[Gameverseman]

Hey all,
So I noticed something "weird" with my Cruze. I usually drive a little over the speed limit and my drive to and from work is about 10 minutes each way. I drive, on average, an hour everyday (excluding weekends). I only have ~750 miles on my vehicle. My question is, what is causing me to have such low MPG? I've seen folks here with MPGs in the 30s and 40s... Yet I average at 22 and peaked at 28. No aftermarket items are installed on the car short of a subwoofer. Any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[Ma v e n]

You have a brand new Cruze with wide heavy wheels and tires, and a subwoofer, that you drive on short trips exceeding the speed limit....That's what's causing it. In addition to the issue of weather or not your DIC was ever reset.

 

[Gameverseman]

You have a brand new Cruze with wide heavy wheels and tires, and a subwoofer, that you drive on short trips exceeding the speed limit....That's what's causing it. In addition to the issue of weather or not your DIC was ever reset.

I only have 16" rims (stock) with the stock Hankook tires. Subwoofer(Rockford Fosgate P3 12") is not even 10lbs, and 5-10 over the speed limit (fastest being 70MPH maybe once a week) I wouldn't think would cause such a drastic change in MPG off of the advertised amount. I don't know what a DIC or whether it was reset. I got the car when it only had, if I remember correctly, 15 miles on it. So nearly 100% of those miles we're by me. Could you help me understand how those factors would impact MPG so much?

 

[jblackburn]

My in-town mileage (stoplight/sign every block, lots of stop and go) is somewhere in the low to mid 20's usually. <5 mile trips that usually take 15-20 minutes. If your driving is anything like mine, you're doing what I'd expect.

 

[Gameverseman]

My in-town mileage (stoplight/sign every block, lots of stop and go) is somewhere in the low to mid 20's usually. <5 mile trips that usually take 15-20 minutes. If your driving is anything like mine, you're doing what I'd expect.

My commute is similar but I only stop at 3 lights tops.

 

[Iamantman]

Super short trips like that are murder on gas efficiency. I'd bet that's your #1 culprit like Maven and blackburn have said. You've checked obvious things like making sure your tire pressure is good right?

To test, I'd take it out on the highway and drive 20 or 30 min. If you're not getting 30-40 mpg there then you might need to take it to the dealer to check it out. If you're not throwing any codes though they're gonna send you on your way most likely and tell you what we're telling you here.

I find my sweet spot for gas mileage on the highway is around 65-70 mph. I can approach 50 mpg there. If I'm up in the 70-80mph range I'm usually in the low to mid 30s.

 

[Ma v e n]

Sorry, I forgot that some of the RS cars had small wheels, my Redline has 18s.

The DISC is driver information center. If it hasn't been reset from before you started driving it could be displaying lower than actual MPG. It's very common for cars to come off the dealer lot with single digit lifetime fuel economy.

The big culprit is the short trips with multiple stops.(the higher speeds don't help either)

My hatchback has the bigger spoiler, the bigger wider wheels and tires, and on a commute of 21 miles, I have a section that's 14 miles long uninterrupted and I run at 50mph. Car LOVES that, I routinely see 50mpg+ averages on that road. Add back in the mpg from my slower neighborhood area with 5 stops signs(about a mile of 30mph) and a few miles at 65mph and another stop sign or three and my mileage for any given day drips down to 38-40mpg.

Lifetime average on my car at 15000 miles is I believe 33mpg. 28mpg probably during the winter I where I run
a defrost I all the time, and 38mpg during spring where I run windows down mostly.
I NEVER go on trips less than 10 miles, I don't sit in any notable traffic, and I don't exceed 65mph. Probably 65% of my miles are 50mph back roads car loves that.

 

[Taxman]

Mine with automatic gets miserable mpg until the transmission gets warm enough (2-3 miles) to lock the torque converter. Then it gets unimpressive mpg for another 5+ miles, after that everything is hot and ready to rack up some bigger than EPA numbers. Switching to 0W20 oil didn't change that, it just isn't ready to go over 40mpg at 60mph until it's warmed up for a few minutes.

Also, I suspect but don't know that the Kinergy tires on most of the RSs have more rolling resistance than the Assurance tires on the non-RS. (My 2017 RS has the Assurance so I can't compare directly)

 

[Iamantman]

Yeah I mean these are small, lightweight cars with very efficient direct injection engines. If you're averaging in the 20s for mpgs there is either something wrong w the car, or you're driving too aggressively. Not much of a grey area there honestly.

