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Horrible Gas Milage!

27K views 149 replies 91 participants last post by  J-Man-in-SF 
#1 ·
I've have almost 1000 miles on my car now, but I'm averaging 25-28mpg. I called the dealership and the service dept told me I need to break it in for another couple thousand miles. Grante I'm in Arizona where we're running our a/c constantly right now...I still don't feel that my gas milage is even close to what others are getting. :(

I've been using the paddleshifter and I'm not an aggressive driver (not in the Smartcar anyway).

Anyone else experiencing the same in hot climate? Should I be concerned? :confused::confused:
 
#3 · (Edited)
About what speeds are you running?

How often do you leave the car idling with the A/C on?

Do you sit at traffic lights often?

You can take the most conservative driver and turn out horrible mileage if the car is left idling at lights most of the time. Take any other car and see if it will get EPA. Besides hybrids that shut off at lights - ever wonder why they do that? HUGE MPG killer. I drive spiritedly and still turn out decent mileage because I shut down at most lights that I know I'll be waiting 1.5 - 5 minutes at.

Just like your dealer said - 3k isn't a magic # the MPG spikes up dramatically but it's where I've seen quite a few other Smarts start to break in.
 
#4 ·
About what speeds are you running?

How often do you leave the car idling with the A/C on?

Do you sit at traffic lights often?

I drive spiritedly and still turn out decent mileage because I shut down at most lights that I know I'll be waiting 1.5 - 5 minutes at.

Just like your dealer said - 3k isn't a magic # the MPG spikes up dramatically but it's where I've seen quite a few other Smarts start to break in.
Because I drive around mostly on streets instead of freeways, my drive does primarily being stop & go. However, I noticed that even when I've done quite a bit of freeway driving the milage isn't much better.

Just curious, what did your mean by shut down at most lights? Do you actually cut the engine off at lights or go into neutral?

I know 25mpg is still better than most cars, but some SUV's are getting better than my Smart.
 
#7 ·
I have posted many times here about similar mileage on our two cabrios, one in LA and one in Tucson. Neither can break 30 mpg. We drive very conservatively, but refuse to fool around with hypermileing tricks like shutting off the engine or drafting trucks and the like. Silly me, I expect to get decent mpg by just driving it in Auto and trying to keep the rpm's under 3k. IIRC we have 3700 and 2800 miles respectively on our cars with no improvement, if anything it's gotten a bit worse: in early summer we could get as good as 32mpg. We don't take 3 mile trips, most are at least 10 to 15 miles and in 107 degree heat like today, your car warms up quickly in city traffic and stays hot all day long. I can't think that it goes back into cold start mode again after being parked in 107 degree sunshine for a few hours. Some here will say it's all your fault since you must be driving like a drag racer, others will say that the a/c will be to blame for the loss of economy, but who knows?

If I am gonna pay the price of crappy mpg for a cute little microcar at least give me the option of a real automatic!!
 
#10 ·
I have posted many times here about similar mileage on our two cabrios ... I expect to get decent mpg by just driving it in Auto and trying to keep the rpm's under 3k. ... Some here will say it's all your fault since you must be driving like a drag racer ...
First thought: If you are husbanding two smarts with similar crummy mileage, I have to think there is operator-error involved.

Second thought: Keeping a small displacement engine under 3k isn't an efficient thing to do, and not good for the engine either.

Third thought: And driving like a slug gets you nowhere!

I'm a bit surprised that one who touts being a "knock-off Lotus Eleven" owner doesn't know about these things.

(From an ex-"real Lotus Eleven LM" piloto.)
 
#8 ·
My SMART averaged 34 MPG on the first tank, it has been around 39 - 42 on all subsequent fill-ups. I am at 1500 miles right now.

I only shut my car off at long lights or when stuck in traffic on the highway. this cuts down on emissions and saves gas. This was mandatory in India and London, not sure about the safety issues involved.
 
#11 ·
Dallas reporting here...With 1100 miles on the counter I have never gotten any better than 28mpg. The A/C has been on almost every minute the car has been running, (very hot Summer) and my driving is 100% stop and go city miles. I've tried everything, but nothing ever changes.

The temperature dropped a little this week, (thanks Gustav) so I've driven a lot without the A/C, and we did a 100 mile almost exclusively highway roundtrip evening in pursuit of a very good cheeseburger - but I haven't filled up yet to see if mileage is better.

I didn't buy the car for the mileage, but I'm in agreement with others that if I have to suffer with the quirky transmission I should be seeing more than the 3mpg difference I'm seeing between myself and my friends with new turbocharged MINI Works cars. 0-60 in half the time is only costing them 3mpg? :(
 
#12 ·
something's wrong here

Even if you have the AC on 100% of the time, if you're only getting high 20's MPG then there's got to be an issue. I don't buy the dealer 'break in period'. You tell me that once you get to 5000, you're going to get 10mpg+ increase? I can't see that happening. Maybe 1-2 mpg increase. That I can see.

