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Chevrolet Equinox Real World MPG

199 messages,  Last post on Feb 27, 2013 at 6:49 AM

You are in the Chevrolet Equinox Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Equinox, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), SUV

Messages Page 18 of 20

#170 of 199 Re: 2011 Equinox - poor gas mileage [kelsan1] by marcia54

Apr 27, 2012 (2:50 pm)

Replying to: kelsan1 (Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am)
Thanks for that information. My car is still under warranty so I will take it to the dealer and have them check out the electronics and drivetrain. I would love to reach 31 mpg on long trips again.

#171 of 199 Re: 2011 Equinox - poor gas mileage [jan21816] by rrovernut

Apr 27, 2012 (5:46 pm)

Replying to: jan21816 (Apr 27, 2012 8:45 am)
I understand how you feel , our equinox awd only acheived 32 mpg ( cdn gals are 1/3 bigger than us ) GM advertised getting 41 , like hell !!! instaneous readout useless ,fluctuates wildly , anyway installed a performance chip ( possible gains up to + 6 mpg ) and last long run got 37+ still short but an improvement . We drive very economicaly and find that GM simply lied . and sevice reps only concerned with GM relations not the customer, theres not many satisfied owners & lots like us who drive carefully to obtain good mileage and fail to do so.
PS we have 20000k on our 2011

#172 of 199 Re: 2011 Equinox - poor gas mileage [marcia54] by teddy21

Apr 29, 2012 (10:44 am)

Replying to: marcia54 (Apr 26, 2012 5:50 pm)
The EPA has a test for gas milage. Its really a flawed way of telling what a car should get on highway or city. Till this changes you will never get what you want . But I agee with you, till car makers adjust to real world gas mpg , you will have unhappy customers
                                                                     TED

#173 of 199 2012 Equinox 2LT 4 cyl, fwd - Fuel Efficiency by ohc6sprint

May 08, 2012 (10:47 am)

First report on this 2 month old vehicle with 3,000 miles. Not a day goes by without me, or my wife saying that we love this car.
 
I have been watching forum posts on this vehicle for over 3 years and at times wondered if I would be happy with the fuel economy, which was a primary reason for choosing the 4 cyl, non all wheel drive version. I live in Western Pennsylvania which is very hilly, but not mountainous. The 4 cyl has been more than adequate on performance in my opinion. The 6 speed gearing takes care of any steep hills.
 
I have had my Nox for 2 months now and have had 7 fill ups:
 
Tank 1, 25.6 mpg DIC, 25.1 actual, avg speed 32.5 mph (city & hwy)
Tank 2, 24.0 mpg DIC, 22.2 actual, avg speed 27.5 mph (city & hwy)
Tank 3, 26.1 mpg DIC, 25.2 actual, avg speed 31.6 mph (city & hwy)
Tank 4, 25.4 mpg DIC, 24.2 actual, avg speed 32.0 mph (city & hwy)
Tank 5, 24.2 mpg DIC, 23.4 actual, avg speed 28.5 mph (city & hwy)
Tank 6, 25.3 mpg DIC, 23.4 actual, avg speed 29.9 mph (city & hwy)
Tank 7, 31.3 mpg DIC, 32.7 actual, avg speed 51.7 mph (trip)
 
What this shows is that my combined mileage for city & hwy (tanks 1 thru 6) is 25.1 mpg DIC and 23.9 mpg calculated, or 5% less than what the DIC states. My average speed was 30.3 mph, which shows that there is good bit of highway driving mixed in with the city driving. Too difficult to keep track of the exact percentage of each.
 
My last fill up was after a 354 mile trip from Pittsburgh to Ohio, in which I got 29.3 mpg (DIC) going out and improved to 31.3 (DIC) coming back without resetting. That meant that I actually did better than 31.3 on the trip back as it pulled up the 29.3 average to 31.3.
 
Going out, there were 4 people in the Nox, no AC, traveling 60-70 mph, on interstate (70%) roads and slower on 2 lane (30%) roads with an occasional town, a few stop lights, and some 35 mph zones.
 
Coming back, with 4 people, I did more interstate (80%) driving, used the AC, but kept my speed at 55-60 mph. I watched as my trip average continued to climb to 31.3, knowing that I was getting higher if it was continuing to climb. My big surprise was when I filled up and instead of a 5% DIC overstatement error, it calculated out to 32.7 mpg and a 4.5% understatement on the DIC. I did the calculation at the pump and was so surprised that I went back and tried to put more gas into the tank, thinking that it was not full. The nozzle clicked off each time I squeezed it, telling me "hey the tank is full." I did manage to put .5 gallons more into the tank, but it was over full and topped off more than any of my previous fill ups. I will have to see if the DIC understates on my next trip. I wonder if it is due to some software formula used by the DIC. Anyone out there (those of you who check DIC error) have a similar experience where the error flips from 5% overestimated to 4% underestimated on a trip?
 
