GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I've owned my Vibe for a month, and I've put 1800 miles on it so far.It gets driven excluseively on the highway. I'm disappointed with the mileage I'vebeen getting (about 30 MPG). I live in a cold climate (Wisconsin), so that may or may not explain it.Anybody else have mileage numbers I can compare against? Thanks.

You're getting 30-mpg and you're disappointed!Get real!Estimated economy is:Manual: 30 mpg city / 36 mpg highwayAutomatic: 27 mpg city / 32 mpg highwayThe GT and AWD will be slightly lower.NOTE: mileage in US gallons

Is that US gallons or Imperial gallons?1 Imperial gallon = 1.2 US gallons39.9 miles/Imperial gallon = 33.2 miles/US gallon

quote:You're getting 30-mpg and you're disappointed!Get real!Estimated economy is:Manual: 30 mpg city / 36 mpg highwayAutomatic: 27 mpg city / 32 mpg highwayThe GT and AWD will be slightly lower.What do you mean "get real"?!?When the estimated highway mileage is 36 and I'm getting 30,that's reason to be disappointed.

It means it's an estimate, not exact. Just because they claim 36 doesn't mean you will get it. You would probably be disappointed with 35.9 mpg.Do you drive with a heavy foot? Idle alot while warming up the car? Carry alot of cargo? Drive in snow? Use the A/C? Stick or Auto? Base, GT or AWD?Plus, your car is barely broken in.Let's have a reality check.Mine is an automatic base and I do all city driving. I should be getting 27-mpg. HA! That's a laugh. I'm lucky to get 20-mpg. Am I disapointed? No. Would I like better? Sure but I realize how I drive and have a realistic sence of what kind of mileage I should be getting.

quote:It means it's an estimate, not exact. Just because they claim 36 doesn't mean you will get it. You would probably be disappointed with 35.9 mpg.Wow. You must be clairvoyant to know that I would be disappointed with 35.9 MPG. It must be nice to know somebody as well as you know me after reading one post.

quote:Keep the rest of your crap to yourself. I'm not interested in your personal opinions.Tough! I won't keep the rest of my crap to my self.If you're not interested in my opinion then don't post questions here. Did you pay to get your question answered? No. So take what you get and stop complaining about the people here who know more than you and don't get paid to answer your questions.

quote:Oh boy, we hit something.... I didn't mean to offend you, I just meant to say that it's too early to start worrying, plus gas consumption is often influenced by many little things (weather, altitude, driving habit, defroster, A/C,,etc)Salsa - you did not offend me. Your responses were useful and pleasantly stated.

quote:Keep the rest of your crap to yourself. I'm not interested in your personal opinions.Tough! I won't keep the rest of my crap to my self.If you're not interested in my opinion then don't post questions here. Did you pay to get your question answered? No. So take what you get and stop complaining about the people here who know more than you and don't get paid to answer your questions.NovaResource is the offensive party.Read Salsa's responses for an lesson on how to repond in a civil manner.

quote:You know more than me, eh?Apparently so. You didn't know about your poor mileage.Let's see, your profile says:jefframin is located in City WI US.jefframin is 4 years of age.Full Name: Mr Angy.Email: ramin@jefframin.org.Well, I think I know more than a 4 year old. Or is that your mental age, Mr Angry?quote:Yet another lame assumption by a lame poster...Sticks and stones . . . .By the way, nice '68 Barracuda. What's it run in the quarter? I've never owned a Mopar but I've worked on a few. My grandmother used to have a '67 Coronet 500. I wish I could have gotten that car. It looked like these but was white:And a friend of mine had a '66 Monaco we used to work on. Big car but with a 383 4bbl it would move. Mid 14's I think. Looked like these but his was blue-green and a hardtop:

'67 Coronet 500 - still one of my favorite cars of all time. I aspire to someday own a White one - convertible... sweeeet.

Yeah, very sweet car. My grandmothers was white with a black interior. It had the same wheel covers as the ones in the first picture. Great car.

