MPG On My 03 Automatic Base

[yangiant51]

Finally went thru my first tank of gas in my 03 automatic base with 163,000 miles on it. Doing about 70% highway/30% city driving, I averaged just over 28mpg using 87 octane. I thought it would do much better, because i had changed the spark plugs, air filter, pcv, serpentine belt, engine and trans oil, and cooling system flush. I bought my Vibe off the original owner who pretty much abused the crap out of it, and did no maintenance on it at all, but it still runs good and goes down the road pretty straight and tight. I hope the previous abuse on it hasn't taken it's toll on it. The check engine light was on when I bought it, and Autozone says it's a bad catalytic convertor, could that be the cause of my low MPG, even though it's running real good?For my next tank, I cleaned the MAF (which way very dirty and looked like it was never cleaned), and checked the air in the tires , which were all at 30psi- I raised the pressure to 35psi in all four.Hopefully, it will pick up a few more miles per gallon.

[ou.grizzly]

Mr. Joatmon seen a drop in his MPG and his catalytic converter was toast. I believe once he changed it, he seen an decent increase in MPG.

[keithvibe]

and your also dealing with winter gas now. I always get worse gas mileage in the winter.

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »and your also dealing with winter gas now. I always get worse gas mileage in the winter.Well, the all wheel drive does not help either!

[yangiant51]

Thanks for the replies!ou, thanks for the 'joatmon' thread, good info.KeithV, thanks I forgot about winter blended fuel.I'm planning on changing out the catalytic convertor in the spring when the weather is warm again (no heat in my garage).

[kingreyna]

I had my Vibe for more than a year now and that is the mileage that I am getting. I got it at 90K miles. Its at 117K miles and running as good as new ( I imagine) with stock spark plugs. At 100% highway I get around 33-35mpg.

[yangiant51]

Thanks King, very encouraging!I haven't taken it on a 100% highway trip yet and would love to see 33-35mpg out of it!

[nittanydoug]

I've had my 05 for a little over a week. I run primarily highway to work and back, roughly 60 miles each way. I've been getting about 28 mpg. I had hoped for a little better but I figured it was probably due to the speed. I try to keep it down to 75 on highway with the cruise set. The car has a little over 76k on it. I put new tires on it too. Nothing that I know of regarding plugs. I dropped in a K&N filter. I'll be doing an oil change to full synthetic probably right around christmas time. What speeds are you guys running to get these 30+ mpg?

[keithvibe]

I've gotten 35mpg with my awd on 100%highway at 70-75 sometimes 80mph(summer months)Pump your tires up to 38-40psi helps quite a bit.

[nittanydoug]

I'll have to check the tire pressure. They just installed them monday. I'm guessing it is on original plugs. I was running NGK iridiums and Denso Iridium's in my mazda and they were both good plugs. I might look at swapping those. I was driving "slower" thinking it would help give me a little more range in the tank. It's odd having a smaller tank in a bigger car. I'm getting about the same mileage as in my mazda but filling up a little sooner due to the smaller tank.

[yangiant51]

Second Tank update.30mpg!Cleaning the MAF, and raising the tires to 35psi must of helped!Going to put in a K+N filter after this tankful.Will keep everyone updated.

[Whelan]

I have 108,000 on my 05 Matrix XR AWD. I average 28mpg and get upwards of 30-31 on highway trips at 70-80mph. Dino juice oil changes, one serp. belt change, and some air filters along the way. Doesn't count tires and brakes, other than that, nothing else has been done.

[yangiant51]

Thanks, Whelan.Third tank update:30mph again!Cruise set @ 65mph when on highway.Pretty good I think for using winter blend fuel.I do wish this thing had a bigger tank, tho.

[nittanydoug]

That's good mileage on an AWD!

[yangiant51]

Thanks, but it's not AWD

[nittanydoug]

Whelan's is in the post above your's.

[yangiant51]

Oops! Sorry!

[Whelan]

I fill 10-11 gallons each time with 280-290 on the odo. During trips I can crack out 350's. Pulled my highest of like 385 while driving to North Carolina this past summer. That was 35mpg average.

[yangiant51]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »I fill 10-11 gallons each time with 280-290 on the odo. During trips I can crack out 350's. Pulled my highest of like 385 while driving to North Carolina this past summer. That was 35mpg average.Nice!

[Endoran]

Hey everybody. I too have an 03' base trim automatic tran vibe. I recently purchased it this last summer and it now has 123,000miles on it. During the summer I was averaging 24-26MPG on fill-up which was almost all city driving. On a road trip to Vegas I got 34MPG. When I purchased my car I had my long trusted mechanic do a thorough inspection and he told me it was a winner, that it just needed a transmission fluid change (just the drain and fill, no flush) and the serpentine belt changed - both of which I did. GM recommends a spark plug change at 120k, I purchased mine at 119k so I do not know if the previous owner replaced the spark plugs. Nor do I have any previous maintenance records...unfortunately. Now that it is cold, consistently at or below freezing, much lower at nights I am averaging only 21MPG. Is this normal? Again it is all city driving mostly. I will get my spark plugs replaced just to be on the safe side, but is there anything else that I should have inspected that may be causing low MPG? I do not smell rotten eggs nor is my check engine light on so I do not think it is the cat. I check my PSI everymonth, keep it at 32, but after reading on here I think I might up it to 35. I have noticed that even when my engine is at operating temperature I still get a decent amount of smoke/exhaust coming from my tailpipe. It smells a little bit like gas. I do not know if this is normal, since I see that most cars on the road have some visible exhaust during this time of year, but some have absolutely none - however, I have seen a few 03' vibes on the road here and all of them have had visible exhaust. Thanks for any help or tips guys!!

[jake75]

I think 32 psi in the tires is recommended for a reason.

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I think 32 psi in the tires is recommended for a reason.it's recommended but not the golden rule. I run all my tires (summer and winter) at 40psi and I have never seen the centers of my tires run bald quicker than the outsides.

[Caretaker]

yeah, you may be burning a bit of oil. Welcome to the club. The 03's seem to have some bad seals in them that allow for oil consumption. No big deal as long as you pass emissions inspection. I have 125,000 on my '03 AWD and have NO desire to track my gas mileage any longer. The car looks like crap, and we'll simply run it into the ground. When it blows up, it blows up.

[danielg]

My 03 1.8 fwd gets 35 at 65mph, 40 at 60mph, 45 at 55mph and on one trip through Yellowstone Nat'l Park at 45mph a whopping 55mph. So some days I have to decide of 15 minutes extra driving time is worth the extra mpg.

[cptnsolo77]

I get about 27-28 MPG combines city and highway. I have a drop in K&N, tires @ 38 PSI and I use cruise whenever I can. I check my tires on a weekly basis. I drive 70 MPH average. I thought I would get better numbers myself, but thats what I have been avgeraging for the past 2 1/2 years. I guess its normal for my driving and setup. I just hit 89K.

[yangiant51]

Quote, originally posted by danielg »My 03 1.8 fwd gets 35 at 65mph, 40 at 60mph, 45 at 55mph and on one trip through Yellowstone Nat'l Park at 45mph a whopping 55mph. So some days I have to decide of 15 minutes extra driving time is worth the extra mpg.What the.............................!