I have always thought that the reason I was getting 19-21 MPG was because of my driving style. So I finally bought a tank of gas where I was going to baby the car. I was easy on the starts and stops, i never went over 65 and I used the cruise when I could. It was very hard not to drive like I wanted to. I just ended with 20.4 MPG. When I take off from stops fast and I go over 80 bla bla bla I get the same MPG!! I checked the tires I replaced the air filter and I got an oil change. What else is there?

i got 20's though

I am not suggesting that your calculations are incorrect but here is the best way to get an accurate reading.
2004 fuelmilage.gov says 18/26 city/ highway
I also feel that their highway number comes from conditions reflecting 72 degrees, flat road and 55 mph.
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Odometer Method

MPG can be calculated in four easy steps:

Step 1.Filling the vehicle's gas tank completely and writing down the vehicle's odometer reading (mileage).Example: The last time the tank was filled, the odometer reading was 32,645.1 miles.Step 2.When it's time to refuel, filling the tank completely and writing down the number of gallons it took to fill the tank and the vehicle's new odometer reading. Once two odometer readings are taken, MPG can be calculated.Example: The next time the tank was filled, the odometer reading was 33,001.3. It took 13.5 gallons to fill the tank.Step 3.Calculating the distance driven by subtracting the previous odometer reading from the new one.Example: The distance driven would be 33,001.3 minus 32,645.1, or 356.2 miles.Step 4.Dividing the number of miles driven by the number of gallons it took to fill the tank. The result is the vehicle's MPG for that driving period. Example: 356.2 miles divided by 13.5 gallons equals 26.4 miles per gallon.
The MPG for that driving period would be 26.4.
Alternate Method

If you use your vehicle's trip odometer, MPG can be calculated by:

Step 1.Filling the vehicle's gas tank completely and re-setting the trip odometer.Note: Sometimes it's easy to get the main odometer and trip odometer readings confused, especially if the vehicle is new.Step 2.When it's time to re-fuel

Filling the tank completely
Writing down the number of gallons it took to fill the tank
Writing down the mileage on the trip odometer
Re-setting the trip odometerExample: It took 9.5 gallons to completely fill the tank, and the trip odometer reads 335 miles.Step 3.Dividing the number of miles driven by the number of gallons it took to fill the tank. The result is the vehicle's MPG for that driving period. Example: 335 miles divided by 9.5 gallons equals 35.5 miles per gallon.

I used to get 24.5 MPG overall with my 04 CTS. What is your average speed on the DIC? I drove mainly freeways and my average speed was about 47 or 48 MPH. If you spend a lot of time driving around town, your MPG is going to be lower no matter what you do. Also, do you remember your MPG before you installed the cat-back exhaust? I've read a number of posts in other forums about folks installing cat-backs only to see their MPG and torque go down. (It seems that a bit of back-pressure can be a good thing in some circumstances.)

Yeah I know that is the best way and that will be what I check next. I was just thinking that I would see if there was a difference in the computers eyes. Plus Im only getting just over 300 miles to a tank. That cant be too good.

Also, do you remember your MPG before you installed the cat-back exhaust? I've read a number of posts in other forums about folks installing cat-backs only to see their MPG and torque go down. (It seems that a bit of back-pressure can be a good thing in some circumstances.)

Thats a good point but I have monitered it from day one and I have always had the same MPG

I usually get only about 17 to 18 mpg in town. Im VERY heavy on the pedal! LOL

Since I got my exhaust done I have had about the same mpg in town. However, on the freeway at around 90mph I get 24mpg where as before my exhaust I got 21 to 22 mpg.

We cant really complain, EPA says we should get 18mpg on city driving.

I get somewhere between 20-22 with 70-80 % city... I have a pretty light foot.

On highway cruises I get 29-30. Thanks borla! :thumbsup:

Are you going off your DIC for mileage, or figuring it out when you fill up? I wouldn't trust the DIC to be all that accurate. You ever watch it as you're coasting up to a stop? It'll read 50+ mpg sometimes. I doubt the computer is programmed to factor out all the times you're coasting in order to give an accurate mileage. I could be wrong though, I don't know. Of course coasting at 50 mpg would increase you avarage. The point is, the DIC probably isn't all that accurate for an average. My DIC said my last tank avaraged 23 mpg & I highly doubt that bacause it was 85% city driving and the DIC was saying 16 or so current mpg most of the time.

Nick is that right? Only 18 city? I thought it was low 20s..hmm maybe Im not upset then.