So, I averaged over 32 mpg with the AC on and with a full load people. The elevation of both ends of the trip were very close, so there wasn’t an overall elevation factor involved. There was no noticeable wind in either direction that would account for a meaningful impact on economy. The major difference was that I drove 10 mph slower on the interstate on the return trip. My tire pressure was 38 to 39 psi, temperature was 50 degrees going out and 75 returning. I also checked my odometer calibration the first week that I had the car and it was right on.
 
So, needless to say, I was very pleased knowing that at times I averaged a good bit over 32 mpg, maybe 34 considering all the times that I had stopped for lights, driven at 70 mph and went through reduced speed zones on the two lane roads.
 
The EPA test for hwy mileage is an indoor test that does not involve stops, hills, wind, cold temperatures, using the A/C or exceeding 60 mph. Probably, the EPA applies a correction factor for that.
 
I would think that the EPA obtains a sample vehicle from the manufacturer, tests it and then gives a mpg number for that vehicle. That is the number that the manufacturer then publicizes. So, by my experience, one cannot say that GM is misrepresenting on the 32 mpg claim, only that one may have a Equinox with a problem, or a driver that fails to understand all the factors and the influence that each has on mileage.
 
I would buy another Equinox without any hesitation. Hope this helps those that are concerned about mileage.

#174 of 199 Re: 2012 Equinox 2LT 4 cyl, fwd - Fuel Efficiency [ohc6sprint] by rrovernut

May 08, 2012 (1:14 pm)

Replying to: ohc6sprint (May 08, 2012 10:47 am)
H i your comments are very interesting , you seem to have bought one of the few Noxs that seem to achieve what GM claim, but then you have the fwd version ours and many others who have the awd version have economy issues, other then that we do like our vehicle, just upset with fuel economy, and we have done very careful checks on hwy use only ( not interested in city use ) just what we can get from point A-B hwy not close to GM claims.

#175 of 199 Re: 2012 Equinox 2LT 4 cyl, fwd - Fuel Efficiency [ohc6sprint] by ray80

May 09, 2012 (9:49 am)

Replying to: ohc6sprint (May 08, 2012 10:47 am)
'Coming back, with 4 people, I did more interstate (80%) driving, used the AC, but kept my speed at 55-60 mph.'
 
I think you would find thats the magic speed for getting the best milage on the highway. If you happen the match the tach numbers you see at 55-60 at lower speeds it should also do well.

#176 of 199 Mileage has stayed about as expected by cmhj2000

May 22, 2012 (6:57 am)

Replying to: cmhj2000 (Mar 12, 2012 6:20 am)
Since my last post I went on 3K mile trip thru Pa, Oh, In & Wis. Most of my driving was interstate, average speed 67 MPH. Overall MPG was 30.6 DIC ,near 30 using the paper method.
 
Shortly after the trip had one short trip where I drove 350 miles hitting about 55 MPH. Mileage was near 32 MPG.
 
This is on a 2012 FWD 4cyl. LS now with 5K miles logged.
 
Fuel used was in most cases with ethanol at the assumed 10% level.

#177 of 199 How to get +30 MPG, 2011 NOX 4 Cyl. AWD by mike69440

May 23, 2012 (7:13 pm)

1.) 20,000 mile break in. (Not just the motor, but the trans, brakes and drivetrain have a lot of internal friction.)
 
2.) Only achieveable in walm weather.
 
3.) Tires inflated to 38 Psig.
 
4.) Do not exceed 3000 RPM, unless a large truck is barreling up your rear.
 
5.) Anticipate braking and slowing.
 
6.) Do not use cruise control to resume speed, it is to agressive.
 
7. Let the tranny upsift, then give more throttle to slowly build speed.
 
8. 67-69 MPH on cruise control. Try to keep tranmisson in 5th or 6th gear. Mileage drops quite a bit above 72 MPH. Driving at 60 MPH will get you killed, so don't obsruct traffic. Keep it at 65-70.
 
9. Coast on significantly long steep downhill grades.
 
I got 30.6 MPG in 450 Miles of MA-NH driving, including hills.

#178 of 199 Re: How to get +30 MPG, 2011 NOX 4 Cyl. AWD [mike69440] by marcia54

May 26, 2012 (8:00 pm)

Replying to: mike69440 (May 23, 2012 7:13 pm)
Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear it's not the car because we really like the ride. Just reached 15,000 miles on the car and noticed that we are starting to get better gas mileage on trips - up to 28 mpg, so there is still hope.

#179 of 199 Re: 2011 Equinox - poor gas mileage [rrovernut] by moparblue2

Jun 02, 2012 (2:08 am)

Replying to: rrovernut (Apr 27, 2012 5:46 pm)
I do not know who told u 40 mpg. That is a crazy number. They are rated at 22 city & 32 hwy. If you want that kind of mpg. You need to buy something alot smaller

Messages Page 18 of 20

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