Is this really typical mileage? (new owner)

Hey all,

 

Just bought my 2017 Legacy two weeks ago. Was torn between the Impreza and Legacy, but knew for sure I wanted my first Subaru.

 

Anyway, I opted for the 2.5, mostly for fuel efficiency. The 25/34 sounded really attractive for an AWD car.

 

Here I am, 1200 miles later. I've averaged under 24mpg combined, and only got 30.1mpg on a full tank of freeway driving (LA to SF).

 

Is this normal for everyone? Will it improve as the car gets some mileage, or am I really going to have to settle for ~5mpg less than advertised?

In my experience, the MPG has been sub par for my 2.5. I think in my case it's because I'm able to drive faster than the optimum speed. I cruise at 75-77 each day on my commute to work, and sometimes the car struggles to keep up that pace. I drove my car 1,000 miles from FL to MD, and averaged about 29, which was highway the entire way. On the way back was a lot more downhill, and I averaged 32 mpg or so. I've never come close to the advertised 36 mpg, but I've learned to accept this as I'm still averaging 29-30 mpg per tank, which is better than the 12mpg I was getting in my truck.

Is this normal for everyone?

 

Fuel economy is highly affected by your driving environment and driving style. After 29 months and 27,000+ miles, the lifetime average mileage in our 2015 Legacy 2.5 is 30.4 mpg ... and I am neither a meek nor an aggressive driver. The worst one-tank mileage I've ever recorded was 25.3 mpg (December/January). On the other hand, I recorded a one-tank 39.4 mpg (July/August) on a leisurely 559 mile mostly-highway drive from Torrey, UT to Cameron, AZ, and the long-term average for that entire 3,380 mile trip was 35.7 mpg at (legal) speeds up to 80 mph.

 

http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/311503.png

 

The lifetime mileage in my wife's 2016 Outback 2.5 (~12,000 miles), which is driven mostly in stop-and-go city traffic, is only slightly below the EPA estimate.

 

http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/424498.png

 

Expect your mileage to improve somewhat over the first 6 months to a year, but your right foot will always be the biggest variable.

6,000 miles driven, mostly short commutes (12 miles or less each way), avg 26.5, and that includes much worse mpg's over the winter time (24mpg avg with cold weather and winter blends).

 

If I wanted to bump up my overall mpg's I would accelerate as slowly as the Eyesight adaptive cruise does from a stop.

 

I don't bother, I kind of flog it, I honestly think the mpg's are great for not trying at all to hypermile.

After I broke the 10k mile mark my milage improved dramatically. I feather the gas pedal and I do a lot of coasting and have consistently averaged 34 to 35 mpg during summer months. I'd say give it some time and watch your driving habits you should see an increase.

 

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After I broke the 10k mile mark my milage improved dramatically. I feather the gas pedal and I do a lot of coasting and have consistently averaged 34 to 35 mpg during summer months. I'd say give it some time and watch your driving habits you should see an increase.

 

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Is that based on your trip mileage or your lifetime mileage?

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll keep an eye on my acceleration, I suppose.

 

Coming from driving an S2000, I think that I'm used to feeling the torque a bit more off of stops, and am probably being a bit heavy footed as a result.

Coming from driving an S2000, I think that I'm used to feeling the torque a bit more off of stops, and am probably being a bit heavy footed as a result.

 

The 6th Gen Legacy is a great value ... excellent for what it is, IMO ... but even with the H6 engine it's not a sports sedan in the European tradition. I think its handling is more European than Japanese, but it still fails to achieve the sports sedan level of performance. I'm OK with that. One key to happiness is realistic expectations.

I used to get 22mpg with my 1999 30th Anniversary with a 5 speed manual. My 1996 K1500 diesel truck gets 16.5mpg (if, and when it runs). I usually had to hammer on the other vehicles to get them to accelerate at the same rate.

 

This car has been hovering around 31.5-31.8, 60% hwy/40% city... I was really shopping hard for something sportier but this car with the paddle shift is just enough to engage you if you ask it to, cant wait to get a 19mm sway. Its smooth, quiet, comfortable, easy to drive. Its deceptively quick with the CVT especially if you plan ahead a little bit and tap the minus paddle a couple times and let it rev out and shift up on its own. I believe it will hold a gear in the M mode.

 

I used to have an endless fountain of stress and road rage about driving 2 hours a day. Now I am more energized mentally and calm while driving and find myself just enjoying the flow more, the car is like, changing my driving style. Give the car some time and you'll learn to flow with it.

MPG is greatly determined by speed on the highway. I got 37 MPG over a 150 mile highway trip, but I used cruise control at 60 MPH and even drafted some trucks for a bunch of miles.

If you want 34 MPG+ on the highway, you need to stay at the speed limit.

 

You can't expect to exceed 30 MPG around town/idling/stop and go. There is just too much variability. The engine doesn't stop using fuel when you are stopped at a light.

