dont slam on the gas - crawl up the speed - watch the little indicator bar keep it at 40 mpg lol

 

Higher octane fuel doesn't do much as far as lowering fuel mileage except in city driving or over 80MPH... There are numerous websites that have suggestions on how to improve your driving habits to improve your fuel mileage... I don't think the engines on these cars are completely broken in until you have about 20,000 miles on them. My mileage kept improving until about then.

 

I'm a little over 9K now and my mileage continues to improve.I don't pay much attention to it though I saw 41.7 mpg combined yesterday

My last car averaged 9-10 mpg (supercharged Mustang) so anything above 20mpg is heaven on earth to me lol

 

Man .. I'm only getting around 175 miles per tank ... what am I doing wrong? (Oh yeah, I'm filling up at the halfway point!)

 

Are your mileage figures consistent or do they vary a lot when you drive the same way on the same roads? The fuel gauge will read lower when you have the lights and other accessories like heater, A/C or sound system turned on. When everything is turned off and you fill the tank you get a better but false fuel mileage reading... Before I killed my mileage by supercharging the engine I got over 500 miles from a tank of fuel by filling to the top of the filler tube... Some of the problem could be driving habits... I try to drive in a manner in which I don't have to be using the brakes but letting the engine slow me down Not tailgating the car in front of you, letting off the throttle just as you reach the crest of a hill and coasting down the opposite side in gear and your foot off of the throttle pedal then accelerating at the very bottom to let gravity help get up the next hill are a couple of things that work for me..

 

it usually depends on where you commute most, at least for me that is

more free/highway = better mileage
more city = less mileage

 

That would be good feedback for me if I had been serious, but I was more making fun (again!) of people who talk about efficiency in miles-per-tank terms. Depending on when you decide to add more fuel you could get anywhere between 0 and 500 miles per tank ... so it's not really very useful to discuss.

If what you care about is range, then miles/tank is a perfect measure but for efficiency .. no.

 

Premium gas makes the engine more efficient at lower rpms. That is because at low rpms engine loads are higher and you could be lugging the motor. If you are using regular you want to get to speed as fast as you can so the engine loads lower. At rpms over 3000 rpms there is little change of engine knocking so it can be more efficient during acceleration then accelerating slowly. Cruising the engine loads are lower and mpg is more stable. My GD Fit manual sport in the summer I would see 40s average with a average speed of 40 so that equates to 60/40 highway using premium.

For those that dont believe me that regular is on the way out and higher octane gets better mpg here is a recent paper. http://magissues.farmprogress.com/PR...r12/pra011.pdf

 

I had an 08' until it was totaled. It rarely got better than 32 city, 35 highway. I now have an 11'. I easily get 36 around town, 39 - 46 highway driving 75 - 55 mph... But I average 38 combined. I also go a good 350-380 or more miles before my reserve light comes on. BUT - when I fill up and it clicks the gas off I also shake the car side to side, fill, shake etc and can easily put in 1 - 1.5 gallons more. If i only fill to the first click I can only go 280 - 300 miles before the gas light comes on...