I have a question and I know there's been a lot of talk on the forum about gas mileage but I thought I would put this out there anyway:
I have a 2008 HHR 2LT 2.4 engine with 14,000 (yes, 14k) that I bought in June of this year. I know the previous owner took care of the car and it was always garaged and I have maintenance records for oil changes, etc.
I've seen where people are getting around 20 mpg in the city and sometimes over 30 on the hwy. I'm getting (according to my DIC) about 16-17 city and usually 26 on the hwy at 70 mph and once got 28 (never higher). Any ideas or is this normal? I've checked the DIC figures against actual when I fill up and it's pretty close, usually within .2 - .5 accuracy.

 

Are you looking at AVG or INST? The INST will vary from 0-99. The AVG will give you a total average between resets. (it's in the Owner Manual)

 

This is a graphic of my mileage distribution over the seven+ years of ownership of my 2.4L auto. I have a light foot when driving and if the car is properly tuned up, I would expect it to do better. You may want to have your car checked out to see if there are any codes stored. Having a five year old car with that few mileage, injectors may be "gummed" up and some injector cleaner may help if that is an issue.

The DIC in my car (I reset after each fill-up) never reads what manual calculations say. It usually read 1-2 mpg lower than calculated value.

 

PROBABLY do to your driving skills!! Almost 100% of the time this is the cause of the discrepancy, between those that do recognize good mileage and those that don't. AAA, and other auto magazines, have had articles about this very subject.

A good test..........

Get to a freeway. Acquire a steady speed of 70 MPH, re-zero your DIC gas mileage counter and lock in the cruise control. Drive for 50-100 miles. I would bet good money you have a display of between 30 and 33 MPG.

 

""Are you looking at AVG or INST? The INST will vary from 0-99. The AVG will give you a total average between resets. (it's in the Owner Manual)""

No, I'm looking at AVERAGE mpg on the DIC and reset it after each fill-up.

 

Then something is amiss. Mine gets avg 22MPG when I run local all day with 100 stops engine running the whole time. Mixed highway and city around 25MPG. Highway 70MPH 32MPG.

 

""Then something is amiss. Mine gets avg 22MPG when I run local all day with 100 stops engine running the whole time. Mixed highway and city around 25MPG. Highway 70MPH 32MPG.""

Thanks, I'll get them to check it out when I take it in to the dealer for an oil change.

 

Exactly! When I drive our HHR for a week I can average 27 cty/freeway mix. I am a "spirited" driver but I don't floor it from a dead stop. I can get 23/24 in straight city driving. My wife on the other hand will only get 20 in city driving. Same goes for our Trailblazer. I can 16 in the city with it, she gets 12.

I have gotten 35 with the HHR over a 90 mile trip on a country highway, with 3 adults and luggage. I never went over 60.

I have a friend, both he and his wife have nearly identical cars. She gets far better mileage than he does and he thinks there is something wrong with his. The dealer told him the there is nothing wrong with the car. The problem is with him, he floors it from every dead stop, but doesn't even realize he's doing it.

 

I have same vehicle year and model. Get 20 in the city and 30 on the road. Used to get 24 in the city when I lived in a high altitude. Have 88000 miles.

 

What kind of octane gas are you using...you live in a hot zone and the engine senses this..if your running cheap gas in hot weather the ecm could possibly be tuning you back to save itself, especially if your running alot o AC.