Dman I log off for 3 hours and I miss another heated discussion. Well that is me always late to the party

Here are other previous threads I found on gas mileage using Search:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... d=1451Here is my current running list of gas mileage I get on my Vibe (Base). Quoted from the first thread link above:quote:Update (JUL 31 2002), got 32.5 mpg. 80% highway driving and 20% city driving. 90% A/C.Update (AUG 11 2002), got 28 mpg. Mostly City driving. Partial A/C.Update (SEP 05 2002), got 26 mpg. Mostly City driving. Partial A/C.Update (SEP 27 2002), got 29 mpg. 50% City/50% Highway. No A/C.Update (OCT 05 2002), got 26 mpg. 85% City/15% Highway. No A/C.Update (OCT 12 2002), got 28 mpg, 100% City driving. No A/C.Update (OCT 19 2002), got 28 mpg, 50% City/50% Highway. Partial A/C.Update (OCT 27 2002), got 24 mpg, 95% City/5% Highway. 50% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 05 2002), got 25 mpg, 80% City/20% Highway. 10% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 14 2002), got 26 mpg, 85% City/15% Highway. 10% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 20 2002), got 27 mpg, 75% City/25% Highway. 20% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 28 2002), got 25 mpg, 95% City/5% Highway. 50% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 10 2002), got 23 mpg, 70% City/30% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 15 2002), got 24 mpg, 85% City/15% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 21 2002), got 24 mpg, 90% City/10% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 28 2002), got 25 mpg, 80% City/20% Highway, 50% Defrost A/C.

Very nice stats Nick!You put it there each time you fill up your Vibe? Good idea.I didn't check my gas mileage already because I don't think it will be significant... I only have 3000 km (1875 miles), it's winter here with -10°C (14°F) this morning and I only drive less than 5 km city driving from home to work 3 times a day... I will check this on my next long trip (more than 300 km) or in summer. But I'm sure my Vibe is not very thirsty ! I don't go to the gas station more often than with my old Saturn...

Just filled up tonight and got 27.5 mpg (U.S.) I seem to be getting about 3 or 4 mpg less now that it is cold out compared to what I was getting in the summer. Anyone else notice this?

Yeah, I noticed the exact same thing. My gas mileage has decreased by about 3 mpg during these colder months.

I haven't seen a downgrade in gas mileage but hey, cold down here is in the 30-40 at the wosrt. That's only in the morning and by the afternoon it's 50-70 degrees. I'm getting on the highway about 32-33 MPG and I have 6000 miles on the car.The only strange things about gas mileage so far was: I went to Pensacola and got approx 32 MPG but on the way back I didn't get near that. In fact it was about 3 MPG less. Yes, I was driving the relative same speed and the only difference I could tell was the trip over was in the day and the trip back wa at night. Hey, I 'm not griping I'm just saying. If anyone has had a similar experience please tell me.I love my VIbe and don't have any complaints. It's amazing.

I have about 1700 miles and seem to get around 25 mpg

Daytime = less AC/defroster/heater needed. Less lights needed. Possibly driving with the wind. Possibly driving more downhill.Nightime - More AC/defroster/heater needed. More lights needed. Possibly driving against the wind. Possibly gaining altitude.The vibe doesn't have a very good (low) coefficient of drag, so +/- 3mpg depending on wind direction alone shouldn't be a surprise.Just some thoughts.KSNeptune.

Thanks KSNeptune, that's what I thought was the culprit on my trip.

You think THAT'S poor? I've only put a few tanks in but I have yet to break 23 MPG!!! That is mostly city driving, but I'm fairly light on the gas pedal, don't let it sit for 10 minutes to warm up, and have yet to turn on the AC (rochester, ny is pretty snowy this year)Plus it's a five speed.What's going on here?Scott

My base 5 speed has gotten between 27 and 31, all mainly highway, no air,no stop-start with the 31 being completely interstate. I've got about 3K on the car. As far as the comments that 30 is something wonderful, I have to disagree. I've owned about 50 cars and my experience is I typically meet or beat EPA in normal driving. I've got a Stealth with a 3 liter DOHC 6 making 222 hp that gets 25-26 highway. Granted the Vibe is taller and at 75 the wind resistance difference is significant (which I think has a lot to do with the variations-wind direction), but also a bit lighter. I don't idle it and do't pound it but I don't baby it either. I'm hoping for an improvement with summer and break-in. I do wonder if its just plain underpowered. I'm guessing the SC may increase efficiency enough that there won't be much of an additional penalty in mpg.

