Strange MPG Performance

[Stinger305]

Am I the only one who can't figure out the MPG of my new Stinger? I have a 2.0 RWD and the last few mornings I've compared the ride modes in city driving.

COMFORT: With the AC on and not trying to drive fuel efficiently, MPG can be 18-19. If I turn the AC off and drive nicely I can average 22.

ECO: No joke, this is the WORST performing mode for me. I was seeing 17 MPG before turning the AC off. I managed to inch up to 20 or 21 MPG with very careful driving.

SPORT: Another surprise, I get very good MPG in sport. I just parked after two comparable trips and I have 23 MPG with the AC on most of the time!

I'm really seeing no rhyme or reason to my fuel efficiency along the same exact drive with very similar drive styles. I don't get it at all.

 

[awhattup]

I think it's more of getting to know how the powertrain behaves.
Also city driving blows!!! (for pretty much all ICE vehicles)

 

[MerlintheMad]

I too notice little or no difference driving in Sport, and even "aggressively" as opportunity permits. Lately I've taken to driving in Smart, to see if the car "learns" how I drive and compensates to give better fuel economy. I am seeing pretty good results. Two twelve mile jaunts yesterday produced 26.8 and 23.3 over more or less the same ground; the second figure includes a blast onto the freeway exceeding 80 mph briefly, and with Smart registering "Smart Sport" briefly since I had it floored.

 

[Kickin Kiaster]

I use the drive modes more to make the drive-train behave the way I want it to in a given situation. Or put it in the mode that best reflects my driving 'mood'.

Here's the latest gauge results from my last drive as well as the accumulated tank, on my 2.0 AWD. And no I didn't dive all those miles in ECO. All economy and no fun makes Kickin Kiaster a dull boy!!

 

[Schpok]

@Stinger305 how may miles do you have already? new cars tend to use more fuel within the fist 1000 miles after that it's getting better

atm I'm somewhere between 8L-8,5L per 100km about 29-27mpg depending on how Long the trip is.
my car currently has ~1450km / 900miles on the clock

 

[Stinger305]

@MerlintheMad I haven't tried the Smart/Custom modes yet. Figured I'd get the hang of the main ones first.

@Kickin Kiaster Those are very good highway mile results! I'm doing all Los Angeles street driving, some traffic but not too bad, but stoplights and all that. No highways at all. Sport is definitely a drive mode for your mood, I'm just surprised Eco isn't saving me gas.

@Schpok I'm at about 600 miles so hopefully it improves.

One other thing I haven't mentioned is I'm using premium gas, but it's California so that means 91 octane (not 93, which I would assume gives better gas mileage).

 

[MerlintheMad]

600 miles is the stated "break in" period in the manual. During that time it is recommended to drive the car between 2,000 and 4,000 RPM. I drove the entire break in period in Sport mode, because that RPM range is natural to it. On my road trip to TX in April, on the way into central Utah, on Hwy 6, the "600" came and I said to my son, "Okay, I am now free to drive this thing, watch this!" And I made my first aggressive pass of a line up of semis and trapped cars, and hit 130 mph.

 

[Stinger305]

I thought the manual quote for break-in was weird:

No special break-in period is needed. By following a few simple precautions for the first 600 miles (1,000 km) you may add to the performance, economy and life of your vehicle.

Like, don't those two sentences contradict each other?

Anyway, thanks for reminding me that it's time to open this bad boy up!

 

[MerlintheMad]

That is just a "bog standard" break in period. Not a "special" break in period. So, not contradictory, if you are being charitable with manual word smiths whose first language is not English.

 

[Mike_TX]

I thought the manual quote for break-in was weird:



Like, don't those two sentences contradict each other?

Anyway, thanks for reminding me that it's time to open this bad boy up!

That's pretty standard wording. All they're saying is that you don't really need to do anything special to "break in" the car, but by doing certain things you may get better results over the long term. Not contradictory to me.