Woohoo! I hit the EPA rating!

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
04/16/2018 at 20:43 • Filed to: None

OK, it was the city rating of 21 MPG and it was achieved in mixed driving, but it’s the best I’ve gotten in ages. Combine a 2.3 mile commute, a rev-happy 2.5l engine and a 6MT with a driver that had a lead foot and the 17-19 MPG I normally get doesn’t seem so out of place.

I kinda wish I did take that trip to KC last week so I could see if I could get the fuel economy back closer to 30.

DISCUSSION (10)

LOREM IPSUM > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/16/2018 at 21:10

Kind of an amusing story, I guess... A few years ago my brother in law got in an accident and got a Mazda 5 as a rental. As we chatted about it, he commented that he hated it because it had absolutely no power and took forever to get up to speed. I thought that a bit odd, as it was brand new, and his former car wasn’t exactly fast (former rcmp impala) so it wasn’t like his performance bar had been set very high.

Anyway, we end up going somewhere, I ended up sitting in the back seat. He lived on a fairly steep hill, so he backs out of his driveway, then starts driving up the hill sllloooooowly as hell, engine labouring away. I look at the dash mounted shifter, and wouldn’t you know it, the guy had flipped it to the right into the manumatic side... Or maybe it was just 3rd gear, I don’t recall. Point is, he had been driving everywhere in exclusively 3rd gear for weeks.

I reached up from the back seat and “fixed the problem” by nudging it into drive. I then politely explained why the car seemed so down on power.

He likes cars, and is a very smart guy, but he is NOT a knowlegable car guy.

HammerheadFistpunch > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/16/2018 at 22:21

I also did well in my fillup today, 17.5. Thats pretty great for me.

shop-teacher > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/17/2018 at 00:12

That makes for a good day. I got my truck’s EPA highway rating of 21mpg once. That was a damn good day.

Long-Voyager > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/17/2018 at 07:39

Damn, I average 24mpg in mixed driving from my van.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Long-Voyager
04/17/2018 at 13:15

Being an older vehicle, yours is probably a lot lighter than mine right out of the factory. I remember a few years ago a friend brought over his new Prelude and it was about the same weight as my old 5-series. I also tend to keep too much heavy crap inside; it’s a single seater right now, despite having 5 other seats. Off the top of my head I know I’ve got 120 cans of water, 80 bottles of water (two cases from Costco) and a couple of heavy toolboxes in there at the moment. Most of this stuff can come out, but I just haven’t had the opportunity to do so until now.

I rarely get a chance to do mixed driving, with last week’s 30 mile trip being the exception. Mid twenties was what I was experiencing when I had a longer commute and nothing inside. If I could just drive like a sane person I might get better mileage, but it’s so fun to drive that driving sedately seems like a waste.

Long-Voyager > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/17/2018 at 16:08

Surprisingly, your van is only 200lbs heavier than mine. Not including my added lights, push bar, AT tires, Roof Basket, etc. I also have the aerodynamics of a brick, a 3.8L V6, and a 4-speed auto.

I run about 1400rpms at 60mph and around 1900rpm at 70mph, from an engine with tons of low end torque, so that’s likely what saves my mileage.

If I could just drive like a sane person I might get better mileage, but it’s so fun to drive that driving sedately seems like a waste.

I have the same problem, I have managed to get 27mpg cruising hwy on a long trip, but daily use is 23-24mpg usually. Partially because of a lot of mixed driving, mostly because 170hp/250ft-lbs is a riot in a 3200lb vehicle.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Long-Voyager
04/17/2018 at 16:26

Just like my E34 525i, the combination of relatively low horsepower (157 in the Mazda and 168 in the BMW) combined with about a 3,300 lb curb weight, the engines are perhaps taxed a little more than would be preferable. The BMW is an I6 and the Mazda an I4, but they’re both 2.5l engines. I think that in the Mazda I’m turning around 2,500 RPM whilst on the highway, and perhaps a larger, torquier engine turning fewer revs would improve fuel economy.

I’ll have to look into maintenance requirements, but I don’t think I’m due for anything major anytime soon. I keep the fluids and filters changed, and, well, that’s about all I’ve had to do in ages. I haven’t pulled the plugs in a couple of years, but they’re supposed to be good for 100K, but I might just change them sooner since my driving is a little more demanding these days (2.3 miles to work on city streets as opposed to 20 miles on the highway). Other than that I can’t think of any maintenance items that might possibly improve performance and efficiency, but I’d be happy to listen if you have any ideas.

Long-Voyager > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/17/2018 at 16:39

Could try throwing an intake and exhaust on it. I have a shorty intake and full exhaust on my van, which opened it up a lot, and boosted mileage. Economy vehicles, like my van and yours, have very restrictive factory systems, which hurt performance and economy.

Changing plugs would likely be a good idea, they “say” 100k, but I’ve never had a set of plugs be good much over 50k regardless of how long they’re supposed to last.

Outside of that, it’s likely a case of an overtaxed engine for the vehicle it’s in and that’s the best you’ll ever do unless you venture into a drivetrain swap. I get much better mileage since I swapped for the 3.8L than I ever did with the old 3.0. HP wise, they’re pretty close (25-30hp difference), but the 3.8 makes a significant amount more torque (60ish ft-lbs more)and is mated to a trans with an extra gear.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Long-Voyager
04/17/2018 at 16:50

I was thinking about modifying the exhaust, not necessarily for the performance improvement but for a more aggressive tone. I loved driving through parking garages at high revs in first gear in the GTI, abruptly getting off the gas, and letting all of the burbles and pops set off car alarms. I’d like a little of that growl back.

There may be some performance parts from the Mazda3 that might fit, but just like trying to improve the performance of the Vanagon, I learned a long time ago that most minivan owners aren’t really into performance and therefore the aftermarket doesn’t offer much.

A few years ago Car and Driver tried to transplant the drivetrain from a Mazdaspeed3 into a previous-generation Mazda5 and they ran into all sorts of complications, to the point where I don’t think they ever got it dialed in correctly. I have a feeling doing something similar to my car would be even more of a hassle. Hell, even talking to the dealer about flashing the computer to allow the Bluetooth system to work (after adding the module) seems like more trouble than it’s worth, so I can’t imagine what it would be like with the powertrain.

Long-Voyager > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/18/2018 at 06:55

I would venture to guess you could net quite a bit from a good intake and full exhaust system.

You never know what can be done until you really dig into it. My era vans for example have a cult like following, so upgrading is very easy, you just have to know how. I would be willing to bet the 5 has the same cult like following.