After our 3K break in, we saw very little increase in gas mileage. The car seem to run a little smoother but that was it.

I drive 75% city 25% highway

City speed 40-50mph
Hwy speed 60-70mph
AC on 90% of the time (first notch only)
Very little hills
Some stop n go

low end 34-36mpg
hi end 40-45 mpg
 
#13 ·
Just got gas this afternoon.
Averaged 46.7 this time.

I must be slipping cuz it was a hair better last tank ....

Our Cabrio got 43 MPG on the very first tank of gas.

Again, if'n I was to see 28 freakin MPG I'd be having a sit-down with the service manager to begin with and figure out what's goin on with me AND with the Smart.
just a thunk
 
#14 ·
approaching 7,000mi never seen less than 38mpg. Even 2-up and a/c on.
drive in D most of the time.

Check the tire pressure it does matter...
And what gas are you using? the times I've seen below 40 were with el-cheapo Casey's gas.
Also if you live in a big enough city your gas may be formulated for low emission and not for mpg.

And if it is related to where you live other owners from that dealer should be getting similar mileage so ask any other smart owners you see in the area.

And a possibility if you get gas at the same station every time they might be cheating you with non-calibrated pumps!
 
#16 ·
When I read these threads, I assume:
1. operator error -- maybe the writer is driving too fast or is one of those people who think the car has to warm up (which would waste gas) before (s)he drives it.
2. poor conditions. Someone from SanFran complained about poor mileage. Hmm. Driving in hilly streets rather than flat hways can do that!
3. other factors such as wrong gas. Using 87 rather than 92ish octane will supposedly rob you of a few mpgs.

I'm lucky in that my commute is almost all flat and that it's 98% hway. I drive less than 60 mph on average and use certain hypermiling tricks other than driving slowly, but they only add a tiny fraction to the mileage I'm getting. You're not going to go from 28 to 48 mpg just by turning off the engine at a red light.

If you do a fair portion of your miles along city streets with lots of red lights, tho, you can expect pretty weak mileage -- somewhere in the nabe of 30 mpg. After all, the car is rated for 31 mpg in the city.

As for turning off the engine at lights: I not only do that, but (when safe) I also roll up to lights with the engine in N and then turn it off (still rolling) when I've hit a point where it's safe to do so. This isn't for all lights, but only the opportunities where I won't accidentally smash into person or car if the trick fails. I don't draft, however -- that's pretty hard to do when the trucks are going 70 and I'm P&G'ing at about 60.
 
#21 ·
I think a lot of the posts were directed in response to my poor mileage. In answer to the suggestions:

  • I keep the tire pressure exactly on the prescribed amount
  • I drive the speed limit, don't jackrabbit start, and try to drive as smoothly as possible - which is difficult for me coming from the MINI and the Audi TT, which both begged to be driven.
  • I feed the car nothing less than Top Tier 93 octane
  • My city speeds are between 30 and 45, and my commute is 2.7 miles each way with 4 stoplights.
I could take it to the dealer, but since I'm only 3mpg under the city mileage rating I just guess they'd say with the air on all the time, I'm right on target. Like I said, I didn't buy it for the mileage - so, I'm not really driven to drive clear into town, do without my car, and then just get excuses anyway.

Just disappointed. Thanks for the suggestions anyway.
 
#25 ·
  • My city speeds are between 30 and 45, and my commute is 2.7 miles each way with 4 stoplights.
My money's on this. 2.7 miles isn't enough to heat up the engine to optimum temp. 4 stoplights in 2.7 miles is a lot of stop and go, brake and gas pedal work. My commute is 4.4 miles each way and sometimes I get 27-30mpg, sometimes I get 37-40mpg... if I leave work at exactly 5:05pm I get 20mpg (avg speed 11mph) and still get home at the same time as if I leave at 5:20pm, in which case I get 35-40mpg coming home (average speed 26mph). Measure your average speed, if you can't average 20+MPH on a commute, due to traffic, then your mileage will suffer.

Traffic is horrible, and I can guarantee that if you're idling a lot of the time, you'll notice a big hit to MPG. The smart idles at about 0.19gal/hr with fan and AC off. Add AC, fan at level 1, you'll idle at 0.26gal/hr. Fan to speed 2-4 and your idle RPMs increase by 100 and you're using 0.35gal/hr. I can almost guarantee any 4 cylinder non hybrid car eats more gas idling. Their drivers may save gas by getting up to speed faster and keeping average speed up.

There are only 3 cylinders, so in some cases it's best to get up to the optimum 45-50MPH speed as fast as possible, especially if that means you meet a green light instead of a red one. The smart doesn't save much gas by staying under 40MPH.
 
