What's the hardest you've driven your Mirage?

[7milesout]

Buc'ees is taking over the world down here.

[Ares]

I'm from TX so it's pretty normal for me. I literally have one 5ish min or so from me...

I would say about half of the mirage's life was from Bucees gas; never had an issue. Furthermore, I'd buy the $13 car wash which would knock down the price per gallon about 10c I think.

[7milesout]

Just to add a note: The 2 tanks running hard on E10 returned 36.06 mpg and 36.03 mpg. Very consistent. Running 79 mph on the interstate. The last leg on E15 got 31.2 mpg. I'd say there was other variations in that E15 tank. I don't think it should pull it down nearly 5 mpg. There must have been more headwind on that last leg, is all I can say. I did expect it to be lower, but not that much lower.

I've got E0 in there now, but the driving differences are WAY more conducive to higher mpgs. I'll report it back up in here in any event.

[Mark]

Just to add a note: The 2 tanks running hard on E10 returned 36.06 mpg and 36.03 mpg. Very consistent. Running 79 mph on the interstate. The last leg on E15 got 31.2 mpg. I'd say there was other variations in that E15 tank. I don't think it should pull it down nearly 5 mpg. There must have been more headwind on that last leg, is all I can say. I did expect it to be lower, but not that much lower.

I've got E0 in there now, but the driving differences are WAY more conducive to higher mpgs. I'll report it back up in here in any event.

Just curious - Are those dash mpg readings or hand calculated mpg readings done at the gas pump?

I am not surprised 88/E15 has a lower mpg rating than 87/E10, but I also wouldn't have expected that big of a difference.

80 mph is not a Mirage's strength. The dash economy light disappears (5-speed manual at least) when you reach that speed, & the fuel economy takes a big hit. Wind can be a huge factor, too!

When I visited my parents last weekend, I hand calculated the tank of gas that did all of the 4-lane highway stretch (approximately 200 miles even). A majority of that stretch was 70 mph, but a small part of it was 65 mph. I tend to drive about 5 mph over the speed limit. Thus, I was going 75 mph for most of that and 70 mph for a small part of it.

Sidenote: I'm not a big risk taker when it comes to speed limits, because I want a clear driving record for my driving instructor's license. I also carry a class A CDL license, & I want to maintain a clear record for that.

At 75 mph & under, I feel the Mirage still does quite well. The dash econo light stays on at least. To be fair - the tank that did the 200 mile stretch of going 70-75 mph had approximately 85 miles of two lane highway miles (going 60 mph). I don't remember the exact mileage or fill up amount, but it hand calculated to approximately 40.5 mpg. I found that to be low (compared to past trips), but I was fighting some nasty wind last weekend, too.

[precisionxt]

I encountered some off-the-beaten-path places going cross country last year that ONLY offered E15. We had to put that in as a result of being so low but it ran fine, albeit with less efficiency. I think if you're in a situation where you're running through a tank in a few hours, E15 will probably be fine. I would hesitate letting it sit for a couple weeks and only doing short city driving though.

[7milesout]

All hand calculated.