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Ugh. Gas Mileage Pains...

12K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  09XRFWDOWNER 
I think a major issue here is the aggressive throttle and transmission calibration on the '09 models. My 09 FWD, which I have only had for a couple weeks, seems to launch quickly from a stop, a lot more so than the '08's I have been around. Frankly, I wish it didn't do that except under heavy throttle. And, mine downshifts at the slightest provocation on the highway, even while in cruise control. I am convinced that enough power is available in sixth gear for the moderate power I need to maintain or slightly increase speed in almost flat highway driving, but the car does not agree. Downshifts are typically to 5th or 4th. 5th, in particular, comes up all the time. I have never once had a delayed downshift that others have complained about for earlier model years.

The big disappointment for me is the manual shifting mode will not keep the transmission in higher gears. Goose the throttle a bit and it will drop a couple or 3 gears, even while the indicator says it's set to 6th. Is my car malfunctioning or do they all do that? Really takes away from the advantage of the manual shift, which I thought would be a good substitute for appropriate programming for the transmission in automatic mode.

Otherwise I'm happy with the car, but this transmission programming impacts mileage and the useless manual mode (which does force downshifts, but the automatic forces them anyway) does not do anything to improve things.

BTW, our best mileage so far has been through Kansas at about 21MPG. Mountain driving on I70 and other roads through Colorado was above 18 (better than I expected). The worst mileage is so bad it is unmentionable.
 
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