Recent trip Ohio to NC

[jake75]

I am pleased with the just under 35 mpg on our 2009 1.8L base AT Vibe on a 1,245 RT from Columbus, Ohio to Wilmington, NC at speeds often 70 mph plus and through the up and down hills of I-77 on the WVa turnnpike. And that is with gasoline that contains up to 10% ethanol. The EPA number of 34 mpg is based on 100% gasoline though good luck in finding any of that. I have never noticed any significant mpg increase in driving slower and in any event the time saved is worth the added cost. In a 70 mph zone on I-77 I went by a parked WVa trooper at 76 mph and he didn't chase me so I guess that is within their "tolerance". In Wilmington I noticed a Gas Go station with a 2.499 price for regular (up to 10% ethanol) and a $3.099 price for 93 octane with no added ethanol. I have not seen any no added ethanol gasoline in Ohio. I'd pay extra for that, but not 60 cents a gallon. I generally buy gas at Costco both for the price and because it meets Tier One standards.

[gtv237]

Your numbers seem a bit off. The EPA estimates Ive found online top off at 32. And that's a 55mph. Supposingly the mpg drops dramatically after 60mph.

[10vibe]

The 34 mpg might of been before 08 and Gov's fuel mileage revision. Also the 1.8 Matrix was listed at 32 after 08. The Corolla 1.8 automatic until the new redesign was 34mpg. 09-10 1.8 Vibe's were 26 city, 31 highway.

I will have to find my gas receipts, but a recent trip from Ohio to Las Vegas going through Albuquerque and Flagstaff, then back the Southern Southern route of I10 through Tucson to Houston, then up through Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, I think my worst mileage was mid 29, best mid 36. I10 is 80mph. I went at least 80, and that is all I got to say about that. Now about that box of chocolates and peas and carrots.....My JENNYVibe did pretty good at those speeds as long as I had enough Dr. Peppers.

We intentionally decided to skip Illinois on the way back in our own private protest of Illinois' stupidly excessively restrictive gun laws and lack of CCW reciprocation of other states. They will not get a dollar from me in any way if I can help it. I sometimes feel sorry for the businesses and people who choose to live in that State until I remember that they keep re-electing the same Socialist jack booted thugs. Same goes for New Jersey. One man's dump is another's Eden. Ya get what you deserve. Just kidding....kind of.

[mkowdley]

the best part of this story is gas for $2.50 a gallon jealous!

[jake75]

Couldn't find the 2009 sticker. The window sticker on my 2003 1.8L Vibe says 28 city 33 highway. CarMax confirms that for 2009 the EPA numbers were 26 and 31. Now I really feel blessed. However, a great deal of my driving is city and I rarely get more than 24 mpg city. But I think that 34-35 range for my recent trip to NC was pretty accurate as it included 4 tank fills. Maybe the thinner air in the mountains helps. As for gasoline prices - I didn't buy any of that 2.499 gas. My fills for the highway driving were BP Ft. Chiswell, VA 2.199; Wilmington, NC Costco 2.37.9; Hillsville, VA 2.33.9, and Columbus, Ohio Costco 2.39.9. Virginia has one of the lowest state gas taxes in the U.S.

[jake75]

When checking the mpg numbers on a 2009 1.8L Vibe on CarMax I saw this. $13,000 for a 2009 1.8L with 60,000 miles seems a bit rich.

2009 Pontiac Vibe
Miles
60K
Drive
2WD
Trans
Automatic
MPG
26/31
Exterior
White
Interior
Black
Stock #
11726339

No-haggle price
$12,998*
Current Location
Columbia, SC

[10vibe]

At least with my 2010 Vibe 1.8 auto, it is almost impossible travelling between 65-75mph to break into 35mpg or above. It really is an anomaly the couple times it has happened. Maybe if I were travelling 55-60mph for a tank it would happen.

When I lived in a place with lots of stop signs and lights and was only commuting between one to three miles at a time, if that, it was tough to get over 26mpg. The first 15k was even tougher as the car was breaking in. Now, where I drive longer and get to a full warm operating temp and less stop and go, I usually average over 30mpg's per tank.

A couple of those first winters when I let the car idle some to warm up a little before taking my Dad to the doctor, I was under 20mpg's for a few tanks. The thing is, this car does do well in the city, and even when in low to mid twenties in mpg, most other cars would be getting even worse, unless it was a hybrid.

From what I have seen, even smaller displacement motors with turbo's do worse in pure city driving. Thought a lot about a Sonic or Cruze with the 1.4t, but if pure stop and go city is the majority of your driving, it will not be an improvement, and reliability will not match the Vibe. The same goes for the Ford Focus and Fiesta. Highway mileage would be a different story, where the small turbo'ed cars and more transmission gears will excel.

