MPG seems really low..

I know the car is supposed to get ~ 27 MPH city and freeway combined, but I'm not seein it thus far. I have an '05 LS automatic and it's really low. I filled my car up to half a tank yesterday; it was nearly on E when I put in 3.45 gallons. That took it up to half, so I'm assuming the gauge is off... Not sure, but doesn't it have a 10 gallon tank? or is it 12? Not sure really...

Anyway, I drove about 16 miles in some heavy traffic and it used nearly a quarter of a tank. So between 2.5-3 gallons used for 16 miles? But since I had roughly 4 gallons in it (at least to my knowledge), which brought it to the halfway mark that'd be about 1... Still, 16 mpg is super low from what I've read online..

Could it be that I have an 8 gallon tank? That'd seem rather odd to me, being so low...

Is there some way that the fuel gauge could be off?

Thanks for the advice!

You have to fill your tank completely full to calculate mileage. You can't say your gauge went from 1/2 to 1/4 and you used X amount of gallons. The gauge isn't remotely accurate enough to do that.

aw...

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Yeah, the best thing to do it to fill it up, reset the ODO, then wait to it nears empty, fill it up, then take the miles driven and divide the amount of gallons you used to fill up to being full again, the fuel gauge itself is not very good on there cars. In heavy traffic and heat, you should see 22-23mpg city at worst, combined, 27mpg is a very fair number if not higher. The auto tranny on the aveo's is not very "good", if you can get to over 42-42 mph then you will see a jump in mpg's. Also, if you see lower mpgs then what I have said, you may want tocheck your tires, spark plugs, air filter etc....

Welcome to the forum btw! We are here to help you :D (go on 4chan at all?)

Also I forgot to say, the aveo has a 10-11 gallon tank, when I am at 1/4 on the gauge, I only have about a gallon and a half or so ( I have to burn 3-4 gallons before I get to the 3/4 mark when it is full). The gauge can sway big time even if you burn just a gallon.

ah ok... ill give 'er a look over. im gonna do oil/tranny fluid this weekend and prolly spark plugs and filter too.

and yea, i go to 4chan every now and then.

The way to measure is to divide the volume of gas pumped when you fill up by the miles driven - use the trip A or B to measure more accurately than the main read-out.
I found a drop-in K&N air filter (33-2320) gave an extra 1mpg better economy (I have a 2010 manual Aveo 1.4l). Low rolling-resistance tires (I brought Bridgestone) help a little + 0.5mpg.
I use a 'scan gauge e' (purchased via this forum) and it took a while to work out how to drive efficiently.

Just putting this out there if anyone is interested. My daily commute is 140 miles round trip and in my auto trans Aveo I have never gotten above 30mpg. At least it has been consistent all the way up to 156000 miles.

Now on the other hand typically my wifes Aveo5 Hatchback only goes from our house to the train station and local markets and she only clocks 20mpg. All about a 3 mile radius.

See my fuelly signature for my M'sPG. This is driving the same roads that I averaged 38mpg with an 05 Corolla and then an 08 Corolla. Something that hurts the Aveo is that it warms up VERY slowly; even in the summer it takes me about 5 miles for the engine to reach normal operating temperature. In the winter, it can take well over 10 miles.

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Originally Posted by wylee

See my fuelly signature for my M'sPG. This is driving the same roads that I averaged 38mpg with an 05 Corolla and then an 08 Corolla. Something that hurts the Aveo is that it warms up VERY slowly; even in the summer it takes me about 5 miles for the engine to reach normal operating temperature. In the winter, it can take well over 10 miles.

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Rather than hijack your thread, I thought the slow warm-ups issue would be a good topic to explore in a new thread.

u must be from somalia... cause u done went and pirated my thread!

lol i kid, i kid.. i havent noticed this myself... but alas, i have no idea what im talking about.

im at half a tank and a little over 100 miles clocked... ill be surprised if i get near 250 on this trip...

ok so after filling it up all the way, i got about 211 miles on a full tank. the gauge had just gone into the red when i filled it up, so theres a possibility that there was still a gallon or so left. with the roughly 10-11 gallon tank as thehunteroo suggests, thats a little over about 20 mpg with the possibility that it could've gone an additional 10-20 miles, thatd be about 22-23 mpg. i do drive in some moderately heavy traffic on the way home; its not san francisco or LA heavy, but it takes over 30 minutes to get home from work (about 10 miles)

ive been really careful to not go over 3000 rpms, except when getting onto the freeway. even then, its only slightly over the mark. the tires arent stock either; theyre bigger and thinner... ive changed the oil and filter, ran several quarts through the transmission and changed the filter (ran about 4 quarts through and then put in ~ 2) i'll do sparks plugs as well.

RPM's do not matter when it comes to MPG's, 22-23 is good for city driving. Since you have an auto, driving under 42-43mph will eat up your mpg's if you can ride at 44-45+ and have it shift into overdrive/5th then you will see a gain.

