2009 Chevy Cobalt LS Coupe XFE

[Jammer]

I posted many details in the thread of a driver here that has an XFE and beat 50mpg.

I bought my Cobalt XFE for about $13,00 after many discounts all taxes paid, everything out the door for that price. I knew XFEs were rare in my county, and I did not really expect to get the EPA rating of 37 highway. After 2,000 miles my car started getting better and better avg MPG. No, I'm not up there with the members here that are getting 50 plus MPG YET! But I am seeing a trend with my car. For some weird reason it seems these XFEs get better mileage once there broke in. One week ago my avg started going up a few tenths a MPG on every drive I took. My car is still new and being broke in, and I'm not even due for an oil change just yet. But I already have seen my avg MPG climb to 37.6 - And I almost freaked when it made it to the EPA rating of 37!

My point is that I read where many other drivers say that once the XFEs are broke in that they get much better mileage, and that is what I am seeing now. I gain almost 1/2MPG each day I drive right now. It seems my mileage is now going up up and up, and I do not doubt I will soon be over 40MPG and I hope further.

Drivers often think that level ground is better than mountains for good mileage. Here in the foot-hills of the large mountains of east Kentucky, I think I have found a way of making the best of going over large mountains. Whenever I am going up a steep mountain, no matter what speed I am going I keep the RPMs lower than 2,000 and maybe as low as 1,200 RPM at times- when I do this my avg MPG seems unchanged. Next, whenever I am going down a long steep mountain I TRY to shift to neutral whenever the incline is just right so my car will coast for literally miles as the engine idles near 900RPM. I do Down-Shift to avoid smoking me brakes, or at least avoid some wear on the brakes. But as much as I can I coast to a stop and avoid jackrabbit starts/stops.

I'm at 37.6 avg MPG, but the happy story is how this car suddenly started climbing up and up in MPG- I'm now gaining about 1/2 mile a day and have little doubt of passing 40mpg soon- even in the hills.

Other drivers here claim 50MPG plus with these cars, and I believe it. I may not be there yet, but I certainly can see that these XFEs do better as they get broke in from being new.

As far as I know I must be the only Cobalt XFE-stick owner in this county. I see hundreds of Cobalts on the roads, but I have yet to see even one car that has the XFE badge on the right/rear.

I feel more drivers/customers should look at the PRICE of a car before looking at it's MPG. The Honda Insight HYBRID is said to get 43MPG and sells for $20,000. It's interesting to me that a $20,000 hybrid can get the same or less MPG than a car selling for $13,000- all gas engine. $7,000 can buy a lot of fuel. - But I do like Hybrids and electric cars. I could not afford one. So as much as I like the Prius and I hope the Chevy Volt, like all of us here, I had to buy what I could afford and try to get the best mileage out of it. I hope I can do as good as the drivers that claim to of beat 50MPG in their 2008 XFEs.

[Jammer]

I hope it's not against the rules here to update a thread that has no replies. I have not read of anything like this, so I guess it's ok.

I just wanted to say that it has became a contest for me to try to get as high of a avg mileage as possible with my XFE. And, as expected, it's still going up with each time I drive it. Yesterday my average was 37.6, TONIGHT my average is 38.3 avg MPG and climbing.

Thanks for reading.

[Fr3AkAzOiD]

Glad to see another XFE owner around here.

I have an '08 XFE and in my 28,000 miles have had a couple tanks pop over 50 mpg.

I'd like you to join the mpg team I formed (Team Chevy).
EcoModder Team Competition

I noticed the same things with mine and contantly climbing MPG as that car got broken in.

As long as you don't have a lot of stop and go driving and aren't forced to go 70 mph on the highway you should be seeing 40+ mpg before you know it.

Feel free to message me so we can share any tips, tricks, mods, etc....

[Jammer]

Thanks Fr3AkAzOiD, it's always nice to meet new friends anywhere. I'll have to check out the group you speak of. I'm also a fan of yours in how you got so many miles out of your 2008XFE. If I ever beat 50MPG I'll have to post PICTURES (on other sites) of my Dash-Computer because many seem to already be doubting that my car is getting as good as it already is. I'm almost ready to invite people to my dash-computer so they can tell me my computer is wrong (not from this site). lol - But, I did calculate a 1/2 tank of gasoline today- 6 &1/2 gallons got me 260 miles, which makes it 40MPG exactly.

I do have 70MPH interstates here, with all other major roads normally at 55MPH which is fine for my XFE. I was hoping this car would be capable of getting high MPG at such 70MPH speeds, but I'm starting to think it just not possible with such a design. So if I end up having to work far away again I'll have to choose the fast interstate which will cost me $$ in gas, or taking the slower old road that would take me longer at 55MPH but be able to maximize my average fuel economy. I am currently unemployed in a part of the country that was the last to be hit hard by the recession, and likely the last to ever pull out. So I am looking for jobs far away and I may very well have to travel 100 miles or more a day ONE WAY to find work. This is the area in which I really need the highest mileage the most. But now I know I can take an older 55 MPH road which would take me longer, but I could still get to the big city and be able to afford gasoline and FOOD, even if it does take me another 40 minutes to get there! haha

[SVOboy]

Congrats with the improving mileage, there's probably a few miles left on the car before it finally breaks in completely. As has been discussed, slowing down (and aeromods) will help you get even better mileage.

