the back pearl mpgs down from my grasshopper

[joesgot4]

just checked fuel mileage on two hundred mile trip in black pearl and compared it to exact same trip made by my grasshopper made about month ago with only difference being ac on whole trip instead of 1/3 of trip in grasshopper,grasshopper averaged 52 mpgs the black pearl also had spare tire where at the time grasshopper did not the black pearl only has 900 miles on it and the tires i just found out had only 32lbs of air i ran them up to 45lbs she got a dismal 45mpgs ! the extra weight,lower tire pressure, not being broke in,and more ac use made 7mpgs difference! Wow! Just shows how much the little things add up! I also noticed how the black pearl downshifted on hills that the
grasshopper did not! Also going to make same trip with a couple changes to verify what i know!

[joesgot4]

also drove 60 mph on both trips!

[MaxxMPG]

Give it time. A few thousand miles of driving will bring the mileage up. If the mileage is consistently low after 3-4000 miles, have the alignment checked. New cars aren't usually right on spec when they're delivered and car to car variation in alignment can result in differences in mpg.

Yes, A/C will affect mpg on a smaller engine much more than a larger engine, as anyone with a Prius or HCH will tell you.

The spare tire kit weighs maybe 25 or 30 pounds, and you won't see any difference with or without it in the car.

The downshifting on hills is normal - it's to keep the car in fuel cut. If one car is doing it in one area and the other isn't, there are two possible reasons. 1) The adaptive transmission learned driving style and one car is ahead of the other in the learning curve, or 2) They changed the software to make the fuel cut more aggressive. Either way, a slight change in driving style will make the most of it. Shift to N for hills where you want to glide without the drag of fuel cut, and leave the car in D to take advantage of the fuel cut when you need to lose speed for a slowdown ahead.

[RedylC94]

Although it's true that air conditioning reduces the distance an efficient car can travel per gallon more than it does for an inefficient car, that does not mean it actually increases fuel consumption more in the efficient car. That arithmetical phenomenon would be less confusing if we customarily computed gallons per mile instead of miles per gallon. If we did, you'd see roughly the same increase in consumption.

Why would fuel cut have anything to do with downshifting on UPhills?

[joesgot4]

it juat seems the grasshopper started bet
t
er than black pearl maybe im just spoiled noticed big differencenin coasting today with tires at 45lbs of air

[joesgot4]

i just got through wirh very informative fuel mileage of 25 miles once in the grasshopper and three hours later in the black pearl with weather and traffic basically the same and driving with the same tools with the black pearl getting the benefit of two lights changing on time that the grasshopper did not! I also pushed the black pear lharder for more mpgs! This was in city and on rural roads with very light traffic which didnt affect me any and the results were 49.8 mpgs from the grasshopper and 46.2 mpgs from the black pearl, the black pearl only has 1100 miles on it the grasshopper has 23000 miles. IS THIS A NORMAL DIFFERENCE?

[EdwinTheMagnificent]

IS THIS A NORMAL DIFFERENCE?

I would say "yes". Give it some more miles and it will match the GrassHopper.

[TheCrashman]

Allow me to add my two cents about the a/c. I have experimented much with the a/c in my accent, and it definitely pulls down mpgs. On the same route and driving techniques, I can get 55ish mpgs (that would only show in the average if it were quite a lengthy route, of course). With a/c on, I would only be getting 45ish. When I added 4-5 psi to my tires, I honestly couldn't tell any difference. :/