[Germanspyder]

I've started to drive rather carefully after my engine rebuild and looked a little at my fuel consumption.
I've averaged about 6L/100 km or 39-40 mpg US over the last 3 tanks of gas in a pre facelift 5-speed on tires with a fuel efficiency of F.
How much fuel do your Spyders burn?
What is the best fuel efficiency you have archived?

 

[Petrus]

The best was 5,5 / 100 on a long drive at mostly 80-90 km/h.
Worst 10.
Average on the representative use is around 8.

 

[pwnzor]

I get 26mpg in the city and up to 30mpg on highway. I have kept a detailed spreadsheet on every drop of every fluid that passes through the car since I bought it in 2015.

Average overall mileage 28.37 in 2943.01 gallons.

 

[SDSUsnowboards]

39-40 MPG? That's nothing. I've gotten over 60 MPG with no modifications except this one weird trick.

 

[Germanspyder]

39-40 MPG? That's nothing. I've gotten over 60 MPG with no modifications except this one weird trick.

Now you've made me curious, what kind of trick did you use?

 

[dblotii]

Shifting strategy has a lot to do with real-world fuel economy. In general, you want to keep revs low, but avoid lugging. See this for an overview: How to shift a manual transmission for both performance and economy – Roth Automotive Science

Dave

 

[BGB-TOY]

Now you've made me curious, what kind of trick did you use?

Do tell. Give me a trick to get 40+ mpg and I'll be happy (provided I don't have to strip the interior of everything).

 

[FormInFunction]

I never got better than 36mpg highway with my 1zz. I’ve gotten as high as 38mpg with my 2zz (probably more due to the 6 speed trans) but I honestly don’t try to travel at fuel efficient speeds. I would guess that 40 mpg could be done with the right trans, proper tire inflation, & a ‘hyper-mile’ Prius style of driving. As nice as it would be to see if I can break 40mpg with a 2zz/c60 setup I will never have the patience to maintain that driving style over the course of a full tank of gas.

 

[Germanspyder]

Do tell. Give me a trick to get 40+ mpg and I'll be happy (provided I don't have to strip the interior of everything).

Well, to reach 40 you only need to look ahead, drive conservatively and not use your brakes.
Also don't go fast on the highway.
My car has the full interior, allthough at times I had removed the passenger seat as I was moving places and needed the space in the car.

With my previous car, I reached 3,5L/100km or 70 mpg.
Wasn't even a diesel or hybrid, just a small, naturaly aspirated gasoiline engine with a 5-speed manual.

 

[Germanspyder]

I never got better than 36mpg highway with my 1zz. I’ve gotten as high as 38mpg with my 2zz (probably more due to the 6 speed trans) but I honestly don’t try to travel at fuel efficient speeds. I would guess that 40 mpg could be done with the right trans, proper tire inflation, & a ‘hyper-mile’ Prius style of driving. As nice as it would be to see if I can break 40mpg with a 2zz/c60 setup I will never have the patience to maintain that driving style over the course of a full tank of gas.

Yea, I sometimes catch myself revving out 4th gear to 180 km/h after a construction site as well.

 

[pwnzor]

The last thing I'm thinking about when I'm driving the car is fuel economy.

I mean, the spreadsheet is just me keeping track - I definitely don't think about it any other time besides this conversation right now, and once a month or so when I pull receipts out of my wallet and enter them.

I see people talking about higher mileage numbers and I just don't know how they could be real. My engine runs great, and the MPG didn't change a bit after adding CAI and exhaust to the car.

Does everybody use the same method to measure as I do? I reset the trip meter and note the mileage at every tank of gas. I don't believe the BS that Torque Pro and other software try to tell me I'm getting.

My odometer is very accurate, I've made sure of it by various methods.

 

[neomr2]

The last thing I'm thinking about when I'm driving the car is fuel economy.

X2, I only get in the mid 20's since I drive it like I stole it...

 

[BGB-TOY]

I use the old fashioned way of computing the mpg. I reset the trip meter when I fill up and then when I fill up the next time compute how many miles I got on the previous tank. Even if the car had a computer that told me how many mpg I was getting I wouldn't trust it. My other car supposedly tells me how many miles until empty but I definitely don't trust that since right after I got the car it said I had 85 miles til empty. Plenty of time to get fuel, right? Not so much, I really only had about 1/2 gallon left in the tank- haven't trusted it since.

Fuel efficiency is overrated since in this state the government charges extra taxes elsewhere because you drive a fuel efficient vehicle. Basically they're not getting the tax from you when you fill up so they're going to get it from you when you pay registration fees and property tax

 

[SDSUsnowboards]

Now you've made me curious, what kind of trick did you use?

Do tell. Give me a trick to get 40+ mpg and I'll be happy (provided I don't have to strip the interior of everything).

I got a Prius.

Anyone claiming to get ~40+ mpg in an MR2 Spyder is either wrong, lying, or an incredibly unique confluence of events occurred.

 

[Funkycheeze]

I get 10L/100Km in the city and 7.5 or so on the highway with a 2ZZ / 6spd and driving spiritedly.

That's 23.5 MPG city and 31 highway. For the way I drive, excellent value IMO.

 

[FormInFunction]

I got a Prius.

Anyone claiming to get ~40+ mpg in an MR2 Spyder is either wrong, lying, or an incredibly unique confluence of events occurred.

I honestly think you can push 40mpg with the right trans, driving style, and of course...ethanol free gasoline.

 

[carlbecker]

I have seen 34 mpg a few times on the interstate doing a constant 70mph with the OEM 5sp. I never really check it though. I now have a 6sp .725 with 4.3 final that should get better if I tried or measured it.

 

[beachbum]

We normally get 30-34 mpg, even on twisty back roads, but we normally don't go much over 4,000 RPM or so. That is with a header, and MAF mod which improved mileage about 1-2 MPG. We have a 6 speed, but on those types of roads rarely use it. We don't use it as a daily driver, so it doesn't get used in city type driving, and we don't do much expressway driving either. We only check mileage out of curiosity, as we really don't care. We care about grins per mile

As for ethanol free gas, we tried it a couple times, but saw no change in mileage. The only change was a lighter pocket as it is quite a bit more expensive in our area, and hard to find.

There are techniques to get better mileage, such as coasting in neutral or with the clutch in, drafting, short shifting and staying in higher gears, and just never using any throttle. I don't know if you can get 40 MPG, but will never find out as why would you own a Spyder and drive like that?

 

[dblotii]

You will get significantly better fuel mileage with the top up and the windows closed.

 

[carlbecker]

You will get significantly better fuel mileage with the top up and the windows closed.

I would rather have a Prius than drive a spyder with the windows up and top up to get higher mileage I am guessing a hardtop would increase mileage also.

Grins per mile is much more important for me