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So I put a little over 1000 miles on my CX-3 this weekend. Drove from Northern VA to Boston (Cambridge), MA. Here's my review on how the CX-3 handles, moves and what it gets for gas mileage with a 95%/5% highway to city ratio.
Left Northern VA on Friday, September 4 around 5:30am and arrived in Cambridge, MA around 6:30pm. I stopped every two hours or so and took an hour to have lunch in CT. I forgot to get exact start and finish numbers on the mileage gauge, but I remember I was hovering around the 850s. I took a backroad, state highway out of VA and then picked up a major interstate in Gettysburg, PA. I had no slow downs other than a small pocket of traffic on Route 20 in MA (not a major highway and had lights). According to googlemaps the drive should have been about 542 miles one way and would take a little over 8 hours if driven straight. I only hit 2 tolls (I refuse to pay the ridiculous fees of the NYC tunnels), via upstate NY and the Massachusetts Highway.
For those of you playing our home game, you know I bought this car on Friday, August 21. Given that I've been loving how it rides, I've been putting more than my normal weekly miles on it. Before the break in period (600miles) was completed I was averaging around the 30.9 - 31.7 mpg (according to the car).
After I reached MA I took another peak at the average gauge in the car. I had upped it to 32.5mpg! Given that the EPA topped this car (AWD, Sport) at 32 on the highway I was impressed to go beyond that.
There was a 12-hour break for Baystate, while I checked into the hotel, tooled around Cambridge and slept the sleep of only someone crazy enough to spend 12 hours in a car. The next morning I drove to Harvard, parked the car and tooled around Harvard Yard. Anyone on here from that area? OMG PJ Licks is the best ice cream, Crema cafe has my heart (the orange blossom beignets!) and the stationary store got a lot of my money.
I departed from fair MA around 2:30 and while I made fewer stops on the way home (5 instead of 7) it still took me over 10 hours to get home (arrived around 1:30am). The mileage on Baystate was then 2025 (for the math people that means I did about 90 miles off highway, given the route I took). The average mpg was 34.5mpg!!! This is even better news than when I reached MA.
I am an aggressive driver (but not an asshat), I can merge with the best of them and I'm not interested in cutting anyone off. I try to get over a lane if you're merging onto the highway and shockingly enough I maintained the posted speed limits (only setting my cruise control for 2 - 4 miles over the limit depending on the area). To be fair I used the passing lane as intended and only needed to stay in it for longer than the necessary get around time when an 18 wheeler made it clear he was way bigger than I, (although I had a flash back to the original Fast and Furious honda pass under the 18 wheeler scene). PA has several sections of 84 that had been narrowed to one lane with a jersey wall on one side and the very small median and expansive treeline on the other. Posted speed limits were 55 to 65 on any given highway and would drop down to as slow as 45 for major roadwork areas.
Despite being dog tired today, I am happy to report that the road trip solidified my love for this brand and in particular this model. This is my first ever Mazda and I'm more than greatful that I held off my car buying in June when I saw the first magazine article about this coming soon.
Baystate got a much-needed bath (the bugs...my windshield was coated, shudder) and a longer break today and I'll be reporting my findings to the dealership I purchased it from (since they wondered how the mileage would do on a longer road trip).
I gassed up the car 4 times (because I have issues and hate to get under 100 miles in my range), but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have affected my mpg. If you have questions, feel free to ask. I covered most of the important (to me) things, but if I can give additional info I'll be happy to give my thoughts.
Left Northern VA on Friday, September 4 around 5:30am and arrived in Cambridge, MA around 6:30pm. I stopped every two hours or so and took an hour to have lunch in CT. I forgot to get exact start and finish numbers on the mileage gauge, but I remember I was hovering around the 850s. I took a backroad, state highway out of VA and then picked up a major interstate in Gettysburg, PA. I had no slow downs other than a small pocket of traffic on Route 20 in MA (not a major highway and had lights). According to googlemaps the drive should have been about 542 miles one way and would take a little over 8 hours if driven straight. I only hit 2 tolls (I refuse to pay the ridiculous fees of the NYC tunnels), via upstate NY and the Massachusetts Highway.
For those of you playing our home game, you know I bought this car on Friday, August 21. Given that I've been loving how it rides, I've been putting more than my normal weekly miles on it. Before the break in period (600miles) was completed I was averaging around the 30.9 - 31.7 mpg (according to the car).
After I reached MA I took another peak at the average gauge in the car. I had upped it to 32.5mpg! Given that the EPA topped this car (AWD, Sport) at 32 on the highway I was impressed to go beyond that.
There was a 12-hour break for Baystate, while I checked into the hotel, tooled around Cambridge and slept the sleep of only someone crazy enough to spend 12 hours in a car. The next morning I drove to Harvard, parked the car and tooled around Harvard Yard. Anyone on here from that area? OMG PJ Licks is the best ice cream, Crema cafe has my heart (the orange blossom beignets!) and the stationary store got a lot of my money.
I departed from fair MA around 2:30 and while I made fewer stops on the way home (5 instead of 7) it still took me over 10 hours to get home (arrived around 1:30am). The mileage on Baystate was then 2025 (for the math people that means I did about 90 miles off highway, given the route I took). The average mpg was 34.5mpg!!! This is even better news than when I reached MA.
I am an aggressive driver (but not an asshat), I can merge with the best of them and I'm not interested in cutting anyone off. I try to get over a lane if you're merging onto the highway and shockingly enough I maintained the posted speed limits (only setting my cruise control for 2 - 4 miles over the limit depending on the area). To be fair I used the passing lane as intended and only needed to stay in it for longer than the necessary get around time when an 18 wheeler made it clear he was way bigger than I, (although I had a flash back to the original Fast and Furious honda pass under the 18 wheeler scene). PA has several sections of 84 that had been narrowed to one lane with a jersey wall on one side and the very small median and expansive treeline on the other. Posted speed limits were 55 to 65 on any given highway and would drop down to as slow as 45 for major roadwork areas.
Despite being dog tired today, I am happy to report that the road trip solidified my love for this brand and in particular this model. This is my first ever Mazda and I'm more than greatful that I held off my car buying in June when I saw the first magazine article about this coming soon.
Baystate got a much-needed bath (the bugs...my windshield was coated, shudder) and a longer break today and I'll be reporting my findings to the dealership I purchased it from (since they wondered how the mileage would do on a longer road trip).
I gassed up the car 4 times (because I have issues and hate to get under 100 miles in my range), but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have affected my mpg. If you have questions, feel free to ask. I covered most of the important (to me) things, but if I can give additional info I'll be happy to give my thoughts.
