Anyone else disappointed in their 2006 Gas Mileage ?

[guitarspaz]

I have a 2006 Base FWD Vibe, Automatic, Loaded up. Window sticker is EPA 29 city, 34 hwy. My driving is about 3 miles each way per day in a small town, to and from work, about 4 traffic lights inbetween. I've checked the mileage 3 tanks now. Best I got was about 21.5 mpg in this city" driving. I've had 2 tanks that were about 50 50 hwy and this "city" driving, got about 24 mpg (what I was hoping to get in the "city"). The car only has about 1200 miles on it. It seems to run just fine. Can I expect this to get better with some time/breakin ? I really like the car, and won't loose any sleep if it doesn't, but I am curious. I'll be taking it on a long road trip over the holidays and will have a better hwy mileage data point. Maybe my drives are too short and it doesn't get a chance to warm up good with such short intervals. Anyone else getting pseudo sucky mileage like this ?Thanks in advance.

[Mavrik]

winter conditions... running the car to warm it up in the morning... only driving 3 miles at a time will result in less then impressive fuel mileage for "in town" Usually those mileage EPA is through ideal conditions... not constant stop and go 3 mile traffic drive... Plus a new vehicle will consume more fuel for the first couple 1000miles anyway. I was told (am canadian) that my fuel mileage would not get to EPA until around 10,000km on my car. Which now I am way over and pretty satisfied with what I'm getting currently. But I also own an 04.Hope that helped.

[VibeoFive]

My wifes '05 AWD Vibe averages 28.5 with almost 6,000 miles on the odometer now. So far this car has hit a low of 25mpg and yet it has never gotten more than 29mpg. She drives 23 miles one way to work each day and noticed the computer holds overdrive from engaging for about the first 5 miles each way COLD (summer is about 2 miles). I will be trying to get rpm @75mph below 3,000 by going to P225/60r16 tires next summer.

[GMJAP]

My parent's auto 05 Vibe mileage increased a few MPG on average after several thousand miles.The Vibe is also notoriously sensitive to driving style on mileage. If you can keep RPMS below 3000 at all times you'll probably notice an improvement.

[Digger]

My 05 AWD gets about 26 now that it is cold that is 16mile trip one way to and from work. pre cold I was getting 27-30 on average with now 5500 miles on the clock.

[northvibe]

yea ive notice my vibe super sensitive to how its driven and the mileage. do as gmjap says and keep it under 3k rpms and ur golden, anything else and you'll drop quick, but I still cant complain on the mileage.

[kostby]

Don't be discouraged! You're actually doing pretty well. Echoing what others have said, in the winter, and especially on short trips with stoplights, you'll get relatively low gas mileage, because the car doesn't warm up fully, and you're idling at 0 mpg at stoplights. I've got an '03 with 42,xxx miles on the clock, and I've gotten as low as 18 mpg for a tankful during winter-time 2 or 3 mile trips (taking my son to school & returning home) with 10 minutes of warmup-idling (at 0 miles-per-gallon, obviously). It's been really cold here lately, so I may get even less on my current tankful. (I only fill up every 2-3 weeks.)Conversely, my high mpg last summer was 42.1 mpg for 300+ miles of highway driving at 65-70 mph with driver, 3 passengers & luggage, and the A/C on most of the time, while 'drafting' a high-profile (church van) vehicle.

[mcgusto82]

the vibe is sensative (very according to some) to the driving style, but the what's causing the dramatic low fuel economy isn't your driving. it's the 3 mile commute. you can drive the car 3 miles without warming up. hence the car is going to run rich because it's on close loop. baically the car is not using it's sensors and is running on fail safe mode. the car uses it's sensors after it determines to have warmed up.look at your tachometer. when you get to work, is it still idling above 1k? is so, the car is likely still on close loop.

[Raven]

I averaged 42mpg (Canadian gallon) in October and November and now I'm getting 38mpg with the arctic cold weather. This is mainly highway miles, with no short trips. This is about 4mpg better than my '04 automatic.

[redvibe05]

I am in the same situation as you are with the super short commute to work (I have close to 3 miles) too. I have a 2005 with only 5700 miles on it and the first couple thousand miles it performed close to your numbers for gas milage. It is a lot better now, espically in the summer and on highway driving. I got over 38mpg on a trip we took it on this summer. Ohh, yea it is an base with automatic.

[csharrigan]

I have a 2005, base 5sp, I just hit 7600 miles, and I am not that rough on it, the only gear I rev over 3g is 3rd-- need it to get going in the freeway, my average for the pst 3 tanks is 33, and do about equal city/hwy.

[jasonvibe]

Hey VibeoFive....got news for you. You are not doing 75mph @ 3000. Mine says the same but I checked my speedo. These read at least 5mph high at that speed. I believe it is close to 10% high. But don't worry the odometer is accurate. If you do go up in tire size the speedo will be closer to the truth. BUT if you use your spare, the car will drive "funky" with 225/60's and is way too big for the 6.5" wide rim. Just not safe. I am also thinking of getting bigger tires. ... Get 205/60's. For those who complain about mileage the best thing you can do is make sure you have 35psi frt and 32 rear.

[PopeyeFAFL]

I keep a log of my fuel purchase, over a complete year, I average 7.5 liters per 100 km (that is pretty good, a 25 to 30 % improvement from my previous car, an Honda Accord).The best I ever did, was 6.3 liters per 100 km (over a fill-up, it was partial highway driving, not even the complete tank in these conditions).The worst was 10 liters per 100 km (in winter at -10 C).After Katrina, when the fuel was very high in price, I tried an experiment, I decided to only used my Vibe, for the bare minimum usage (going to work & to the grocery store on my way home, nothing else), I managed to last 4 weeks on one full tank.So even if the fuel will double or triple, I will be able to spend the same amount as now (the only thing, it will be very boring, but manageable).

[Jahntassa]

Please remember those EPA ratings are ESTIMATES. And only reached under certain conditions (which nobody ever hits.)21 MPG is about normal on my 2003 GT for 'city' driving.

[MassiveOverkill]

Just finished a 360 mile round trip from Melbourne to Tampa FL for New Year's on a single tank of gas..........low fuel light came on at my exit I averaged 31.6 MPG with CC set at 75. AC was on most of the way.Last tank was mostly city driving and I did about 28 MPG. Oh yeah, this was with my stock snorkle removed and using the stock air filter on 87 octane. Oh, I figure you have 1.8 gallons left in the tank once your low fuel light comes on..............should be good enough for about 55 miles before ya run dry. EDIT: Oh yeah, I only have 1200 miles on mine. Curious to see if it goes up with my next oil change, which I'll switch to synthetic oil.

[northvibe]

man my fuel light goes on with like 2.5-3 gallons left. so like i pump 9 gallons to 10 in when the light went on and we are supposed to have a 13 gallon tank. I have a 04 base vibe.