Gas mileage

I bought my Tribute LX in February. After that I found out about this club BB and I have monitored it for the last couple of months and quite frankly started to wonder if I made a mistake in buying a Trib. I have driven only locally for the first 1000 miles keeping a close eye on the mileage as so many owners have reported such dismal results. I thought I'd share my MPG data. At first my 'around town' MPG was about 16. It got better and better with time and is now at about 20. Now the shocker -- I just made a 125 mile freeway run, consuming 3.9 gallons in the process. Yes, the math result is amazing. 32 MPG from the V-6! My speed was 65 to 70 MPH, tires are the stock Firestones at 32 PSI, with egg firmly placed under the gas pedal. I was careful about repeating the fill-up and have high confidence in the result. Even if I had an error of 1/2 gallon, it would result in 28 MPG.<br>True story (except for the egg). Hope someone else has had some good MPG luck with theirs also.

John - Sounds like we're in the same area (Waldorf area?) and probably spend a bit of time passing each other on 301/5. My gas mileage has been consistent ranging 19-21 with every fill up since I purchased in December. Some of those back-ups on 301/5 sure don't help in the gas mileage department! With the warm up in the weather the last few days and getting the temp control out of the RED and into the BLUE for entire trips, I'm now noticing the fuel smell also. I've only got 1700 miles on mine (between carpooling and a 2 week trip out of the US, I haven't driven it as much as I've wanted), the smell is just starting to show up now (My wife thinks I've been reading to much about it, but the Nose Knows!). Are you having your work done at John Koons Mazda or do you go elsewhere? If you see a Chestnut Mica version heading up 301 at 6:30 every morning, it's probably me!!<br><br>BOBMAZDA - To avoid going back and searching about 300+ discussions on the "Fuel Odor" problem, what is the latest on a fix for this? I seem to remember you or someone else mentioning Mazda coming out with a fix for this around the end of February?? Please bring me up-to-date. THANKS to everyone for making this forum so interesting!! Tom S.

Guys I'm from the Sterlin VA area. My ES Platium ABS Trib has about 600 mi on it and about 3 weeks old.... no fumes yet. Fuel mileage is about 16-17... all city driving.<br><br>I don't know what earlier Tribs look like but they may have added more vapor recovery plumbing. On mine, they have a rather large "T" connecting where the 4 " rubber hose connects to the engine's air intake.<br><br>The "T" connection with hoses going both ways looks rather conspicuos to me and may be an attempt to recover engine vapors.<br><br>Also, forward of the gas tank there is a rather large black box with many rubber hoses going to it.... looks like another vapor recovery box.<br><br>DC Zoomers.

greggie990:<br><br>Hi. My LX was made on 11/27 and has all the plumbing you mentioned. My "fumes smell" didn't show up until recently and only when the temp control is in the blue area. I'll probably wait a while longer before I bring into the dealer. Temps are suppose to be back up in the 50's later this week so I'll see if my carpool buddy can back me up and see if he notices the odor when it's my turn to drive.

Hi, Thomas.<br>I'm live in Mechanicsville, Md 20 miles south of Waldorf. I am in Waldorf on occasion. I've seen a Chestnut Mica Trib on base at Pax River Naval station where I work -- you perhaps ?<br><br>Got my Tribute at Brown's Mazda in Alexandria, Va., so it's about 70 miles one way for me to bring for service. I brought it in for checkout, but all they told me was "all [computer codes] check out". They're going to have to do better than this.<br><br>My cumulative gas mileage for last 5,589 miles is 20.03 mpg. However for past month or so I've been getting about 21.5 !

MERZJOHN:<br><br>My wife and I occasionally drive down to Pax on a Sundays, stopping at Berts for lunch before we stop at the base to use the Commissary and Exchange. As a matter of fact we may have seen yours when we were pulling out of the commissary lot the Sunday before last (A lady driving). I'm retired AF still working for the AF at Andrews (Home of George's ride) AFB. Bought my Trib at John Koons Mazda, Marlow Heights, just about 2 miles from Andrews and is convenient. It would be a shorter ride for you to get service there, not to mention avoid the Beltway! However, my experience thus far with their service department has been less than satisfying. I just filled out the service questionare and they did not get high marks from me! Not all was their fault as difficulty getting parts was part (no pun intended) of the problem. As they say, 3 strikes and they're out! So they've got 1.5 strikes left in my game! We'll see how they handle the fumes problem before I make any more rash judgments. Take care and maybe I'll see ya around Southern MD.

I'm at 12OO miles on mine and am noticing significant improvement from when the Trib was new. I've seen some other posts which indicate that the improvement will continue as the mileage continues to rack up.<br><br>Here's a source for OEM Tribute accessories that I and several others have used -- they have pretty good prices:<br><br>www.mazdastuff.com<br><br>This and other sites are in the Links section at left.

I'm at almost 5000 mi and not getting good mileage: about 21 on the hwy. (I don't measure city; I'm too busy pulling in to gas stations.) Haven't noticed any improvement at all.

For my ES-V6 @ 2500 miles:<br> City driving = 15 mpg<br> Mixed driving = 18-20 mpg<br> Highway driving = 21-23 mpg<br><br>Not the best fuel consumption, but I hope it'll get better. (I also like to have fun while driving, so I'm not complaining that much.)

Dear cwfoot;<br><br>Do not despair over your mediocre gas mileage. Mine was similar to yours at 1000 miles, and after about 5K miles I was averaging ~20 mpg. Now with a little over 11K miles, I'm averaging around 21 mpg. around town and 23-24mpg on the highway with the cruise set at 70mph. (Once you get cranking over 75mph, it does seem to put a dent in the overall mileage).<br><br>As others have reported, you will see an improvement between 2K-5K miles, and it will continue to get better as everything breaks in and smooths out.<br><br>Good luck, and happy zoomin'

I am at the same point with my ES with the same numbers and the same hopes. Its hard not to have driving these.

Hi tenn tribute. I haven't been around much lately. Wow you have 16K on your Tribute..your twin only has 8800! I've been using it less because finally Miata weather has come! I still enjoy driving my Tribute though. With the sunroof open, I zoooooommmm..It is still as wonderful as when I first got it. There are a few more around but not many and mine is the nicest looking (and I'm sure you'll agree)..zoom zoom

1993 B2200 Ext. Cab. I get around 270 miles per tank. I have 161,000 miles on my truck and hope to make 200,000. I rebuilt the engine last summer (rings, valve job, seals, bearings). The throwout bearing in my original clutch is starting to squeal. I'll do a clutch job this summer. It truely amazes me what great trucks we have. John Bennett