New Best MPG for me!!

cdots33

cdots33

New member
I Just wanted to see what MPG I could get just changing gears at 1600 RPM and going 50 MPH / 1450 RPM. the night before I topped off my tank and reset the trip meter and DIC. I started early in the morning (6:00 am) heading to Columbia hoping to miss most of the morning traffic.....I should have left earlier!! I know I made some people mad ... sorry folks if you were behind me. At about the halfway mark the DIC was showing 45.9 MPG. I had driven 66.9 miles. On the way home the fuel gauge was only down 2 bars and the trip mileage was showing 124 miles. So i find the closest gas station to see how much fuel I used. At the station i was showing 125.1 miles and I put only 2.811 gallons in the tank. I was/am pretty impressed!! The DIC dropped to 45.4 and I calculated the average MPG to be 44.5 MPG see below picture for the halfway point... still going 50mph. Of course when I went on the interstate I sped up to 60 MPH and stayed in the slow lane for about 14 miles.

DIC_45_9_MPG.jpg
 
6

6speedti

Member
I can get 42 mpg if I drive straight highway on a long trip.
At speeds between 55 and 65 no AC. Let's be realistic. You drive with the flow of traffic to be safe on the highway. 40 mpg is a good number but not realistic with the driving patterns we use.
 
dannyg

dannyg

Member
cdots33 said:
I Just wanted to see what MPG I could get just changing gears at 1600 RPM and going 50 MPH / 1450 RPM.
Click to expand...

Hey cool! If you try the experiment again, maybe try 60MPH, see how much it drops. Might be still over 40MPG.

I got 40-41MPG on a long trip that I used to do regularly (6.5hours), 70-75MPH on the highway (about 60%) and 50-60MPH on state roads (40%), little or no A/C, with my 1.8L/5sp.

For a small car the Sonic really is a pretty comfortable highway cruiser...
 
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cdots33

cdots33

New member
dannyg said:
Hey cool! If you try the experiment again, maybe try 60MPH, see how much it drops. Might be still over 40MPG.

I normally drive 86 miles round-trip each day to work. I may do that experiment one day this week and post results.
You're right about our cars being great for trips. I really like the way it handles especially going around Sharp curves.
Click to expand...
 
JTee2017

JTee2017

Well-known member
I need to try these tips in the few posts here to see what MPG I can get.

Have a 2017 with 1.8L and Auto with only about 2,500 miles on it so far. The best I have seen is abut 36MPG going 45 to 55 MPH for about 77 miles. For general around town stop/go 50%, some semi rural 25% and freeway 25% driving I was seeing about 32MPG.

The car is snuggly tucked away under a cover in the garage for winter with a battery tender on it. The "Red Rampage" is our version of a Summer Cruiser. .

I haven't had this much fun driving a car since the '91 Firebird.

cdots33 said:
dannyg said:
Hey cool! If you try the experiment again, maybe try 60MPH, see how much it drops. Might be still over 40MPG.

I normally drive 86 miles round-trip each day to work. I may do that experiment one day this week and post results.
You're right about our cars being great for trips. I really like the way it handles especially going around Sharp curves.
Click to expand...

dannyg said:
Hey cool! If you try the experiment again, maybe try 60MPH, see how much it drops. Might be still over 40MPG.

I got 40-41MPG on a long trip that I used to do regularly (6.5hours), 70-75MPH on the highway (about 60%) and 50-60MPH on state roads (40%), little or no A/C, with my 1.8L/5sp.

For a small car the Sonic really is a pretty comfortable highway cruiser...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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SuperFudd

SuperFudd

Member
As I have mentioned before, I get 50 mpg at 50 mph according to the DIC.
I took a multi hour run at 75 and got 37.
 
cdots33

cdots33

New member
SuperFudd said:
As I have mentioned before, I get 50 mpg at 50 mph according to the DIC.
I took a multi hour run at 75 and got 37.
Click to expand...

JTee2017 said:
I need to try these tips in the few posts here to see what MPG I can get.

Have a 2017 with 1.8L and Auto with only about 2,500 miles on it so far. The best I have seen is abut 36MPG going 45 to 55 MPH for about 77 miles. For general around town stop/go 50%, some semi rural 25% and freeway 25% driving I was seeing about 32MPG.