Good luck

[Jammer]

Thanks SVOboy. It seems like a cool site here.

Fr3AkAzOiD: I sent you a PM here. I seem to be having problems joining Team Chevy, whenever I click to join all I get is the over all scoreboard. Maybe I don't fully understand how it works.

Peace.

[gone-ot]

...also takes time for the brand new tires to "wear-in" before their rolling resistance stablizes (before becoming minimal and bald!)

[chuckm]

A big second to SVOboy's comment about slowing down. At 55mph, my scanguage shows that I can get as much as 55mpg (car at running temp, flat road, warm weather, dry road, calm wind, not drafting). In the same conditions, I barely scrape 43mpg when I'm running 70mph. Besides the huge difference in drag forces, most car drivetrains are at their most efficient between 30 and 55mph.

[Fr3AkAzOiD]

The 70 mph speed limit areas will kill you.

I used to jump on I-95 in a 70 zone and I'd be lucky to get 45 mpg on the flat, usualy more like 40-42. Got on Google maps and found some back roads that actualy cut out a few miles of my trip and I am able to do 45 mph and get 55 mpg on the flat.

Also I'm sure your 7ft CB antenna isn't helping much with your areodynamics.

I did a test run through several tanks with different styles of driving to show what I got when I first started. May give you an idea of what to expect.

I did these within the first 3,000 miles in July and August in Maryland before the car was even completly broken in and I moved to North Carolina.

30.14 mpg
This was my tank for your average driver. Tires we deflated down to around 28 - 30 psi, I ran with the A/C 90% of the time, reved higher, didn't time traffic lights, generaly accelerated away from lights at whatever pace the person next to me did. My mpg was actualy pretty close to what the average estimate is and if this is how most people drive no wonder they are complaining about gas prices.

36.15 mpg
This was my Conservative tank. Pretty much just a public service announcement style "check your tires air pressure and slow down". NO EOC or P&G just slowing down and timing traffic lights as best as possible and used the A/C like a normal person would but my tires were inflated to 2 psi under sidewall max. Considering I would still go 58 - 65 on the highway getting over 36mpg was pretty damn good since 36 is the highway rating and I only drive about 60% highway. Even though this tank I allowed myself to use the A/C whenever I wanted it wasn't a hot week and I didn't need it that much.

37.87 mpg
Eco driving without EOC or turning off engine at lights. Hot week, A/C may have lower mpg a little bit.

40.33 mpg
This tank is EcoDriving with engine off at lights. Tires were inflated so once warm were 2psi below sidewall rated max, P&G but no EOC, stuck to speed limit on highway and would kill the engine when coming up to a red light. Hot week, needed A/C.

48.03 mpg
Hypermiling tank. The works, P&G, EOC, no A/C. Only thing I didn't do was drafting.


So depending on how you are willing to drive you can see a wide range of results but once broken in you should be able to see lifetimes averages in the low to mid 40's.

Just don't let winter cause you to stop eco driving, I got frustrated by falling mpgs and let them fall even further to the mid 30's.

[Jammer]

Good advise there, thanks for the post.

I too thought my Wilson 5000 cb radio antenna would impact my mileage, but I can not tell that it has. The wire slices through the air like a knife, and the base unit with the coil is mounted very low and directly to the ceiling of the car allowing the wind to go around it's circular shape. I have a mighty fine cb radio that I use for long range travel here on the big roads, and I just can not shed it. It's actually pretty cool to be able to talk to the truck drivers in their own lingo and hear their voices of surprise when they learn what I am driving. I often hear "I thought you were driving a big rig all of this time"- that's because I have used cb radios most of my life to get to far away jobs on time. The only problem with a cb radio is like a car in general- they need maintenance when little things break or wear out. I would even go as far as to say that a cb radio on channel 19 can be eco-friendly by alerting drivers of large traffic jams of stop and go traffic many miles ahead. Many times I avoided traffic jams and found away around it all because of the help I got on my cb radio. -- Otherwise I am a MUSIC MAN, and currently am playing The new mixes of The Beatles. lol- It's not easy, but I still keep my cb on at a very low volume in case anyone yells for me.

I hear what your saying about the 70MPH zones killing the gas mileage. It;s ironic that the sticker gives the highest rating to "Highway" driving, when around here the interstate robs a lot of fuel by just trying to keep up with traffic (and not many here speed past 70mph either- perhaps due to the cost of fuel).

So far I don't have enough evidence from my car to say the higher tire pressure is doing much more than making my tread wear faster and give me a poorer to handle car. I'm at 34-37 ppsi depending on temps. I'm not to keen on maxing out my pressure, but to each their own. Your the one that got over 50mph, so I can not say it's wrong to to what you did, I just prefer they way the car handles and less than MAX tire pressure.

My Current avg Dash Mileage is 39.00MPG exactly.
(UP from 38.6 this morning)- I have driven about 405 miles on this tank, with a RANGE OF up to 145 Miles left. A 550 Mile journey on a 13 gallon tank would really leave my jaw on the ground, as this is well over twice the distance I ever got in cars and trucks prior to this one- and most of them had 20 gallon fuel-talks too.