I personally do mostly city driving. Depending on how much I get on it, I have gotten anywhere from 21 mpg to 26 mpg. Like I said, all city driving in a GT. I don't think that is too bad. I only drive about 150 to 200 miles a week. As of today, I think I have around 1230 miles on my car. I haven't even broken in the motor yet. My mpg might increase slightly when it is completely broken in.BTW, very good post Nick!

At the same time we were looking at new vehicles, we were also considering the Jeep Liberty (from what I've read receive about 18mpg) and the Saturn VUE (18-20mpg), so I guess I can't really complain about 28 to 30mpg with the Vibe. Almost everyone at the plant I work at drives an extended cab Z-71 pee-cup truck, which get about 1/2 the mpg that the Vibe gets.

quote:.... Almost everyone at the plant I work at drives an extended cab Z-71 pee-cup truck.....That's hilarious! Reminds me of my brother-in-law: he grows 'mater's in his garden and goes feeeeshin' Back to gas mileage.... My 91 Cadillac would loose 4 mpg when the weather was below freezing.My wife consistantly gets 2-3 mpg better than I do in any car we've ever had. hmmmm.... wonder why!

My GT does 30 mpg highway in cool/rainy weather, a bit better in summer even with the A/C on. City mileage is low 20's -- could it be the way I drive?By the way, if your climate control is in the defrost or heat/defrost position and the temp is much above freezing, your A/C is on. No indicator light, but it is on. Mine isn't unless I want it to be -- disconnected the switch. Could be a mileage factor.

My GT gets about 22MPG so far. And I thought the sucking sound was my CAI. LoL

I'd say I'm a little disappointed in the MPG of this vehicle. My '90 Maxima had a bigger, quicker engine and got better mileage than what a lot of the Vibe owners are posting here. 1/3 of my decision was based on fuel efficiency b/c our other vehicle is a gas guzzling Dodge Dakota. Sure, I love the Vibes functionality and looks but if its mileage is average I may have been more apt to buy something like a CRV or RAV4 that I could have used on some of my remote camping and biking trips. The mileage of the Vibe was a deciding factor for me so if it doesn't live up to that, of course I'm going to be disappointed.

First tank I got almost 28mpg because I was easy on the throttle due to break-in. Second tank was similar. Third tank, I was all over it testing out the high rpm's and I got 23mpg. I think the mileage is fairly depicted on the window sticker, you just need to be real easy on the throttle and set the cruise on the highway to get in excess of 30mpg whether you have a base or GT. It'll be a bit easier on the base model to get better mileage. I'm happy with my mileage as my previous daily driver was a 2001 2500HD Silverado with the 6.0L motor and 4.10 rear gears. Sucker got 11-12mpg irrelevant of how easy I was driving it around.

Yeah, for how big it was and how strong the motor was and how high the rpms ran with the 4.10 gears, the mileage wasn't super bad. It had a 34 gallon gas tank, so I could go quite a ways on a tank, the fill-up was between $40-50, so that sucked. I guess I'm being harsh on the truck, if I was all highway, it could get up to 13-14mpg, but nothing anywhere close to my Vibe. One of the main reasons I sold the truck, I have a 60 mile round trip commute daily.

I have about 8700 miles on my Vibe GT and I get on average mostly city driving with a little highway, 25 mpg in the winter. In the warmer weather, I was getting about 2 mpg more on average. The highest gas mileage I've had was 34 mpg on my 875 miles in a day road trip last summer.Later,

When I started that road trip, I was at about 2500 miles. I was cruising about 70-80 mph just about all day with only a few short breaks.

Woohoo! Just got the best mileage yet! 25MPG! LoL

I get about 24-26 per gallon. I am real happy with this. Last car, 93 Trans Am got 14 if I was lucky!

Ya - I'm not impressed with my mpg on my base auto. I only get 27 mpg on nearly all highway driving. My saturn I just sold to buy my vibe had the 1.9L engine and got 35 mpg consistently. Only real difference I can see is the wind drag. My car is fairly new and it is winter and cold here in Michigan, so hopefully I can break 30mpg in summer.Keith

I just returned from a trip to Alabama and I was getting 27-31 mpg. On one tank I drove 380 miles crazy. I love this car.