The car is snuggly tucked away under a cover in the garage for winter with a battery tender on it. The "Red Rampage" is our version of a Summer Cruiser. .

I haven't had this much fun driving a car since the '91 Firebird.





Alright, finally finished the 60 MPH test. Still shifting at 1600 RPM only this time I drove 2 days to work and back (172 miles). The DIC displayed 41.8 MPG. I calculated the MPG after adding 4.155 gallons to the tank (stopping at the first click on the pump as I always do). It came out to be 41.4 MPG. Normally, I get 37 MPG on this trip, however, I was changing gears between 2000-2200 RPM. Another 4 MPG is a considerable difference. I guess shifting earlier in the RPM's really help. See picture below for the display prior to the fill-up.

60_mph.jpg
Click to expand...
 
cdots33

cdots33

New member
NDarkling said:
12 bars total. 12x60=720 miles.

Uh, no. Nobody is getting anywhere near 720 miles out of a full tank with these cars.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

The most I've gotten so far is 520 on a tank. Gas light was on for a while. I was praying it wouldn't run out of gas!! Thank God it didn't.
 
JesusTheAgnostic

JesusTheAgnostic

New member
Nice! I think the highest I ever had my MPG was around 42.4 Now I'm at around 25 MPG. That was at around 65 MPH.
 
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JesusTheAgnostic

JesusTheAgnostic

New member
cdots33 said:
25 MPG!! How long has that been going on? I believe I'd have a stroke if my MPG went down that low. LOL:D
Click to expand...
About 6 months. I'm on that corn juice though, and I'm always running late, so 25 MPG. Otherwise I think I'd probably get somewhere in the low to mid 30s

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
 
A

arkansawyer

New member
'13 1.8 5 speed sedan
I bought it with 112,000 hard miles. 119,000 now. Only checked mileage three times. Worst was 37, best was 41.4.
 
D

David Laird

New member
I don't know how you guys are getting this high of MPG. I have had my 2100mile, 2017, 1.4t auto, hatch for less than a month and best I can get out of it is 34 MPG. I'm driving it like a "grandma" 30 mile commute. 3 miles at 50mph, 17 miles at 53mph, 6 miles at 60mph and 4 miles at 30 mph. I use my cruise control all the time. In the morning most to the traffic lights are green so not a lot of stop and go in the am.
I've owned several Chevy trucks and did find that they didn't get their best mileage until I hit the 45k mark. My last truck (2015 crew cab, 2wd, 5.3l Silverado) drove this same commute for 55k. When I traded it in for the Sonic the DIC display said 21.5 MPG. That's pretty dam good for as big a truck as it was. I expected a little more from the Sonic.
 
cdots33

cdots33

New member
A friend of mine has 2014 LTZ HB 1.4T automatic. He averages 34 MPG driving 70 miles to work. Not sure why most of the automatic Sonics are lower than manual. I'll bet it's due to the shifting point since we can pretty much shift at any RPM as long as the engine doesn't stall. On the Plus Side..... you have the convenience of an auto.
 
dannyg

dannyg

Member
David Laird said:
I don't know how you guys are getting this high of MPG. I have had my 2100mile, 2017, 1.4t auto, hatch for less than a month and best I can get out of it is 34 MPG. I'm driving it like a "grandma" 30 mile commute. 3 miles at 50mph, 17 miles at 53mph, 6 miles at 60mph and 4 miles at 30 mph. I use my cruise control all the time. In the morning most to the traffic lights are green so not a lot of stop and go in the am.
Click to expand...

The EPA says the car should get 36 highway and 27 around town, so 34 isn't too far off that:

https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=37942

But are you somewhere cold? My winter MPG was definitely lower when I lived in Maine, and a bit lower here in NY. That could be part of it.

Also, are you getting the 34MPG from the DIC or measuring it at the pump? DICs can be off a bit. If you haven't done so already, worth checking a tankful of gas to see what you get.

You could also experiment with high octane expensive gas for a couple of tankfuls, see if that helps. It didn't in my case, but I've got a 1.8L non-turbo, so it might different.

Good luck.
 
djsm

djsm

Member
Very nice mpg there. I seem to average only around 30-35mpg I just shift before 2k it's mostly all city driving some interstate at 70-80mph.
 
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