I think I have the mysterious bad gas mileage problem myself.

The first 1000-1500 miles I averaged about 32-33 MPG, from 1500 - 5000 or so I was averaging 34-35.5MPG. My best mileage was the tank I had when I had my first oil change - I got 37.3MPG. The very next tank began the downfall... I haven't seen anything higher than 32MPG since and lately haven't gotten anything better than 29MPG. Quite frankly, I'm incredibly ____ed about the situation; I've got a car in my garage right now with a half tank of gas and only about 130 miles on the trip odo.

I drive the exact same commute to and from work everyday and any extra driving is always cruising on the highway as I live just off the highway and pretty much any place I go is right off the highway as well. Essentially, nothing has changed in where/how I drive. My morning commute is 70/30 hwy/city driving but the city part is usually at 50mph or so, I only call it "city" driving b/c I do have stoplights but I usually don't get stopped at them much. The highway part is at 70MPH for the most part, If rush hour is heavy then sometimes it's 60-65MPH.

The only thing that's changed is I did get my 16" wheels which are heavier, so I will concede that I'm sure that's accounting for some decreased fuel economy but I've plus sized wheels on past cars and never had the fuel economy decrease by 4-5MPG on average. Air pressure on the new tires is at 32-33psi. I've searched on here and didn't find any other posts regarding people's gas mileage being significantly impacted for the worse following an upgrade to bigger wheels. Also, I had 2 tanks of gas that were at 30-31MPG prior to installing the new wheels so that's another reason I'm not convinced the wheels are the source of the poor gas mileage but I am planning swapping back to the stockers for a couple of weeks to see how that impacts fuel economy.

I've heard that the quality of gas in winter is lower than the rest of the year and adversely effects gas mileage, how true that is I don't know, but at this point I'm grasping at straws trying to determine what could be the logical cause of the problem.

I've tried fuel injector cleaner, and resetting the ECU to see if the ECU will relearn to no effect. Depending on the results of swapping the stock wheels back on, I'm planning on taking it to the dealer and request they inspect the car for any possible causes - spark plug gap, fuel filter, etc. I'm sure they'll give me the BS runaround of "there's so many conditions that effect fuel economy" which ____es me off to no end. I accept that there are many conditions effecting it, however, it is possible that something is wrong and to dismiss it as poor driver's habits is lazy and poor service.

I apologize for the long winded post, if anyone has had any experience with similar behavior from their xA I'd appreciate any assistance you can offer in alleviating the problem.

 

Cold weather can effect your MPG. Longer warm up times and colder air, even after warm up can make for a richer fuel-air mix causing fuel mileage to suffer.

 

Yep, cold weather usually takes 1 or 2MPG off my average regardless of what car.

 

No offense taken. I shift at approximately 3500 rpm. I drive a little over the limit on the highway and have made a few big road trips at 70+ mph. Mostly I drive in town, short trips and my average for the last year is 35.5 or so. I have kept a spreadsheet for 18,000 miles so I know this number is accurate. I have seen a 28mpg tank and a 40mpg tank. Those were probably because the tank was no filled to the same level.

 

Also, if you're in a state or region that switches to an ethanol blend gasoline in the winter, you might see a drop.

It used to be that the Minneapolis/St. Paul area had 10% ethanol in winter but none in summer. Now it's hard to find non-ethanol blend even in summer. That blend knocks a few mpg's off as well.

 

I have taken the car back to the dealership and complained about the gas mileage, commuting to and from work 27 miles each way, flat with no a/c on. Its an auto. 25 MPG.

I traded in a Corolla that was getting 30 mpg day in, day out. I expected the same or better from a smaller car. I am very disappointed with this mileage. Has anyone ever taken the car back and had the dealership improve the mileage in anyway. I fitted a k&n filter, no change, i tried a cai no change, just louder. I like the look of the car but at this rate I'll go back to a corolla.

 

25 MPG is pretty low... I get 25 when I hammer it around town and drive like an ___.

Cali doesn't use any special fuels or anything, right? Could be that your mpg calculations are off.

 

The gauge reads empty, the light starts blinking and it takes 10-11 gallons to fill it up, all this with 250 -260 miles on the trip meter.

 

33-34 MPG with mostly city driving and cold weather here!

 

consistent 38 mpg here. 55mph highway Monday through Friday. City delivery driving Saturday and Sunday, every single light I come to is red.

 

wow, u only do 55mph? i do 65-80 and it gets me 35-38... if its a longer road trip its closer to 42mpg. because its cold now and i dont use the highway as much, its only 33-34mpg

 

heh, what r u guys complaining about?? I have a tc (06) 5speed and get 21-23 on average. 60%highway 40% city. I don't hammer it really, I shift between 2400-2800 all the time. When it was warmer, (I don't use ac - yay sunroof) I would get 24-25. That's just fine for a tc. Now when you say you get 29 MPG out of an XA that's not bad with those heavy rims, they're bigger and r harder to push The little 1.5L has to work harder to keep those wheels rolling. That's where you lost mpg is at.

I used to have a 99' solara, 4cyl 2.2L auto. When I put 18in rims on that my mileage dropped from 25 to 20. It was heavy and at 135HP pushing those 18s made a huge difference.

Take em off if you're not satisfied with 30mpg...

 

that is true. i forgot to mention my car is completely stock

 

Something's wrong there. I usually have 250 on the trip meter with about a quarter tank left to go or more.

 

I'm a bit disappointed with my mileage. My first 4 fill-ups have been...30.5, 26.5, 27.2 and 27.7 MPG. I recently broke the 1k mark last tank so i'm hoping from here on out it does better.

 

now think what real world mpg a v6 will get. heh

 

I have a 06 XA with really bad milage 32 34 for the first 5000 miles but after that 28 then 26 the 25 and now 24. at 7000 miles it is 24 on the Highway that is not good . Took it to the dealer thay told me bad gas. funny thing I use the same gas every time. Talked to the service Manager seams thay havent heard of any proublem. But would look into it. ANYONE out there with some HELP PLEASE REPLY I really need some HELP.

 

My 2 cents:

If you don't have a solid 3000 miles on your engine yet, then don't worry about the MPG. The engine needs time to be properly broke in. I only got 28 MPG at first too. After the 2800 mile mark I was able to start getting into the 40MPG area. I made it to 42MPG on my last trip. You must change your driving habits to make those marks though. I was driving 60MPH which is the optimum speed for the 5speed Xa. After the engine was warmed up I was actually getting between 50 and 55 MPG but on average it came out to 42 MPG because of the need to stop occasionally. My cars mileage gradually got better as I put on the miles and yours will too.
I suggest you go and get a Scangauge (www.scangauge.com) if you are worried about fuel consumption. You will learn alot about your driving habits and how you can better them. Also go to http://www.gassavers.org/ to learn more about making better driving decisions.[/url]

 

Well,I know it sounds ____y but,driving habits do equal better gas mileage.Thru my upgrades I have achieved 53mpg once but ,that was when I was only attempting to.I average between 38-43 mpg now.

 

I just picked my XA up last week. I have 400 miles on it now. First fill up = 33mpg. Second fillup = 31mpg. Both fillups were at 1/2 tank. The first fill up was mostly all highway miles, but I was varying my speed up and down and going pretty easy on acceleration. My second fill up was mostly in town, also being very easy on acceleration. I was expecting a little better on the highway trip with it, hopefully it will break in and get a little better. I had a Honda Insight that I averaged 73 MPG with so I'm aware of all the fuel saving driving techniques. I hope that I can make the 38mpg mark. I'll give it some time to break in though before I worry about it to much.

Hodakgauy