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#21
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yes, it's a mileage thread
XS11E wrote:
> You're very surprised, unfortunately. I've never got to 30mpg, ever. > > Problem with an NA is it's straining to stay with traffic, 80+ mph is > too fast for good economy in that car but below 80 mph is instant rear > end accident. > > NOTE: What IS reasonable highway speed? I've followed a guy in a 18 > wheeler running 90mph between Indio and Blythe on I-10, a guy in a > Surburban at around 108 mph (I was almost 7 years younger and much more > reckless then.) > > That was on the bike, of course, I don't know if the Miata will go 105 > nor can I afford the cost if the CHP decides that's too fast! I am talking about what the car can do, not what it can do with you at the wheel. :-) If I bought your Miata from you, I am sure that I could squeeze better mileage out of it than I did out of my heavier '96M with a larger engine, unless you have something adversely affecting the fuel economy. I typically drive 70-ish in a 65, almost never 80. No problems so far with being rear-ended at 70MPH, even in heavy traffic, but tickets are a guaranteed thing at 80MPH around here, and I can't really afford even 10 or 15 over. Just one speeding ticket in the last 15 years, and two warnings, (one was for 65 in a 60, sheesh), knock on sheet metal....... Pat |
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#22
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yes, it's a mileage thread
TRCSr wrote:
> As far as measuring mileage, heretofor I have kept a record of every > fill up and noted whether it was highway or city driving, or towing a > trailer, or in the mountains. That way I could get an idea of the effect > of different conditions. Not perfect, but the main reason for this > is/was to see if the mileage starts to go down under similar conditions > I can find out why and correct it before it gets too serious. I still do > that with my Ford F-150 and Ford E-350 Class B motorhome. I don't do it > for my wife's Toyota as it has a mileage meter built in as does my > Miata. Both can be reset at anytime and I do this if I am changing the > type of driving; I.e. going on a trip that will involve mostly highway > driving. > > What good does lying about your mileage do? Is this just some form of > macho ****ing contest? > > For the most part I don't use the mileage readings as absolute, but > mostly for comparative reasons, as I mentioned before. It gives me a > ball park idea of how I compare with others and that is all. As an > example, I had a Chevy Tracker that got 27 to 28 mpg for most of the > time. It was always driven under the same mixed conditions of city and > highway driving. The mileage started dropping and when it got down to > the 24 mpg range I started doing some investigating and found the EGR > valve was malfunctioning and the block passages were blocked. Cleaning > everything then probably saved me much more extensive and expensive > repairs later on. > > TRCSr That makes sense, and seems like a good idea, I am just not ever that organized. What mileage do you get out of the motorhome? ****ing contest? Here? Never.......Actually there is not a lot of that here. If your foot is heavy and you hit redline a lot then the mileage can get pretty low. Try hard enough to drive with a light foot and it is very economical. Not a lot of fun to drive it that way, maybe, but possible for most people. BTW, I know I am just stating the obvious. :-) My current Miata, with a turbo, 550CC fuel injectors/upgraded fuel rail and a high-flow fuel pump, is just an exaggerated version of this. On the highway it does pretty well, very close to stock. Lay into it with a lot of stop and go and that number drops to less than half of what it was on the open highway. I remember that Lanny did a club contest long ago for the best mileage and his numbers were pretty impressive. Pat |
#23
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yes, it's a mileage thread
Stephen Toth wrote:
> The '93 averaged 30-31 mpg while I drove it. > That was a mixed driving environment In its early days: Daily commute > was about 44 mi. one way - 2 mi. local small town - 24 mi. non-divided > hwy (traffic lights - avg 50 mpg) - 14 mi. interstate (70-75 mpg) - 4 > mi. in city (Philly). Even stop and go because of traffic and accidents > did not change it much. Biggest difference was winter when it would > drop to 29-29 mpg. > My son claims to still get about 30 mpg now with mixed small town and > hwy driving. > > With the '06 I get 26-29 mpg mixed, And have gotten 35-36 on longer > trips that were nearly all interstate (70-80 mph - top up). > The mileage with the '06 seems to vary much more, but I haven't figured > out anything I can attribute it to. I tend to drive the same style on > most of the roads I travel, and always use the same brand and grade of > gas. As with the '93 it is a little worse in the winter, but varies > much more tank to tank Just curious what type of driving this generally was. My city mileage was never that good in my near-stock Miata, but I was not trying for good mileage except on long highway trips. I forget why the mileage is better in the summer than winter. Gas additives? Pat |
#24
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yes, it's a mileage thread
In article >,
pws > wrote: > I remember that Lanny did a club contest long ago for the best mileage > and his numbers were pretty impressive. 37.4 mpg for my 1.8, not bad for near sea level. One clubber in a 1.6 got 42, but I suspect he'd aired up his tires and other tricky prep stuff. All I did was bore myself silly. Now, high elevation is a different story. I got 34-36 in the mountains, no matter how hard I flogged it (which was hard indeed). Less air = less fuel...and less power. -- Lanny Chambers St. Louis, MO '94C |
