galaxygrrl

OK, why are most people getting high teens and low twenties in town? In SF, I get anywhere from 7 to 12. To be honest, I would not have bought this car if I knew that was the city mpg.

mdp c230k

Galaxygrrl,
It must be the way you and I drive! We both get really bad mpg in the city. The City has no flat roads, just up and down with a stop on almost every corner. This is made to give you bad mgp in any car. Our car with its realy low first gear is especially bad with starts and stops. I wish it was a little better too.

apkom

I guess, you drive down city streets 90% of the time and it's all up/down hills in SF. While braking going down hill you waste
all the energy you picked up going up. Under such conditions the weight of the car is primary factor in milage. And at 3340lbs coupe is not particulary light.

Our C230K is primarily driven down (relatively level) mix of highways and some city streets in San Jose area and we get 22MPG on average.

galaxygrrl

mdp c230k, this just must be the trade-off of living in such great cities. Another cost of living in the promised land.

Apkom, your right of course, it's just frustrating. It's costly and bad for the environment.

Beth

MahinS

I've had my new coupe for 3 days... and i'm getting only 10mpg so far. In SF! Ugh, not any better than the range rover i just traded in... maybe if i switch to "W"inter mode?

galaxygrrl

MahinS, I understand...

I don't think going to "w" mode will help, I think traction will make the gas milage worst.

People on this board said my milege would get better over time. Well, it has a bit, but not much -- instread of getting 7 to 10 mpg in the city, I know get about 8 to 12. Supposedly, your car comes with heavy break-in oil that is affecting the mpg. Once this oil is removed, it should get better, I was told. Well see.

Give that gas costs so much $$ in SF, I know it's a bummer.

Flashman

I get 21-22 MPG per tankful, most of it is commuting, but I keep up the rev range, so it qualifies as a fuel thirsty driving style.

galaxygrrl

Rick,

How many miles do you have on your coupe and has your milage changed over time?

Beth

Buellwinkle

I used to get about 20 consistanly commuting to work (12 miles, half at 25 and half at 85mph when the car was new. Now I get about 22 with 7,500 miles on the clock. Pure highway cruising at an average 85mph, I used to get 25 and now I get about 27. If I take it easy at 75mph I can get 28. I can get 30 at 65mph but I may get rear ended.

Mike T.

That fuel consumption seems WAY out of whack. I'd expect the worst that should be possible would be somewhat above 10 (maybe in extreme performance testing) and more likely in the low to mid teens for really intense stop and go city driving, even in a hilly city.

Firstly, I'd ask what your last car did for fuel consumption, assuming you drove it the same way and on the same routes.

Secondly, I'd wonder what your highway fuel economy is.

Subject to reading the answers to the above questions, if it were my car, I would complain to M-B about the fuel consumption, as it sounds to me as though there is something badly wrong with your fuel injection metering.

Lynn

I agree with Mike. Even a NASCAR stock car gets 6 mpg. Have the dealer check it out.

apkom

I may be surprised to know how low MPG normal street car can get under certain driving conditions. Times lower!
I was routinely getting 8 MPG with my turbo MR2 on a (level) race track doing hot laps without even trying hard. Normally, that car gets 22-23 MPG around town, same as C230K.

galaxygrrl

apkom, so what type of milage are you gettting on straight hwy driving in the Bay Area -- like 280 as opposed to 101. You know nothing is flat around here.

I actually think my milage is fine, I just think this car does not like hills. I we have really hills here, I don't even have a side walk in front of my house. We have steps.

Beth

MB-BOB

Beth, do you use your "reset" computer to track tank to tank mileage? If so, what is your end-of-tank Average Miles per Hour?

I've driven a few times in SF. I recall having to use pretty heavy throttle to start from stops and maintain any pace climbing your famous hills. I would think that it naturally plays havoc on your fuel economy. If your average tank to tank SPEED is also low, I should think that explains a good deal of your mileage complaints.

Do you park facing up-hill in front of your "stepped sidewalk?" If so, starting out in the morning with heavy throttle going uphill on a cold engine cannot be described as typical.

