Gas Mileage

[JustCruisin]

New member here. Just got an '06 Touring Edition. My gas mileage seems to be averaging about 16.5 mpg so far. This is kind of scary because I am used to little Japanese cars that get 25 mpg easily. Is this about normal for city driving?

Also, does anyone know of any modifications that can be done to increase gas mileage and how much they costs?

By the way, nice forum. I plan on learning a thing or two here.

[Mean Green]

Normal with an automatic. It should get better as engine breaks in. There is no magic increasing mpg. Proper tire inflation, engine tuned, easy on the gas foot and some say switching to synthetic oil (though I've never seen it) will help mpg. Anything else is snake oil and wishful thinking. You are driving a heavy car that's underpowered and moves through the air like a brick. PTs are great to cruise in, but are not great at mpg.

[SRG]

Is it a new car? If so, low mpg is normal during break in..

If used, make sure the air filter is clean, maybe put a bottle of stp gas treatment in on your next fill-up, in case you got a tank of watery gas.

If the problem continues, try switching gas stations/brands, and maybe have the spark plugs checked.

Remember the car was only rated 20mpg city/ 25? highway to begin with. I get 20mpg around town/25 on the interstate with my 04 GT and my wife got the same with her 03 touring.

srg

[JustCruisin]

It's an '06 with 11,000 miles. I've gone through a few different types of gas and results are pretty consistent. haven't looked at the plugs yet. maybe I'll do that on my next day off. Thanks for the input.

[jadzia2000]

I have a 2004 pt cruiser and my gas mileage sucks.

After about 350 - 400kms I have to fill up the thank again. And that`s after city use.

[bruent]

My last trip from Cali. to Laughlin NV, I got 27 mpg. And I have a lot of extra weight In wheels, body kit, dual exhaust and lots more including a sound system that is very heavy. I feel pretty lucky, from what I'm reading!

[dicept1]

My PT has 40K miles and I'm lucky to get 17 to 16.5 mpg with the air on in city driving. I do very little highway. We'll see what I get this week as I prolly won't run the air much as it has cooled off a little here in SO FLA. Still be lucky to get 19. The price of gas went over $3 this past week. That really Sucks!

[dolemite]

I have an '06 Limited auto (N/A). I live in South Fla. & run the a/c quite a bit. 70 - 80% of my driving is city traffic. I learned the following stuff from this forum:

- Keep tires inflated 38 psi
- Mobil 1 synth oil/K & N oil filter
- K & N air filter
- Took out back seat (no kids, don't need to lug the extra 100+ lbs. around)
- Bosch Platinum plugs & Crane Firewires
- Keep RPM's under 3K, learn to accellerate slowly from stops
- Use cruise control
- Replaced the PCV valve
- Pop it in neutral when you see a red light ahead

My mileage is 23 - 27 mpg, depending on more city or more hwy.

[tryvelcro]

I have had my Maddie for 3 weeks now, she's on her 2nd tank of gas. The last fill-up came out to 21.68 mpg. The tank before that was just over 22 mpg. I guess she's not doing too badly, all things considered. Sure glad I got the 5 speed, tho

[R_I_PT]

I was getting average of 18-20 for my 05 Turbo Lite Limited. Once I did a Major service with all fluid flushes, throttle body and a few other tweaks, PLUS a mopar cold air intake my average went up to about 21.

Currently I'm at 45K.

I typically drive on a toll road so it's continuous driving. However, when I drive street, I usually take off hard until I get to 40mph, then give it a hard boost when I need to get around someone or want to beat a yellow light.

That type of driving still is getting me 21 per gallon. Not sure if it's the combo of the service and intake or the intake alone, but it made the Major Service cost worth the long term savings in gas.