First 50+ mpg tank for my '08 Cobalt XFE
 

I finaly did it and broke the 50 mpg barrier (51 mpg to be precise).

All driving was done on my 75 mile round trips to and from work and fillups were done at the same gas pump.

Total distance from the tank was 586.8+ miles using 11.504 gallons.

My in car mpg reader actualy said I did 51.5 but it's usualy off by +/- 1mpg.

The ends I had to go to to get it were a bit extreme (45 in a 55 mph limit) so it wouldn't be a regular accurance but it's getting me more interested in doing some aero mods to hopefully help get my tanks up to the mid to upper 40's on average.

Wife is going to Disney this weekend so maybe I'll have the chance to work on some aero mods.

Other then running the stock tires at sidewall max (44 psi) +/- 1 psi the car is a completly stock 2008 Chevy Cobalt XFE with 22,000 miles on it.

Fantastic! Nicely done.

I am ashamed to say I've yet to break the 50 mpg mark for a full tank fillup myself.....

Fr3AkAzOiD -

It makes me happy to see your Cobalt strut it's stuff.

CarloSW2

Thanks, not bad for a car EPA rated at 25/29/36.

You should do a garage entry/fuel log.

That's the best I think I've seen from a Cobalt XFE. Nice work!

I'm allowed to be jealous right? And no one will think less of me?

Great job man! I can't touch that, and I try pretty hard. I've been able to pull 50 MPG trips, but not 50 MPG tanks. See my garage for my results.

I wonder how much the LRR tires help?

The gear ratio change isn't THAT intense, and i have the distinct feeling that BSFC is best close to 2500 RPM...

.... Ok, this is bugging me to no end..

No one is allowed to beat me at my own game! :P


Race you to 60 MPG? If you don't mind a little friendly competition?

I doubt a 60 mpg tank is possible.

I'll race you to a 55 mpg tank though, 500 miles minimum.

whats your technique?

eoc, p&g?



and is it still considered P&G if you dont shut off?

Sounds like he's mainly just watching his speed:

The XFE is geared for good fuel economy on the open road at medium speeds.

Mostly just keeping between 40 - 45 mph, I don't really p&g though there is a hilly segment where I floor it up a hill to get it to about 65 and then eoc for about 1.2 miles.

I do eoc up to lights when I see them turn yellow and I know it's a long light though.

Finaly took the time to transfer my garage from gassavers to here.
per many requests ;P

Our results are actually somewhat similar, but your awesome tanks tend to be more awesome-er then mine. I'll do some EOC up to lights, or down hills too. You've also got a lot more tanks in, and probably more miles on your car.

I wanted an XFE but couldn't justify the extra cost. I picked up my 07 with 3000 miles on it for dirt cheap.

Doh! I could have imported it for you.

Grrrr..... Figures

Well I plan to do some aero mods to the car soon cuase I"ll like to be able to get 50 mpg tanks without holding up other traffic too much.

My wife told me not to (I think she is scared I'll make it look like the aero civic ;P) but I'm going to probably do some anyways.

Weather permitting I'm going to a motorcycle junkyard in town to see if I can find a small cheap side view mirror that I can use to replace my drivers side and then do an internal passanger mirror and side passenger delete.

Want to do some other things as well but I want to handle them one at a time.

2009 Cobalt XFE - I LOVE THIS CAR!
 

Here is my story, for anyone that cares:

I had an insurance settlement after the brakes failed me in a 4x4 pickup truck and I ended up crushing the truck- Thank God I was fine! My insurance company gave me enough $$ that I could not even argue with the amount they gave me. But I decided I no longer needed a pickup truck, and the high center of gravity was part of the reason I flipped over during my wreck. So this time I wanted a Eco-Box that I could out right buy out using my check.

I was lucky. I found a sales guy that knew my family and located me a 2009 Cobalt LS COUPE XFE in another state! The car was stripped except for the rear spoiler (wing) and a spare tire. I got back $2,000 cash back from G.M., $1,000 cash back from the dealer that had the car on his lot for too long (motive to push the product), AND I qualified for a GM's employee discount (my father is a retiree). So, I managed to buy the XFE for about $13,000 TOTAL, everything, all tax, registration, tags, bottom line out the door.