Have you taken any day trips up the coast (flatter roads) at more normal speeds?

galaxygrrl

MB-BOB,

I don't know my average MPH, MPG for a tank. I think you right about SF. I actually park perpendicular to the sidewalk, parallel parking would be dangerous. The grade outside my house is 31 degrees. It's not typical period.

I have noticed that this car does not like hills at all. Yesterday we went to the Napa Valley and as long as I was on a flat surface, my mileage was fine, but any incline at all, even if it was not steep, wham, my mileage was down. I guess the car is heavy and does not like hills.

The only thing that concerns me is when I go 60 on the hwy, I think I only get like 25 or 26 mpg, but it's still not very flat. Nothing around here is. Next time I'm out in the Central Valley, I'll pay careful attention.

Guess I need to be a bit more scientific about looking at the mpg on the computer and I will. Thanks for your response.

Beth

Steve H.

I now have a little more than 4 K on my C230. For the first thousand mile, the mileage was so bad that I talked to a Mercedes rep at a car show about it. He said give it a little longer to loosen up. He was right. Now I get average 23 mpg per tank mixed highway/city. Short trips with a cold engine are deadly to gas mileage. In stop and go city streets with lights, I get around 15 mpg on a warm engine, < 10 when cold. It sucks but fortunately I only have 3-4 miles of it each commute. The effect is enough that I get different mpg going and coming from work. Mornings (city warm engine) I get 27+ mpg on the trip. Evenings, (city cold engine) I get 23-24 mpg. Unfortunately for Galaxy Girl this car was not designed for the city.

Flashman

I car is 1,800 miles. Mileage per tankful has been between 23 and 19MPG... I've noticed a small increase of 1-2 MPG since start. My driving style is aggressive (towards the engine, not toward other drivers)... so I'm sure if I drove calmer it would get 25/26...

Oh wait, I notice that on the one tankful m wife drove MOST of it, it got 23.5MPG... so there's some comparison...

Cullen

I did a bit more testing. I get about 25mpg per tank, 60/40 highway/town driving. I just hit the 1000 mile mark.. the first few hundred miles I got about 2-3mpg less per trip..gotta wait for hte engine to loosen up.

toki999

the first tank (from the dealer), i drove for 380 miles!!!!

but i could never get that now...

i think it's about the same as everyone else....30 hwy/20 something city..

there are modes? wintermode? performance/economy mode for fuel settings? i never knew this..

apkom

Okay, today I filled up and reset the MPG computer
in Los Altos (car warmed up). Then drove 85 north, 237 east to 1st street in San Jose for a total of 12 miles. The milage was about 28 MPG. That was almost pure steady HWY driving at 65-70 MPH.

Gary

I have 3600 miles on mine - was not impressed with the milage at first. Yesterday I drove from Norfolk VA. to Alexandria VA. 186 miles, computer tells me that I averaged 71 mph and 32 mpg
hit 85+ a couple of times - car is very smooth and stable- gotta go wash it tonight, love this thing had a guy in an S500 staring at it yesterday

galaxygrrl

apkom,

thx!

Beth

apkom

We just returned from trip to lake Tahoe. It's 220 miles one way. On way up to South Lake Tahoe (elev. 6200 ft.) average milage turned out to be 25MPG. Driving 72 winding miles around the lake (35-45 speed limits, few trafic lights) the milage was 27MPG.
On our way back to Bay Area driving 220 miles downhill it was 31.5MPG. We had few cold starts and a bit of street driving there so total average for the entire trip (620 miles) resulted in 27.8 MPG. Not bad I think.
Driving on a highway I kept the speeds at 70-80MPH.

Class C

I've been driving my car now for a few months and notice I'm only averaging 300 miles per full tank. That's a combination of freeway and streets. As it seems, I'm around 17 to 19 miles per gallon. I will try to fill up and not use the AC at all to see if I could get more miles. I was also told it's because I got larger wheels, but it shouldn't affect the mileage that much.

I don't drive the car very hard, but I use the AC often. I'll let you guys know what comes out of my study.

"Break out the tank top and roll the windows down!"

session

i use the AC almost 85% of the time, and i average about 20-23mpg. i have the stock 16" rims with michelin all seasons, running 32psi in the front, 36psi in the back.