I have dropped a Cold Air Intake, Iridium Plugs/Wires, Air Breather and used one of the IAT Resistors. I get around 31 MPG but that is mixed city and highway.
All High way I reached 39 MPG. and Mind my Aveo is in Car Audio competitions... I carry approx 600 - 1000lbs extra in the vehicle (Not including people ;) )

2nd gen aveo has an 11.9 gallon tank. i dont imagine the 1st gen having to much of a difference in tank size either

im not sure what the gallon equivalent is but my 05 aveo hatch has a 45 litre tank and get 6.2 l/100km combined

One of the biggest keys to getting good mileage is to avoid using the brakes as much as possible. This is especially important in traffic. It takes a lot of gas to accelerate, and using brakes is basically like throwing away that gas you just used to get up to speed. Almost everyone likes to speed to the next light then slam on the brakes. If you know you aren't going to make it through the light, stop accelerating and just coast. The light is going to be red once you get there anyways. There is no benefit to getting to the red light any faster. With some practice, you should be able to time the lights on your route so you approach the red lights as they turn green so you don't have to stop nearly as much.

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Originally Posted by Daox

One of the biggest keys to getting good mileage is to avoid using the brakes as much as possible. This is especially important in traffic. It takes a lot of gas to accelerate, and using brakes is basically like throwing away that gas you just used to get up to speed. Almost everyone likes to speed to the next light then slam on the brakes. If you know you aren't going to make it through the light, stop accelerating and just coast. The light is going to be red once you get there anyways. There is no benefit to getting to the red light any faster. With some practice, you should be able to time the lights on your route so you approach the red lights as they turn green so you don't have to stop nearly as much.

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That's great advice, it links with using something like a scan-gauge or vacuum gauge to monitor when the Aveo goes into coast-down mode. Many drivers coast in neutral thinking that dropping the rpms saves fuel when in fact it wastes fuel. Stay in gear when coasting.

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Originally Posted by JPD

That's great advice, it links with using something like a scan-gauge or vacuum gauge to monitor when the Aveo goes into coast-down mode. Many drivers coast in neutral thinking that dropping the rpms saves fuel when in fact it wastes fuel. Stay in gear when coasting.

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I have a Scangauge on my '09 and the MPG is much better when coasting in neutral than when in drive. The automatic transmission is a real fuel hog in the lower gears.

<-- regrets never learning to drive stick... :(

also, got 245 mpg the last fill up. i may have been able to go further, but it was on E so i didnt want to risk it. it seems a bit better than my old 95 altima, but not by much.

shuld i feel pretty good i got 304miles on a tank in town then?? yesterday i took my mom to airport and it was 130 miles and only used quarter tank from full.

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Originally Posted by mgwalker

shuld i feel pretty good i got 304miles on a tank in town then?? yesterday i took my mom to airport and it was 130 miles and only used quarter tank from full.

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The second and the third quarter will go down as much as 100 miles, you will be surprise that the fuel tank is not a proportionate one.

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Originally Posted by Phenomenon

The second and the third quarter will go down as much as 100 miles, you will be surprise that the fuel tank is not a proportionate one.

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I think its safe to say Aveo not the best gas saver lol. I have a 2004 sedan 5apeed manual. City driving and keeping engine at low rpm as much as I can get me about 22mpg. Highway driving keeping car under 70mph best so far has been 30mpg. My old 96 civic hx with similar driving and speeds on highway gave me a best 38mpg highway. Around 36 driving at 80mph. Just got a 93 civic vx. Rated at 37city 45 highway for the non lean burn one which I have. If I convert it to lean burn it's 39/49 city highway but cost $250. I'll report mileage on this little sucker when I'm done with it and getting it running lol. Got the head rebuilt.

Sell the aveo.

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Originally Posted by thehunterooo

Sell the aveo.

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I probably will after I get the civic up and running. But the Aveo is roomy in the back seat and I had some good moments with the lady's back there if u know what I mean lol. Although picking A girl In a Aveo and old civic is pretty embarrassing lol

I have an 05 aveo hatchback. I have 75,600 miles on it. it has a 12 gallon fuel tank on it. I`m constantly feathering the throttle pedal and watching where i purchase my fuel from.i always have to drive defensively in my town so I`m not getting in wrecks and i try to take the roads with the least amount of stop lights/signs and less traffic in general. I can obtain 27-28 mpg out of my car. Staying ahead of the maintaince of the vehicle (oil changes, {i air the tires up to between 35-40} tire rotations, keeping the hood clean, air filter), that stuff helps the car get better mpg, {imo}. im in process of getting an alignment done. (alignments make sure the wheels are facing the same direction and reduce rolling resistance and are recommended ever 15000 miles or sooner if local roads are cratered) I hope I help shed some light on this situation. good luck to all!