I also got just between 23 - 27 mpg. I believe that is really bad for a car with EPA rating of 28/32mpg. With my driving, I've always been able to match EPA on all cars I've owned. Pontiac must of done something on the EPA test. may be it is something similiar to that 1st - 4th gear shift thing on Corvette, to make mpg higher.Base Vibe, Auto

I put a CAI and exhayst on my GT and my mpg is about 20.Sucks but I run mine hard.Keith

quote:bellwilliam, did you ever consider that your car may not have that many miles on it yet and that the engine has to break it.My base Vibe w/automatic has 4400 miles on it and I'm getting between 24 and 28 MPG with most of my driving (85%) being highway miles. The best I've seen is 28.48 MPG and that was 100% highway miles.I don't buy all this BS on here about too few miles, not broken in yet, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Every one of the new cars I've purchased were quickly within reach of the "EPA estimates" - it's becoming apparent that this Pontiac/Toyota will most likely not live up to it's ratings.I'm glad for everyone on here that's happy with the mileage they're getting even if it doesn't live up to it's rating. Just because it gets better mileage than the car/truck/van/bus you replaced it with doesn't mean anything to me.Some of us expect more - we expect at least reasonably close to what the manufacturer claims. They use the mileage ratings to sell vehicles - I see absolutely nothing wrong with expecting the manufacturer to deliver what they claimed. When they don't I go elsewhere when it's time to buy again.

quote:it's becoming apparent that this Pontiac/Toyota will most likely not live up to it's ratings.From what I have seen, 31 mpg on a base Vibe is more than attainable. I have reached it several times when doing highway-only driving. Here is a snapshot of my gas mileage I have recorded since I bought it:quote:Update (JUL 31 2002), got 32.5 mpg. 80% highway driving and 20% city driving. 90% A/C.Update (AUG 11 2002), got 28 mpg. Mostly City driving. Partial A/C.Update (SEP 05 2002), got 26 mpg. Mostly City driving. Partial A/C.Update (SEP 27 2002), got 29 mpg. 50% City/50% Highway. No A/C.Update (OCT 05 2002), got 26 mpg. 85% City/15% Highway. No A/C.Update (OCT 12 2002), got 28 mpg, 100% City driving. No A/C.Update (OCT 19 2002), got 28 mpg, 50% City/50% Highway. Partial A/C.Update (OCT 27 2002), got 24 mpg, 95% City/5% Highway. 50% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 05 2002), got 25 mpg, 80% City/20% Highway. 10% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 14 2002), got 26 mpg, 85% City/15% Highway. 10% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 20 2002), got 27 mpg, 75% City/25% Highway. 20% Defrost A/C.Update (NOV 28 2002), got 25 mpg, 95% City/5% Highway. 50% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 10 2002), got 23 mpg, 70% City/30% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 15 2002), got 24 mpg, 85% City/15% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 21 2002), got 24 mpg, 90% City/10% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C.Update (DEC 28 2002), got 25 mpg, 80% City/20% Highway, 50% Defrost A/C.Update (JAN 08 2003), got 23 mpg, 90% City/10% Highway, 90% Defrost A/C.Update (JAN 11 2003), got 27 mpg, 10% City/90% Highway, 10% Defrost A/C. (to NAIAS)Update (JAN 11 2003), got 31 mpg, 5% City/95% Highway, 0% Defrost A/C. (from NAIAS)Update (JAN 18 2003), forgot to record.Update (JAN 26 2003), got 21 mpg, 100% City/0% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C. (bad snow driving)Update (FEB 03 2003), got 28 mpg, 10% City/90% Highway, 70% Defrost A/C.Update (FEB 10 2003), got 23 mpg, 90% City/10% Highway, 50% Defrost A/C.Update (FEB 15 2003), got 27 mpg, 20% City/80% Highway, 50% Defrost A/C.Update (FEB 25 2003), got 23 mpg, 95% City/5% Highway, 75% Defrost A/C.Update (MAR 02 2003), got 27 mpg, 15% City/85% Highway, 80% Defrost A/C. (GCIAS trip)Update (MAR 07 2003), got 27 mpg, 50% City/50% Highway, 20% Defrost A/C.Update (MAR 13 2003), got 26 mpg, 50% City/50% Highway, 10% Defrost A/C.Update (MAR 23 2003), got 27 mpg, 40% City/60% Highway, 10% Defrost A/C.Update (MAR 28 2003), got 26 mpg, 50% City/50% Highway, 0% Defrost A/C.Update (APR 04 2003), got 28 mpg, 50% City/50% Highway, 10% Defrost A/C.You can find more here: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=450I personally think the first few hundred miles make a difference on the mileage.. look at my first entry.. seems a little odd compared to the rest of the figures. Things seemed to even out after some mileage was added and the engine adjusted.I currently have almost 8000 miles racked up since July 2002.

