Just got back from a week in Lake Tahoe, drove 483 miles from east SF Bay Area (including 75+/- around the area while there) on 19 gallons supreme for average 25.4 MPG. Had about 375 lbs. of human cargo and another 400 lbs or so of gear, and drove from an elevation of approx 50' above sea level to approx. 8,000' at top of Tahoe ridge. Winding 2 lane mountain roads about 1/2 the way (HWY 88) - so I did a lot of climbing and gear changing in my 6MT

Had some light snow flurrys (the viscous LSD and and VDC worked better than advertised) and temperatures ranged from 80 degrees (Calif. central valley) to 32 degrees.

I drive pretty aggressively, but was amazed on occasion at how well the car pulled hills in 6th gear while fully loaded, lugged down to as low as 2,000 RPMs at times without protest - a very tractable engine. Did a lot of "coasting" on the way back, and the car just gains speed rapidly downhill, overtaking other cars (MT & autos) that are coasting in front of us, requiring me to brake a lot there (when I say coast, I mean in gear but no throttle - not in neutral).

This gas mileage (25.4 MPG avg.) is about 2 MPG better than I got on the same trip last year, in similar conditions, when the car had about 7,000 miles on it. It now has 19,550 miles, as it sits home in my garage.

As my nephew says, "it's gettin' funner and funner to drive (and ride in) that car"

 

That's excellent mileage for a variety of conditions and with such a load.
C.

 

Thanks for posting that. With 5k miles on mine I can be happy knowing things are going to get even better.

 

Reading your after-trip report makes me look forward to my first trip up to Tahoe with my new Gx.

While I enjoy Summer ... I am so much looking forward to the Fall and play time in Tahoe!!!

 

I'm 18 months, 12K miles, into my 04 Auto sedan ... and I simply find your results to be too good. I travel frequently between Houston and Austin, averaging maybe 63 mph - usually traveling a bit above the 70 mph limit - and 20 MPG or so is the absolute best I've seen. But I'm not bitchin - only a grin all the time in this car.

 

**** I only get at best 300miles a tank.

 

My overall average, city and highway, is over 20 for my 2004 Auto.

I've had over 25 MPG on a few occasions, including twice when I used at least 15 gallons.

(real MPG, not the inflated number given by the computer).

 

Ive been saying this all along... glad im not the only one getting 450-520 miles per tank.

 

In my '04x I get a consistent 20 MPG commuting and 24.03 MPG highway.

What's funny is my highway speed does not effect the milage. I set the cruise-o-matic at 9.5 MPH over the posted limit (i.e. 64.5, 69.5, or 79.5) and I get the EXACT same milage.

 

Glad you pointed that out, KevinK, about the "computer" mileage. Although I have the Nav system, I've never bothered to look at it's "estimate" of my mileage. I'm old school - where I divide the total number of miles driven by the total number of gallons actually consumed - anything else is just a "guesstimate" (calculated though it may be).

I've had mine since approx. 20 miles, broke it in mostly as the manual describes (maybe a little higher RPM's on occasion than suggested, but never under full load until 2,000 miles ). It got pretty bad mileage the first few tanks (14-17 MPG), then got better (16-19 MPG); then started averaging about 20-21 MPG after 10,000 miles or so, now maybe 22-23 MPG city/urban and 26-27 MPG rural/country/freeway after 19,500+ miles.

Stands to reason a well designed and well-assembled engine will see steady increases in power, torque, and efficiency (MPG) through the first half (100,000 - 150,000 miles?) of it's life-cycle, until it peaks and begins the slow, steady decline towards it's demise.

Glad to report my vaunted VQ is as advertised