I recently bought a 2007. Over all I am very happy with the car. I have been observing and reading around for the fuel economy and feel that I should learn to do what I can to get the best of it.

I would appreciate if people can share what they have done to improve it. I am particularly interested in hearing from those who had had the fuel economy gone downhill at one point, and then did something and got it back up -- like replacing O2 sensors, changing gas, oil, etc..

Thank you.

 

Drive slower. I know it seems obvious, but I can't stress how much it will help. Slowing down to 65 on the interstate from 80 netted me 5 or so mpg. Accelerating slowly and using the paddles to shift early will also help a lot.

Obviously, making sure all your parts are in good shape wil help, but the biggest improvement really comes from driving style.

 

I stopped buying gas at those cheapo gas stations and stuck with Exxon regular gas because it is top quality and has additives to clean the gunk out of your fuel lines. I also use AMSOIL products. I have a 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander XLS V6 and now i average about 24-26 miles per gallon.

 

use the cruise control as much as possible...if i use the pedal in town, I get 17-18MPG...if I use the cruise it gets up to 21mpg. Also, make sure your tires are properly inflated...low tires will suck gas. I do use 4WD while running around town as i don't like the way 2WD feels when starting from a stop...but if I really want to be concious of gas, i'll flip between modes.

On the highway...cruise as much as possible and put it into 2WD mode. Our Geolanders got us up to 28MPG, then put some Bridgestone Duelers on and went down to 24.5MPG. I can go get up to 25.5MPG going 70 for some reason...not sure what we are doing different. Next tires will be low rolling resistance tires.

 

Wow you have the V6 and got 28 mpg? That is amazing!!

 

Mine always goes down to 7.6 L/100km (31 mpg) when I am on highway for long stretches (> 500 km), and to about 8.8 (27 mpg) on very mountainous ones. 2WD and me driving...I find cruise control uses more fuel as it "stabs" at the throttle to gain speed and easy exceeds 4k RPM instead of slowing down.

Also, I've found the engine gets lazy if you don't exceed 5k rpm from time to time. I guess its due carbon deposits if you don't trigger MIVEC once in a while.

 

The usual suspects...

1...Light throttle foot.
2...Change up at the right time (i.e. as early as possible without labouring the engine)
3...Manual gearbox helps.
4...Tyres and tyre pressures (very slightly overinflate).
5...Keep speed down (All SUVs have the aerodynamics of a house brick when they pass 60mph in my experience).
6...Don't screw with the aero package. It's done that way for a reason.
7...Bike-racks, ski-racks, roof boxes. Take 'em off when not needed.

All the above cost nothing (except maybe journey time).
Everything else tends to cost money so needs a cost/benefit calculation.

 

Thanks, everyone for sharing so far. We are getting a good collection of useful stuff. Does anyone have any comments on coasting in neutral? I mean like putting in neutral on down hill or a stop and putting back into drive to continue or get going again, with the motor running of course. But I read somewhere that it could be bad for the car. That was not particularly related to the Outlander. This is the first AT I have owned. Any thoughts or experience on this?

 

Coasting in neutral is illegal in many places. It increases wear or your brake pads and decreases braking due to not engine braking. Second, it uses more fuel...gasoline engine use no fuel when engine braking. Compared to idling in neutral going downhill. So your brakes last longer and you save fuel when in gear.

Likewise, I'm sure the transmission doesn't appreciate going from neutral to 6th gear. The most obvious thing that I would suspect to go would be the clutches that control the torque converter lockup. Which can't be replaced like a manual transmission, and require disassembling the whole thing and probably costs quite a bit.

 

Do people regularly change O2 sensors? And if so, any difference in fuel economy before and after?