wow...some people are getting bad mileage. I've only had mine 2 weeks, it was the demo so it only had 1,345 miles on it. On my first full tank of gas I went atleast 300 miles and the empty light hadn't even came on yet.

 

I had suspected I was getting less than ideal gas mileage from mine so I checked it on a tank, sure enough I was wrong. Got like 34.25 MPG, granted I did alot more highway miles than usual during this time, but still quite impressed.

I would say if you are getting that poor gas mileage something might be up.

 

AUTOMATIC,STOCK,HEAVY FOOT,A/C ON. 27 CITY/32 HI-WAY?better than my old VWgolf.

 

20,000 miles - never a tank less the 35+ - typically 38+ without a/c

 

by 'oem intake' do you mean aftermarket cold air or short ram? otherwise that statement makes no sense. if so, that may be part of your problem. those may sacrifice low end torque which is what your engine does not have in copious amounts to begin with. you then have to give more gas to get going using more of it. this is further amplified if you do a lot of stop and go driving.

check your tire pressures also, make sure they are at least what the dealer recommends. you can put a couple more pounds in there to help but the ride may get stiffer than you like. heavier rims/wider tires will also adversely affect mileage, the former more so than the latter but the two usually go together--if you are going more than one size wider on stock rims, for example.

you can also try switching brands of gas, sometimes one brand has different stuff in it that may affect mileage.

 

Damn Im jealous, Im down in the 20 mpg range myself. I have a Auto XB with TRD exhaust and 18 inch Motegis. The dealer blamed it on my wheels, is that BS or what ?

 

probably not. and the exhaust further kills but maybe not as much. but with their powers combined.....

 

almost all of those xB's with bad mpg has the auto tranny, I drive 15% city and 85% Hwy, seldom drive 0ver 75 mph . Average mpg = 29 , MPG drops to 26 when I try to keep pace with the faster moving traffic.

 

i'm with flipflop, 26 mpg to a best of 32 mpg while babying the darn thing......here in the south the heat is on and so is my a/c All The Time !! To and from work it's 50/50 city/ highway. Just got a fill up and got 28.8 mpg......I was trying something new........No downshifting to slow up coming up to lights ect. and shifting at 3k rpm or so...... When it gets cool again i will do a new test w/o A/C and so on....I have an aem intake, greddy evo axle back exhaust and 17x7 rims with 205/40/17's which are the same diameter as the factory, but they are heavier and also they slowed me down at the track too.....about 3/10 so my gas mileage must be hurting because of them also.......One more thing....reading the Owners manual they don't recommend lugging in high gear for several reasons....i think gas mileage is one of them....the shift points are like 24 mph 1st to 2nd....ect....that's more than 3k rpm ......Good luck !!!

 

05 auto 32.4 mpg 50% city/50% highway measured just other day

 

We drivers in the Denver area are at altitudes of about 5000 above sea level. I have 2005 with stock everything and 5 spd. Rarely drive over 70mph b/c i'm not on the highway that much with new office location. Now my driving mix is 70 city/30 hwy. Average about 33-34. Worst tank after about 3000 miles is 33.2 highest 36.5.

Definitely shift high and fast--i thot that's the way you drive a stick. You rev it after the engine light's off. If I'm shifting to 4th or 5th from 3rd, i'm hitting at a minimum 3K on the tach and usually closer to 4 or 4500. Why r u driving consistently below 3000? You're not doing your tranny or engine any favors.

Running higher revs helps burn off some of the ____ on your cylinders i've heard. Who knows..

 

My box is bone stock also and i just took a trip and got 25.9 miles per gallon thats about the best i have ever got. Also, my box is an automatic and I really think i should get a little better mileage, but I am cool with it.

 

Today I gassed up and got about 26 mpg. Maybe 65% city 35% highway. I'm running 15x7 wheels, with a lower sidewall. Could my wider wheels be affecting my mileage? There was a time where I was able to get low 30's without issues, but then again I didn't start dropping my siblings to school till recently(about 3-5 miles of suburban areas with constant stops and hills). I also use Cheveron gas. HELP ME! lol

 

ummm exhaust will raise your mpg.....

 

How about going with the tire manufacturers recommended tire pressure. You'll find it stamped on the side of the tire. From what I've seen lately, the tire manu's pressure will be higher than the car manu's or any dealers.
Recall the Ford/Firestone fiasco.
Anytime we get new tires on any of our vehicles I promptly inflate them to the 'correct' pressure. Seems installers are stuck on 32psi. even when the tire is stamped at 44psi

 

um dude, you aren't reading the RECCOMMENDED tire pressure you are reading the MAX air pressure...ha ha ha ha ha ... better gas mileage yes, worse cornering , worse stability, less traction , and less tire wear.. most cars list from 28psi to 36 psi. if an installer does 32 or so psi he is pretty much safe and the owner can adjust to what they like better ...

 

I pushed it past the "low fuel light" warning and got 335 miles one one tanke. I pumped in 10.64 gallons when I filled up. 31.5 mpg. Doing about 60/40 highway/city driving.

 

That's right. But then I get 38mpg. Do you think I care about "...worse cornering , worse stability, less traction"? Not sure I agree with the less tire wear though - I've never worn the center of a 'max' pressure tire out. But I sure have the edges of the 32 pounders
I suspect a few Ford owners would take issue with your explanation as well. Even though Ford did a better job of 'blaming' Firestone - there is no doubt the problem was under inflated tires.

 

The spec for a factory wheel and tire is 37 lbs. I would not be a bit surprised if your combo was at least 10 lbs more. More rotational mass = more work for the engine.

The perrin lightweight engine pulley is about 4 lbs lighter than the stock pulley. It equates to the difference in making the vehicle 100 lbs lighter. It would be interesting to see how much of a performance hit is caused by a set of heavy aftermarket wheels.

 

Unless I missed it, no one's said anything about average trip length. Short trips mean cold engine, which will definitely kill your mileage. This is very clear from looking at the 5-minute-interval MPG bar graph on my wife's Prius -- the first two bars on each trip tend to be low, even in warm weather.