What am I doing wrong? mpg's

[gothlicroni]

So, I'm at 4000 miles now and up until 3000 I was getting 35mpgs and now I'm only getting 30. I don't know what is going on but I'm wondering how people are getting 40+?? What am I doing wrong? I don't speed, or take off quickly. I'm hardly on the highway but when I am, I only go 60mph. Is there something I'm missing? Thanks.

[jefferios]

1. Its not your fault...its Winter.

2. Your doing very well for this time of year.

[Duckhunter]

Hard to tell. Do you use auto mode? Do you have the tach? If so how high do you rev the car? Are you using premium? Is ethonal added? Try changing gas stations. I usually get over 41 and that is 65% city.

Edit cold will kill MPG and really if you idle to warm up

[WhiteNBlack08]

Winter gas can be a big factor, lighter gas, doesn't carry as much energy, so you burn more. One factor I've found that really affects my mileage, is gas with ethanol in it. smart's don't like ethanol.

[forestacademy]

I'm with Jeff

It's winter.

[SuperGeek]

You might get valuable feedback from a Scangauge if you're so inclined. I can watch the fuel consumption by the second and see that if I'm going up a slight hill in 5th gear, if I put the pedal down halfway and it keeps 5th gear, I'm not going any faster but I'm using twice as much gas and I can hear the transmission trying hard. Little behaviors like that make the difference between 40mpg and 35mpg.

The general rule I follow is: Get up to 40-50 MPH as soon as practical (even if I jump off the line for 5 seconds) and stay there in 5th gear most of the time. The car's not as efficient at low speeds... below 40MPH the RPMs are too low to give it much effective torque, and above 60MPH you have the traditional falloff but even at a constant 80MPH the car's more efficient than it is in city stop and go traffic. If you can anticipate traffic and lights to the point that you rarely have to use the brake or change gas pedal position, you'll get about the best you can. It depends on what city you live in and your commute type, though. Revving above 4000 RPMs won't get you very far for the gas it consumes but in a short burst coming off a green light, your speed gets up to optimum range sooner.

[Turbo42]

I noticed that when I get on my car a little bit I get better gas mileage

[John_H]

Are you taking shorter trips? If the trips are the same, they might still be short enough that with the extra cold the engine doesn't get up to temperature for enough of your driving. Long, relaxed trips seem to give the Smart its best mileage.

[gstreetcomic]

I agree that the cold seems to be a factor, espceailly if you let your car idle to get the motor warmed up to get the heat going. I am guilty of that mylself and noticed a little differenence in the MPG.

[jediknight36]

So, 3rd and 4th at 30-40 mph is bad? Sometimes it seems the engine struggles in 5th right out of 4th at 40 mph.