Some questions: how to check MPG? Fuel additives? Alignment (front tires wearing)?

Hi Girls and Guys,

I bought my 2015 Mirage DE from a police auction. It had 17,800mi on it and now going on 29000. I want to know how to check my mpg...That book is pretty thick. In addition it has a wrench next to my mileage numbers. I usually use 87 gas and use a bottle of Lucas Fuel Treatment every month. Should I use it on every fill up? Also should I buy the Lucas High Milage Fuel Treatment instead? What do you all think about Exxon Mobil Synergy? I don't go to Exxon or those high priced gas stations. I am going for an oil change and tire rotation monday. I noticed my front tires are ball on the outer. I do a lot of Rideshare driving around Boston. I will get 2 front tires by the end of the month. Oh it usally takes 7.44 gals after seeing the digital gas gage blink and I read it takes 9 gallons and I don't want to challange that theory....LOL I spend from $16-20 depending on gas prices since I bought it back in March.

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

Hi Girls and Guys,

I bought my 2015 Mirage DE from a police auction. It had 17,800mi on it and now going on 29000. I want to know how to check my mpg...That book is pretty thick. In addition it has a wrench next to my mileage numbers. I usually use 87 gas and use a bottle of Lucas Fuel Treatment every month. Should I use it on every fill up? Also should I buy the Lucas High Milage Fuel Treatment instead? What do you all think about Exxon Mobil Synergy? I don't go to Exxon or those high priced gas stations. I am going for an oil change and tire rotation monday. I noticed my front tires are ball on the outer. I do a lot of Rideshare driving around Boston. I will get 2 front tires by the end of the month. Oh it usally takes 7.44 gals after seeing the digital gas gage blink and I read it takes 9 gallons and I don't want to challange that theory....LOL I spend from $16-20 depending on gas prices since I bought it back in March.

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Welcome to the forum! Before replacing the tires have a front end alignment done. The front alignment is adjustable (of course) but the rear axle alignment is not. One of the only known prevalent issue with the Mirage has been rear axle alignment. The good news is that even though you are the not the original owner, if the rear axle is out of alignment you are covered under warranty. Here is the link to the thread that discusses the issue.

http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...y-replacement)

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Originally Posted by inuvik

Welcome to the forum! Before replacing the tires have a front end alignment done. The front alignment is adjustable (of course) but the rear axle alignment is not. One of the only known prevalent issue with the Mirage has been rear axle alignment. The good news is that even though you are the not the original owner, if the rear axle is out of alignment you are covered under warranty. Here is the link to the thread that discusses the issue.

http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...y-replacement)

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Thank you

newagetomboy: hope you don't mind I moved your questions to a dedicated thread.

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When you ask "I want to know how to check my mpg", do you mean you want to know how to access the different readings in the instrument cluster, or you want to know how to manually calculate your MPG to compare with the cluster MPG gauge?

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Originally Posted by MetroMPG

newagetomboy: hope you don't mind I moved your questions to a dedicated thread.

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When you ask "I want to know how to check my mpg", do you mean you want to know how to access the different readings in the instrument cluster, or you want to know how to manually calculate your MPG to compare with the cluster MPG gauge?

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I thought I was in the right section. Well Both please.

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

I thought I was in the right section. Well Both please.

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You posted in the correct section of the forum, MetroMPG just dedicated your question to it's own thread ;)

Hi newagetomboy. That's a lot of questions. :)

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

I want to know how to check my mpg...That book is pretty thick.

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There's a couple of ways to do this. One is to use your Mirage display to do it for you. It has two MPG displays - we can help you understand how they both work.

The other method is to do the math yourself.
1. Fill up your tank and note the mileage on your odometer.
2. Drive.
3. Fill up again and note both the mileage on your odometer and the amount of gas you filled up with.
4. Divide the total number of miles you drove by the amount of gas you purchased to figure your Miles Per Gallon.
5. Do this over several tanks to get an average figure, rather than just one or two tanks.

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

In addition it has a wrench next to my mileage numbers.

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This must be the maintenance reminder. We can help you understand how this works too.

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

I usually use 87 gas and use a bottle of Lucas Fuel Treatment every month. Should I use it on every fill up?

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87 gas if fine. There should be no need to use any fuel treatment if you use good gas.

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

Also should I buy the Lucas High Milage Fuel Treatment instead?

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No, I don't think this is necessary either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

What do you all think about Exxon Mobil Synergy?