For non hybrids, the Honda Fit and new Corolla with CVT seems to do pretty well gas mileage wise in the city and highway. Think I will hang on to the Vibe for a while though. It is paid for. Even when the time comes to get that new car smell, the Vibe might be kept as a back up and "beater" vehicle,....Which probably means a sporty garage queen and the Vibe continuing to be the daily driver. Note to self, get a garage!

[Caretaker]

yeah, I think 35 mpg is doable as long as you did not top 70 mph. When I do 75-80, I get about 32mpg. The highest I ever got on my 1.8 second gen engine is 43 mpg when I did 55 all the way from DC to NJ. It will be interesting to see what I get when I move across country to San Diego. I'm thinking of changing the plugs before I go to give me the best fuel economy. I'll check the coil packs to see if I notice any discoloration.

[10vibe]

Caretaker,
I agree. If I could stay under 70 for a whole tank on the highway and not stop at rest stops or merge on and off the highway, it would be really doable. My biggest problem is a heavy foot when merging onto the highway. I like to get up to speed early, before where you start to merge. I do get irked when someone takes the whole merge lane to get 5 mph under the speed limit with a line of traffic behind them also trying to merge, and a long line of Semi's taking up all lanes on the highway coming up fast. It causes some to take chances when merging and going across multiple lanes to go around. That is just more chances of blindspots and possible accidents. If I used a lighter foot 35 or 36mpg is probably doable under 70mph. Cargo weight might be a factor too.

Driving 55mph must of been torture!

Good luck on your trip out West.

[jake75]

One other thing - my odometer under reads - I have checked it three times using the mile markers on the interstate. I actually travel 102.5 Miles for each 100 miles racked up on the odometer. When I calculated my mpg I figured that in. Yet the mph on the speedometer is about 1 mph oiver my actual speed as reported on the GPS. I would bet that many, if not all, 2009's have that odometer error. It extends your 36,000 mile warranty to 36,900 as when you have driven 36,0900 miles your odometer is at 36,000. [Not any benefit to me as I am just approaching 36,000 miles after almost 6.5 years.]

[10vibe]

Jake,
I noticed that at least with the last 20k miles or so with the original Goodyear RSA 205-55-16r's the speedometer always read about 2mph faster than what GPS said. Since I put on Walmart's special exclusive Goodyear "Viva 3" 205-55-16r tires all around, the speedometer and GPS are reading the same now. Those tires were $79.00 each. I think I paid around 19 or 20 bucks per tire for road hazard and lifetime balance and rotation. Would I do it again? The Jury is still out. A nail in the worn out tires and the close proximity of a Walmart and what they had available in my size helped that decision along, throwing out all the research on Michelin Defenders, Michelin mxv4's, Continentals, Etc. Unfortunately I got all of 9 days out of the new tires before I got a chunk of metal stuck through the left front tire. Had to have it plugged. To think I almost skipped the road hazard!

These VIVA 3's are a much softer and smoother ride than the RSA's. Right now only keeping them about 4 pounds over the 32psi recommended on the door placard. With the RSA's I kept bumping them up until I was at 45psi for better handling and cornering. They lasted for 43000 miles.

These tires with only one sidewall polyester ply, and the lack of extra nylon or polyamide plies for the tread do worry me a little. The tread is two steel, one polyester ply. Load and speed rating is 91H if I remember correctly and a wear rating of 500, warranted for I believe 60k. Sorry to hijack the thread by talking so much about tires.

[jake75]

New tires would be a little bigger in diameter than treadworn tires, so would travel a little further for each revolution. The odometer and speedometer are probably both are geared to the number of revolutions. If my logic is correct with new tires vs. treadworn the odometer would under record but the speedometer would over record. I think the speedometer is designed never to under record actual. Thus new tires might result in a speedometer reading 2-3 mph over actual, worn tires would record nearer actual speed. There is probably also some variability in the diameter of a given tire of the same nominal dimensions.

[vibenvy]

I'm kind of surprised by the gas mileage numbers you guys are talking about getting with your 2nd gen 1.8Ls. I have gotten as high as 34.005 with about 80% highway driving at 55 MPH in my 2009 auto GT. I wish I could drive a 2nd gen 1.8L for a few weeks to see what kind of numbers I could squeeze out of it...

