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2012+ Subaru Impreza Real World Fuel Economy

139 messages,  Last post on Apr 26, 2013 at 10:05 AM

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What is this discussion about? Subaru Impreza, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Gasoline, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 3 of 14

#20 of 139 Re: 2012+ Subaru Impreza Real World Fuel Economy [2toroll] by jd_24

Aug 20, 2012 (8:35 am)

Replying to: 2toroll (Aug 19, 2012 2:59 pm)
I hope you get better MPG with the highway trip. Many new cars today don't get good mileage with short trips (under 5miles). In the Prius forums one person was in the 25?? MPG range with their Prius just because of short trips. The engine never warms up and in the Prius case the battery doesn't have enough time to charge. Just because the blue light goes off doesn't mean everything is up to ideal perforamnce temperature.

#21 of 139 Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing by tonyhodge

Aug 22, 2012 (12:14 pm)

i made a mistake of buying a 2012 subaru impreza and after many emails and calls nothing is being done.
 
My car has around 3600 on the clock and i drive mainly in the city, i get an average of 20 to 21 mpg if im lucky and i drive 10 miles to work and 10 miles back.
 
I also do some highway trips and decided to let my wife borrow the car for a week to commute to work about 1 hour driving on the parkway to and 1 hour back.
 
The most we got out of the car is 27mpg which is 8 mpg lower than the estimate mpg for highway driving. The sad thing is my 2002 for focus which was old tired and had 115,000 on the clock was getting better mpg than my new car.
 
I honestly wish i had kept it now. Anyone have any suggestions or tricks or anyone having similar problems please feel free to post.

#22 of 139 Re: Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing [tonyhodge] by typesix

Aug 23, 2012 (7:14 am)

Replying to: tonyhodge (Aug 22, 2012 12:14 pm)
Consumer Reports tested a 2012 Impreza hatchback in the June 2012 issue and got 19mpg city, 33 mpg highway and overall average of 26mpg. How fast do you drive on highway? The EPA numbers are generally what can be expected if one follows the speed limit. Air conditioning will decrease mpg about 10%. Driver habits have the most effect on mpg.

#24 of 139 Re: Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing [typesix] by tonyhodge

Aug 23, 2012 (7:38 am)

Replying to: typesix (Aug 23, 2012 7:14 am)
Im usually driving around the 65 to 70 mpg on the parkway and around town im always at the speed limit due to the amount of police in the area. I also tested without the ac and it made a little improvement but no where near the epa estimates. Im glad its not just me with the poor millage and that its been tested by people who know what they are doing.
 
I got a freephone number to see what the buy out is on my lease and also if i can trade in my lease with someone else so they can take it over because im getting less mpg than my previous car and the reason i got this was for more mpg.

#25 of 139 Re: Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing [typesix] by ateixeira

Aug 23, 2012 (8:52 am)

Replying to: typesix (Aug 23, 2012 7:14 am)
26mpg is good in that context. The Elantra only got 27mpg despite the 40mpg highway they tout.

#26 of 139 Re: Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing [tonyhodge] by dcm61

Aug 23, 2012 (9:28 am)

Replying to: tonyhodge (Aug 23, 2012 7:38 am)
Pay attention to the MPG gauge below the speedometer. You will then get a feel for how you need to drive the car to get the best MPG and you will also see that even a slight incline or press of the accelerator "kills" the MPG.
 
Before I bought my Sport Limited, I didn't realize there were so many hills in my area.
 
I've taken two 700+ mile round trips from Philly area to Boston area.
 
1st trip (2 people) - started with 1100 miles; PA/NJ turnpike, GW bridge, various NY parkways to Merritt Parkway to I-84. Drive up MPG = 36+ until the GW bridge, then continued to drop and ended at ~32 MPG (hills on the NY/CT parkways kill MPG). Return trip average = ~33 MPG. IIRC, A/C was on the entire trip.
 
2nd trip (1 person) - started with 5100 miles; mix of back roads, highway, back roads to I-84. Drive up MPG = 36+. Moonroof flipped up for 1/2 trip, A/C on other 1/2 trip. Return trip average = ~35 MPG. Heavier traffic, higher speed, A/C on more, back seats and cargo area full.
 
Normal commute = congested highway = ~30-32 MPG.
 
For comparison, my 2003 Outback 2.5L 4EAT averaged 28-30 MPG on highway trips and 22-24 on my commute.