You can't fault the EPA or Subaru for misstating MPG "around town", as this is an extremely variable statement.

 

If your goal is to get hyper-mileage on the highway, do the speed limit, and no more. (You will be impressed with the high MPG you will get!)

 

If your goal is to get hyper-mileage "idling around town", get a hybrid or electric car.

At 1200 miles you just barely broke it in. You may see a mild improvement.

I noticed no dramatic gain after break-in.

 

I do at least 80% highway driving. Cold climate. Average speed highway is about 65 MPH. I don't accelerate hard except when required. Not many short trips.

 

After 20,000 miles:

Lifetime Average: 30.5

Best: 34.4 (at about 2000 mile mark)

Worst: 25.5

 

http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/349015.png

MPG is greatly determined by speed on the highway. I got 37 MPG over a 150 mile highway trip, but I used cruise control at 60 MPH and even drafted some trucks for a bunch of miles.

If you want 34 MPG+ on the highway, you need to stay at the speed limit.

 

You can't expect to exceed 30 MPG around town/idling/stop and go. There is just too much variability. The engine doesn't stop using fuel when you are stopped at a light.

You can't fault the EPA or Subaru for misstating MPG "around town", as this is an extremely variable statement.

 

If your goal is to get hyper-mileage on the highway, do the speed limit, and no more. (You will be impressed with the high MPG you will get!)

 

If your goal is to get hyper-mileage "idling around town", get a hybrid or electric car.

 

All good points, OP can also go to Fuelly, over 3 million miles tracked, to get a sense of what real world driving returns (just make sure you check by engine type, the 2.5 and 3.6 return different real world mpg's)

 

There are hypermilers and boy racers among us, looking at data compiled over 3 million miles will average out what you should expect if you are on neither extreme.

 

http://www.fuelly.com/car/subaru/legacy

Is that based on your trip mileage or your lifetime mileage?

It's a combination of both. I did reset the lifetime mileage as it was constantly reading 42.x but in fairness driving style does impact.

 

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It's a combination of both. I did reset the lifetime mileage as it was constantly reading 42.x but in fairness driving style does impact.

 

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Ok cool. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't based entirely off of the lifetime because there are threads stating that there's a flaw in the software where the gallons consumed maxes out but the miles keeps climbing, making you appear to have better mileage than you really do.

If I am not mistaken the new HU update fixes the mileage issue.

 

Laughing at oneself and with others is good for the Soul!

^^^ It would be nice if it also did the math right and stopped over-stating the mileage!

my average with a 2014 is 33mpg calculated

Subarus are heavy cars. Light acceleration from complete stops and light on brakes help a lot.

Right now, my 17 is sitting at 27.3 mpg, but varies. The highest I've seen is 30.x. My 14 would get 26.9.

Just did a pure highway trip (Albany to Turningstone and back) during 90 degree days, so A.C. was used.

 

29mpg.

 

Would have been higher if I stayed at 65mph, but traffic on the thruway going west really does not drive that slow often, and I really could care less about chasing mpg's, especially if it means being the slowest car on the thruway and having people dive bomb me.

 

That said, 74-75mph with AC and often gradual climbs and it returned 29mpgs, so acceptable.

... light on brakes help a lot.

 

That's often overlooked. Any time you step on the brake pedal, it costs you fuel ... dissipating the kinetic energy in the vehicle as heat. That's why regenerative braking is so important to the energy efficiency of pure electric and/or hybrid electric vehicles.

Hey all,

 

Just bought my 2017 Legacy two weeks ago. Was torn between the Impreza and Legacy, but knew for sure I wanted my first Subaru.

 

Anyway, I opted for the 2.5, mostly for fuel efficiency. The 25/34 sounded really attractive for an AWD car.

 

Here I am, 1200 miles later. I've averaged under 24mpg combined, and only got 30.1mpg on a full tank of freeway driving (LA to SF).

 

Is this normal for everyone? Will it improve as the car gets some mileage, or am I really going to have to settle for ~5mpg less than advertised?

 

Yes. It seems normal. It all depends on how careful you are on the throttle and which speed you are at on freeways. Keeping below 55mph on the freeway and the mpg will be better.

 

Keeping a constant speed is also improving things, and if you have a lot of altitude changes on the road you drive it will be worse.

2017 legacy 3.6r......2k miles and i am getting 27 mpg overall manually configured....

2x on what Amm said. Keep the car momentum and dont apply brake.Coast as much as possible and anticipate traffic while keeping your distance from cars in front. I can get 32mpg from my H6 on a highway trip from CT to NJ.

I have 22k on my 2016 2.5 and get just under 31 mpg and it is 11 months old...All freeway driving with two mountain grades to cross...Use only Chevron regular gas...Replaced the air filter with a K and N drop in...No difference....Just used my last free oil change at Ladin Subaru in Thousand Oaks CA.....