
Two weeks in and about 450 miles on the car, almost all around town driving. Please tell me the car will break in and get a few more MPG?
I noticed that when driving on the highway the QX56 stays in 5th gear and never seems to auto shift to 6th or 7th gear. I started manually shifting into 6th and 7th gear on the highway and this improved my gas mileage big time.
I would bet you are in 6th or 7th. When you switch over to manual mode, the vehicle automatically drops to 5th no matter your speed. Watch the tach next time you do this.
Mine was also getting 11-13 in mostly city driving early on. On a road trip with less than 3k miles on it, it averaged only 16mpg. I was flying along and averaging 70mph or so but still I was contemplating the tradein value I would get after only 2 months of ownership.
I'm happy to say that now with 13k miles on it, I did a similar long distance hike at high speed and averaged 21mpg (while climbing and descending some moutain passes).
I really just wish the tank was bigger. The mileage doesn't bother me so much as the range anxiety.![]()
The sand bagging fuel gauge is a well known issue for most owners. I think it is this way by design and you are not alone in only being able to get 20 in there. I think I have pushed it to 22 once.