Rated miles per gallon is total BS!

I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the "recommended
30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.

"TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
...
>I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
> I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the
> "recommended
> 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
> I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
> 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
> Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.


You must be doing something wrong. I too have an 01 automatic Limited; use
5W-20 Mobil 1, pump the tires to 36 and always get at least 17.5 mpg.
Sometimes on the interstate, in warm weather, with a tail wind and a slight
decline, I can manage 22.5. My 3.8 04 mini-van does better. I think Chrysler
left off the good parts.

Richard.

"TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
...
>I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
> I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the
> "recommended
> 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
> I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
> 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
> Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.


You must be doing something wrong. I too have an 01 automatic Limited; use
5W-20 Mobil 1, pump the tires to 36 and always get at least 17.5 mpg.
Sometimes on the interstate, in warm weather, with a tail wind and a slight
decline, I can manage 22.5. My 3.8 04 mini-van does better. I think Chrysler
left off the good parts.

Richard.

"TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
...
|I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
| I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the "recommended
| 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
| I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
| 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
| Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.
|
|
|

The wife and I almost always do *better* than EPA rated.

1997 Neon Sport...rated 24/34, the wife got 28/36
1997 Grand Caravan 3.3 V6...rated 18/24, I get 18/27, wife gets 18/24
2000 Neon SE...rating unsure, daughter gets average 31 (mixed)
2003 Stratus SE 2.7 V6...rated 20/28, Wife gets 25/29
2004 Sebring LXi 2.7 V6...rated 20/28, I get 24/31

I did have a 2003 Chevy Malibu that I hated...so I got rid of it last year
after 9-months. It had a 3.1 V6 rated at 20/29, I got 19/32 (I have no idea
why the city/highway mileage was so far apart in real world numbers...but was
consistently so).

I don't know what my son gets on his 1996 Dakota SE V8 extended cab.

In all cases, we log the mileage on every gas receipt and calculate MPG. So we
have several years of history on the older vehicles. The mileage remains about
the same over time (so far)...but is a little lower city mileage in the winter.

If you _always_ do worse, I would look at driving habits/conditions
Quick/abrupt starts? On the throttle up to a stop light or intersection then
hard on the brakes, (vs. coasting up to it)? Mountain terrain in your area.
Unusually cold weather conditions. Also, tire pressure? Roof rack (apparently
can have up to a 2MPG difference in highway mileage)? Wrong viscosity oil?

"TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
...
|I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
| I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the "recommended
| 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
| I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
| 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
| Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.
|
|
|

The wife and I almost always do *better* than EPA rated.

1997 Neon Sport...rated 24/34, the wife got 28/36
1997 Grand Caravan 3.3 V6...rated 18/24, I get 18/27, wife gets 18/24
2000 Neon SE...rating unsure, daughter gets average 31 (mixed)
2003 Stratus SE 2.7 V6...rated 20/28, Wife gets 25/29
2004 Sebring LXi 2.7 V6...rated 20/28, I get 24/31

I did have a 2003 Chevy Malibu that I hated...so I got rid of it last year
after 9-months. It had a 3.1 V6 rated at 20/29, I got 19/32 (I have no idea
why the city/highway mileage was so far apart in real world numbers...but was
consistently so).

I don't know what my son gets on his 1996 Dakota SE V8 extended cab.

In all cases, we log the mileage on every gas receipt and calculate MPG. So we
have several years of history on the older vehicles. The mileage remains about
the same over time (so far)...but is a little lower city mileage in the winter.

If you _always_ do worse, I would look at driving habits/conditions
Quick/abrupt starts? On the throttle up to a stop light or intersection then
hard on the brakes, (vs. coasting up to it)? Mountain terrain in your area.
Unusually cold weather conditions. Also, tire pressure? Roof rack (apparently
can have up to a 2MPG difference in highway mileage)? Wrong viscosity oil?

