[Katrin Knauer Mellody]

Hi everyone,

So we've had our CX-3 about ten days now and are on our first (dealership provided) tank. I've been a little disappointed with how fast it seems to be going down - at this rate, I'm not going to get much more than 250 miles out of it, and the mpg is barely over 23 right now (even though I've seen it creep up slowly).
My question is, is this because it is brand new? Is there some technical explanation, like it eats more gas initially or something? I'm really hoping we'll get better mpg as this was one of the reasons we bought this car!!

If anyone has any advice / info on this, I'd appreciate it!

Other than that, we love it; it could maybe have just a little more power, but then again, it might prevent me from speeding too much this way!

Greetings from MD,
Kat

 

[DJ9999]

The fuel tank is really small so don't expect to get too far on a full tank. Mileage typically improves as it becomes "broken in" and your drive style normalizes. I usually get at or above mileage stated on the sticker. Run a few tanks and see how things are then.

 

[SRCX3]

We have averaged 33.5 mpg combined driving starting with the first tank. I would keep a close eye on it. If it does not improve the next couple tanks of gas, I would have them go over it as that seems very low.

 

[Vipre77]

I'd guess around 90% of my driving is city streets with a lot of stop lights and I'm often in a hurry to get home after work so I can take the kiddos from my wife before she leaves for work herself. Lifetime averages on my tanks are 234 miles per tank and 25.4 MPG. That's the full history going back to Sept. 2015 when I bought it.

My best ever was actually the very first tank ever put in the car when I picked it up from the dealership. I was driving it relatively gingerly to break it in on that first tank. The next day I took it on a road trip with almost entirely highway miles and got 32.1 MPG on that tank. Best I've gotten on a full tank since then was 31.2 MPG earlier this year on a road trip back to my parents' house in Illinois. I could have done much better on that trip. I wasn't trying for economy on the way there, but I did on the way back home and I managed 37.5 MPG on the return leg of that trip. First leg of the trip must have not been very good to average out to 31.2 for the whole tank.

Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to range on this car is that front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive models have different sized fuel tanks. You get somewhere around a full extra gallon of fuel in the FWD version if I remember correctly, plus the somewhat improved MPG on top of that.

Something else to consider is fuel brands. I've tracked my average MPG by brand and here's my results:

Mobile: 26.61 MPG, 59.87 miles/day
BP: 26.21 MPG, 71.96 miles/day
Speedway: 25.75 MPG, 45.37 miles/day
Other/Various: 25.51 MPG, 69.27 miles/day
Phillips 66: 24.92 MPG, 30.93 miles/day
Citgo: 22.81 MPG, 26.88 miles/day (1 tank only in data set)

My take-away from that data suggests that my top 4 performance brands I tend to stop at when I'm on longer trips and outside my usual driving routines, more highway miles, and stopping at gas stations that aren't on my usual routes. The Phillips 66 station is by far my most popular stop because it's on the route for my 22 mile round-trip commute to work every weekday. I should start changing up my usual commuting fill-up locations and see how much these MPG numbers even out, if any.

 

[Toller]

I was very concerned when my car was new about mileage also; perhaps 25mpg. But it has gone to 30mpg in mixed driving now. I don't know why that is, but it seems to be a thing.

 

[Katrin Knauer Mellody]

So, some updates to my last post; I have since filled her up for the first time (after that last quarter tank with the little bars went down so fast that I was afraid I'd be stranded on the highway!! I kid you not!!). When I finally got to the gas station, I only got about 9.7 gallons, so there must have been more left than I thought - I seem to remember reading that the tank holds about 11 gallons, right?
So I think I got about 26 or so mpg. This is with mostly back roads / sort of city driving, with some highway but not much. I hope this will improve a little over time...of course, it is really hot here right now so I've had to put on the A/C most of the time.

Oh and I also realized that I'm a dummy - what I took for "mpg" display on the dashboard actually says "mph" LOL. Silly me I'm not sure why I would need this information? But it's not what I thought it was

Let's see what the next filling will show...

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Kat

 

[st3v3cx-3]

So, some updates to my last post; I have since filled her up for the first time (after that last quarter tank with the little bars went down so fast that I was afraid I'd be stranded on the highway!! I kid you not!!). When I finally got to the gas station, I only got about 9.7 gallons, so there must have been more left than I thought - I seem to remember reading that the tank holds about 11 gallons, right?
....................
/QUOTE]

I'm sure you are correct, According to the Owner's Manual for the European 4WD model, the fuel tank holds the equivalent of 11.6 US gallons and I'd have thought the US model 4WD CX-3 would be the same. You can alter the Trip meter to what Mazda call Distance-to-empty mode where it will give an approximation of the distance you can travel on the remaining fuel based on your current (?) fuel economy. Note the low fuel warning light - a fuel pump - will turn on when the fuel remaining is roughly 2.3 US gallons.

 

[Katrin Knauer Mellody]

You know, I can't for the life of me remember if a light actually came on or not; I figured those four tiny bars in the last quarter were the last bit of the tank, and once the fourth (and last) bar was gone, it'd be pretty much empty - but maybe not? Maybe one can go beyond that fourth bar? There must have been about two gallons left when the tank appeared to be empty. Which out of a total of 11. something, 2. something seems quite a lot!!
I don't know if I'd have the nerves to test it out, but it certainly would be interesting to find out

How can I change the setting to what you're saying? I would find that A LOT more helpful than my average mph - I dont care about that (why would anyone??)

Thanks for the clarifications!!

Kat

 

[santa]

...

How can I change the setting to what you're saying? I would find that A LOT more helpful than my average mph - I dont care about that (why would anyone??)

Thanks for the clarifications!!

Kat

Mazda has some great tutorials on Youtube.
This one describes the trip computer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4vqCfhlEI&list=PLt4Pmq887-RtNrNzgTpcH2DwWYNkmdw-_&index=11

 

[Katrin Knauer Mellody]

Ah, thanks for that!! That was easy, and I feel a lot less like a fool right now because I thought how could I have mistaken mpg and mph - where clearly, I had it at mpg and then must have switched it to mph when trying out the info buttons recently. Unfortunately, that also means that mediocre number was indeed the mileage but I'm hoping it'll creep up a little more...

Thanks for the help!!

 

[kevinstephen]

I had the same questions. Mine is with us for 2 weeks and I just recently notice that miles is kinda going down fast. I was about to call the dealer but I think I would watch the tutorials first. Thanks guys!
_______________________________________________
Towing Springfield VA

 

[Katrin Knauer Mellody]

I noticed, too, that the "miles to empty tank" does not seem very accurate! When I compare the miles actually traveled and the miles to empty tank, the latter just seems to drop much quicker...

Not thrilled yet with the consumption, hope that will get a bit better - i'm not expecting miracles but I drive mostly backroads and would expect to get AT LEAST what the manufacturer says for city driving!!!