Are you going off your DIC for mileage,

I am using the DIC, but my point is Im getting just over 300 miles per tank. That is what it is. I also wanted to see if my driving style had an effect. Looks like it doesnt. I mean I barely getting 300 miles

haha i get 12-14

19-21 isn't really bad for these cars. But you know what you've just discovered, right!?! You drive fast as Hell & still get the same MPG! Hurray! Seriously though, my last tank was 320 & some change. That's around 80% city driving & I have a 2" thick lead plate embedded in the bottom of my right foot.

My outlook is, "It is what it is". I don't worry about it that much.

My outlook is, "It is what it is". I don't worry about it that much.

It is what it is unless I can fix an issue if there was one, knw what Im saying? If everyone gets about the same then fine but if mine is low then I need it looked at. I just needed to check what you guys were getting

I am right at 18 with about 80-90% driving and a lead foot.

Big game this week Flyin-Ryan. Lets go Skins!

I am right at 18 with about 80-90% driving and a lead foot.

Big game this week Flyin-Ryan. Lets go Skins!

Ooohhh I think you’ll have your hand full with our 6 pro bowlers :thepan:

Plus it is not easy winning in our dome. It’s a bla building but its home.

It's not easy in winning in the Saints dome but we seemed to handle that pretty well

I use 91 octane in my 3.2, drive 90% of my mileage (about 85 miles per day) on highways in rush hour traffic both ways. I drive assertively 90% of the time.
I used to get 23.3 average and then I added the K&N cai and now I average 24.4. (both calculated from DIC)
No complaints here....

Ooohhh I think you’ll have your hand full with our 6 pro bowlers :thepan:

Plus it is not easy winning in our dome. It’s a bla building but its home.


My beloved Panthers are out of the hunt. They suck anyway. Maybe next year! Still love my team though! GO PANTHERS!

It's not easy in winning in the Saints dome but we seemed to handle that pretty well

umm this year

Ok I just talked to my friend here at work. He's a GM king. He said that I need to drive like a grandma for a few hundred miles so the computer can relearn my driving style, then I should see an increase in MPG. He said thats why I didnt see a diff right away. Sounds feasable. He knows all about the OBDII

check your tire pressure, use 93 octane gas and thrown in a K&N air filter

On my SRX 3.6, I've noticed a 0.5 MPG increase by running a few fill-ups of Shell regular through the tank instead of generic Speedway.

I always use mid grade Mobil. Im a stock holder, so its like my company :)

I get about 19 MPG backing out of the driveway; it's all downhill from there.

Thats too funny....how did you get so many rep points? I need more friends :(

everything is stock in my car still, i usually can get between 29-32 on the highway at 60-65 with crusie. keep up on tie tire pressure, air filter, injector cleaner, and oil.

Thats too funny....how did you get so many rep points? I need more friends :(

Got cash? :D

I'm fresh out of points for today but I'll hit you tomorrow. (ReyRey schmoozed w/Urb to get his...or so I heard.)

(ReyRey schmoozed w/Urb to get his...or so I heard.)

:lies:

One of the few knocks i have against the CTS is indeed it's ridiculously poor MPG. Although the highway milage is acceptable (19-22) the city mpg is ridculously, its like 10-12. It was so low that i thought something was wrong with the car.

Good milage is all in the driver. Back in the days of the Mobil Economy Run the perennial winners weren't the cars, it was the drivers. Back when Buick put up some astounding numbers with their big old hogs the magazine writers were shocked but the other competitors knew where the real story was. If you had the right "hired gun"
you had a winner.
There are two separate milage readouts in the DIC. One gives an average or overall reading and the other gives an instantaneous. Select the instantaneous reading and start driving aggressively. In less than a minute you'll see where the gas is going. Now start pretending there's an egg between your foot and the gas pedal. Look way down the road. Time the traffic and lights so you don't have to brake or hit the gas to speed up. Watch the instantaneous display. You'll be seeing where good milage comes from. When my wife drives our CTS back and forth to work all week the average milage display will have a pretty low number. When we start out on a weekend drive I see how quickly I can make that number come up. It's easy to do if you pay attention. Normally I use 87 OCT fuel but I have found that over time the ECU will pull some timing and milage suffers. About four gallons of mid grade per tank gets the timing back and over time milage will go up about 2MPG. If you do all your driving while working your mouth and mugging for the chicks your milage will suffer. Pay attention to business and it'll pay off. Once driving for milage is second nature you can go back to acting the fool.

There are two separate milage readouts in the DIC. One gives an average or overall reading and the other gives an instantaneous. Select the instantaneous reading and start driving aggressively. In less than a minute you'll see where the gas is going. Now start pretending there's an egg between your foot and the gas pedal. Look way down the road. Time the traffic and lights so you don't have to brake or hit the gas to speed up. Watch the instantaneous display.

