I am considering purchasing a 2001 protege es with the 2.0 litre engine and 5 speed transmission. This car has an epa fuel mileage rating of 25 city 31 highway. What can I expect in the real world? I put alot of miles, on so fuel mileage is important to me.

 

Don, I have a P-5....it weighs in at about 300 pounds MORE than the ES.....but with the same motor and I have a 5 speed....I get 26-27 combines city/hwy and I have a pretty aggresive driving style....... :{D

 

If I remember the Protege5 is not that much heavier than the ES. More like 150 pounds (I'm too lazy to verify this but I think I saw that in Autoweek). Anyway I get about the same mileage. I live in Houston and drive very non-defensively. When I leave town though and drive on the highways or go to cities without traffic jams I get more like 29-31 miles to the gallon.

 

i didn't remember the EXACT number...more that it was just heavier...and for that it was close.....and the p-5 should be about the same milage wise...

of course kc5zom we know that unless you are driving at RUSH HOUR....EVERYWHERE you go in houston you go in the freeway! lol its unavoidable nearly......course I like that....LOTS of places to OPEN it up.....course those damn government dips are down grading all the freeways back to 55 MPH!!! grrrrrrrr.....I went and dug out my radar dectector again....hadn't used it in years....NOW its on the windshield!

 

I know I commented on the speed limit in another post I had made. I just thought I would add a juicy little comment. I was reading "Houston Press" and HPD already said they don't have the resources to enforce the current speed limits. I don't know about you but the only slowdown I have noticed is that one jerk who follows the speed limit in the left lane while every other car is ripping right along.

 

I have been getting bad gas mileage. Like 20 mpg. But I looked at my window sticker this morning where it states the mpg. It says 25 city and 30 highway... average. Then in tiny print it says as low as 21. Varys car to car it goes on to say. If its highway miles you are putting on I think you'll be ok. But with stop and go you might not. Also how well do you drive a stick? Im not too great and I think my shifting is affecting mileage as well. I also drive like a madman. But I don't go over the speed limit. I just get there in a very short amount of time. Every stop light is a 1/4 waiting to happen.

 

That is the right attitude but I ride the hell out of mine and I still get better gas mileage than that. Sounds like something is up with your ride or you really can't shift all that well. Best place to get better is an empty parking lot.

 

I have the P5 with a 5spd and am not very happy with the mileage. I started keeping track with every fill up. In the city I average about 22mpg. On the highway with the cruise set at 74mph I get about 24-25mpg. I took off the roof rack thinking I was getting wind resistance but nothing changed.

It could possibly be the blended fuel we get here in Illinois which is specially blended for the Illinois market. Illinois uses special blended gasoline with "winter blend" and a "summer blend" varieties. They also require ethanol which sucks.

Another theory is that the engine still has not broken in. It has 7000 miles on it and has had 2 oil changes with Mobil 1 synthetic.

Or perhaps it has something to do with the cold-start rattle that some owners(including myself) are experiencing. When I called Mazda, they suggested it was an engine management issue which they working on.

In any case, I give my P5 a -C in fuel mileage.

 

yeah, that is the truth too....and I tell ya...in houston....even before the limits were raised to 70....the traffic was zippin along at 75 or 80.....and I am sure it will continue to do so....SO, go with the flow...and as long as you are not an idiot out there swervin around and blowing by EVERYONE....you will most likely be just fine.....just don't get out there on a lonely road in the wee hours and be surpirsed if you get busted...for not the stray cop out there with his radar gun only has ONE car to pick from insted of 100! lol

 

As to the original post, the EPA fuel mileage has been real close with our car. I have a 2001 ES with all the options except automatic tranny. I originally averaged about 29.5 MPG but added a K&N filter last September as well as removing a small section of plastic from the grill support (hidden when the hood is closed and non-structural). I now get closer to 31 all the time and that's even goofing off a bit!

The area of plastic I removed is right below the intake snorkel on the passenger side of the radiator support. I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but the intake air is restricted at the snorkel. The hood is rubber sealed to the radiator support and goes over the top of the air inlet so there is no way for it to get engine compartment air, but the hood seals awfully close to the grill and headlights. The grill support has no holes in it, so that means the intake air can only get what outside air seeps in from around the top of the headlights and upper part of the grill. That's about a 1/8 inch of space.

I removed a decent size chunk of plastic from the grill support (being careful to leave the reinforcing parts). This made a HUGE difference in the way the engine runs. Now the engine gets cool air that comes through the grill. Revs quicker, pulls farther up the RPM scale (all the way to redline instead of feeling like it fell down at 6000) and gets better fuel mileage.

 

 

I just purchased my 2002 ES w/ 5spd. My first tank after break-in averaged 32.34 Miles/Gal. I commute 90 miles round trip so there's quite a few highway miles in this calculation. This is my second Pro and I love it. You could get better milage in other vehicles but I think this car offers the perfect mix of fun and economy.