What is the average fuel economy that SC430 owners are getting? I drive a mix of city and highway traffic -- mostly city. I've noticed that I'm getting around 14 mpg on average. I don't think that I'm driving extremely aggressively, so I'm surprised that the fuel economy is so low.

What are you guys experiencing?

 

Live downtown houston drive to southwest houston. 5days then wherever on my days off averaing close to 18-19 range.

 

Mixed driving, but very little highway - 17-18mpg with ECT Power switch always on and RPMs kept above or at 3000.

 

Mine is mostly highway 70-85 and I am consistently getting right around 22, which surprised me. My trip computer verifies what the gas pump says when I fill up. I am averaging about 42MPH per tank.

GW

 

I get about 18 or 19 around the city, and 20 or 21 on the highway.

Even at very high (80+) expressway speeds, I get 20 or 21 mph, but of course the tac shows that the engine is not working very hard.

I would think that 14 is too low, but the first thing I would do is check the car's computer by doing my own calculations based on miles driven and compute mpg using the amount of gas used to fill the tank back up. This is the way we all used to do it when we were young. For what it's worth, I found the onboard computer very accurate regarding mpg, and way off in terms of "Range," which does not bother me too much as I seldom need that info anyway.

I don't think I could get 14 if I tried. I suspect that the car's computer is off.

And by the way, be sure it's not set to measure in KM or Imperial Gal or some such non-standard factor.

 

Like Tim and gkw, my computer is dead-on. I calculated the MPG figure quite a few times and it always came out exactly the same as the computer. I don't bother calculating any longer ... at least for *this* car.

 

I'm getting around 18 and I drive fairly aggressively.

 

Between 18 and 21. Not bad for a V8

 

I've done some mental arithmetic, and the computer seems to be correct.

I wonder if it has to do with the fuel that we have here in California? I know that we have "reformulated" stuff that's designed to reduce emissions.

Is anyone else in CA experiencing crappy fuel economy, or should I complain to my dealer?

 

I'm in Southern California, and average anywhere from 14 to 16 MPG...maybe its our gas formulation...I'm not sure if the car has a catalytic converter (required in CA) since it is already ultra low emissions.

 

19.2 MPG at an average of 30.1 MPH
(And that's over several thousand miles)

Trust me, I've TRIED and TRIED to get that average speed up!
Resetting the computer only results in a temporary inflation of numbers.
Oh well, metro driving will do that.

 

lol.... I guess I drive like a granny in my SC430... I'm just so relaxed in it...

My overall MPG has been very steady at 21.2 for the last 3 months....

 

Agreed, Mr. Bad-*** satellite antenna guy.
(Very slick install!)

That's why I didn't buy the SC300 w/ the MT back in '96.
The interior (then, as now) was so comfortable, I thought it was a shame to do all that work when I wanted to RELAX and drive!

Of course, it's nice to do a little auto-manual shifting every now and then, too.
But it doesn't help the MPGs (like that was one of my criteria when I bought it)...

 

18 and 21 here. That's in southern CA.

 

Does using the Power button have any long term effects on the car if you use it all the time?