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It sounds expensive. It's not available in my market so I have no experience with it.

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

I don't go to Exxon or those high priced gas stations.

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Well, you shouldn't have to buy high-priced gas, but you could avoid purchasing additives if you stick to Top Tier gas. Read all about it here: TopTierGas.com

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

I am going for an oil change and tire rotation monday. I noticed my front tires are ball on the outer. I do a lot of Rideshare driving around Boston. I will get 2 front tires by the end of the month.

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Like inuvik said, get that alignment checked. Having your wheels pointed in different directions will cause fast & uneven tire wear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by newagetomboy

Oh it usally takes 7.44 gals after seeing the digital gas gage blink and I read it takes 9 gallons and I don't want to challange that theory....LOL I spend from $16-20 depending on gas prices since I bought it back in March.

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One way to see how much gas your little car can hold is to run it out. One problem with that (besides being stranded...:)) is the fuel pump, located in the fuel tank, is both cooled and lubricated by the gasoline. By running out it *may* cause damage to the pump. Now, I would hope the fuel pump would survive one or two incidents of being run dry, but I would advise against making a habit of it.


Regarding your owner's manual: You really ought to read it. Your Mirage has some pretty cool features that you might not know about, and learning more about your car will help you enjoy & appreciate it even more. You could download a copy through Mitsubishi and read some while waiting for your next fare. Aside from that, we will do our best here on the forum to help you out. :)


Glad to know you are getting great use out of your Mirage! I remember when you first joined - I was curious to know how your repairs turned out. It sounds like everything is going your way.

Tell us more about how your Mirage is working for you doing ride share and with regular use, and also what your riders think about it.

:cool:

Your engine will last longer if you spend your money on "good gas."
The difference between what you're doing vs spending the $ on chevron/exon/shell is that you're doing the "mixing" manually.

Another difference is that chemists and whatever engineers actually put the correct mix of gas and additives in the gas of those "high priced gas stations."

I'm not saying look for the most expensive gas station out there. Hell, the Chevron on my way to work is cheaper than some grocery store gas stations around.

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Originally Posted by Eggman

Hi newagetomboy. That's a lot of questions. :)

There's a couple of ways to do this. One is to use your Mirage display to do it for you. It has two MPG displays - we can help you understand how they both work.

The other method is to do the math yourself.
1. Fill up your tank and note the mileage on your odometer.
2. Drive.
3. Fill up again and note both the mileage on your odometer and the amount of gas you filled up with.
4. Divide the total number of miles you drove by the amount of gas you purchased to figure your Miles Per Gallon.
5. Do this over several tanks to get an average figure, rather than just one or two tanks.

This must be the maintenance reminder. We can help you understand how this works too.

87 gas if fine. There should be no need to use any fuel treatment if you use good gas.

No, I don't think this is necessary either.

It sounds expensive. It's not available in my market so I have no experience with it.

Well, you shouldn't have to buy high-priced gas, but you could avoid purchasing additives if you stick to Top Tier gas. Read all about it here: TopTierGas.com

Like inuvik said, get that alignment checked. Having your wheels pointed in different directions will cause fast & uneven tire wear.

One way to see how much gas your little car can hold is to run it out. One problem with that (besides being stranded...:)) is the fuel pump, located in the fuel tank, is both cooled and lubricated by the gasoline. By running out it *may* cause damage to the pump. Now, I would hope the fuel pump would survive one or two incidents of being run dry, but I would advise against making a habit of it.


Regarding your owner's manual: You really ought to read it. Your Mirage has some pretty cool features that you might not know about, and learning more about your car will help you enjoy & appreciate it even more. You could download a copy through Mitsubishi and read some while waiting for your next fare. Aside from that, we will do our best here on the forum to help you out. :)


Glad to know you are getting great use out of your Mirage! I remember when you first joined - I was curious to know how your repairs turned out. It sounds like everything is going your way.

Tell us more about how your Mirage is working for you doing ride share and with regular use, and also what your riders think about it.

:cool:

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Thank you Eggman. I'm doing good and everybody loves the car. Once they get into it they say plenty of leg room in the backseat. I still need a middle seatbelt. I will take my time and read my book some more ��.

Factory MPG gauges are described in your manual as well, but here's a thread that describes the "A" (automatically resets after 4 hours of sitting) and the "B" gauge (manual reset only):

Thread: Mirage factory fuel economy "A" & "B" gauges: details (MID Multi Information Display)