Page 3 of 9 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 87

Thread: Not getting the magical mileage that is advertised for this car.

  1. #21
    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    10,155
    Thanks
    4,039
    Thanked 2,788 Times in 2,107 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    Every time Eggman? Codylehr23 should at least try regular air pressure, don't you think? and see what that does.
    Yep, every time. I stand by my statement. Even Codylehr23 gets it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Codylehr23 View Post
    More pressure is better and reduces resistance and the tire is rated at 42 PSI max.
    My best example is to compare this situation to a bicycle.

    So let's imagine a scenario. It's spring, and it's a fine day for a ride. Go in the back of the garage and dig out the bike from all the stuff piled on top of it. Shake off the dust off we go for a ride. What a beautiful day it is. The ride is nice but we are soon tired. Maybe we should have exercised more over the winter... But the ride on the bike sure was cushy.

    Dismount the bike and admire it for its beauty, it's so good to have it. Check the saddle, pedals, brakes (after the ride), the chain could use a little oil. Check the tires next - wow, these tires sure could use some air.

    So we get out our tire pressure gauge and check the pressure. 30 psi! Wow, it sure lost a lot of air. Aren't we lucky we didn't get a pinch flat? That was close. Ok, where's the pump - oh, here it is. The sidewall on the bicycle tire says 50 psi, and when last checked they were filled to 50 psi - last year. Okay, now that we aired the tires up some, let's see what a difference it makes.

    Standing to the left of the bike, grab the handlebars, put the kickstand up and away (because every Good Bike has a kickstand) while tilting the bike left swing the right leg up and over the saddle - ok, so far so good. Position the right pedal near the top of it's stroke, but a little forward, set your foot on it, and when the coast is clear stand up on that right pedal and...

    Whoa! What a difference a little air makes.


    While it's a comparison with a lot of limitations and differences, it serves as a simple example of how air pressure can affect rolling resistance. With less volume, the tires on a bicycle are even more affected by air pressure.

    There are many reasons why a vehicle manufacturer will post inflation criteria on the door jamb sticker. If you are uncomfortable using higher pressure than what the manufacturer says to use, then by all means don't inflate higher than that.

    But if you want to improve fuel economy, try increasing the air pressure in your tires. But only to your comfort level. Doing so will certainly reduce the contact patch with the road - absolutely. But how much? I think (key word there) this difference is negligible. And increasing air pressure does not change how the tire's tread compound grips the road. The surface of the tire where it meets the road remains the same, there's just less of it and the tire flexes less and in turn reduces rolling resistance when inflated with higher pressures.

    But you are right - it's not for everyone. But it's wrong to think that reducing air pressure in tires will somehow improve fuel economy.



    Quote Originally Posted by Codylehr23 View Post
    And I don't want to waste time so I did take off the roof racks. although I doubt it'll make much of a difference we'll see what this combination together will make.

    I will report my morning commute MPG in the morning. Morning temperature should be around 60 degrees. But it shouldn't be that cold in my garage.
    Roof racks wreck aerodynamics, (say that with Ws for the Rs) especially at higher speeds. Around town, not so much.

    I'm curious - how often do folks use their roof racks? Is it used every day, maybe a couple times a week or month?

    Quote Originally Posted by Codylehr23 View Post
    As for the post saying it takes 30 minutes to achieve maximum MPG, that sounds nice but that is not reasonable. It shouldn't take 30 minutes to achieve efficiency in any car. How is that acceptable? I can understand in below-freezing weather, maybe, but that's ridiculous.

    I did get 30 MPG when there was a cold snap out here on a full fill up. I understand cold can drastically affect your mileage but that seems a bit drastic

    Maybe this car is running too rich than others when it's cold. I remember looking up the TSB for something that it would run rich longer than normal under cold conditions and use more fuel than needed. But if it's this severe I feel like I should be a recall.
    Your Mirage doesn't have a temperature gauge but instead has some indicator lights on the dash. Look for a thermometer-looking indicator when you first start your engine. It will stay lit green until the coolant reaches about 137℉. A red color indicates overheating.

    An internal combustion engine is designed to operate near the boiling point of water. The sooner it gets there, the better fuel economy will be. I'm using an engine block heater year round (if I remember to plug it in) to help get up to operating temperature sooner as my commute is about 15 minutes through suburban city routes. You could monitor your coolant temperature using one of several available OBD-II devices. However, you shouldn't need something like that just yet - take care of a few other things first.

    For example, let's go into your typical drive. It would be good to cover speed, number of stops, terrain, and others.

    Quote Originally Posted by Codylehr23 View Post
    Also I'd like to say I appreciate everyone's help here. I feel like if anyone else had the situation they be on this forum same as me. I really want to love this car. As of right now I just appreciate the car because it runs. The timing belt snapped on my old Honda Civic during the middle of a divorce.
    Well, I hope our input is helpful. Thank us if it fixes your problem?

    And sorry to hear about your problems. Here's to better days ahead.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Eggman For This Useful Post:

    ThunderG (05-26-2019)

  3. #22
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    Pasco, washington
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    31
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 9 Times in 5 Posts
    Name:  IMG_20190526_085509685.jpg
Views: 606
Size:  91.5 KB much improved.

    Little traffic and no wind today.

  4. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Codylehr23 For This Useful Post:

    Cobrajet (05-27-2019),dspace9 (05-26-2019),MetroMPG (06-26-2019)

  5. #23
    Hubcap Enthusiast Scratchpaddy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Phoenix
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    192
    Thanks
    21
    Thanked 122 Times in 60 Posts
    ^Awesome, great job!

    Now, about tire pressure... the pressure on the plaque in the car is a recommendation by the car maker (not the tire maker) based on several factors. Fuel economy is only one. Comfort is another. If they do a focus group and discover buyers prefer the feel of driving on marshmallows, they'll put a lower pressure.

    In the early 1990's, Ford created the Explorer to cash in on the growing small-SUV market. To cut costs, the Explorer was basically a Ranger with an SUV cabin. They didn't want it to ride like a truck, so Ford recommended an inflation pressure of 26 psi. The Ranger, which used the same tires, had a recommended pressure of 35psi. The lower pressure gave a cushier ride, but also created lots of rolling resistance on the highway, wasting energy and heating up the tires to dangerous levels.

    This was one reason why the Explorer had one of the worst fuel economy ratings in its class. Ford responded by reducing weight, especially in the roof, which made it too weak to withstand a rollover accident. They also asked Firestone to reduce the weight of the tires, which they managed to do by using 10% less material.

    The SUV's high center of gravity, weak roof, under-inflated tires (per Ford's recommendation), weaker tires, and poor quality control at Firestone resulted in thousands of tires failing catastrophically, often causing roll-over accidents at high speed. 271 people died in the U.S. alone.

    Firestone and Ford tire controversy

    My point is, the car maker's recommendation is not always in the best interest of the tire, or fuel economy, or sometimes even safety.

    Now, the 35psi recommended for the Mirage is perfectly safe and reasonable. It's a good compromise between comfort and economy. But, it's perfectly fine to add more pressure if you prefer economy over a soft ride. I wouldn't recommend going over the maximum pressure on the tire sidewall, though. There is a margin of safety there, so it's probably OK, but it is a risk.

  6. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Scratchpaddy For This Useful Post:

    BecauseRaceCar (05-26-2019),Cobrajet (05-27-2019),ThunderG (05-26-2019)

  7. #24
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Canada
    Country
    Canada
    Posts
    3,022
    Thanks
    1,810
    Thanked 692 Times in 564 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Codylehr23 View Post
    much improved.

    Little traffic and no wind today.
    After some errands this morning, my Mirage is getting 4.6 L/100 km's so google conversion tells me that's 51 mpg, weather is typical midwestern spring drizzily rain day low 60s some wind, some slippery water on the highway actually. Riding bridgestone potenza's.

    Checked my fuel economy as I pulled in the driveway, 4.6 is good, even a little better than normal. Driving in 4th gear for traction to boot. So in regards to this thread, I do literally no work on my Mirage so I just assume I'm riding at 35 psi, for optimal ride and economy as someone says here.

    I'm getting 50 mpg for 5 years, something is right.
    Last edited by dspace9; 05-26-2019 at 08:17 PM.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)


  8. The Following User Says Thank You to dspace9 For This Useful Post:

    Eggman (05-26-2019)

  9. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    After some errands this morning, my Mirage is getting 4.6 L/100 km's so google conversion tells me that's 51 mpg, weather is typical midwestern spring drizzily rain day low 60s some wind, some slippery water on the highway actually. Riding bridgestone potenza's.

    Checked my fuel economy as I pulled in the driveway, 4.6 is good, even a little better than normal. Driving in 4th gear for traction to boot. So in regards to this thread, I do literally no work on my Mirage so I just assume I'm riding at 35 psi, for optimal ride and economy as someone says here.

    I'm getting 50 mpg for 5 years, something is right.
    Not everyone lives in the same town lol. The world is a pretty big place. Some people have hills and wind. So everyone's mileage will vary. Less air pressure equals less resistance. I agree that 35 is what the car mfg recommends mainly for comfort and tire wear. I see no problem with anyone running the max number stamped on the tire, you will get less rolling resistance. Can't argue with that. It will ride rougher though and the middle of the tire will usually wear more than the outsides.

    The recall was for cold weather starting, I really didn't notice much of a difference. They still run rich and will easily overfuel and flood when cold.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


  10. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Codylehr23 View Post
    Name:  IMG_20190526_085509685.jpg
Views: 606
Size:  91.5 KB much improved.

    Little traffic and no wind today.
    Do you hand calculate mileage or just go by what the car says? I had an 02 3/4 ton truck that said I was getting 26mpg avg. It was commonly refereed to as the lie-ometer. Newer cars are far more accurate but still not perfect all the time.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


  11. #27
    Hubcap Enthusiast Scratchpaddy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Phoenix
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    192
    Thanks
    21
    Thanked 122 Times in 60 Posts
    Yeah, most car's "fuel economy" gauges are wildly optimistic, but the Mirage's MPG readout is only 1-2mpg above reality, on average.

  12. #28
    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    looking into the abyss
    Country
    Turkmenistan
    Posts
    5,389
    Thanks
    2,034
    Thanked 1,242 Times in 909 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Fummins View Post
    Do you hand calculate mileage or just go by what the car says? I had an 02 3/4 ton truck that said I was getting 26mpg avg. It was commonly refereed to as the lie-ometer. Newer cars are far more accurate but still not perfect all the time.
    Sheeeeeeit, I can avg 30mpg just city driving with AC on 70% of the year and still feel like I got my moneys worth out of my mirage.

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to Dirk Diggler For This Useful Post:

    TheProfessorKMB (03-05-2024)

  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler View Post
    Sheeeeeeit, I can avg 30mpg just city driving with AC on 70% of the year and still feel like I got my moneys worth out of my mirage.
    it was crazy optimistic, there's no way that was possible running an edge tuner set on race and 35" tires. New stuff seems way closer to reality though.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


  15. #30
    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    looking into the abyss
    Country
    Turkmenistan
    Posts
    5,389
    Thanks
    2,034
    Thanked 1,242 Times in 909 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Fummins View Post
    it was crazy optimistic, there's no way that was possible running an edge tuner set on race and 35" tires. New stuff seems way closer to reality though.
    You get your ole lady her KIA Telluride yet?



Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •