mazda mx5 early 90's mpg

[tattymarbots]

hi

need to buy a second car for commuting, currently looking at diesel 306's, old lagunas, audis etc but was wondering what mpg a g/h/j reg mx5 would do, approx 160 miles a day with at least 140 of that on the m3 m25
cheers
steve

[Condi]

Whyyyyyy would anyone in their right minds want to commute 80 miles into work, and 80 miles back out again?!! I guess you must like fuel bills and spending a lot of hours sat in boring traffic?

[Jobbo]

You'll get little more than 30mpg even sitting on a motorway; perhaps 32/33 maximum if you keep the speed down below 70.

[Shmee]

160 miles every day in an old mx5 can't be good for you.

[lost in espace]

306/ZX XUD diesel give you 50mpg, if its got a bosch pump run it on used veg oil 40p/litre or 70p/litre at costco. Will give you over 100mpg equivalent and you won't have to stop at the petrol station again. http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/ for help. Or anything with a 90/110bhp tdi in it will run veg well.

[Jonny671]

Jobbo said:

You'll get little more than 30mpg even sitting on a motorway; perhaps 32/33 maximum if you keep the speed down below 70.

This.

And the tanks aren't that big, I get about 200-250miles from mine and its £45-£50 to fill up. Thats a 1999 MK2.

[Fire99]

I had a 1990 MX5 and 29-30mpg was pretty much it. Maybe one or two over when on the motorway and one or two less around town.

They aren't amazingly economical for their dimensions.

(I have read that the early MX runs a bit rich as standard, but hey you know what the internet's like)

[mat205125]

Jobbo said:

You'll get little more than 30mpg even sitting on a motorway; perhaps 32/33 maximum if you keep the speed down below 70.

Exactly what my friend told me was his experiences of MX5 commuting. I was hoping and anticipating at least 35mpg, and hopefully close to 40 on a steady cruise, however not so.

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

[mekondelta]

You'd be lucky to get 30mpg. I was getting about 28mpg and my foot was nowhere near heavy....

Downsides of motorway commuting:-
- Obscured three quarter view due to the hood unless you drive topless every day
- mirrors too small to observe two lanes concurrently
- low nature of MX5 means coach/lorry drivers have harder time to see you
- Not a lot of grunt in 5th
- You'll need the headrest speakers to get any decent sound from the stereo from 60mph+

Don't get me wrong, I had my MK1 MX5 for 12 years but it's not a motorway mile muncher. If you understand this and do some nice A/B roads occasionally then it might be a good option. But at least know what you're letting yourself in for.

[tattymarbots]

currently running a mk1 focus rs, seeing about 25mpg tops, have started to lodge during the week but thought if i go diesel at 50mpg then its cheaper to travel.
my thoughts as above were nice little 2 seater, aerodynamic and light would easily see low 40's on a run, guess not.
thanks to the guy about veg oil, will look into that next

cheers
steve

[Matt UK]

You won't get mpg anywhere near the early 90's.

Early 30's is possible. Latest 20's more likely.

[Jonny671]

mat205125 said:

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

You don't buy an MX5 to commute on Motorways though do you..

[Pints]

mat205125 said:

Jobbo said:

You'll get little more than 30mpg even sitting on a motorway; perhaps 32/33 maximum if you keep the speed down below 70.

Exactly what my friend told me was his experiences of MX5 commuting. I was hoping and anticipating at least 35mpg, and hopefully close to 40 on a steady cruise, however not so.

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

Which mk was that in?

I'm this #holds fingers a half an inch apart# close to buying a mk3 and commuting 80miles a day (thread running elsewhere) but was expecting close to 40mpg on the motorway. If it's much worse than that then I can't warrant the fuel costs (it's a world away from my Golf TDI).

[Jonny671]

Pints said:

mat205125 said:

Jobbo said:

You'll get little more than 30mpg even sitting on a motorway; perhaps 32/33 maximum if you keep the speed down below 70.

