Poor gas mileage in Sport mode normal?

[imoz]

I've got 595 miles on the car now. I noticed late last week and today I am getting horrible mileage. I always drive in "Sport" / DS mode as I like the responsiveness at throttle tip-in. I topped off the tank this weekend. This morning, I burned 1/4 tank on my 25 mile drive in to work, rarely going beyond 3,000 rpms. The gauge was beyond the Full mark when I started off from home.

Assuming a 14 gallon tank, 1/4 tank is 3.5 gallons. That works out to 7 mpg. With that mileage, I should have bought the M5, as mileage was a primary factor in my decision to go for the 1er over the M5.

Is this normal? Or should I be concerned? Is this indicative of the HPFP going?

[oneintheory]

you should have bought the M5.


DS turns off Overdrive and keeps you one gear lower than you would be for optimal fuel economy. I wouldn't expect it to me 7 mpg, but hey....

[tbird]

You have 595 miles, first off, you shouldn't be pushing the car.

Second, Sport Mode extends the time you stay in a lower gear, so more high revs, so more fuel burned. That is the "logical" answer. How your actual driving is, you will have to determine that on your own.

And of course, new engines usually don't get their full mileage. As you get to around 5K miles, you will see a bump in mileage. A lot of people report "My car keeps getting better and better as I drive it" and this is why.

[imoz]

Originally Posted by tbird

You have 595 miles, first off, you shouldn't be pushing the car.

I'm not. Is 3,000 rpms pushing the car? I don't take it over 4,000 rpms.

7mpg though is pretty low mileage. I could understand say 15. But 7 doesn't seem normal to me, even for a new engine etc. Maybe it is....

[BlueC]

Originally Posted by imoz

I'm not. Is 3,000 rpms pushing the car? I don't take it over 4,000 rpms.

7mpg though is pretty low mileage. I could understand say 15. But 7 doesn't seem normal to me, even for a new engine etc. Maybe it is....

I would wait and do an exact calculation. Going off of the fuel gauge won't get you something accurate.

Next time you fill up, reset the trip odometer. The following time you fill up, take note of how many miles you've driven since the last fill up, and divide that by how many gallons of fuel were used to fill your tank. That will give you an exact calculation.

[tbird]

Originally Posted by BlueC

I would wait and do an exact calculation. Going off of the fuel gauge won't get you something accurate.

Next time you fill up, reset the trip odometer. The following time you fill up, take note of how many miles you've driven since the last fill up, and divide that by how many gallons of fuel were used to fill your tank. That will give you an exact calculation.

Ok, your RPM's are fine. Congrats on paying attention to your RPM's.

As BlueC said, just measure your exact gas usage. Try to fill up the tank as much as possible, then clear trip odometer drive it, then fill it up as much as possible again, then run the numbers. That will tell you.

[BrokenVert]

Sport mode also changes engine timings (I think) and transmission shift speed.

Sport mode also holds the gears longer than it really should.

I averaged about 17MPG for around 6K miles. Now I'm averaging 21.5 while driving to the same places I was a year ago.

[jkp1187]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Sport mode also changes engine timings (I think) and transmission shift speed.

Sport mode also holds the gears longer than it really should.

I averaged about 17MPG for around 6K miles. Now I'm averaging 21.5 while driving to the same places I was a year ago.

I think sport mode also affects when the torque converter locks up/unlocks.

Also, keeping it under 3000 RPMs isn't very helpful. Boost comes on strong around 1900-2000RPMs, so keep the revs under that zone if you're interested in fuel economy. If you watch the instant MPG display on the dashboard, the difference between 1800 RPM and 2100 RPM is pretty big (unless you're engine braking while going down hill or something.)

I almost never use sport mode, personally. I will either do regular "D" mode for ordinary driving (to maximize fuel economy,) or will do manual shifting if I want to get it on (so I can be in control and don't care about gas usage.) I'll bet if you did more manual shifting, you'd get the best of both worlds - downshift as soon as you want power, then upshift as much as possible when you're just cruising. I don't think sport mode will *ever* go into 6th gear, for instance.