#22 ·
Maybe this will help re. MPG. My Passion just hit 1000 miles after owning it since 6/27. I only use supreme gas & have a heavy foot. Sometimes I shift with paddles, other times with floor shift, most of the time I just leave in automatic. We live on barrier island off coast of N.E. Fl. where A/C is always used. I am now filling up & stopping when the 1st of 2nd click comes, was over filling in beginning & engine didn't like that (was getting some vapor lock). I called up my Smart Car dealer up in Jax inquiring about air pressure for tires/they said I could put 2, max 3 lbs of pressure over the numbers listed on door jam (29 front, 36 back). So I took them to 32 & 39. Had to take that 100 mile round trip up to dealer yesterday to have a minor glitch in radio fixed & got stuck in some pretty heavy traffic while driving around their regional mall. Prior to this, I was getting high 20's to mid 30's MPG. I got 44.6 yesterday and drove a bit over 70 mph on the interstate on the way up & back. I don't know whether it was the break in period or the extra air in the tires. Soooo, experiment a bit & give it some time. Good luck. Ron
 
#23 ·
I did NOT take the time to slog through every post so sorry if this is already though of:

Both RLove and the fellows out in Tucson have something in common that should be considered.

Clean Air Blend fuels...I can attest quite definitivley that those fuel blends are horrible and rob performance considerably. All of my vehicles loose performance, power, and MPG when ever I am forced to use the crap.
 
#26 ·
jedi

Up your way the cost to get way out of town for good fuel will negate the benifit... accept that you live in the Dallas Metroplex and will Always get the crap clean air fuel. You MPG will or should be below average as reported by all the folks here from all over the country. You also have (like me) more days per year where A/C is not an option.... My Lil Bugger Farnsworth takes a significant 4 MPG hit when I run the A/C....just the way it is

I remain sane about my 34~36 MPG because I get to contrast against my F350 with 11.7~13,4 MPG for the same commute...thus I am real happy with the sub 40MPG of my smart
 
#28 ·
We got our smart since feb and been averaging 38mpg (combined city and hwy); this is using Premium 91 octane. Tried using mid-grade 89 octane a couple of times, and the mpg drop to about 32mpg ... so even if the experts are saying, the octane does not affect mpg, we are sticking with the recommendation. so far, our best was 42.5mpg on a 90% hwy trip.
 
#29 · (Edited)
No not all of the crap fuel is because of ethanol... in fact by definition all of us using 93 octane fuels are getting a fuel already that has the octane point raised by adding ethanol blends... the reformulated fuels are NOT just described by some label on the pump claiming 10 or 15 % ethanol


The Dallas–Fort Worth nonattainment area voluntarily opted into the RFG Program. This four-county area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties.
RFG used in these counties in the summer months may not exceed a Reid vapor pressure (RVP) of 6.8 pounds per square inch. Summertime conventional gasoline in other areas of Texas may have a RVP as high as 8.7 psi. RFG used in these counties in the winter months may have the same RVP as conventional gasoline, which can be as high as 11.5 psi.

Oxygenated fuel is conventional gasoline that has been blended with an oxygenate to achieve a certain concentration of oxygen in the fuel by weight.


RFG is a formulation of gasoline that has lower amounts of certain chemical compounds that contribute to the formation of ozone and air toxins. It does not evaporate as readily as conventional gasoline during the summer months. It may contain oxygenates, which increase the combustion efficiency of gasoline and reduce carbon monoxide emissions
 
#30 ·
21-23 here in hilly San Francisco. It's embarrassing. BUT it's still better by a f-e-w mpgs than my huge Saab which gets about 17 here.. however it's pretty un-great. If the parking wasn't so rockin, I'd love it less.

MHD would be amazing. But for some insane reason, we ain't gettin it. I fully concede that in San Francisco, with all the epic hills and poorly times signal lights you can't expect much from anything. I had a rental Prius here for 2 weeks and never cleared better than 28.. then took it to LA and got something like 48. So it goes.
 
#32 ·
Gas Miles

Any new car has an adjustment period to go through. If you listen to your dealer they would have said just that. They did say it takes time for the computer to set .. We have good and stretched awesome gas mileage between 35 and 55 mph.. we also switch between auto and manual for the best use of road conditions. We are still experimenting for the best mph in use of fuel..high grade is recommended but not all high grade are the same. therefore check them out.:cool:
 
#36 ·
At first I wasnt impressed with my milage....
I always drove in "D"... bad mistake.
I was only getting 31-32 mpg.
I then started using the paddles exclusively.. and driving it a bit harder.... I'm no "hypermiler".
Now, I get 37+MPG. Not too shabby, all city driving with the AC always on... I'm in AZ too.
All in all, it's been good, but I'm still selling it, just too small.
 
#37 ·
I've talked with several other Smart owners in AZ and all of them have had between 35-40's MPG from the get-go. I know there's something not quite right with my Smart, but how do I get the dealership to agree to have a look at it? I barely drive 50 miles per week since I work from home. So for me to even get to 3-5K miles may take me another 7 months.

Very frustrated!!
 
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