#27 of 139 Re: Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing [dcm61] by xwesx

Aug 23, 2012 (9:58 am)

Replying to: dcm61 (Aug 23, 2012 9:28 am)
There's no doubt the numbers are starkly improved over previous generations. In city driving, the start/stop behavior makes a big difference, especially with the AWD car for some reason. I notice that when I drive my Escort vs. my Forester, the relative impact on fuel economy in the Escort is lower when I'm a little quicker off the line (about 5-6%) versus my Forester, which is 10% or more. I really have to shift into "chill mode" when I'm driving the Forester if I want to eek out reasonable fuel economy. With a manual transmission, though, that isn't too hard to do.
 
I'm sorry that the original poster's fuel economy is so much lower than expected. I think he said a Focus was replaced by the Impreza... ? If so, it is entirely unrealistic to expect the Impreza to perform better on fuel economy in city driving. Heck, if it did better in the highway in identical conditions, I'd be quite surprised. You gave up some FE for the AWD. If you don't want or need the AWD, as in that was not a major consideration when deciding on the car, you did indeed lease the wrong car for your needs. The good news, though, is that you leased it.

#28 of 139 Re: 2012+ Subaru Impreza Real World Fuel Economy [2toroll] by westcoaster21

Aug 23, 2012 (1:48 pm)

Replying to: 2toroll (Aug 19, 2012 2:59 pm)
When I first bought my 2012 Impreza, I strictly road the freeways, with very limited city driving (my wife drove her car to do most of the city stuff). Back then, my freeway commute to work and back was about 40 miles each way and I averaged 38 mpg for about two months. I did notice that whenever I did do any city driving (short trips to the grocery, mall, etc.), especially through residential streets with lots of stop signs, my mpg would drop down to 33, 34, or 35 mpg instantly -- with just about 15 to 20 minutes of driving! To my relief, my mpg would then go back up once I commuted to work a couple of days in a row.
 
Also, as I drove on the freeway, I left the mpg function/monitor on and played an mpg game by adjusting my accelaration to get the maximum fuel efficiency. My goal was to reach an average 40 mpg. However, to do this I had to develop thick skin; fellow freeway commuters showed great impatience by purposely tailgaiting so that I could speed up or they would look over at me in disgust as they passed by). The highest mpg I ever got was 39.6 and I stayed at the 39 mpg mark for about two weeks.
 
But then it happened. My wife starting complaining about how she did most of the driving errands and wanted me to help. I agreed and started doing most of the city driving from then on. For the last two months, my driving is about 65 to 70 percent freeway driving and about 30 to 35 percent city driving. As a result, my mpg has dropped down remarkably: it now ranges consistently between 27 and 29 mpg. I never realized how bad city driving was on a car's mpg and now loathe driving through residential streets. And I believe that what keeps my mpg numbers this high is how I continue to play the mpg game on the freeway (I try to adjust my accelaration to raise my mpg numbers on the monitor; but of course, I try not to go lower than 5 or 7 miles below the speed limit.)
 
Though I am disappointed, I could only imagine what my mpg numbers would be if I had purchased a car with lower EPA estimates. If my average mpg was to go below 26 and my city driving increased, I would seriously consider selling or trading in the Impreza to purchase a Prius. Or to purchase a mini-cooper, which cost less than a Prius, but looks way hipper and cooler, and gets better gas mileage than the Impreza (but then again, the mini-cooper presents the space issue, especially if one has children).
 
But, that, in a nutshell, has been my 4 to 5 month mpg experience with the 2012 Impreza.

#29 of 139 Re: Poor mpg and dealer or corporate does nothing [tonyhodge] by tyguy

Aug 23, 2012 (2:00 pm)

Replying to: tonyhodge (Aug 22, 2012 12:14 pm)
Interesting to see the variation. My 16-mile round trip work commute results in 33 mpg average (no highway) with 6,000 miles on the odo. Typically that commute has 10 stops for lights or stop signs, and speeds vary from 30 mph to 50 mph, with little traffic. Highway runs at 75 mph have consistently returned 37 mpg, and about 45 mpg at 60 mph. The fuel mileage has been stellar, especially cruising at 55 to 65 mph flat terrain. The worst mileage to date has been 28 mpg during all city/suburban driving with traffic lights and congestion (nothing like NY or LA, though). No complaints here. The car is perfectly capable of beating EPA, so the question that needs answering is what's different about your situation?

Messages Page 3 of 14

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