Ouch picked up my Nevada 1.8 last week and. Forever putting fuel in it, finally got round to working it out 22.5 miles to the gallon I don’t drive stupid and the car is big standard, I had no idea it would cost this much to run or is there something majorly wrong with it?
The first thing I would check is that the brakes are not binding. After a drive feel each of the wheels, if any are hot then there is a problem. You should get something around 35mpg.
No, that is not right at all.
OK, so MX-5s are not the most economical of motors, although many members who have mk.4s (NDs) say that they can get fuel consumption figures in the mid-forties, but that is possibly down to the new model’s SKYACTIV engine technology, but I have a mk.3 (NC) 2.0L Sport and normally get 34 mpg - so 22 is definitely not correct.
I would suggest you take it to a trusted garage, perhaps a Mazda main dealer (who should know all about the marque), and get it looked at.Â
Good luck.
It came with brand new mot and 6 months warranty so I might have to ring up about that because surely this would qualify as a major mechanical defect, I’m now also wondering how legit the mot was, 35mpg I can cope with but this is crazy, it’s my daily vehicle and I have a commute of around 12 miles a day each way, I’m going to need to rob a bank!
I used to get that MPG from my Eunos Mk1 but that was thrashing it around Wales.
It should be 30+ at least normal driving Â
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An MOT is only concerned with safety and emissions. I would have thought if you are getting only 23 mpg you either have a fuel leak (which you should be able to smell) or the engine is running excessively rich and consequently emitting a lot of noxious gasses. This should normally result in an MOT failure. Binding brakes should also result in an MOT failure. I would really doubt the provenance of the MOT. Was it supplied by the seller? 23 mpg is nowhere near normal! As previously suggested I would get it checked out by a Mazda dealer or get an independent MOT. If anything untoward is found get it sorted under the 6 months warranty or get your money back. Good luck.
Partially depends on your 12 mile commute - in heavy traffic (downtown) or country roads?
It will use more fuel if you are constantly changing gear from 1/2/3 - in other words creeping. Out of town, mileage should be better. I’ve never figured mileage, as if you use the car as built, then you cease to worry about mileage - BUt having said that, I doubt I get more than 30 mpg with my 1.8, but then I don’t hang about, except in traffic. 30 mpg applies to motorways, not local traffic areas.
Mileage on my old MGB was also around 22 mpg, so engine sizes and fuel consumption haven’t varied much.- Both V8’s I had (4.2 and 4.7 litre) were better at 24 mpg - low end torque and power matters.
Premium petrol will give slightly better mileage, but I hardly ever use it - I buy standard brand, from my local Tesco.
Well tomorrow morning I will get the jack out and see how free the wheels are and I’m sure bieng a Nevada which is a 2.5 it should have an obd socket for which I do have a reader if it’ll work with this model if they don’t turn anything up would it be worth cleaning any sensors or replacing plugs and leads etc?
You don’t say how many miles it has on the clock. High mileage could mean the engine is a bit coked up. Might be worth getting a Terraclean treatment done on the engine. That may help but check out for fuel leaks and binding brakes first as others have said. My NB used to get 30-35mpg. My NC is around 40mpg.
What was your last car and are you driving similar routes in a similar way.
What fuel consumption did you get in your last car.
How did you equate the mpg.
Was it miles dived by measured amount of fuel.
Or miles divided by ÂŁ30 quids worth.
It’s a 2003and it’s done 88k my commute is mainly dual carriageway and fairly straight a roads averaging about 40-50 mph
I put ÂŁ20 in when the fuel light came on and set the trip, as soon as the light came on again I made note of the mileage, I then worked out how many gallons ÂŁ20 got me and divided the miles into the gallons
Have you checked the air filter is nice and clean, and allowing the engine to breathe properly?
A friend used to have a 1967 Mini, and he used it a lot, hundreds of miles per week. Once when going home to Cambridge from London (65 miles) he needed to fill it up again to get there, having left London with a full tank. Normally the 5 gallon (22 litres) tank was good for at least two hundred miles, so he had a major worry, and the manual choke was definitely off.
His problem turned out simply to be a badly clogged filter in the air cleaner, this from a few too many miles on dirty winter roads.
I have a 2.0L sport and drive it quite hard at times and I still get 30 + to the gallon.Â
you need to run a test over a longer distance than that to get a meangingful measurement
that is not a very accurate way to work it out
I fill mine up do around 100 miles and then refill that will give you a more accurate measurement
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Yep ,sorry mate ,my 1.8 Â mark2.5 Â 34mpg. ,!
There is simply no point in comparing an NB/NBFL fuel use with an ND or an NC of any ilk.
There is not one single nut or bolt common to them. They are development generations apart.
If a 21st century hi-tech mill in a lightweight shell did not get around 40+ mpg, it would need shot at dawn.Â
Please, no offence meant but I see these comparisons really winding up “new” 1st owners of older cars quite a lot now…and it boils me pish!
As for my own 2002 1840cc NB/FL…(which is in perfect mechanical fettle) for ten years it’s consistently returned anywhere between 18/20 mpg over a week in minus zero winter short commutes of stop start 4 miles school trips… to 34/35mpg glen cruising in summer. You’d expect 20mpg…the auto enrich does not go off till around 1/1.5 miles in cold ambients.  Old tech with engine parentage going back to the late 70’s early 80’s after all, managed by pretty crude ECUs in today’s standards.Â
For the OP’s trip, I’d want to see around 27/30mpg…if…it’s not a dual carriageway stuffed with traffic lights. Â
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