like Jethro said, most new cars now are pretty much broken in when new. even if it isn't, it shouldn't make that much difference.I have always found EPA rating pretty accurate with all cars I have. at least it is attainable with easy driving. but I see it is impossible with my Vibe. if you look at nsimkin's number. he is barely making the EPA ratings.Because my Vibe is brand new, I take it real easy. so I am expecting good mileage. I am a heavy foot person usually, so after my car is broken in (about 2k miles or so), I will probably floor it all day, so I think my gas mileage will only get worse not better.may be something will come of this issue. may be there really is something we don't know about.I am not complaining that Vibe is not getting good mileage. I am complaining that Vibe's EPA rating is inaccurate compare with other cars.

I noticed the same thing with mine. The more you use the car, the better your mileage becomes. The cold weather isn't helping much either.

anybody knows what the EPA considers "highway speeds"? I highly doubt the 75-80mph I tend to average on the highways in MI.Doesn't the gas stations change to a different formulation fuel in the colder months for evaporative emissions? I heard that also will contribute to lower gas mileage. Lately, i've been averaging around 27mpg. in the summer maybe a bit more at the above speeds. when I made a trip driving mostly 2 lane road @ 60-65mph my mileage went up to the low 30s. So the aerodynamic drag profile may be significant with the Vibe. BobMono Shadow GT

here is a web site to help anyone with conversionshttp://www.packexpo.com/education/ref/fuel_conv_cal.shtml

I finally get a good gaz mileage!!!Winter is almost over and warmer temperature seems to help.On the last thank, I ran 565 km and I put 42 l. So it is 7,4l/100km (32mpg).

Here are my Canadian figures: I have 4500KMS on and do 50/50 city highway. This is also almost all cold weather driving as it is still snowing and cold here.Worst Tank 31MPG (warming up, snow covered roads...)Best tank 40.6 MPG (around 0 deg C, little idling...)Average so far 35 MPG (a little under 30 for the U.S. folks)And by the way, if your opinion was of dissappointment in the mileage you have every right to ask the question and deserve friendly replys.

quote:Here are my Canadian figures: I have 4500KMS on and do 50/50 city highway. This is also almost all cold weather driving as it is still snowing and cold here.Worst Tank 31MPG (warming up, snow covered roads...)Best tank 40.6 MPG (around 0 deg C, little idling...)Average so far 35 MPG (a little under 30 for the U.S. folks)And by the way, if your opinion was of dissappointment in the mileage you have every right to ask the question and deserve friendly replys.the best mileage I've gotten is 28mpg, and that's with 100% freeway miles. I am very disappointed with my Vibe's mileage. I have always gotten between city and hwy mpg for all my cars, on my Vibe, my average is 25mpg!!! I believe my Vibe is rated at 28mpg city!!!

I noticed that you apparantly changed your wheels and tires. Have you checked your speedometer accuracy?I don't know if the 17 inch wheels and tires are the same diameter as the 16 inch set. Does anyone know if there is a different sending unit for the speedometer/odometer for the different wheel sets?One way to check is to go down the freeway at 60 MPH. Check the time and distance between a streach of 10 plus miles of mile markers. Don't do it for less than this because your accuracy is not good enough for this purpose. You should get exactly one minute per mile.Good luck,Bill

quote:I don't know if the 17 inch wheels and tires are the same diameter as the 16 inch set.The factory 17" tires are slightly taller than the factory 16" tires. This will throw off the speedo and odometer by 2%. So if your odometer says you traveled 100 miles, you actually traveled 102 miles.