 

[Ma v e n]

Mine with automatic gets miserable mpg until the transmission gets warm enough (2-3 miles) to lock the torque converter. Then it gets unimpressive mpg for another 5+ miles, after that everything is hot and ready to rack up some bigger than EPA numbers. Switching to 0W20 oil didn't change that, it just isn't ready to go over 40mpg at 60mph until it's warmed up for a few minutes.

Also, I suspect but don't know that the Kinergy tires on most of the RSs have more rolling resistance than the Assurance tires on the non-RS. (My 2017 RS has the Assurance so I can't compare directly)

18 Redline with 18s, Michelin MXM4s I think.
I run 5w30 in mine.

 

[Taxman]

18 Redline with 18s, Michelin MXM4s I think.
I run 5w30 in mine.

I believe Redline, Premier RS, and maybe Hatch RS come with 18s.
The LT sedans, at least 2016-2017, came with 16s, Goodyears on most, Hankooks on RS, except my fleet ordered 2017 RS has Goodyears.

 

[obermd]

I suspect the short runs of less than 10 minutes are killing your fuel economy. The engine never gets a chance to warm up. Take it out on a road at 55 MPH and drive out and back for 30 minutes each way. Then see what the fuel economy reports. Also, to rule out a dragging brake, when you get back, use the back of your hand and gently touch each wheel. They may be warm but they shouldn't be hot - a hot wheel indicates a dragging brake.

 

[Iamantman]

I believe Redline, Premier RS, and maybe Hatch RS come with 18s.
The LT sedans, at least 2016-2017, came with 16s, Goodyears on most, Hankooks on RS, except my fleet ordered 2017 RS has Goodyears.

My 2018 Hatch RS was an LT model and came w 16s. I plan to upgrade but will probably only do 17s because I'm terrified of driving it around the city with 18s. Philly potholes are real man... haha

 

[jblackburn]

My 2018 Hatch RS was an LT model and came w 16s. I plan to upgrade but will probably only do 17s because I'm terrified of driving it around the city with 18s. Philly potholes are real man... haha

Ride quality sucks on the 18's. I went up a sidewall size when I replaced my tires and it helped a bit, but the 17"s are probably an even better choice.

 

[jblackburn]

Also, if it makes you feel any better, this was my last top up before we head to the beach this weekend. 100% city/gridded streets/gridlock driving. Saw highway speeds for maybe 15 miles on the tank.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Iamantman]

Ride quality sucks on the 18's. I went up a sidewall size when I replaced my tires and it helped a bit, but the 17"s are probably an even better choice.

Haha yeah I figured. I think it's just something people get used to. Personally that takes a toll physically on me and the car so I'd rather not risk it. Plus like you said below, it adds even more the mpg game.

That said I think if I lived in the suburbs or down south with pretty open flat roads, I'd definitely go oversize like that. It just looks so gooood.

 

[DLYskes1976]

I am not saying I am in the same ball park, but when I first got my '14 2lt , the mpg slowly went down a lot..... like initial full tank was around 440 mile.... then after a while it was 379-400... and this was on 87 octane... and at the time I was delivering pizzas.. and this was all from may 2 of last year till this past march... and insert a change of jobs, and one drive into work and home of about 25 miles. And slowly my full tank went back up to 480 miles per tank on 87 octane... then I started using some 93 octane and bam!!!! I am over 500 per tank... I will say as with any car, short trips or stop n go trips are the worst for mpg

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[ts27330]

Hey all,
So I noticed something "weird" with my Cruze. I usually drive a little over the speed limit and my drive to and from work is about 10 minutes each way. I drive, on average, an hour everyday (excluding weekends). I only have ~750 miles on my vehicle. My question is, what is causing me to have such low MPG? I've seen folks here with MPGs in the 30s and 40s... Yet I average at 22 and peaked at 28. No aftermarket items are installed on the car short of a subwoofer. Any ideas?
Thanks!

You only have 750 miles, it should get better after "breaking in". The short trips are a mpg killer as others report. I have a 2012 LT RS and get upper 30 on road trip, but my daughter(heavy foot)drives intown alot and she averages in the mid 20s. Driving style contributes a lot to mpg also.

 

[travis4]

I think it might be what was said earlier about the DIC
it will report the average gas mileage for the last 1000 miles if you have it set that way
you won't see much change unless you set it to last 25 or 50 miles
you change it via the steering wheel buttons - have to hit the center check key when the mileage display is shown