I must be doing something really wrong here... I have never gotten over 300 miles a tank... I fill up whenever the needle drops below the last quarter tank mark... I have less than 4k miles so I should be out of the break in period... I drive about 70% hwy and 30% city...

For those who are getting 350+ miles a tank, do you drive until the needle is just above the "E"???

BTW I have an auto tranny on my box

 

Depending on how close you are to gas stations, you can easily drive it until the gas light comes on. At that point, your trip computer should say that you have about 20 miles until Range = 0 miles. Today I drove 17 miles after my Range hit 0 miles (40 miles after the gas light came on at Range = 23 miles) and it still only took 12.7 gallons to fill up, after driving 346 miles (27.24mpg) on that tank. Auto tranny here too.

 

I've never gotten over 265 miles on the tank. How are you guys averaging close to 400 miles? Is this totally stock?

I have 19" wheels lowered fairly low. With Fujita CAI and Rear section exhaust. I doubt the exhaust has anything to do with it, the CAI might have some play but I'm suspecting the lowered suspension really hurting my mileage due to drive train loss.

still dont know how you guys are getting close to 400.

 

Go HIN, if the majority of your driving is city and/or stop & go SoCal freeway traffic, then 265 miles/tank is reasonable. How many gallons do you take on an average refill? If it's 11 or less, then you aren't running it as close to empty as those of us that are getting 300-350 per tank. Very few get 400 or real close to it, which is why this thread was started.

 

I made it!! 406 miles today on 12.76 galons of gas. Majority of this is highway driving, but I have changed my city driving habits to assist in getting the mileage out of the box i was aiming for.

It can be done.

 

Do you have a 5-speed or Auto?
Any engine mods?

 

5-speed, weapon r cai.

 

TX_WRX - I used to ride a sportbike, hence part of my "acceleration is an option", however it applies to auto's too. As some have already said on here, I'm sure a lot more even could tell you stories about how the application of gas instead of a break saved them a call to insurance.

I will agree with you however when you mentioned that slow acceleration does equal better gas mileage. Yes, driving like you have no brakes works very well, but so does slow acceleration. It simply takes less energy to get you up to speed over time than it does to push your mass of metal to 60 like you've stolen it.

Anyway, glad someone broke the 400 mile mark. I may not break that soon but it's nice to know it can certainly be done. Yay for the xB and double-yay for us owning one. :D

 

My point with the acceleration not being a good option is just to say make acceleration your last option. Maneuvering, and braking are far more effective in everything except a motorcycle. Most of the time that acceleration helps avoid an accident is when you are in a situation where you are already accelerating. That is not what im talking about. We were talking about why neutral might be unsafe...etc. When coasting or in neutral, accelerating out of danger is not a good option. I only mention this because i see far too many agressive truck drivers in Texas that think they car accelerate faster than they can brake, and they cause wrecks driving agressively like this. For instance when cars are about to merge they decide to speed up to merge instead of slow down to merge. That is the wrong decision.

 

I feel you. I'm also in socal and when I fill up it says my range is 275-280 miles. I usually get 260+ per tank and that's when I wait til my light is on to fill up.

 

1) personally, i'm not a fan of running my tank that low. i'm just too paranoid to do it. it's also not the greatest thing for your fuel pump or filtration system.

2) why do some of you guys have to come on any thread talking about mileage and just stink it up? seriously, we're not impressed. oh, you drive your xB hard? wow. good to see you can handle such a 'beast' at a whopping 150ish HP (and on a freeway with all those really tough turns, nonetheless).

and let's get some things straight about SoCal (since i lived there for the last 12 years before moving to Durham):

a) not EVERYONE drives 80-85 down the freeway (unless you're talking the stretch of I5 next to Camp Pendleton, in which case you're absolutely right)

b) SoCal is definitely not the only place people drive like that. i used to think that, too, but after traveling all over the country the last few years, i've learned that SoCal isn't the only place that can put the hammer down.

3) driving slower and accelerating less DOES equate to better mileage. sorry, it's fact. oh, and i'm an engineer, too (like you need a degree to know this kind of stuff). if you want better MPG, keep your car in good running order and just slow down. simple as that. but please, if you're gonna go that slow, be considerate and stay out of the faster lanes.

sorry to be such a downer, but some of this stuff just gets so old.

Mike

 

09 XB automatic, 17" wheels. 22.3 MPG average. I only have 1300 miles so I hope it gets better!

 

If you spend more time on the freeway, and less time accelerating, it will be better.

After your first 2 free oil changes at the dealership, switch to 0W-20 full synthetic oil, and that should be good for another 1-2 MPG.

 

i now get 25mpg and im boosted as long as i can stay off the throttle

 

i considered 0W-20 until i saw the price difference between that and 5W-20. 0W Mobil1 was agout $16 per quart! Adds about $25 to an oil change

 

i use royal purple 0w20 its like 8dollars a quart

 

I don't know if you have Kragen Auto Parts where you live, but they charge $7/qt. here in California for Mobile 1 0W-20.

 

Super Walmart carries M1 0W20 for like $5.69 a quart or something. Excellent prices.

 

I added an upper grill block and got a new best mpg of 35.5 (316.9 miles on 8.926 gal)

Before people get all jumpy about overheating the car. I monitor the coolant temp with my scangauge and the temp never exceeds 190 on my commute even on days when the outside temp is over 90. Besides if you look in your top grill you will see about 1" to 0.5" of the radiator sticking up, also you will see above the radiator there is a plastic backing which prevents air from escaping. This backing traps the air moving into the front of the car and causes drag. The grill block directs air around the car and eliminates the drag from the trapped air. The block is made from Coroplast (corrugated plastic), which cost me $30 for a 4'X8' sheet and black duct tape.

My previous best mpg was 34.1. So, the grill block gave me a 1.4 mpg gain.

I would not suggest doing a modification like this unless you have a scangauge or something similar to precisely measure your coolant temps.

 

more pics, please!

Mike