[Chevy_Country]

Yesterday at work the guys were talki about mileage of the ire trucks, 2.7l I4 Tacoma claimed 20, 5.3 V8 Silverado claimed 17 so I hit my average mile tab on break and it says 20.7... That's horrific, I don't drive too poorly, use regular unleaded but from reputable gas stations only, and do almost exclusively city driving so I'd understand maybe 22-24 average, I reset I and the **** thing after a day of driving said 20.8. Is there anything I can do to get it up, injection cleaning, another spark plug regap (currently at .33) or anything to kinda bring that back up it averaged 24-26 when I bough it


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[Chevy_Country]

By the way, Caitlyn is a 2011 1.4T ltz in the north eastern New England area, thanks for feed back.


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[NickD]

With my 92 DeVille after a good tune up, checked spark advance when you could, was only averaging 23 mpg, was way in the heck off, suppose to be 10* BTDC, was set at 3* AFTC, and you have to pull a plug to disable the spark advance first. Since I was using ethanol free 91 octane fuel, set it to 12* BTDC, on the highway, shot that up to 32 mpg.

These later vehicles use a knock sensor, so the higher the octane fuel you use, the better the fuel economy, more spark advance, extends the combustion cycle.

Always used a low spark plug gap, using 25 mils on the Cruze, compression tuberlance is a problem for blowing out a spark. Another is a misfire can cook your cat.

In my town, Mobil gives me the best fuel economy, son in the next town asked me what I was using, his Mobil station was terrible. You don't know what in the heck kind of fuel you are getting anymore. Have to try different stations.

 

[obermd]

Switch to premium, or at least midgrade. The ECU in your engine is throwing away up to 5% of the available power to protect the engine from knock. The 2011's engine is rated 91 octane (look for KRD on the label in the glovebox.)

 

[Patman]

I went thru the same thing with my 2012 Eco. For @ the first year or so, I got pretty crappy MPG. I tried everything suggested here and it turns out my front brakes were always on. Not something to expect and did not realize until after looking at my rotors and they were grooved and the pads were worn down to the rivets.

 

[bostonboy]

I live in Foxboro & did a trip to NH 75% highway 70 MPH 25% rural driving & got my best tank of fuel of 518 miles. IMO the whole thing about getting good MPG in my car is drive like you driving miss daisy . no rabbit starts it kills the MPG. I have drove & got less than 400 miles on the tank because I was driving like a mass hole. I would say try some good fuel injection cleaner like the GM & chevron ones & put good gas in it it's about $2.40ish here. It pays for it's self & a good fuel injection cleaner every oil change 5K. I put the non concentrated chevron @ 2500 of the oil change & a concentrated one @ oil change 5000 miles. I even after the free oil changes I clean my engine filter & cabin filter. I also inspect everything the dealer did.

 

[jblackburn]

-Run 89/93
-Check spark plug gap or replace with BKR plugs. Set to .028" if under.
-Don't let the car shift much above 2500. Unfortunately, it's hard to keep the automatics in the fuel-efficient zone of <2000 RPM.
-Keep highway speed down.

Unfortunately, the automatics are hard to get the MPG that most manual 1.4T owners see. 2011's are the hardest of the bunch due to a final drive ratio that runs higher RPMs than other models.

 

[NickD]

38.5 mpg surprised me on a recent 380 mile trip using winter gas driving 72-77 mph, so I wouldn't get ran over. 46 mpg if I can hold it at 62 mph with summer gas. One trip on a deserted Wisconsin road, averaged 57 mpg driving at 30 mph in 5th gear.

2012 2LT with a manual transmission. Cruze brakes were not made for road salt, constant problem with those metal clips on top of a very poorly plated pad bracket forms a pocket for rust built up expanding those clips locking the pads. Do a frequent walk around have driving a bit with the back of my hand at each wheel. If you feel excessive heat, have problems.

04 Cavalier did not have this problem, should have stuck to these brakes.

Car is perfectly stock engine wise, adding sill plates is the kind of mods I made to it. Running Autolite double platinum APP3923 plugs gaped at 25 mils. Clean them at every 15K miles, getting close to 45K miles, purchased new ones, darn near twice around the earth is enough for any set of plugs. Only use ethanol free 91 octane fuel in hopes that the price of groceries come down so we can afford to eat again. Fuel bill is not even close to our grocery bill.

Only use top tier gas, but still dump in a can of Seafoam in a full tank of gas to help retard that carbon build up. Make sure the air filter is clean.

 

[Chevy_Country]

I've recently run 93 shell V-power and reset the average mileage in the compute, now it reads 24.5 which sounds right given the particular driving conditions, I also recently discovered that the car require "top tier detergent" what does that mean? Premium grade 93 octane or a better quality gas or do I have to speak kind words as I gas up, I want to keep the car running as it does now, I love the Cruze tune and feel and am worried at 5 years old I'll notice a deterioration


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[spacedout]

I also recently discovered that the car require "top tier detergent" what does that mean?

Top Tier Gasoline

Toptier gas is a list of brand that contain more detergents than the EPA requirements. This is suppose to help keep the engine clean and running correctly. Premium gas over regular no matter the brand may also contain as much as 3X the detergents as regular gas.

 

[Chevy_Country]

Premium gas over regular no matter the brand may also contain as much as 3X the detergents as regular gas.

Thanks! So if I'm stuck somewhere I can't get to one of the brands I know if I can get a cheaper brand but premium and be in the same ballpark?

 

[obermd]

Thanks! So if I'm stuck somewhere I can't get to one of the brands I know if I can get a cheaper brand but premium and be in the same ballpark?

I always use premium from a busy station. There's a Shell (top tier) station about the same distance from my house as a Safeway (unknown) but I never use the Shell. The Safeway refills their underground tanks every three or four days and the Shell once every couple of weeks. I use the Safeway.

 

[Chevy_Country]

Other than a seafood type gas additive is there any fuel system quick maintenance or part change to help keep her running the same or better? Like spark plugs were or keeping up with airfilter cleaning


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[spaycace]

Definitely want to keep the air filter clean/replaced often if running factory style. Might want to run a fuel system cleaner through it too, with some 91 octane or better. Make sure your front/rear brakes aren't dragging, because I know there were threads here about the rear drums not being adjusted properly from the start. As stated earlier too ... re-gap plugs to .028 as that's where I noticed the best improvement in how the car ran and didn't hesitate when starting out from a dead stop. Maybe want to run some gas line antifreeze through the tank too, because depending upon how much water is in the tank, it might be affecting your mileage too, although it would have to be a good amount of water. Then again, I've seen cars turn a corner and have their exhaust spew water like the car had just come out of a car wash! That can't be good for mileage numbers increasing.