[woodrow]

I have a 2012 Curze LT automatic and when we bought it with 52000 miles we reset trip 2 to zero and have not reset it since. It shows 30.1 average MPG. When I look around this website, I see most people getting way above that. The Cruze is bone stock. My son drives it most of the time and he is not light on the throttle. A recent 2200 mile trip from Florida to north Georgia on vacation with me driving we averaged about the same average MPG of around 30. It had mostly highway driving with average 70 to 80 mph (got to keep up with traffic).
One thing that hurt the gas mileage was when I went to the dealer and had the recent recall for emissions installed. To me before, I figured it would lean out the car to get less emissions but from what I have heard later that it made the car richer and my fuel economy drop shows that is true. Went back to the dealer to have it put back to the old tune but they said that they cant after this was installed.
I would like to know how to go back to the default tune or get better fuel economy. That's why we bought a Curze in the first place...any answers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[boraz]

I have a 2012 Curze LT automatic and when we bought it with 52000 miles we reset trip 2 to zero and have not reset it since. It shows 30.1 average MPG. When I look around this website, I see most people getting way above that. The Cruze is bone stock. My son drives it most of the time and he is not light on the throttle. A recent 2200 mile trip from Florida to north Georgia on vacation with me driving we averaged about the same average MPG of around 30. It had mostly highway driving with average 70 to 80 mph (got to keep up with traffic).
One thing that hurt the gas mileage was when I went to the dealer and had the recent recall for emissions installed. To me before, I figured it would lean out the car to get less emissions but from what I have heard later that it made the car richer and my fuel economy drop shows that is true. Went back to the dealer to have it put back to the old tune but they said that they cant after this was installed.
I would like to know how to go back to the default tune or get better fuel economy. That's why we bought a Curze in the first place...any answers would be greatly appreciated.

youre getting better than epa rating

youre speeding

 

[obermd]

According to Fuelly, you're right in line with the 178 LTs they have reporting. Also, when looking at the fuelly badges here you'll notice that anyone reporting over 40 MPG is driving an ECO MT or a CTD (diesel). These two trims are the fuel economy champs for the Cruze. Another tip - slow down just enough to be in the slowest third of the cars and sit in the right lane while travelling. It's amazing how much different your fuel economy and stress levels will improve. Fuel economy will go up and stress will go down.

 

[170-3tree]

First, the people with high mpgs are the ones advertising it. I'm not proud of mine @29-34mpg with short drives to work.

There are several things you can do to bump your economy some. Add air to tires, use high octane fuel, ensure you don't have extra junk in car, ensure you have optimum spark plug conditions. The biggest thing, if you care about efficiency, is drive like that matters, ease on gas and brake, go slower on the highway.

 

[JackAtPage]

Check that your PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve isn't stuck open. That what happened to my 2012 LT 1.4 Turbo, I replaced it and my gas milage went back to normal. Youtube "pcv valve 2012 chevy cruze" and the two videos are 1:01 and 4:38 minutes long. (Cruzetalk isn't letting me post links?) Looking back, I realized my cruze had been running with a stuck open pcv valve for 10k miles or so before an engine light came on.

I got a new valve cover for 58 bucks at my local dealership, and a new set a torx ratchets for 30 bucks. It's much cheaper than the crazy 200+ they were talking about at the shop. I did an oil change afterwards as well since there may have been debris that I didn't see fall into the crankcase. This happened around my 55k point.

Also speeding does have a negative affect on it. I get 39/40 at 55 mph, 36/37 at 65, 34/35 at 72, and 32/33 at 77. I drive long distances as well, and I got frustrated as well. But the right lane and cruise control are gas milages best friends.

 

[woodrow]

Thanks for all the input and the real MPG figures. When we first got the car, I replaced the valve cover myself and car ran great after that (thank you JackAtPage for that suggestion). One thing we put on the car was a boost gauge to help with driving for economy. It really shows how the angle of the right foot has a dramatic effect on economy. Any speed after around 65 to 70 mph has to have boost to keep speed which has a dramatic effect on MPG.
I will try and move over into the right lane and relax but you can get run over by all them speeders...

 

[obermd]

Thanks for all the input and the real MPG figures. When we first got the car, I replaced the valve cover myself and car ran great after that (thank you JackAtPage for that suggestion). One thing we put on the car was a boost gauge to help with driving for economy. It really shows how the angle of the right foot has a dramatic effect on economy. Any speed after around 65 to 70 mph has to have boost to keep speed which has a dramatic effect on MPG.
I will try and move over into the right lane and relax but you can get run over by all them speeders...

It is a balancing act in the right lane. Too slow and you're a rolling road hazard. Too fast and your fuel economy suffers. The sweet spot for speed will vary based on the highway and even time of day.

 

[phugoff]

I would have to let my wife or mother drive if I would like to emulate those numbers. Maybe I should see about getting my lead foot amputated or something.

 

[au201]

You're doing better than I was lol. Sold my Cruze two days ago but my lifetime average over 20k miles was 27.6mpg


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[lakemg]

I would like to know how to go back to the default tune or get better fuel economy. That's why we bought a Curze in the first place...any answers would be greatly appreciated.

A good local tuner with HPTuners and/or possibly EFI Live could go into your current tune and adjust it back to the original parameters, if they had an original to compare to. The risk is that now your ECM will have been tuned which could potentially jeopardize your warranty (which is a whole other discussion).

 

[ChevyGuy]

By in large, once you hit 6th gear, going faster decreases fuel mileage. Aerodynamic drag.

 

[spacedout]

I believe the city MPG of the automatic is much worse than the EPA test indicates, and the more cold starts the worse your overall average will be. That 26mpg city rating I would say is closer to 21mpg in real world. Highway 45-70mph is good for 36-42mpg most days. 80mph is only good for 28mpg, 75mph 32mpg, 70mph 36mpg, 65mph 40mpg(average from my testing, pump calculated). In 10F or below weather driving between 60-70mph where I typically average 40mpg I get 33mpg.

I drive about 70% highway(37-45mph average speed on the DIC), my average over 88,000 miles is 35.7mpg with my 2012 automatic. My MPG over the last 20,000 miles since getting the emissions recall done has gone up by 1MPG, with my 2015 average being 36.2mpg.

Winter I average 30mpg, summer 38mpg driving the same exact routes. I do use remote start in winter because if I don't I have to drive 15 minutes just to have heat, I still have to drive 5-7 minutes to have heat even after a 4-5 minute remote start. 5 minutes typically gets the engine to about 120F, but I don't start to have decent heat until at least 170F.

 

[spacedout]

Took a 5000 mile trip in a GMC Terrain FWD 2.4L ecotec, it has the same 32mpg highway rating as its Chevy Equinox sibling. At 78mph, we average 22mpg!!! Have driven both the GMC and chevy at 55-65mph, both get their EPA ratings.

My 2004 Cavalier 2.2L ecotec 4 speed auto only got 28mpg at 70mph, so I'm more than happy with the cruze getting that MPG at 80mph.

 

[NickD]

Seeing a bit worse than this using 91 octane ethanol free gas, winter gas, miles remaining is more like 460 after a fillup, where with summer gas, more like 640/

Yeah, I know there is kids on this site that say you get poorer fuel economy in the winter, but they don't know what they are talking about, haven't been around long enough to know the difference. Then these same kids are saying you need cold air to get better performance, again they don't know what they are talking about. It was around 2002 we started getting this winter crap, and before, it didn't make any difference, even better in the winter months than the hot summer.

EPA started this BS because their reasoning, it takes longer for the emissions controls to heat up in the winter. Certainly not this winter until recently when we had 40*F weather. But they don't go by the weather, they go by the calendar.

Not only the Cruze, but all vehicles suffer with this watered down gas. Averages about 20-25% lower in fuel economy, ethanol is a hail of a lot worse, also lie through their teeth saying its only 2% lower, heard these AH's on WPR. Not only this, but the cost of food has skyrocketed.

Just bend over and learn how to smile while you are getting it.

 

[BU54]

You went on a 2200 mile trip from Florida to N. Georgia? That does not compute captain.

 

[spacedout]

You went on a 2200 mile trip from Florida to N. Georgia? That does not compute captain.

He probably drives around allot like I do when I go on a trip. 2000 mile round trip I easily ad another 1000 just checking out the local scenery(side trips).

 

[braceyoself777]

Lead foot will do that to ya.

 

[woodrow]

You went on a 2200 mile trip from Florida to N. Georgia? That does not compute captain.

Just like spacedout said, it was 1200 miles driveway to driveway to driveway and we did 1000 miles of checking out the mountains and overflowing streams of North GA and NC. We live in central Florida and our biggest mountain is the local trash dump.

 

[pL2014]

Winter I average 30mpg, summer 38mpg driving the same exact routes. I do use remote start in winter because if I don't I have to drive 15 minutes just to have heat, I still have to drive 5-7 minutes to have heat even after a 4-5 minute remote start. 5 minutes typically gets the engine to about 120F, but I don't start to have decent heat until at least 170F.

I hear you on the summer vs winter. I bought my '14 LTZ just before New Years Day 2014. My avg MPG in January of '14 was 25.2. My avg for July 14 was 33.9. Then my average for January '15 was 26.8 and for July '15 was 34.3. My average for this January so far is 30.1. We just bought a new house and I have an attached garage. It's not heated, but it's definitely 10-15F warmer than outside most mornings and I'm seeing it in my mpg. Cold starts and cold weather kill your mpg. My driving is about 50/50 city/hwy.

For sure I'm seeing significant steady increases in fuel economy since I bought the car over the first 30k. I attribute this to a combination of engine break-in and learning how to drive the car for mpg (with a new bump in winter due to my new garage).

 

[tyrn]

You can use cruise control on your 1.4??? are you going downhill both directions???