I Recently bought a 2003 Protege 5 w/ 70,000 miles (manual trans.). So far I'm averaging about 25mpg in the city (w/ some highway driving) and about 32mpg on mostly highway trips. What kind of mileage should I be gettingfrom this car and what hints can you give to help increase mileage?

 

We have a 2002 and are the original owners. It has consistently gotten 25 in town and 30-35 on the highway. To maximize fuel economy the three behavioral things I've found that seem to work (regardless of vehicle) are:

1) SLOW DOWN (on the highway); most cars have an optimal speed where mileage is best (typically between 55 and 65 mph).

2) try not to use your brakes so much; obviously you need to brake, however the less you use your brakes the less you will be accelerating....so glide to a halt at red stoplights rather than speeding up to them and then braking hard, and let friction slow you down off off ramps (of course you don't want to be a hazard so be mindful of how the folks around you are driving).
This works best if you SLOW DOWN first.

3) Keep a consistent speed (this kinda fits with 1 and 2) the less you need to accelerate the better mileage you will get because the engine runs at a lower RPM to maintain speeds vs. accelerate (of course hilly places make this a bit more complicated).

Of course combining errands, maintaining good tire pressure, keeping up with regular maintenance (i.e. air filter, oil, and spark plug changes) can also help.

We also keep a log book of gasoline purchases and maintenance for each of our vehicles. This helps keep track of mpg. In the past this info has helped me figure out when two thermostats have gone bad (due to a drop in mileage from the engine running rich) of course both of these incidences were in Fords.....

Just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary (heh heh)

Cheers,

Matt.

 

Hey I own a 2002 protege 5 with 82000 on it. I used to drive 50 miles a day to go to work. I was getting 35 mpg on the highway and 28 in the city. I now drive 10 miles to work and Im still getting the same mileage. The best advice I could give is what brodydog gave you, slow down, I know its hard, that car loves to go fast. But Ive learnt the hard way.

Take care. Anjuli

 

I have posted the gas mileage question in several Protege 5 forums. I bought a '03 automatic, with 13,000 original miles, in October'07 for $8,900 (to replace my 1998 Altima with 178,000 miles). Ihave put about 11,000 miles on it since. Iamonly getting 25 mpg. Mostly highwayto and from work. I drive 26 miles to work and then 26 back (this includes approximately 5 milescity). On the highway I average 80mph and I know this is not helping my gas mileage, but anticipated low 30mpg's when I bought the car.

The answers I got from the other forums are consistant with what I am seeing, but there are people that have calculated low-mid 30'mpgs. Guess I should try to slow it down a bit.

I like the car but Ihate the automatic. My first automatic in 22 years (since my 1968 Camaro), there is no feeling to it and it shifts horribly.
Oh yeah, car needs new tires any suggestions, nothing aggressive, something good on highway??????