#25
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yes, it's a mileage thread
In article >, pws
> wrote: > Stephen Toth wrote: > > > The '93 averaged 30-31 mpg while I drove it. > > That was a mixed driving environment In its early days: Daily commute > > was about 44 mi. one way - 2 mi. local small town - 24 mi. non-divided > > hwy (traffic lights - avg 50 mpg) - 14 mi. interstate (70-75 mpg) - 4 > > mi. in city (Philly). Even stop and go because of traffic and accidents > > did not change it much. Biggest difference was winter when it would > > drop to 29-29 mpg. > > My son claims to still get about 30 mpg now with mixed small town and > > hwy driving. > > > > With the '06 I get 26-29 mpg mixed, And have gotten 35-36 on longer > > trips that were nearly all interstate (70-80 mph - top up). > > The mileage with the '06 seems to vary much more, but I haven't figured > > out anything I can attribute it to. I tend to drive the same style on > > most of the roads I travel, and always use the same brand and grade of > > gas. As with the '93 it is a little worse in the winter, but varies > > much more tank to tank > > Just curious what type of driving this generally was. My city mileage > was never that good in my near-stock Miata, but I was not trying for > good mileage except on long highway trips. > > I forget why the mileage is better in the summer than winter. Gas additives? > > Pat Don't know how I would qualify my driving style. I can only describe my general driving habits. First rule which I have passed to my children is to be very conservative with the throttle until the engine and oil is up to temp. That generally means no more than 3-3.5k rpm for the first mile or 2. After that redline is fine. I live in a country setting so most of the near roads are 2 lane blacktop with twisties and not that many stop signs, although the stops are increasing as the population in the area is increasing. Once warmed up, I accelerate moderately from a stop (keeping pace with general traffic). Only occasionally does the urge hit me to push it hard from a stop to make a statement to someone - probably only I appreciate that statement. In general conservative driving, I tend to shift early 3-4k and just try to maintain momentum, and will hold in a high gear down to 2-2.5k when just rolling the flats. I also drive well ahead of myself, so get off the gas well before a stop, and seldom brake aggressively. But don't get me wrong, when playing or finding a fun entrance or exit ramp, I will use everything the car can offer, and push the tach to the redline for shifts, and will keep the rpm in the 4-5k range. That probably only accounts for about 10% of the time, but I haven't found it to affect gas mileage to any extent. For interstate driving, I tend to accelerate faster to get to speed as quick as possible, and will keep with the flow of traffic. I used to follow a 5% rule (make sure there a a few cars going a little faster than you), but now tend too go more to 10-20% especially when my wife is with me. For interstate driving, my rule is to drive well ahead of myself to maintain a fixed speed as much as possible. Try not to get caught behind slower traffic and have to accelerate back up to speed. Around here, interstate speed can be anywhere from 65 - 80 mph depending on the particular section, and time of day. Having been a passenger in the car with my son, and also followed him a few times, he generally accelerates harder from a stop, and will run higher rpm for the most part. He will staty in 4th in places where I would have shifted into 5th. Yet, he is still getting almost the same mileage that I would get. Go figure. The only other thing I could note, is that I have always used mid grade gas in the car (89 octane around here), and the timing (14-15 BTDC) and tune is set for that. At the last timing belt change (around 200k), compression still showing very good (can't remember exact, and lost the paper it was written on but remember around 165 psi cold and less than 8 psi difference overall.) So, don't know if that tells you anything or not, but that is a general overview. |
#26
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yes, it's a mileage thread
Lanny Chambers wrote:
>> I remember that Lanny did a club contest long ago for the best mileage >> and his numbers were pretty impressive. > > 37.4 mpg for my 1.8, not bad for near sea level. One clubber in a 1.6 > got 42, but I suspect he'd aired up his tires and other tricky prep > stuff. All I did was bore myself silly. > > Now, high elevation is a different story. I got 34-36 in the mountains, > no matter how hard I flogged it (which was hard indeed). Less air = less > fuel...and less power. Cool, do you know what you typically get? Chris? I am curious about what differences we are seeing. Pat |
#27
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yes, it's a mileage thread
Stephen Toth wrote:
