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Gas Mileage Issue with my 2010 Mazda3

32K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  Nick! 
#1 ·
As I am new to this Forum, I thought I would just throw this out there...does anyone have mileage issues with their 2010 Mazda 3? I am lucky if I can get 550 kilometers on a full tank of gas (from completely full to the gas light coming on the last bar). The best to date (picked up the car in early December 2009) I have been able to get is 603 kms. Both of these mileages are resulting from highway driving. City mileage is far worse ( at best 500 kms on a tank).

Something is not right here. There is currently 15,600 kms on this vehicle. I had a 2006 Mazda 3 GS before this vehicle and did not have any issues with it (in terms of mileage). I was able to get anywhere been 675 to 750 on a tank gas. Driving habits have not changed and speeds range from 95 to 115 km/hour on the highway. I do realize that the 2010 is a heavier model and the A/C is more powerful, but that should not account for such a drastic difference between the 2006 and this car.

Has anyone else heard of or are currently experiencing this problem? I would appreciate hearing from folks.

Cheers.
 
#2 ·
a "tank" of gas is a relative term.
how many gallons of gas are you using to go that far.
in my car, the light goes on when i have consumed only ~11.5 gallons, so 600kms is pretty decent (32mpg)
 
#3 ·
Thank you for the repsonse.

You are right, "a tank of gas" is relative. So let me provide specifics: when I refer to a tank of gas, I mean filling the 55L tank to max capacity ( three clicks after the initial shut-off-when-full). My Low Fuel light comes on when I am on the last section of the Fill Bar before E. I have run a number of tests, squeezing as much as I can out of tank, especially on highway trips, in an attempt to get mielage similar to my last Mazda 3. This includes driving well into the last segment of the Fuel Gauge (refilling 45 to 50 liters).

I know the 5.9L/100 fuel consumption in the tech specs is "best case scenario under optimal conditions" and that few, if any, will achieve the 847 kms on a 55L tank, but getting 600 kms is a tad frustrating.
 
#4 ·
Tell us, what is your exact fuel consumption in either L/100km or MPG? Also, with each figure include conditions of your driving i.e all highway, or city, if mixed, use a split like 30/70 city/highway. Your tank figure is very vague and does not in any way tell us if you have normal fuel consumption or not. Also, when filling up, don’t try to squeeze as much fuel as you can (multiple clicks) this can skew your fuel consumption calculation as your “full” tank volume will vary too much, stick to one or two clicks max, also filling at the same fuel station helps with accuracy.


Using the full tank figure, my current commute is 100% city driving, with lots of short trips after work and a lot of A/C use because of hot summer we’re having this year, and I usually get the fuel light at around 470 -500 km, so just looking at that, the fuel consumption doesn’t look good at all. When calculated I average 9-9.5 L/100km or about 25-26 mpg, which is the EPA city mileage. Once the weather cools down and I use less A/C, my fuel consumption will decrease.

My average for all highway trips ranges from 6.1 to 6.3 L/100km, with an average speed of 115 – 130 km/h and with use of A/C as well. Only once I got my fuel consumption below 6 L/100 and that was on a 250km stretch, but the traffic was flowing at about 90-100km/h steady, it was at night so no A/C was on and I couldn’t go above 100km/h.
 
#6 ·
Best tank I've seen in my 2010 mz3 s Sport 2.5l 6-spd MT is about 690km, but that's a pretty awkward way of describing efficiency. In a nutshell, 30.5 MPG is an average tank for me. 27.5mpg is a 'poor' tank. Now at about 7200 miles on the odometer, most of my fillups have averaged 30-31mpg over the tank. In the interest of full disclosure, I operate 85-octane 10% ethanol fuel and operate the vehicle between 5000-9000ft elevation on the average fuel tank.
 
#8 ·
I have a 2.0L manual with less than 3000 miles. On a long highway trip, I got an exceptional 34 mpg, but in my normal day to day driving, I am doing about 23-26 mpg.

Hmmm, it's hard not to drive the MZ3 enthusiastically, but based on my mpg, I'll have to ease up on the gas.
 
#9 ·
[quote author=LiLDooD link=topic=177649.msg3908574#msg3908574 date=1295150037]
I have to the 2.0 and i never seen more than 28 mpg driving mix. I cant wrap my head around a 2.5 getting better than that.
[/quote]
I'm guessing you don't have a 6-spd manual transmission? :)
 
#10 ·
I see a lot of threads on different forums about poor gas mileage. The Mazda 3 is NOT a subcompact roller skate Honda Fit piece of automotive micro car. Its a compact with big engine[for a compact]. Its not 1600 CC, its got zoom zoom, thats why we, or at least I bought mine. If I wanted bland peformance, bland styling I would have bought a Civic or a Yaris. I got what I paid for, almost champagne quality and performance for a beer price and I only have the 2 litre!!!! Zoom zoom is worth more than a sip of gas, lighten up.
 
#12 ·
Driving habits can certainly be a factor as well. I have a 5 speed manual and certainly make it a point to "roll" in neutral as often as I safely can. I anticipate upcoming red lights, turns in the road, etc. I don't think it is awesome now, but it is better, at least it seems so.
 
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