I'm still looking at getting one of these little guys as a commuter car. I'm frugal (read: cheap) and will wait until spring before I pull the trigger. That will also give me time to finish some major upgrades to my hot rod.
I noticed that the stickers have the autos getting much better mileage than the sticks.
Are you folks getting close to the 24/28 as advertised?

 

Just checked my 2004 6 speed for the first time.

23 mpg

 

Just checked mine a few days ago. I drive in-town almost exclusively back and forth to work (no freeway). I averaged 21 :-(

I have a 6 speed, 2004. Does it being white make a difference? ;-D

 

is that right???
auto gets better mileage than the stick. That would be a first.

 

I do mostly highway cruising -- 65 - 75 mph and I average between 28 & 30 mpg, depending on how far I stick my foot into it at the stoplights. My all time best was 30.8 mpg on a trip from Richmond, VA to Onley, VA, which is on the Delmarva peninsula. I consistently get 375+ miles on a tank of gas.

 

i get 24-26 with 95% city driving.

 

I get 325-350 per tank. I never put more than 14 gal in at once. I know I could get farther but the gauge says empty and the light goes on.

 

The Moroney sticker says 17/24 for the 6 speed and 24/28 for the auto.

 

26 - 28 with easy driving.

 

Over on another forum I used to frequent this question came up a lot. One suggestion was the use of Shell gas. Consistently seemed to give higher mileage for some reason. I drive so little, I don't really care about the mileage that much but I'm 2/3 through a full tank with a 260 miles showing and very little of that was true highway, mostly in town driving with a 6 speed.

Pat

 

I've been averaging approx. 20 mpg in town and 27 on the highway...6 spd.

 

With mixed driving I get between 21.5-23 mpg, but on the freeway trips, going between 70-75, I've gotten between 28.5-29.5, better than the window sticker. I'm going to Tenn./N.C. in the next few days so I'll have another reading very soon!

 

All city driving.

19 mpg on premium.

20-21 mpg on regular.

edit: 6 spd.

 

My mileage is fantastic, now that I am commuting in my Escort and saving the Crossfire for weekend fun!

 

I thought the car should only get premium? Any issues with reg?

 

The auto gets better mileage because, supposedly the computer has the shift points mapped out to better optimize the fuel consumption. (or something like that?) This is where I say Mercedes dropped the ball with the manual transmissions and let them lag in performance. I'm glad they have the technology to make the autos better than before. But why let the other side suffer?

It mostly depends on the type of driving as well as your right foot. I can usually make it all week with only 1 tank of gas. and that's mostly highway driving average speed 70 mph.

Don't forget to check the tire pressure. That has a lot to do with gas mileage.

 

Since I bought the car in March, I have averaged right at 25 mpg. Mostly highway, but some city.

 

We mostly drive on trips with a little around town and usually get 28 or better. It is an auto.

 

I have 6 speed manual.....

22-26 mixed city highway. 20 - 25 city only. Just completed 790 mi round trip on freeways and got 31.3 mpg!

 

After 18,000km (~11.2k miles) I have 24.3 mpg in mix. Never had less than 20.5 mpg (this fueling I burnt mosty highspeed, 140+ mph). Best result ever was 26.7 mpg.