> Don't know how I would qualify my driving style. I can only describe my > general driving habits. > First rule which I have passed to my children is to be very > conservative with the throttle until the engine and oil is up to temp. > That generally means no more than 3-3.5k rpm for the first mile or 2. > After that redline is fine. > I live in a country setting so most of the near roads are 2 lane > blacktop with twisties and not that many stop signs, although the stops > are increasing as the population in the area is increasing. > Once warmed up, I accelerate moderately from a stop (keeping pace with > general traffic). Only occasionally does the urge hit me to push it > hard from a stop to make a statement to someone - probably only I > appreciate that statement. > In general conservative driving, I tend to shift early 3-4k and just > try to maintain momentum, and will hold in a high gear down to 2-2.5k > when just rolling the flats. I also drive well ahead of myself, so get > off the gas well before a stop, and seldom brake aggressively. > But don't get me wrong, when playing or finding a fun entrance or exit > ramp, I will use everything the car can offer, and push the tach to the > redline for shifts, and will keep the rpm in the 4-5k range. That > probably only accounts for about 10% of the time, but I haven't found > it to affect gas mileage to any extent. > For interstate driving, I tend to accelerate faster to get to speed as > quick as possible, and will keep with the flow of traffic. I used to > follow a 5% rule (make sure there a a few cars going a little faster > than you), but now tend too go more to 10-20% especially when my wife > is with me. For interstate driving, my rule is to drive well ahead of > myself to maintain a fixed speed as much as possible. Try not to get > caught behind slower traffic and have to accelerate back up to speed. > Around here, interstate speed can be anywhere from 65 - 80 mph > depending on the particular section, and time of day. > > Having been a passenger in the car with my son, and also followed him a > few times, he generally accelerates harder from a stop, and will run > higher rpm for the most part. He will staty in 4th in places where I > would have shifted into 5th. Yet, he is still getting almost the same > mileage that I would get. Go figure. > > The only other thing I could note, is that I have always used mid grade > gas in the car (89 octane around here), and the timing (14-15 BTDC) and > tune is set for that. At the last timing belt change (around 200k), > compression still showing very good (can't remember exact, and lost the > paper it was written on but remember around 165 psi cold and less than > 8 psi difference overall.) > > So, don't know if that tells you anything or not, but that is a general > overview. Yes, it is all being absorbed and hopefully grokked. Thanks! Pat |
#28
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yes, it's a mileage thread
Pat, don't know if you're referring to 'this' Chris but I can say that
neither my 92NA nor my 99NB have gotten what I consider decent fuel mileage for the size / power of the car! They simply run too many RPM's on the highway but, don't get me started on that again! What I DO love is that no matter how hard you flog these (normally aspirated) little beasts, it doesn't hamper the mileage much from simple (shifting at 3500~5000 rpms) normal driving! My 99 can be pretty much be counted on for about 25mpg. I think my '92 was pretty much the same. Chris 99BBB > Cool, do you know what you typically get? Chris? I am curious about what > differences we are seeing. > > Pat |
#29
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yes, it's a mileage thread
I have heard that the Automatic does drop to more reasonable rpm's (in the
NC at least) at cruising speeds and that seems to pay off quite well. Chris 99BBB "Stephen Toth" > wrote in message ... > In article >, pws > > wrote: > >> XS11E wrote: >> >> > It has no effect if mileage is measured as I prefer to do it, I keep a >> > log of gas purchases with date, number of gallons, odometer reading and >> > amount paid. > > <snip> > >> Are they talking about highway MPG or their average? I don't think I >> have ever met anyone who claimed to average 30+ MPG in their Miata. >> >> The best I have ever gotten in any Miata is 33 MPG on the highway under >> mostly-ideal conditions, with a lot less in town. > >> I would be very surprised if your 1992 Miata is not capable of getting >> over 30MPG on the highway. >> >> Pat > > The '93 averaged 30-31 mpg while I drove it. > That was a mixed driving environment In its early days: Daily commute > was about 44 mi. one way - 2 mi. local small town - 24 mi. non-divided > hwy (traffic lights - avg 50 mpg) - 14 mi. interstate (70-75 mpg) - 4 > mi. in city (Philly). Even stop and go because of traffic and accidents > did not change it much. Biggest difference was winter when it would > drop to 29-29 mpg. > My son claims to still get about 30 mpg now with mixed small town and > hwy driving. > > With the '06 I get 26-29 mpg mixed, And have gotten 35-36 on longer > trips that were nearly all interstate (70-80 mph - top up). > The mileage with the '06 seems to vary much more, but I haven't figured > out anything I can attribute it to. I tend to drive the same style on > most of the roads I travel, and always use the same brand and grade of > gas. As with the '93 it is a little worse in the winter, but varies > much more tank to tank > > -- > ------- > Stephen Toth > white '93 220k mi. with the kids > '06 Galaxy Grey GT 6AT |
#30
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yes, it's a mileage thread
Chris D'Agnolo wrote:
> Pat, don't know if you're referring to 'this' Chris but I can say that > neither my 92NA nor my 99NB have gotten what I consider decent fuel > mileage for the size / power of the car! They simply run too many RPM's > on the highway but, don't get me started on that again! What I DO love > is that no matter how hard you flog these (normally aspirated) little > beasts, it doesn't hamper the mileage much from simple (shifting at > 3500~5000 rpms) normal driving! My 99 can be pretty much be counted on > for about 25mpg. I think my '92 was pretty much the same. > > Chris > 99BBB I haven't seen Chris M. in a while, so I guess I meant you if that's all that is available. ;-) Thanks, Pat |
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