Here I go again on gas milage figures. Point to Point numbers on a long week end trip. Left my home in N.Calif. on Friday 5th Sept., traveled to Little America in Flagstaff Az. and returned following Tuesday 9th Sept.. Using always 91 octane premium Mobile, Valero, 76, and Chevron gas. Point to Point figures. 242.2 miles.>9.19 gal... 201.0 mi.>7.14 gal...173.8 mi.>5.9gal...215 mi>8.8 gal...200.5 mi>7.86 gal...213.3mi>7.4 gal...180.3miles>6.75gal...236.0miles>8.39ga l...206.8mi>8.12gal. I did most of my fillup’s at just under or just over the halfway mark. I traveled on the same highways coming and going. Hwy. 12, Interstate 5, Rt46, Rt99, Rt 58, Interstate 40, and various roads in and around Flagstaff, especially Butler Av. I drove at speeds of 45 to 88, depending on the road and traffic. The air conditioner was going all most all the time. It was 105 degrees in Needles when I went thru there, but had been 114 earlier in the day. The Mojave is just plain hot 105+ and dusty as is the Ca. central valley. There were a few road repair zones in Calif. and only God knows how much truck traffic, must have been hundreds. Slow trucks passing even slower trucks on hills are a pain in the butt. I topped off the oil before I left N. Calif, it only needed a cup or so, and I put in about the same before I returned home from Flagstaff. I inflated the tires to about 34lb. I checked the radiator fluid and brake fluid to make sure they were both topped off. The trip total was about 1868 miles inclusive, and about 69.5 gals. Overall gas milage was about 26.8 with a high of 29+ to a low of 24+. I didn’t race anyone or drive excessively fast, I used cruise control as much as I could, but the damn truck traffic made it hard to hold any particular speed for any length of time.. And I never saw another RX-8, but a lota ordinary Mustangs and one real nice looking Shelby, lots of BMW’s , one WRX with a spoiler nearly as big as the car, a few Vettes, and many many many ordinary SUV’s. I didn't mark my exact return driving time home but it was very close to 13 hrs. (including gas stops and a couple of rest area pit stops to "you know") and about 840 miles. The trip included both heavy suburban traffic, freeway traffic, local roads, mountains (the Tehachapis) and the Mojave desert. So those are my milage figures for those who are concerned with the "terrible milage" the RX-8 gets. In mostly town numbers...yesss it is low.... but for long distance travel numbers it's just as good as any other. I got flamed on here by several others for milage claims but I still stand by my results with my 07 RX-8 GT.

 

26 MPG highway is believable.

 

I think most people don't want to admit that the connection between the skinny pedal and the right foot is the reason they get poor mileage.

 

Yes, 26.4 is believeable for an 8. But I'm wondering how you got there given your initial figures:

 

Point to Point figures.
242.2 miles.>9.19 gal... 26.35mpg
201.0 mi.>7.14 gal...28.15 mpg
173.8 mi.>5.9gal...29.45 mpg
215 mi>8.8 gal...24.43 mpg
200.5 mi>7.86 gal...25.50 mpg
213.3mi>7.4 gal...28.80 mpg
180.3miles>6.75gal...26.71 mpg
236.0miles>8.39gal...28.13 mpg
206.8mi>8.12gal....25.46 mpg

totals: 1868.9 miles/69.55 gal = 26.87 mpg

 

sstlaure is more somewhat more accurate than I was, ....... if you get receipts, which I did, at todays gas prices the amount is figured to 3 places past the decimal point. in other words 8.799 gals. I rounded up to 8.8 gals, 5.9 gal. was rounded up from 5.869... and so on....so the actual gallon amount I figured slightly higher to save one or two decimal places and to save myself some adding and mostly to be conservative in my claims. At first I added up all the gas amounts, and the total mileage driven and just divided but I also did each fill-up individually to compare. When I started I only wanted gas station to gas station cruising highway mileages to determine the maximum I could get with my style of driving. I knew the short day trips at my destination would equal ordinary in town mileage which we already know is lower. But I decided to include the total mileage and gas amounts even though it would lower the overall mileage. The point to point freeway mileage, not including driving around Flagstaff, is actually better than 26.8. An overall average number is not the same as a high mpg figure or a low mpg figure, I was looking for a high number to see what I could achieve unimpeded, but traffic never allowed a completely unbiased number. It is harder to break it down accurately because of some overlap in 3 days of in-town Flagstaff driving and some local but long distance driving on the same tank of gas. Miles driven I did not round up or down, they are what they are. I also didn't make any attempt to adjust my gas mileage when I was stuck in traffic or in a freeway repair zone and not moving. As an example the first figure of 242.2>26.35mpg miles includes some bumper to bumper early morning from 6am till 7:30am commute traffic in a very urban area as I was starting out my trip... the middle figures of 215miles>24.43mpg are partly in Flagstaff while I got unexpectedly stuck in some special event traffic jam and got lost trying to get out of it...the last figure of 206.8> 25.46 miles includes the same as the first area on my return from about 5pm to 7pm going home traffic. Does this help make sense to you all? Your RX-8, in good condition, will get decent mileage if you want to, or worse mileage if you rev shift to the max at every chance and drive with a lead foot for short in-town distances.

 

Whoops!!Sorry, I musta' been tired.I read those figures AS your mileage, not the gallons used.
My mistake. I apologize.

 

thankyou....... last year when i posted a 30mpg figure...it was only 1 or 1.5 mpg higher than my highest figures this time.... the biggest difference is last year i had portions of west bound hwy 70 to myself, no trucks and very very little car traffic. also across central southern Nevada i had very good roads, with no police, to myself for nearly an hour at a time easily setting the cruise at 70/80 and just driving on flat or low rolling hills with essentially no traffic but me. the same kind of point to point driving under very ideal conditions. maybe not the same as most real life driving conditions but still achievable at that point in time and place. my normal in town driving is usually between 16.5 and 18 mpg, within what Mazda claims on the low end and the EPA accepts, mixed normal town and hyw. i get a realistic 20 to 22 mpg again well within what Mazda and the EPA advise..

 

My guess is with some tuning, your driving style you should be able run into the 32-39 range. But like was mentioned, driving habits are the 1 reason for poor or good gas mileage in any given vehicle. With some tuning I took my STI from an average of 20 to 25, with the same driving style, mostly under 100 with the occaisional WOT runs. I also took my truck from an average of 15-18 now running 21-25 with similar tuning. So far in my 8, I haven't run much over 20 yet, but mostly from driving style and few highway miles. I am still figuring this car out.

 

Clearly, not all cars are the same. I get 20-21 mpg back and forth two hours to Cincinnati, cruise control on the whole way. (60 mph when the speed limit is 55, 70 mph when the speed limit is 65) 92 octane

It's been repeated countless times, so I've long given up hope that it's just my lead foot.