The Kizashi does a similar --albeit much faster-- 'dance' as my second-fav Subie, my '95. Like yours.
I agree. The Kizashi is the car closest to my beloved Impreza. They both have that solid planted-to-the-ground feeling. They also feel overbuilt and durable. The Mazda3 I had between them was different. It was light and zippy with a near perfect engine and 5 speed manual pairing. It was fun to drive with the great powertrain and handling, but also rather jittery and noisy. It's like the Kizashi blended the fun-to-drive factor of the Mazda3 with the solid feel and integrity of the Impreza while bringing a level of comfort beyond either.
golftango wrote:
Love that gen Subbie! How I use to long for a 2.5 RS! Still to this day one of my favorite vehicles.
The 2.5 RS was neat as it looked like a rally-ready GC8-chassis Impreza. However, it wasn't until the bug-eye WRX came out in 2002 that people really paid attention to Subaru if they didn't need winter traction. It's the WRX that really put Subarus on the map for SoCal in my opinion. Also, the 2.5 RS had the flawed EJ25 engine that blew its head gasket easily. Hence, many didn't make it to high mileage. The EJ22 in my '95 Impreza on the other hand was famous for its rock solid reliability. Mine ran on only maintenance to about 200,000 miles. It was then that a timing belt tensioner failed. After that was fixed, it kept going but I sold it to a friend shortly after.
I got gas today and reset the averages and also logged my MPGs on Fuelly. One thing I've noticed since driving cross-country is that the Kizashi's fuel economy estimates have changed drastically. While I had the car on the East Coast, it was consistently 2 MPG high of the actual figure. It was like this for almost 5 years. Since moving to CA, my driving habits have certainly changed and now the Kizashi is showing some odd estimates. The last time I filled up, the display was a shocking 5 MPG off. It showed around 25 MPG when I actually got around 20.5 MPG. This time, the Kizashi's display was actually lower (first time ever) than the actual. It displayed around 26.5 MPG when I actually got 26.9 MPG. There was also a time a while back since moving that the display and actual MPG were exactly the same.
It looks like the car is adjusting to the different driving conditions and the MPG display is probably reflective of that.
KuroNekko wrote:Since moving to CA, my driving habits have certainly changed and now the Kizashi is showing some odd estimates.
It looks like the car is adjusting to the different driving conditions and the MPG display is probably reflective of that.
I imagine the additives in gas in CA are different then where you lived out east.
2016 Ford Explorer XLT Ecoboost
2010 Kizashi GTS FWD
2011 F-350 Lariat Crew Cab 4x4 6.7
KuroNekko wrote:Since moving to CA, my driving habits have certainly changed and now the Kizashi is showing some odd estimates.
It looks like the car is adjusting to the different driving conditions and the MPG display is probably reflective of that.
I imagine the additives in gas in CA are different then where you lived out east.
Gas is certainly different (mostly in max octane as CA only goes up to 91), but I can't say it's due to additives unless it's dependent on brand. Brands out here differ from East Coast brands in both presence and number. For example, Chevron is very popular here but I don't recall seeing many, if any, while I was in the DC area. We also have Arco which I don't recall out East. I have yet to see Gulf out here while it was the gas I most often got in Maryland given it was nearest to my house. It also wasn't hard to find 93 octane out East (especially at a Sunoco), but I've never seen it in CA.
I've been getting gas at Costco most of the time in CA. It's because it's the only one under $3 a gallon for Regular around me yet is a Top Tier gasoline. However, my last fill up was at Chevron out of convenience and much of that tank was used on freeway driving. That brings me to my point that the change is likely reflective of me driving at higher speeds more often. CA has much higher speed limits than the DC region. What would be a speed limit of 35 or 40 MPH is easily 50 or 55 MPH here. I also drive on the freeways at higher speeds here and currently don't hit traffic like I did back in DC rush hour. I think this is disrupting the usual trend for the calculations. The time I got 20.5 MPG recently was when I drove up the Ortega Hwy in the Santa Ana Mountains to Lake Elsinore and back.
KuroNekko wrote:Since moving to CA, my driving habits have certainly changed and now the Kizashi is showing some odd estimates.
It looks like the car is adjusting to the different driving conditions and the MPG display is probably reflective of that.
I imagine the additives in gas in CA are different then where you lived out east.
Gas is certainly different (mostly in max octane as CA only goes up to 91), but I can't say it's due to additives unless it's dependent on brand. Brands out here differ from East Coast brands in both presence and number. For example, Chevron is very popular here but I don't recall seeing many, if any, while I was in the DC area. We also have Arco which I don't recall out East. I have yet to see Gulf out here while it was the gas I most often got in Maryland given it was nearest to my house. It also wasn't hard to find 93 octane out East (especially at a Sunoco), but I've never seen it in CA.
I've been getting gas at Costco most of the time in CA. It's because it's the only one under $3 a gallon for Regular around me yet is a Top Tier gasoline. However, my last fill up was at Chevron out of convenience and much of that tank was used on freeway driving. That brings me to my point that the change is likely reflective of me driving at higher speeds more often. CA has much higher speed limits than the DC region. What would be a speed limit of 35 or 40 MPH is easily 50 or 55 MPH here. I also drive on the freeways at higher speeds here and currently don't hit traffic like I did back in DC rush hour. I think this is disrupting the usual trend for the calculations. The time I got 20.5 MPG recently was when I drove up the Ortega Hwy in the Santa Ana Mountains to Lake Elsinore and back.
I know that gas here in the NE has summer/winter blends. Winter blends always gives crappy MPG numbers. I bet there is no need for summer / winter blends in CA. That’s a good thing.
golftango wrote:
I know that gas here in the NE has summer/winter blends. Winter blends always gives crappy MPG numbers. I bet there is no need for summer / winter blends in CA. That’s a good thing.
Good point and here's some proof: Today, October 24th, it went up to 106 F in my area which isn't even an inland desert location.
LPSISRL wrote:What is the altitude? Could that have an affect on both the reading and the actual MPG?
My current elevation is 56 ft. My place of residence back in Maryland was a comparable 69 ft. I'm quite sure it's the very different driving conditions. I also expect that with time, my estimated range reading of Distance To Empty will also increase if these conditions persist.
LPSISRL wrote:My DTE is usually 375-400 after a fill up. I have gone well over 400 on a single tank.
Mine is 325 to 350. My range was often that too with my DC commute. I think the range will increase now that I'm in CA. The best range I ever got was about 425 miles on a tank when I drove from DC to Ithaca, NY.
