Poor Gas Mileage in 2002 Subaru WRX Wagon

Hi everyone! I am getting poor mileage with my Subaru and am becoming very frustrated. Any suggestions are welcome. I just read an old forum discussing gas mileage in 2002 Subaru WRX's, and most were getting 20-30 mpg. I am getting about 15! I drive almost entirely in the city, and am getting just over 200 miles/tank. This is really frustrating considering I traded in my Jeep to get something with better mileage. Any suggestions on how to improve this? It has about

80,000 miles on it, and I just got it serviced in November. Although, I haven't had the plugs/wires changed. I just bought it last March, so I haven't even had it a year yet. I keep the tires aired, and I don't think I drive it too hard. Just looking for some ideas.

Thanks!

Reply to
jsand1108
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Have the plugs ever been changed ? Should be done at 60,000. There are no wires.

Reply to
Mike

No one buys a WRX for economy and I think your MPG round town is about right, particularly if the plugs are shot...I get around

18 MPG (UK gals) in town driving and 25-28 on a run with good plugs. Wrong car for the job IMHO.
Reply to
Clive - Selectron

I suppose there is a possibilty the Engine Temp Sensor is bad - at least older models would have them fail and NOT throw a CEL with resultants poor mileage. 80K miles COULD also mean the front O2 sensor is getting old/lazy. And yeah - you're overdue for plugs if they are original copper units. But, surface street/stop-go driving, in winter, will be unlikely to yield much better than 20mpg IMHO.

Reply to
Carl 1 Lucky Texan

Distribution.www.espguitars.co.ukwww.emgpickups.co.ukwww.tube-shop.comwww.coreoneproduct.comwww.whirlwindusa.comwww.espshop.co.uk

I didn't get the car for gas mileage. If that's all I was looking for, I would have gotten a Honda. But I figured this was an all-wheel drive that I could get better mileage than my Jeep. And I'm not looking for miracles -- 15 mpg is just the lowest I've seen out of anybody. 20 is my goal. 20 is what I was expecting when I bought it. It does pretty good on the highway, just not in town.

Reply to
Pixie

Trade in for an impreza with no turbo. I doubt you'd like the pig, but I routinely get 23 mpg on mixed cycle and I have a lead foot.

15 city mpg on a rex sounds about right. One reason I did not get one was low range per tank just like you indicated. A taller gas tank would have helped to raise the floor of the cargo area and make it flush with the hatch opening just like on legacy. Dunno why FHI did not do it. It must be even worse on STI. How many miles per tank do people get on STI?
Reply to
isquat

02 WRX, just turned 60K. City driving I get ~22-23 MPG and ~28MPG Highway. Every time I fill up the tank, I check the mileage on Trip Odometer A then reset (I use Trip B for the oil change). Usually I get about 290 - 310 miles per tank in city. This past summer I drove all highway miles (adverage speed was 74 MPH) and was at 352 when the low fuel light came on. Fill it up with ~13.5 Gallons. (352/13.5 = 26MPG, If I slowed down I could have got better MPG). I'm happy that it!!!
Reply to
bandit40356

I've been averaging about 22mpg and 300 miles/tank doing about 2/3 highway driving. 2002 wrx wagon stock 42k miles.

Reply to
-rick-

Did you get it used? If so the ricer who had it before likely did some shitty "upgrade" and the car is running rich now or something. Did you check with the boy if he's to be found?

Reply to
isquat

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