karen1953

I am happy if I get over 17 meaning I came from at Ford Explorer.
I get around 23.6 to 25.9 in the city, stop and go traffic, with the a/c on most of the time. I have a 2.4 auto. And I have Nitrogen in the tires.
On the trip to Miami I got around 29-30, some stop and go, mostly hwy.
So if I get 20 or better I am happy.
But that is just my 2cents.

Schmodie

We've had ours for about 6 months now,( 2.2 auto ) and we do little city driving, and Very little highway.Mostly our driving is in the rual area we live in ( Backroads )
I get better millage than my wife, but we usually get 26-29 on our usual dialy runnin around, and on the 1 long trip we have taken so far wich was approx 150 miles one way we got 34 on the way out and it dropped after reaching the destination.
That wasnt an interstate highway either , it was good old US Rt 6 in Pa., a good 2 lane highway, with not a lot of stop lights. On that trip we averaged 60mph and on my daily driving we try to keep in the 50 -55 range.
The best millage always seems to be (for us) inthe 55-60 range.
I also belive that How you get to your cruising speed has a LOT to do with it!
With the way the cars are set up today, I get my best when I dont waste any time gettin into high gear, BUT I dont mean Mash the gas either.
Also we have had this car in mainly colder weather, and we really take advantage of the remote start, summer may help the milage get even better.
Its all in the way you drive, we had an '03 Tracker 4cyl auto 4 whl dr, and consistantly got 20 + with that.

Firewatcher

Gee, my wife said the same thing yesterday when I was telling her a story.

SandyBeach

Is anyone using gas with ethanol mixed in? The military has been selling this on base for years and I always saw a 2-3 mpg decrease from it. I paid more off base but got better performance.

Many have pointed out that the mileage gets better as you rack up the miles. I believe this is so. But, I finally sat down and measure my mileage on my log and it was lower than what the DIC said. I reset the DIC at every fillup. Weather conditions and warming up the engine have a significant effect on the mileage.

I wish the automatic had overdrive. Then we surely see 30+ mpg on the interstate!

JoeR

Many areas of the country now mandate ethanol as an oxygenate instead of MTBE, resulting in what is known as E10 (10% ethanol) blended gas.

Ethanol has about 2/3 the BTUs (energy content) of gasoline, and as a result, both power and fuel economy will be down about 2 - 3%.

BTW, the automatic does have overdrive, specifically a ratio of 0.68:1 in 4th.

dbeatt

Just my two cents worth. Picked up my HHR Presidents Day weekend and I have just went over 1300 miles. I have not reset the DIC so the mileage is from day one. Most of my driving is around town, commute to work is about 11-12 miles with a few stoplights depending on which way I go. I have noticed the mileage did seem to get better as the miles add up. Currently I am getting 24.6-24.7 mpg. I came from a 2000 GMC Jimmy which averaged 18-19 so I am happy. I have been running Hess 93 octane gas since my first fillup. Oh by the way, my HHR is a 2lt with auto.

Alzonie

You beat me to it! I was about to say I believe 4th gear on the Automatic is considered overdrive. It's the same on my '96 Altima the only difference being it has a button on the shift knob that lets you shift between 3rd and 4th gears whenever!

karen1953

I thought that I have seen somewhere, that the HHR can not handle that mix of Gasoline.

number47

I have not reset the DIC so the mileage is from day one.

Reset it. When you picked up your car, the dealer had it idling to look for stuff, the car idled at the factory, getting on and off the boat, then the rail cars, then the truck... All that idling lowers the fuel mileage greatly, and is unrealistic of what you're actually getting. Yes, the longer you drive without re-setting it, the closer it will be to actual, but may as well re-set it now and start fresh.

Also, I reset it at every fillup. I've long had this habit of checking my mileage at every fillup. The reason I do tis is that if something changes in the car/truck, like a plug goes bad, tire goes soft, brake begins to drag, whatever, you'll see a instant drop in fuel mileage. Doing it at every filllup, i was always able to see a trend, and when that trend changed, could look for a problem before it became major...

Anyhow, with the DIC, if i reset it at every tank, it does the same for me, in that i always see real-time fuel mileage, and if something changes, i'll see it right away.

As it is now, i average 8.1 liters/100km(stupid way of measuring, i know...), which works out to around 35-36 mpg(Imperial gallons. In US gallons, tha would be 29-30 mpg). I got a high of nearly 41mpg(Cdn)[ 35 mpg(US)] on one trip, re-setting while at speed and driving 210 miles non-stop. Mine's a 2.4L/5spd


Anywho, re-set that DIC every now and then, to get the most of it; otherwise, it's wasted information.

Goose

I sure hope it can as just about every gas station around these parts is a 10% ethanol blend.

The Ecotec can handle the ethanol just fine


Goose