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RossD
RossD Dork
1/11/11 8:27 p.m.

Pretty straight forward question: What kind of fuel economy are people seeing from some of this forums favorite cars? I drive 30 miles down the highway to work and the F150 drinks heavily. My first thoughts are the rear wheel drive cars available under $2000: miata, E30, P71, Rx-7, Fox body Mustangs, Xr4ti,...

What are you seeing/did you see with your car?

mtn
mtn SuperDork
1/11/11 8:33 p.m.

318ic E30 convertible. If I tried, I could get better than 30 in the city. Not an exaggeration. Only in the summer though, never driven in the winter. Most of the time we average about 24ish with it, mostly city. Note that this is the 4 cylinder, not the 325.

1999 Crown Vic (not P71): 17-19 average in about 70% city driving. This was with my older brother driving, if it had been me, I'm pretty sure that I could have gotten about 21 based on our differences in driving style. I just texted him, he said that on the highway if he kept it under 80 he could get 24-25ish. YMMV.

1999 Miata with a 6 speed (not as good as the 5): I average about 25; I've had it for 3 tanks of gas. Honestly, I have a real hard time getting as good gas mileage as I did in the SAAB 9-5 I just came out of.

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard SonDork
1/11/11 8:45 p.m.

325is

16 miles of highway and 3 miles of city each day.

20.4 mpg according to the OBC.

RexSeven
RexSeven Dork
1/11/11 8:56 p.m.

1987 Mazda RX-7 (non-turbo): 21mpg, mainly highway.

1986 Mazda RX-7 (turbo): I shudder to think...

Osterkraut
Osterkraut Dork
1/11/11 9:16 p.m.
RossD wrote: , Rx-7

Heh. 16mpg, mixed (75% city)

M2Pilot
M2Pilot Reader
1/11/11 9:20 p.m.

I've had a few BMWs. 1971 2002 1975 530i 1994 530i 1976 2002 1983 633 1976 2002 with s14 engine 1998 M3 Seems they have all gotten around 22 mpg overall except for the '75 530i which got around 17-18 mpg overall.

Javelin
Javelin SuperDork
1/11/11 9:35 p.m.

Miata - 22MPG no matter how hard or soft I drive it, city or highway, always 22.

P71 - 18-19 in town, about 20 mixed, 24 on the highway. The problem is it could swing really far either way. I taped up all the gaps on the nose once driving home from the drag races and saw 28MPG (at night, cold out, 100% freeway except the on/off ramps). Conversely, the tank before that while drag racing was 11MPG.

FB RX-7 (carb'd 12A) - Surprisingly good on the freeway, saw 24 regularly on the highway and 14 regularly in town (ouch).

Vigo
Vigo Dork
1/11/11 9:38 p.m.

I dont think any of my cars are really forum favorites...

(averages) My 2001 insight gets 50-55.. My 3.0 and 3.3 dodge dynastys get 23-24. My 2.2 and 2.5 5spd turbo dodges get 25-28. My 2.7 magnum got 25-26. My old 2.0/auto mazda3 got 29-33 avg (42 max).

parker
parker New Reader
1/11/11 9:44 p.m.

98 Neon R/T 30 winter 26 or so summer (A/C really pulls it down)

09 Cobalt SS 26-28 or sub 10 on the track

DaveEstey
DaveEstey Reader
1/11/11 9:53 p.m.

CRX Si - 35mpg!

Sonic
Sonic Dork
1/11/11 9:56 p.m.

My 90 Miata never gets less than 26, and that is in the cold winter. In the summer I'm usually at 28-30 driving it like I stole it, and have seen as high as 36

Nitroracer
Nitroracer SuperDork
1/11/11 9:59 p.m.

My six speed camaro can pull down 30mpg on the highway, average mixed driving puts it around 24-25mpg.

The focus svt I had prior did 28-29 highway and 26-27 mixed.

JohnW
JohnW Reader
1/11/11 10:07 p.m.

My 91 BMW 318is averaged about 28 mpg in mixed driving and 33 mpg highway.

A 90 Miata that I had got really crappy gas mileage in the winter (25-26 mpg mixed driving) but great gas mileage the rest of the year (30-33 mpg mixed; as much as 36 mpg highway). It had a Jackson Racing SRI and exhaust and was otherwise pretty much stock.

EvanB
EvanB Dork
1/11/11 10:11 p.m.

My 91 Miata averaged 30mpg no matter how I drove it...so obviously I always drove it hard .

The WRX gets low 20s...also driven hard most of the time.

RexSeven
RexSeven Dork
1/11/11 10:15 p.m.

I'll throw in a newer forum favorite:

2007 Mazdaspeed3: 26mpg in the summer, 24mpg in the winter, both mostly highway.

Rufledt
Rufledt HalfDork
1/11/11 10:17 p.m.

Rx8 here. I've seen as high as 21 mpg highway prior to break in, but in the city I see 13-16 mpg.. OTOH it's way better than the 11 I get with my old econoline and at least I don't drive much.

neon4891
neon4891 SuperDork
1/11/11 10:17 p.m.

Both neons(DOHC w/ SOCH Tanny) 40+ highway, 30-33 mix summer, 26-30 mix winter. Mostly hills and a heavy foot

thatsnowinnebago
thatsnowinnebago Dork
1/11/11 10:18 p.m.

My Miata gets 26-30 and my Toyota 4x4 get like 16-17. You'd think a 4 cyl would get better mileage but I guess that little motor's probably trying pretty hard to move that truck around.

forzav12
forzav12 Reader
1/11/11 11:02 p.m.

My 69 Polara gets 13mpg with a Miata in the trunk.

mtn
mtn SuperDork
1/11/11 11:43 p.m.
forzav12 wrote: My 69 Polara gets 13mpg with a Miata in the trunk.

Gas mileage be damned, that is a seriously cool car.

Keith
Keith SuperDork
1/12/11 12:14 a.m.
Tom Suddard wrote: 325is 16 miles of highway and 3 miles of city each day. 20.4 mpg according to the OBC.

That's almost exactly what my E39 M5 says.

If they don't have an onboard computer, I don't monitor them. Except for on a long road trip a while ago, I was driving a modified classic Mini. At a 70 mph cruise, I got 34 mpg. Not bad.

The 350 hp turbo Miata I was running with got exactly the same...

That idiot who can't spell
That idiot who can't spell SuperDork
1/12/11 12:32 a.m.

My Civic gets around 34 on the highway and 28 in the city.

minimac
minimac SuperDork
1/12/11 4:10 a.m.

My ancient Forester 5speed is getting 26 combined. Mazda3 w/2.0 and 5speed did 30 city 34 highway. 911 SC gave us 22 city-26highway and my old BMW733 returns19- 20 city and24- 25 highway. Honda Elite 250 scooter gives us a solid 68mpg and is a blast to ride.

PubBurgers
PubBurgers Dork
1/12/11 5:52 a.m.

My 92 740 Turbo with an autotragic averages about 19mpg in 50/50 city/highway driving.

Josh
Josh Dork
1/12/11 6:10 a.m.

The s2000 is always between 25 and 27, unless the tank includes purely highway driving or an excessive number of autocross runs. The 328i depends almost entirely on the attitude of your right foot, I have seen as much as 33 highway back when I had the 2.93 open diff, and as little as 19 with the 3.23 LSD.

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