Richard wrote:
> "TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
>>I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the
>>"recommended
>>30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
>>I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
>>4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
>>Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.
>
>
>
> You must be doing something wrong. I too have an 01 automatic Limited; use
> 5W-20 Mobil 1, pump the tires to 36 and always get at least 17.5 mpg.
> Sometimes on the interstate, in warm weather, with a tail wind and a slight
> decline, I can manage 22.5. My 3.8 04 mini-van does better. I think Chrysler
> left off the good parts.
>
> Richard.

I'm thinkng more along the lines of something wrong with the vehicle -
like a bad O2 sensor, throttle body needs cleaning, or something. I've
seen mpg discussions on various car forums in which everyone's getting
reasonable numbers, but there's always a couple of credible people
claiming that they get much lower with reasonable highway driving in
essentially the same vehicle - for example, on the 300M forum, most
people will say they get low, mid, or high 20's in normal (i.e.,
non-spirited) driving, but there's always a few who get 16 or 17. I've
gotta think something's not right with the engine controls - usually
something simple - once you know what it is.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')


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Richard wrote:
> "TOM KAN PA" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
>>I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the
>>"recommended
>>30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
>>I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
>>4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
>>Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.
>
>
>
> You must be doing something wrong. I too have an 01 automatic Limited; use
> 5W-20 Mobil 1, pump the tires to 36 and always get at least 17.5 mpg.
> Sometimes on the interstate, in warm weather, with a tail wind and a slight
> decline, I can manage 22.5. My 3.8 04 mini-van does better. I think Chrysler
> left off the good parts.
>
> Richard.

I'm thinkng more along the lines of something wrong with the vehicle -
like a bad O2 sensor, throttle body needs cleaning, or something. I've
seen mpg discussions on various car forums in which everyone's getting
reasonable numbers, but there's always a couple of credible people
claiming that they get much lower with reasonable highway driving in
essentially the same vehicle - for example, on the 300M forum, most
people will say they get low, mid, or high 20's in normal (i.e.,
non-spirited) driving, but there's always a few who get 16 or 17. I've
gotta think something's not right with the engine controls - usually
something simple - once you know what it is.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')


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TOM KAN PA wrote:
> I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
> I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the "recommended
> 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
> I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
> 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
> Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.
>
>
>
Hmm, must be problem with your car - tire inflation, driving habits ... etc.

I have an '01, manual, with 41,000 miles on it. In town I get 20-23
depending on AC use and traffic. On the highway I get 26-30, depending
on conditions and driving speed. This is in the Las Vegas area where it
gets fairly hot in the summer. Keep tire pressure at 36 PSI, use
Pennzoil 5w-30, and had plugs changed at 30k as well. Driving technique
and tire pressure make a difference in my experience. I the highway I
do at times get better than EPA estimates.

TOM KAN PA wrote:
> I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
> I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the "recommended
> 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
> I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
> 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
> Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.
>
>
>
Hmm, must be problem with your car - tire inflation, driving habits ... etc.

I have an '01, manual, with 41,000 miles on it. In town I get 20-23
depending on AC use and traffic. On the highway I get 26-30, depending
on conditions and driving speed. This is in the Las Vegas area where it
gets fairly hot in the summer. Keep tire pressure at 36 PSI, use
Pennzoil 5w-30, and had plugs changed at 30k as well. Driving technique
and tire pressure make a difference in my experience. I the highway I
do at times get better than EPA estimates.

c (TOM KAN PA) writes:

> I just read a post and several replies about poor gas mileage in a Neon.
> I have a '01 PT Cruiser with 30,000 miles on it. I just did the "recommended
> 30,000 miles spark plug replacement".
> I still feel lucky if once in 50 fill ups I get 17 mpg.
> 4 cylinder, auto, sticker rated at 22/27 mpg.
> Bull****!!! I never came close to achieving these mile per gallons.

While the EPA ratings don't have a really strong correlation with
reality, Something Is Wrong with that mileage. If your commute is
more than a mile, you ought to be seeing much better than that...
--
Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605
Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002
New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer