I'm beginning to wonder it the car knows if it is in town or on the freeway. I did a lot of freeway driving on this last tank and it only got 24.5mpg. I'm beginning to think I'll never get 30mpg with this car. I look forward to a long drive. If I don't get 30mpg with this car I will probably dump it. Some newer cars have come out that really get that mileage. I like the car but want the freeway mileage....

Regards
Jib01
2.0 SXT with Automatic.

 

Ya have to featherfoot the Caliber w/CVT. My initial surprisingly hi 30MPG average was nice. One of my flat highway runs was 34.9 MPG...more nice. Even better nice was the 32 MPG going over 4000 foot mountains from sealevel. But as the winter got cold & long, my average MPG dropped to 28.4 MPG. But with the coming of spring, the weather warmed & winter mix gas was replaced by higher energy summer mix gas. My average MPG began climbing again. One trip over those 4000 foot mountains netted my highest mountainmileage of 33.7 MPG. My overall average has risen to 29.4 MPG. I think I will net between 30 & 31MPG in my first year of ownership that ends late September 2007. We will see. I should have gotten higher MPG if I'd bot one of the smaller econo cars w/manual trannie. But the Dodge Caliber w/CVT is so elegantly smooth as to be like a magic carpet, that it would not have been worth it.

 

Ok, litesong, we need some information because this seems a little abnormal.

What were your speeds during these trips ? Did you have air on ? How many miles do you have on the car ?

Regards
Jib01

 

Yes, it is abnormal. More abnormal is I love the Earth, love to Drive, & love not to Pollute...three very jealous lovers.Ifeatherfoot like crazy, so my lovers don't drive me crazy. Previous econocars I've owned I got 42 & 45MPG average. I used to have a motorcycle. Traveling around America, I got 75MPG. On one 8000 mile trip, I used 120 gallons of fuel...& that while going over 10,000 foot mountain passes.I really work to stress my machines as little as possible. I live inWashington State, where the air is clean & I'll trymy best to keep it clean. Try to use a/c little.

I see that myCaliber is running especially good comparedto other Calibers. MPG has been good from the beginning & I have 8500 miles on Caliber now. Altho I try to keep speed down, I ain't giving heart attacks to those behind me. But I don't care if pretend auto racers have to slow down to the speed limit. The Dodge CVT seems especially prone to guzzling gas when driven even moderately hard. Tho the Caliber CVT was advertised to give 5 to 7 percent better MPG than 4 speed automatic transmissions, that percentage isonly available to real real careful ffeeaatthheerrffooootteerrss!At the same time, if driven with very careful featherfooting, it'll start giving "abnormally good" MPG.

Here's some tips. & remember, Caliber CVT responds best to these gas saving tips. Keeptires at recommended pressures. Low tires kill MPG.Europe loses 2 billion gallons of gasa year just from low pressured tires. Try keeping pressures 1 to 2 pounds per square inch over recommended levels, but no higher. Higher pressures make braking distances long...& dangerous.

As mentioned, slow down. Many freeway cars run well over the speedlimit, so slowing to the speed limit maybe dangerous. But slowing 1 to 3 mph will also save gas. For thosehighways where possible, slowing to the speed limit (or heavenforbid, even lower) can really save the gas. The Caliber w/CVThas a high drag shape. Slowing down really really adds to MPG.

Accelerate slowly. Remember, for Caliber CVTs, accelerate v.v. slowly. Accelerating like all the cars around you will dump lots of MPG.

Don't yo-yo your velocities. This activity takes lots of MPG away from you.

The number one gas guzzler technique is to accelerate uphill with the a/c on. This triple whammy of gas guzzling will immediately put your MPG in the dumpster. As you approach the hill, turn off your a/c. As best you can,accelerateBEFOREcoming to a hill(& let your speed reach a bit higher than your normal speed) without having to press the gas pedal really hard. As you ascend the hill,gradually let your speed fall till your speed is 1 to3MPH below your normal as you reach hilltop level. Once on the level(& only AFTER you reach the level), slowly bring your car up to the speed younormally run at. You arein effect,stretching the hill out & making it a shallower hill & more climbable with less engine effort.

Most of all, concentrate on saving gas. Your car continually uses gas.Continually think to save gas. Your planet will thank you....so will your pocketbook. Let those who would scoff at you waste their own money. Don't let other gas guzzlers waste your money too.

 

Ok, now we need a definition of what YOU mean by Featherfooting. It means different things to different people. As I said above, 2000rpm seems to be the rpm you want to not go over until you are on the freeway. Just maintaining that is featherfooting it to me.

Also, it sounds like you travel below normal freeway speeds. What about around town and coming up to stoplights, how do you handle that ?

Every little bit of information helps to get more MPG out of our Caliber.

Regards
Jib01

 

Others usingthis info have raised their MPG 10%. That's a good start.There is a month's worth offreereading at caliberforumz.com where great people are crazy for their Calibers...even when their Calibers aren't getting good MPG. I'm over there & you can look at 370 of my posts on various threads. We'll see you there.

 

This will make you feel good. I get 10 mpg. in the SRTand 14 MPG. in the HEMI.
What you will do for fun!!!

 

Hi Midnight Runner...Yes, you do make me feel good. Because you posted here, you have some interest & you have potential to save almostTHREE TIMESas much as me.If you got 10% better MPG, you'd save one tenth of a gallon of gas in 10 miles of driving...me I have todrive 30 miles to save one tenth of a gallon ofgas.

If I drive 300,000 miles saving 10% of my gas, I'd save 1000 gallons of gas & maybe $3000. But you driving 300,000 miles would save 3000 gallons & $9000. Of course, you won't just drive 300,000 miles. You're reallyenthusiastic & probably willdrive well over 1 million miles. If you drove 1.5 million miles, you would save 5 times more or 15,000 gallons &$45,000. & that's if you just stayed with 10MPG vehicles that you drove to get 11MPG.

However, if you did switch to a car getting 30MPG, you would save 100,000 gallons of fuel, 2.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide& $300,000.

Come on! Get on board!Save some money, so you can spend it on better things than makinga lot of exhaust smoke. That's really what we are...exhaust makers. I for one will not spend my time, energy& MONEY making exhaust. When they come, I will have a full electric car & tell the oil companies where they can stick their individual $400million severence wages, bonus's & retirements.

 

Ahha, litesong, I have figured out finally why you are getting better gas mileage than I am. You have an SE 1.8 with the CVT. I didn't know that was an option ? Of course you are going to get better mileage with that combo. Now I understand....unless you posted wrong.....

Regards
Jib01

 

Hi Jib01...Good to see you over on the other site. No, my SE Caliber is the 2 liter w/CVT. I posted such in this thread on 2/3/07. As you thot, the 1.8 liter is not available w/CVT, but only with the 5 speed. I would havebot the 1.8 liter w/CVT tho.I would like to meet someone with the 1.8 liter 5 speed who feather foots really good,calculates his MPG carefully& see how much more MPG he has than me. But I never would have bot a car with 5 speedmanual tranny. I already have my 1988 Ford Festiva that averaged 45 MPG earlier in its life...& that with a 4 speed higher rpm tranny. Yes, I was seduced by the dark side(the CVT was too magically carpet ride smooth to resist its charms). I'm very happy my feather footing has made for some of thehigher Caliber average MPGthat I've seen tho.