[jake75]

34 mpg on a 2.4L with 80% highway/20% local is pretty darn good. I question the cookie cutter advice that driving 55 is so much more fuel efficient than 70. But time was always more valuable to me than saving a few bucks on gasoline so I never tried driving 55 on a long highway trip. I am still saving our valuable resources and dumping less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by driving 70 in a Vibe vs. 55 in a large SUV. Our 2007 SWB 3.0 L T&C Minivan typically gets 25 mpg on that same trip. The EPA number on the sticker with real 100% gasoline is 26 mpg. I remember reading posts claiming 38 highway mpg for a 1.8L Vibe which seemed questionable. We drive so little anymore that it really is not an economic issue for us. If not for the fire sale price of about $12,000 plus tax we got on the 2009 Vibe after rebates and GM Card credit we would probably have upgraded to something a little larger.

[vibrologist]

I question the cookie cutter advice that driving 55 is so much more fuel efficient than 70.

For a fuel miser 55 mph is an important number. 55 mph is about the point at which all vehicles will drop off in fuel economy.

40mph=64.8kmph and 55mph=88.5kmh

fuel consumption based on speed.jpg (30.09 KiB) Viewed 2849 times

There is only so much you can achieve with aerodynamic design. The shape of the rear is very important because it will create a space of low pressure that holds the vehicle back. Aerodynamic drag increases by the square of the speed: If you double your speed, drag increases 4 times. This is independent of the shape of the car. It is the way the air behaves. That is why at 55 mph the vehicles hit a wall in regards of fuel economy.

[vibenvy]

34 mpg on a 2.4L with 80% highway/20% local is pretty darn good.

I agree! I was very happy when I achieved this number (it was actually going to and from the 2013 GenVibe meet in Pontiac, IL!). Even with my typical 50/50 driving. I try to get the best possible mileage by using the cruise control as much as possible, never driving over 55 (I'm never really pressed for time and don't mind getting passed by everyone else whose in such a hurry ), keeping the tires properly inflated, keeping up on routine maintenance, taking my foot off the accelerator sooner to slow down when approaching a stop sign, etc. as opposed to using the brakes so much, keeping any unnecessary items out of the Vibe to avoid extra weight and all the rest of the little nuances I've picked up since getting the Vibe. I never used to worry about gas mileage when I had my previous vehicles, but when gas hit $4.00 a gallon, it became a challenge to me to try to get the best possible mileage out of my Vibe and it ended up extending to my mom and her Vibe as well. Every time one of us fills up, we will text each other the mileage we got ! I want to go on a longer road trip in the Vibe to see if I could best my 34.005. So far, any trips I've taken in the Vibe have only been a few hours each way. FWIW, I do manage about 28 with my typical 50/50 driving which isn't too shabby either. I truly believe having the K&N Typhoon short ram air intake, AEM Brute Force Dryflow air filter, AEM air filter wrap and Magnaflow catback exhaust has helped increase my mileage slightly in addition to my change in driving habits (I would guess 1-2MPG). My current all time average MPG is 28.000. It will go up as we get further into the warmer weather. Winter blend fuel always sucks it down no matter how carefully I drive . Yesterday I removed the heat shield from the air intake to see if it would make any difference in mileage. If anything, the heat shield has always seemed to hold the heat in around the filter more than protecting it from the hot engine like it's supposed to do, so I'm curious to see if it makes any difference (I'm guessing no, but ya never know). I guess that's enough of my gas mileage rambling .

[jake75]

That sweet spot curve seems to indicate that 65 mph is the low. Even up to 80 is really not that significant.

[10vibe]

I am surprised that the new tires lowered the speedometer the two miles per hour to match GPS too. Supposedly these VIVA3's have 9/32 tread. New RSA's are 11/32, but the cheaper OEM version that manufacturers put on probably are closer to 9/32 or less. My old RSA's probably were less than 2/32 when I got rid of them.

That sweetspot graph is in Kilometers per hour.

The 2.4 GT has a 5 speed automatic transmission which does help on the highway. I would love to have a 5 or 6 speed transmission with the 1.8. The new Toyota Corolla's have a CVT in them.

[tpollauf]

34 mpg on a 2.4L with 80% highway/20% local is pretty darn good. I question the cookie cutter advice that driving 55 is so much more fuel efficient than 70.

This argument definitely holds true with the 5-speed manual transmission which my 2009 Vibe GT has. The 5-speed auto is geared completely different than the manuals.

The 2.4 GT has a 5 speed automatic transmission which does help on the highway.

The auto will cruise at say 2200 rpm @ 60mph, whereas the manual going the same speed will cruise around 2600. Therefore when I'm really taking it easy and driving like a granny (late at night when nobody is around me) I legitimately get mid to upper 30's for MPG numbers if driving 55-60! My best of 37mpg was the Indy meet five years ago while driving from Indy back to Toledo. Late at night, light traffic, awesome tunes on the radio, all = record mileage. 65-70mph and I drop 2-3 mpg, so for the manual tranny the slower highway speed is the sweet spot!