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Thread: Personal best MPG / fuel economy

  1. #11
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    There's a point at which driving a Mirage for FE quits making sense. I haven't really delved into it, but if a Fiesta ST gets 31.5 mpg at 80 mph... that's getting pretty close to the cut-off point. I remember seeing 31 mpg after an 80 mph cruise with cruise control in the Z4 that I owned a few years ago. A decidedly non-economy car... 31 mpg on the highway at 80.

    A Mirage just cruising without any special attention (hypermiling techniques) at 50 mph will pretty easily net you 50 mpg. Go up to 60, that will drop to probably around 42-45. 70 mph? 38-40 mpg. 75 mpg gets you down to 35-36. I haven't done any cruising beyond those speeds... but, I expect that the Mirage would end up around 33-34 mpg at a constant 80 mph. Certainly not terrible, but nothing to write home about.

    The Mirage is a really cool high-economy LOW TECH and LOW COST car for low-speed commuting. You want better, it's going to cost you, and it's probably going to be a hybrid or maybe a diesel.

    If you look at the big picture, total cost of ownership... purchase price (especially if you buy used), fuel economy, maintenance, tires, etc... the Mirage will often win. But, if driving FAST is a requirement, it does skew the results.


    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Fummins (04-14-2020),Top_Fuel (04-12-2020)

  3. #12
    Senior Member AtomicPunk's Avatar
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    Gas has been so cheap of late, I stopped trying to be fuel efficient. As an essential employee on less congested roads, its "go time". Will return to thriftsaver mode once the price goes back up.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Go4th View Post
    I do delivery with my G4 year 'round, and the Vredestein's have great reviews for such. It was rainy for the next few days after install, they were great. I've since been out in the country on gravel roads, again great. Cornering grip? Great. Highway ride is fine, noise level is fine, noticeable but not horrible. They feel grippier for acceleration and braking than I remember the stock being when they are new. And with at least maintained, if not improved MPG...I think these tires are a great deal!!
    I appreciate your summary of the Vredestein tires, because tirerack.com carries them in the 165/65-14 size here.

    The main 165/65-14 LRR tires Tire Rack carry are the Dunlop & Bridgestone. Using their Easter day prices -

    Dunlop Enasaves = $123.99/tire = $495.96/set with free shipping.

    Bridgestone Potenza = $113.90/tire = $455.60/set with free shipping.

    Vredestein Quatrac 5 = $72.88/tire = $291.52/set with free shipping.

    That makes a set of Vredestein tires 36% less than the Bridgestone & 41% less than the Dunlop. I expect the Vredestein tires would have better overall traction year round. Less money/good LRR characteristics makes them a even better deal. Overall, the reviews of them are quite good. If traction is an issue where you live, it's a tire to consider.

    I like the fact that newer Vredestein tires could probably be used for the winter months, and the older ones could be used up during the summer months without taking much of a hit in the mpg economy department.

    We have very limited 165/65-14 choice here - I sort of watch the prices of 4 tires.

    Federal SS657 - affordable lowest grade tire I would consider
    Nexen NPriz AH5 - better 50,000 mile warranty & I like the 51 maximum psi rating.
    Vredestein Quatrac 5 - only all-weather/year round tire option.
    Nokian Nordman 7 - can be used studded or non-studded. Decent LRR snow tire, too!

    I see no reason to pay a lot more money for Dunlop & Bridgestone tires. Sidewall issues on the Dunlop tires has soured them for me. Presently, the Nexen ($50.73/tire) are only $6.06 more expensive than the Federal ($44.67) @ tires-easy.com.

    For those who want better or more options, they usually shift to 175/65-14 tires. If I went that route, I would probably be buying Cooper tires again. For now, I am content with these 4 tire options available to us in the States. Less options makes shopping easier!

  6. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by AtomicPunk View Post
    Gas has been so cheap of late, I stopped trying to be fuel efficient. As an essential employee on less congested roads, its "go time". Will return to thriftsaver mode once the price goes back up.
    Same here. My economy seems to have stayed about the same if not getting better lately. I can now usually cruise at 55-60mph without having to slow down for random roadtards. But I heard the other day they're talking about starting a $hit ton of road construction projects right away to get people back to work here.
    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)


  7. #15
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    The fiesta St gets an average fuel consumption of 30mpg doing 3/4th at 80+ mph, and 1/4th below 55.
    At a constant 80, it does 3k RPM and hits 29mpg.
    At 85-95mph, and ~3250-3500rpm, this goes down to 25.5mpg (I guess the turbo is kicking in there at constant speeds).
    But once I try to gently overtake, this quickly goes down to 21 or 16mpg.
    Does the mirage suffer from heat soak a lot? (Not counting ac drain, meaning it'll recuperate it's power in summer with premium or mid grade fuel)
    And how much does the AC affect mpg? (On the fiesta that would be hardly noticeable, about 1 mpg).

    I am getting better mpg numbers than others, because I live at (or close to) sea level, with lots of o2 rich air, and higher temperatures. But also because the outer diameter of my tires are 7% larger than stock (7% lower revving).

    One website said that the 2021 Mirage has a 1.3 liter 3cyl. Not sure if this was a typo or not.
    I drove the Chevy spark, with 1.25 liter engine, and absolutely loved it in the city! Wide space gearing too!
    I don't know how the mirage does against the spark in terms of fuel economy?

  8. #16
    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)


  9. #17
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post

    One website said that the 2021 Mirage has a 1.3 liter 3cyl. Not sure if this was a typo or not.
    I drove the Chevy spark, with 1.25 liter engine, and absolutely loved it in the city! Wide space gearing too!
    I don't know how the mirage does against the spark in terms of fuel economy?
    What kind of engine is in the Fiesta ST? Those fuel economy numbers don't really sound great at all to me, when a Corvette can get 30+ mpg cruising on the highway, at least C6 & 7's people said that. I know with sporty cars you have to examine fuel economy figures different, apples to apples. So I'm sure the normal Fiesta gets 40 mpg
    Last edited by dspace9; 04-14-2020 at 01:28 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)


  10. #18
    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post
    Does the mirage suffer from heat soak a lot? (Not counting ac drain, meaning it'll recuperate it's power in summer with premium or mid grade fuel)
    Recuperate it's power? It's a naturally aspirated 3-cylinder with 72 horsepower. There's not a lot of power to recuperate! Running higher octane fuel doesn't change the power output of a Mirage. It pretty much runs the same on 87 or 93 octane.


    ...how much does the AC affect mpg? (On the fiesta that would be hardly noticeable, about 1 mpg).
    You will know when you turn on the AC in a Mirage: Awful MPG and performance with AC on


    Just to review...the top 3 things you can do in a Mirage to kill your fuel economy:

    1. Drive above 65 mph
    2. Drive with the AC on
    3. Do both at the same time

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


  11. #19
    One of these things is not like the others. I don't take this very seriously. If someone has a 200hp Fiesta getting 30mpg at high speeds(sure) and that's how you drive, considering a Mirage seems pretty pointless unless you just want to get out of an overpriced breakdown waiting to happen. It's a downgrade in almost every aspect other than the simpler and cheaper maintenance. I don't get it. Must be bored?
    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)


  12. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    Recuperate it's power? It's a naturally aspirated 3-cylinder with 72 horsepower. There's not a lot of power to recuperate! Running higher octane fuel doesn't change the power output of a Mirage. It pretty much runs the same on 87 or 93 octane.



    You will know when you turn on the AC in a Mirage: Awful MPG and performance with AC on


    Just to review...the top 3 things you can do in a Mirage to kill your fuel economy:

    1. Drive above 65 mph
    2. Drive with the AC on
    3. Do both at the same time
    Yeah, you can get good gas mileage with AC on, but not nearly as good as with it off. Think 52 vs 42. If you can stand to get by with two or three windows cracked, that's much better than running the AC.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 42.3 mpg (US) ... 18.0 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.8 mpg (Imp)


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