up until it's pried from my cold dead fingers... I believe ownership of a sporty car is a constitutional mandate. 
It's still a huge improvement over the 12.5 mpg my tundra gets so 24 feels awesome.
Driving 'nicely' only nets me another 4 MPG or so (26 all highway vs normal 22) so yeah, no point.
Running nearly 18 degrees of advance probably doesn't help either.
But yeah, on cheap gas, fun to drive + north of 20 MPG, no complaints here.
I have about a 2 mile commute, mostly 25 mph and stop lights with a short stretch of highway for about fifteen seconds before braking. I get about 15 in the Corvette and I barely gain any oil temperature. I get up earlier, drive a longer route, and get sideways on cold tires when the coast is clear. Gas mileage is about the same but smiles per gallon go way up.
I'm fairly convinced the fools who tuned my Megasquirted 2001 motor didn't do even a halfway decent job. My last fill up was sub-20, and there was very little hooning on that tank.
The stock 94 engine returned mid-20s, except for long highway trips which were 28, and track days which were low teens.
Yeah that sounds like a bad tune to me.
Anyone can make power. It's everything else that separates the men from the boys.
You fix it by making it a lot faster. The built motor turbo 95 i just sold was doing well into the 30s.
Well, i specified n/a as in naturally aspirated, so what's the solution that doesnt involve massive project creep? I suspect the answer is 'there is no solution to naturally aspirated miata mpg that doesn't involve major expense/effort'.
Has anyone just tried tricking it with a simulated narrowband output to run leaner? At least that is only $150 + effort. You might make that up in as little as a year in gas savings! 
Swank Force One wrote: Yeah that sounds like a bad tune to me. Anyone can make power. It's everything else that separates the men from the boys.
Emilio is not terribly far away. I need to scrape some cash together and get him to do it right. I'd have gone there first, but there were reasons I had to do it this way :(
Vigo wrote:You fix it by making it a lot faster. The built motor turbo 95 i just sold was doing well into the 30s.Well, i specified n/a as in naturally aspirated, so what's the solution that doesnt involve massive project creep? I suspect the answer is 'there is no solution to naturally aspirated miata mpg that doesn't involve major expense/effort'. Has anyone just tried tricking it with a simulated narrowband output to run leaner? At least that is only $150 + effort. You might make that up in as little as a year in gas savings!
The engine management I mentioned would work.
What year is this car again?
In reply to Vigo:
I don't know. I think a lot of it comes down to driver. The base 2000 i had for two weeks did 33mpg on the way home, and the current owner is doing 30-31mpg with it.
I'd still just do a megasquirt. Ms2 is cheap.
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