I have been. Its a new game for me. DO you think there is any merit to my friend saying it will take a few hundered miles to "re learn" the driving style?

Use the instantaneous display to find where the sweet spots are on the milage vs. speed curve. Use your driving skills to keep you in that sweet spot range without having to brake or accellerate aggressively. Situational awareness is the key. Every time you get surprised it takes a lot of good driving to recover what you've lost.

My '04 3.2L Manual got 25 MPG overall. My '06 3.6L Stick is getting 19! Same driving style, same mix, just a little heavier, same aerodynamics.


Gotta say I am dissapointed that the fancy new fangled VVT engine does worse on MPG than the old "Catera" engine. Sure there is a few more ponies (but not that many and compared to the competition it is light 40 horses) but unless I am using them I would expect BETTER mpg from the 3.6.

In the interest of fair disclosure my '06 has only 2.5K miles so the mileage may get better and I haven't put the CAI on it yet.

I have been. Its a new game for me. DO you think there is any merit to my friend saying it will take a few hundered miles to "re learn" the driving style?
When you get "on it" hard enough that it has to pull timing for a while, it takes a lot longer for it to go back. Every time you slip and flog it again you lose ground. Burning gas is like being a drug addict. One slip and you're back on the bottom.

I'm getting around 350+ miles before my gas light comes on.

If I driive normally, generally no faster than 65mph, and accelerate gently, my 3.2 L gets just over 30 MPG. If I accelerate hard and often for passing, etc, my mileage drops down to the low 20s. Before having Mobil 1 put in at oil change I was getting high 20s, so seems the synthetic oil combined with good driving habits makes all the difference for me, and that just over 30 MPG is not all highway, I commute daily into Boston, so some sitting in traffic / stop and go there as wel, but again, I make a point of accelerating gently,believe that makes a huge difference in conserving gas.

Also, for me the DIC seems accurate, every time I have checked the the DIC MPG numbers against miles driven / gallons pumped, the miles per gallon always comes out right on, have never seen any deviation there.

Just go get a Fusion :histeric: then you will have the same car with better mileage.......and go join the Fusion Forum..... :D

I'm getting around 350+ miles before my gas light comes on.

I get between 320 to 350 miles from a full tank to 1/8. Most of the time
i get a little over 300 but drive around 80-90+ mph.:burn:

I get ~17 MPG, suburban driving only.

I have always thought that the reason I was getting 19-21 MPG was because of my driving style. So I finally bought a tank of gas where I was going to baby the car. I was easy on the starts and stops, i never went over 65 and I used the cruise when I could. It was very hard not to drive like I wanted to. I just ended with 20.4 MPG. When I take off from stops fast and I go over 80 bla bla bla I get the same MPG!! I checked the tires I replaced the air filter and I got an oil change. What else is there?

Did you clear your DIC reading before the test?

I sure did :)

I just got an '04 CTS 3.6 auto last month. So far the best mpg I got for a tank was 17.9. My previous car was an '01 Mustang GT V8 5 speed manual. I would routinely get 19+ mpg and that car had 4.11 gears and other performance mods. Plus I drove that car much harder. I'm still driving the same roads and everything...I don't get it! The mpg in the cts is a little disappointing...

Get a tornado thing off ebay!:thumbsup:

The wife drives the CTS most of the time and averages around 23/24 in mostly city/suburban traffic. Her driving style is a bit abrupt on/off throttle. When I drive it I usually do better by about 2mpg - not a major difference in the speed we travel, but smoothness of accelerating/slowing for traffic, etc., can make a big difference.

I've driven it on one trip of about 4000 miles at this time of the year, 2 years ago. Running about 10mph over posted limits, we averaged just under 30mpg going from AL to San Francisco - used climate control about half the time. Coming back we bucked 25/40mph winds nearly all the way home and still got about 24mpg. Shorter trips of a few hundred miles usually work out in the high 20s.

This is an '03 automatic - nearly always burn premium. Have used Mobil 1 since purchased.

A surprising gas waster is to drive with the A/C off and the windows down. Having the windows down screws the aerodynamics so bad that the gas milage goes to hell. This from Mythbusters.

Great show. I saw that episode

I commute 110 miles (each way) to work. It's all highway and I drive about 85 mph. EVERY time, my '04 (3.6L) gets 24.5 MPG. On those weeks where my driving is mixed (highway and city) my MPG has never dropped below 22 mpg.

I am very happy with the combination of MPG and power in my stock CTS. Never been a big fan of aftermarket bolt-on performance packages (except for the BMW 320i with an aftermarket BAE turbo I owned in college). With the computerized engines we have today, you start mucking with the computer, and those things the computer monitors, you're only looking for trouble.

Just MMHO though.