I have less than 3,000 miles, and I suddenly noticed that about a week ago my XFE suddenly started getting better and better mileage by gaining a few tenths a mpg every-time I drove it in the past week. I'm at 37.6 right now, and I live in the foot hills of the mountains of east Kentucky. I know thats not a high MPG YET, but I have to say that it seems the more broke-in this XFE gets, the better it's MPG gets. If this trend continues I have little doubt that over 40MPG is within sites. I would be excited if I could get 50 plus MPG like the O.P did here!! - So, I paid off a $13,000 car that can very well do better than a $20,000 Honda Insight HYBRID- 43MPG! - More customers need to calculate the price of a car before looking at the MPG sticker- Why pay $40,000 for a car with 60MPG if you have to pay $37,000 MORE to buy it??? $27,000 is a lot of fuel!!!!! -- And I truly hope the Chevy VOLT does NOT have this problem, but I fear it might.

I keep my tires at the recommended amounts of 30PSI COLD. Truth is that when I pushed the tire pressure to 44PSI (MAX) I got WORSE mileage than I am now getting, but it may be because of the break-end period.

My Driving Method:

I'm not there yet, but I truly feel I will get my car to a much higher level of avg MPG as soon as I can, and the trend right now is I gain 1/2MPG everyday I drive it- it's going up up and up. I should point out that I am driving like a grandma to get higher MPG. While I do gear-down for stops to keep from smoking my breaks out early, I also tend to shift to Neutral whenever possible so I can coast miles down a mountain top, or glide for a mile to a stop-sign. The XFE tires really help, it's like these cars roll with the puff of a wind. I try to drive under 50MPG. Whenever I go the posted speed limit on the interstate of 70MPH there is no way my mileage will not suffer (But, I go the speed of traffic to be safe!!).

I have read some tire pressure debates, and there seems to be some debate as to the wisdom of pumping in the MAX amount in tires. I now prefer to only add the recommended amount of air to my tires because I feel it handles and takes curves much better. Also, as soon as I let out 14psi from my tires and left them at 30psi as advised, my MPG WENT UP NOT DOWN (' go figure?)!

I agree that XFEs are a rare breed of Cobalt. Here in east Kentucky in the foot-hills, I see hundreds of Cobalts, but as far as I can tell, I must be the sole owner of a Cobalt XFE in this county!! It seemed the XFEs were sold out on most local car lots in mid 2009, and the ones that had them in stock seemed to only of had the color YELLOW, which is not the most popular color in this area.

I keep thinking: If The Lords Town Ohio plant is going to switch from the Cobalt to making The Cruise, and The Cruise gets 41 or 43 EPA MPG.... Well I keep wondering about all of these drivers that claim they get 40to 55MPG in their Cobalts. I mean, really, will The Cruise be all that different, or perhaps they will rate the fuel economy better than on the Cobalt XFE. Oh- My 2009 Cobalt LS Coupe XFE had a sticker EPA ratting of 25/City 37/Highway with a note that some conditions could bring up to 44MPG. I feel cars like these could really close the gaps with the current Hybrid technology. And they sale for any $$$ less too!

:)

You picked a great little car, I replied more in depth to the thread you started.

Jammer -

If I get a new car, the Cobalt XFE (or equivalent base model) is on my short list.

CarloSW2

Late in 2010 the Cobalt will be replaced by the Chevy Cruise. The Cruise is supposed to get at least 41mpg and it MIGHT be able to do it with an automatic (I really don't know about that). Either way, The Cobalt and The Cruise are both being built at in Lordstown Ohio and the cars share much in common. Also The Chevy Volt even shares much of the styling and technology from these first generation green cars.

In my profile I added an album full of pictures of my bright red brand new and waxed Cobalt LS Coupe XFE.