2012 2LT - Horrible gas mileage

[Russell James]

It's the driver.

Had the same debate with a coworker on our DD Equinox's. We both have 4 cyl Equinox for work commuting, and our commutes are almost the same. He was averaging 22, my DIC says 26. He's bitched to the dealer numerous times, they've told him nothing is wrong.

I convinced him to trade vehicles for a week. We resest the DICs. He gave me mine back showing 23 and his said 25.5, and I probably even did a bit more city driving that week than normal with his. I Could have easily got 26/27 with his, nothing wrong with it.

Then I rode with him one day.... jack rabbit starts, long idling while he talked on the phone, he always was using an HVAC mode that had the A/C compressor on (floor and defrost).... So all that stuff added up to much worse mpg.

If there is really anything seriously wrong, the check engine light would be on. If no light.... it's the driver.

[nikos30]

my car did this one time. It was right after adding my intake. It was for the first 200 miles or so..I disconnected the battery for an hour, doesnt have to be that long, and connected it. drove 100 miles and after that it was back to normal. idk why it happened but it was fixed.

[Jalberdi99]

Originally Posted by twmotox

Yes very low, my 13 1LT m6 is getting 22-23 average

how? i get an average of 18.2 on my 2013 2lt auto and i dont have a heavy foot. i just hope she gets better with time

[BreakingBad]

Originally Posted by heRS

that fluttering sound - do you have the dash vents closed or open, because if you have the a/c on and air coming out the dash vents, then close the dash vents and then try using your defroster or heater you'll hear a fluttering sound until you adjust the air to be coming out the upper or lower vents.
As for the mileage, my 2010 is pulling an average of 24-25 mpg. Good luck with a resolution to that.

Can you elaborate on the dash vent things? They're all open, since it's winter time and I'm freezing my ass off...nothing really changed except me going in one day and began hearing the fluttering noise. Are you saying close the vents and turn on the rear defroster?

Originally Posted by My Caroline

You need not pay attention to the DIC. It averages the 1 second you floored with with the 30 minutes your crused. What you REALLY need to do is take your gas receipts and calculate the average on your own. The DIC doesn't run for the whole tank, and it doesn't even run after you've turned off the car. Not only do you need to reset it every time you fill up, you need to reset it every time you turn the car off.
Notice how your average speed is probably like 30mph. If you only did that and went to the donut shop. Got back in your car and hoped on the highway for 4 hours, it wouldn't be a 30mph average. It was 30 because that's what it was when you turned the car off.

From your last fill up take your receipt. Take the number of miles you drove on that tank and divide by the number of gallons you put in. It's usually different than the DIC.

Check out my thread here. Lots of good discussion. Miles per tank is what's important, NOT the DIC.
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225721

GOOD info, Appreciate it! Will do for next fill up.

Originally Posted by TooCool5

Your in PA and probably experiencing the winter gas formula.

My mileage went down one winter to 15. Ran fuel injector cleaner, did a fuse pull and it came back to around 19. This is all you can expect in northern states.

Try changing your brand of gas, Sunoco or Shell 87 get me the best mileage with my V6.

I forget what place I usually stop at, but I will roll with Sunoco and/or Shell next fill up to see if that helps, as far as fuel injector cleaner - is that really necessary with only 6100 miles?

Originally Posted by RatRacer

My wife has this kind of mpg on her LS. She drives 2.1 miles to work, avg 17mph.
Do you warm up with remote start? I've found that the fuel avg is with the car running, not only moving, and saw a .2 reduction in my avg from when I previously parked, every time I do this for 5+ minutes.

I DO warm up - good point. I will (for the testing period) refrain from using remote start - I will laugh if that's all it is.


Other answers to everyone's questions - I do not have a lead foot, rarely do I accelerate quickly from a stop and I usually only reset the DIC after I run the tank to almost E and fill up. Should I be resetting every time the car is off, or just upon refills?

So during testing period:

- No remote start
- Accelerate like a sane person
- Different gas/shell/sunoco
- Manually calculate MPG and cross reference with DIC

[RatRacer]

I reset per tank fill.

[Jeffm]

Reset each time you fill the tank

[cgreer72]

Originally Posted by Jalberdi99

how? i get an average of 18.2 on my 2013 2lt auto and i dont have a heavy foot. i just hope she gets better with time

Im getting 25-26 on the hwy, about 22-23 city driving.

[brandonrr]

my car was getting 14mpg when i first got it and i noticed that it was generally louder and required more throttle to maintain speed than my first camaro. i figured the engine in this one was a little tighter from factory and sure enough, after 2800 miles, it is quieting down and takes less throttle to maintain speed. i am averaging 20.8mpg currently and it is getting better with each fill-up.

[metthem]

Try taking the e-brake off. Just kidding. My Ls, all city driving I get about 15 mpgs. No long idle time, no long warmup, not lead footing. Maybe you have something dragging you.

[KrisWithaCamaro]

I have your same car. make model year package etc.. I get around 11 and sometimes in the 10s. Its normal for me thats all i can say.

[TJ91]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

How often do you stop and go?

These cars are heavy and the LLT/LFX are making a lot of power for a 3.6L V6 engine. That is why bolt ons only do so much for us. In rough general terms, you could say the engine is "closed to maxed out" from the factory.

Stop and go is what will hurt you the most. It takes a lot of energy to get moving.

Add to that, the V6 just flat out doesn't get good mileage. If I drive it soft and shift at 2k RPMs the highest combined MPG I've gotten with mostly city and local road driving is 22 MPG. On average I get 16-18 tbh.

The car is running fine because just this summer I got 33 after 4 hours of highway driving.

If the V6 isnt on the highway, its going to get just about the same mileage as the 8.

Also keep in mind that you need to reset the calculator every time you fill up.

[Jalberdi99]

Originally Posted by brandonrr

my car was getting 14mpg when i first got it and i noticed that it was generally louder and required more throttle to maintain speed than my first camaro. i figured the engine in this one was a little tighter from factory and sure enough, after 2800 miles, it is quieting down and takes less throttle to maintain speed. i am averaging 20.8mpg currently and it is getting better with each fill-up.

i guess i just have to wait. it did improve from 17.9 to 18.2 avrg

[TJ91]

Whats the milage on the car?
When I first got mine, the gas milage was horrible for the first maybe 5k miles. Like I mean HORRIBLE! I tried driving it like a grandmother and the mpg was just terrible. Finally I said F it and started driving her like I stole it to finally enjoy the car, I guess it helped loosen up the engine and my MPG went up actually.

Its still less MPG for what I expected, on the highway its good, city, its terrible. But better then what I was getting the first year I had the car, like drivng a Hummer, almost as bad no lie.

[Jalberdi99]

Originally Posted by TJ91

Whats the milage on the car?

1865