John,

I'm new to Miata's myself, but a lot has happened to cars since 1991. Now
that absolutely everything is controlled by computer, and with more
efficient engine and transmission design as well as making the aerodynamics
more slippery, more consistant fuel economy should be the norm. Also
remember your new car has a higher compression engine that needs higher
octane fuel, so consider yourself lucky that you are on the high side of the
EPA estimates!!

I have only run three tanks through my 2001, but I have been impressed,
getting ~30 mpg with my daily commute. But you win some & lose some - my new
Honda Ridgeline rated at 16/21 mpg, so far has yet to crack 17 even on the
highway. But with only 1500 miles on it, it still needs to be broken in a
bit more.

Boreal

2001 LS Silver/Tan


"John McGaw" > wrote in message
.. .
>I suspect that no reasonable person would consider a new MX-5 to be an
>economy car or give the fuel economy a huge role in the decision to buy one
>but I thought that this might be of interest. Immediately after getting my
>"break in" miles put in on my '06 Sport with handling option done I drove
>up to Pennsylvania to visit my mother over Easter. The mileage between here
>and there is virtually all interstate -- just short of 500 FWIW.
>
> I knew what sort of economy my '91 Miata had consistently achieved on the
> same trip and expected the new one to get just a bit worse or, with luck,
> to achieve the same. Here is what happened on four fillups that were on
> the interstate mostly at 70-75 under cruise control: 32.0, 33.9, 35.1, and
> 32.7 MPG. I was truly shocked by those results but calculation of the
> overall consumption since delivery, including 1,800 miles of city,
> suburban, and interstate driving shows that it has been getting 30.7 MPG.
> I realize that the four interstate legs might be skewed by the imprecision
> of how consistently I was able to fill the tank each time but the overall
> figure should be relatively accurate.
>
> BTW: the interstate miles were done with 30psi in the Michelin tires
> rather than the recommended 29psi but I don't know how much that might
> have affected the economy.
> --
> John McGaw
> [Knoxville, TN, USA]
> http://johnmcgaw.com