Exactly what my friend told me was his experiences of MX5 commuting. I was hoping and anticipating at least 35mpg, and hopefully close to 40 on a steady cruise, however not so.

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

Which mk was that in?

I'm this #holds fingers a half an inch apart# close to buying a mk3 and commuting 80miles a day (thread running elsewhere) but was expecting close to 40mpg on the motorway. If it's much worse than that then I can't warrant the fuel costs (it's a world away from my Golf TDI).

The MK3 is alot better, 6 gears and a more powerful engine too.

[mat205125]

Jonny671 said:

Pints said:

mat205125 said:

Jobbo said:

You'll get little more than 30mpg even sitting on a motorway; perhaps 32/33 maximum if you keep the speed down below 70.

Exactly what my friend told me was his experiences of MX5 commuting. I was hoping and anticipating at least 35mpg, and hopefully close to 40 on a steady cruise, however not so.

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

Which mk was that in?

I'm this #holds fingers a half an inch apart# close to buying a mk3 and commuting 80miles a day (thread running elsewhere) but was expecting close to 40mpg on the motorway. If it's much worse than that then I can't warrant the fuel costs (it's a world away from my Golf TDI).

The MK3 is alot better, 6 gears and a more powerful engine too.

My mates car is a Mk1

[dylan0451]

tattymarbots said:

currently running a mk1 focus rs, seeing about 25mpg tops, have started to lodge during the week but thought if i go diesel at 50mpg then its cheaper to travel.
my thoughts as above were nice little 2 seater, aerodynamic and light would easily see low 40's on a run, guess not.
thanks to the guy about veg oil, will look into that next

cheers
steve

they're not that aerodynamic! Cd something like 0.36! that and 38-3900rpm @ 70 with an engine with basic EFI. it does have an open loop circuit with lambda reading etc. but goes closed loop at WOT which is extremely rich. mines been tinkered with to lean it out a bit, but at standard 10 degrees advance was still chucking out a lot of unburned fuel. advancing a bit has quietened the pops and cracks and gives better mpg as well as, subjectively more power.

[shamelessPlug]mine's for sale[/shamelessPlug]

really couldn't recommend one purely for motorway trips. i find mine perfectly fine for the motorway, but i don't do anywhere near 160 a day!
@ £1.179 i just squeezed £47.75 in the tank to the brim, after running on fumes so about 8.9 gal. on a pure 70mph motorway run, no stop start etc. i can get about 500-520km so 310-320 miles which is around 35mpg. only way i can see getting more is dropping to 60 - you'd probably break 40mpg then but it would be so painful to do, plus take you even longer to commute

[mat205125]

Jonny671 said:

mat205125 said:

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

You don't buy an MX5 to commute on Motorways though do you..

Very true, however as the OP has alluded to in a subsequent post above, my hope would be that a small and light 2 seater with a pretty aero friendly shape and a modest engine would be a bargain 40mpg plus proposition on any road. I'd have hoped it's unsuitability to a motorway environment would be relating to noise and vulnerability, rather than an appetite for fuel that a V6 saloon car can better.

[hairykrishna]

I've got a mk1 Eunos and I get maybe 30 ish on a long run. Why in gods name would you buy one to do 140 motorway miles a day though? It's very ill suited to the task. Buy a comfy barge, it's what they're for.

[Matt UK]

mat205125 said:

Jonny671 said:

mat205125 said:

He thinks its something to do with the really short gearing on his jap car. Pretty crap for a small light 2 seater if you ask me.

You don't buy an MX5 to commute on Motorways though do you..

Very true, however as the OP has alluded to in a subsequent post above, my hope would be that a small and light 2 seater with a pretty aero friendly shape and a modest engine would be a bargain 40mpg plus proposition on any road. I'd have hoped it's unsuitability to a motorway environment would be relating to noise and vulnerability, rather than an appetite for fuel that a V6 saloon car can better.

Over a steady mway journey at NSL my 530i auto will likely return better mpg than my Mk1 MX5...

[DrTre]

Elises are more favourable for the mpg