Why is the fuel economy for the Ralliart so poor?
 

I drive the car and I do love it but I'm not a gear head so maybe someone can explain to me why this is. I may be comparing apples and oranges here but if you stack it up next to something like a 2010 Audi S4 you're getting about 100+ hp out of the Audi V6 while still retaining AWD. I'm having a hard time finding weight numbers for the Ralliart but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that there isn't a 700lb weight difference between it and the Audi. However, at the end of it the EPA estimates are better for the S4. I wouldn't expect Toyota Camry hybrid fuel numbers back from the Ralliart but the numbers I'm getting seem higher than they should be. Always looking to become more educated so any info would be greatly appreciated.

Mitsu has never been strong in the MPg dept.
that's all I got

There is very little you can do about the MPG. If you drive a little more easy on the car you might pick up a few MPG there. ECO tuning may be another suggestion, but self defeating since you will likely lose potential HP. Losing weight in the car is another option. Small things can go a long way when you add them up.

Yeah I manage about 400kms (250 miles) per tank. I love the car but I dislike that other cars in the price range can pull off similar power figures with much better fuel numbers.

They may have similar peak numbers, but performance is not any where near these cars (this is in regards to "with much better fuel numbers"). I gotta say, if fuel consumption was such a priority, you didn't cross shop very well. Per Audi:17/26; if that's a 27% improvement gotta wonder how bad it was when it was turboed (vs super).

Try the door, or the owners manual, or the internetz, or.......FYI ~3500-3600 (depending of sub-sub-model)

Yes that is apples to oranges. S4 is Direct Injected.

if you're going to compare to an audi you should at the very least compare to an Audi that's in the same price segment. The S4 is in the $40k+ price point. The Audi A3 is at the same price point as the RA ($27k+), has the same size engine, awd, and it turbo as well. When you compare to a "comparable" Audi, the RA isn't so bad. Yes, the fuel efficiency still isn't quite as good, but the RA out performs the A3 across the board in everything except luxury...

There's 2 reasons for the A3 w/ its 2.0T engine to get better economy:
1) It's not running as much boost (lower power)
and
2) It also uses direct injection. So, the fuel maps don't have to be tuned quite as rich as it has to be for the RA...

RA fuel economy sucks due to several reasons. High weight, rich factory tune, small fast spooling turbo, AWC components eating horsepower, poor aerodynamics, and usually younger more aggressive drivers. In fact, you could say it suffers from a perfect storm working against economy. But it sure is fun to drive. Especially in the slick stuff. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Kind of a loaded question. Are you running Ethanol- free premium fuel? Winter blend fuel also hurts fuel economy.. do you manual shift? If so, what RPM?

Too many variables...

I agree on all counts (outside of the rich factory tune because I don't have the knowledge to know if thats true or not...I'll take your word for it though). I can't wait for the snow either thought.

Good questions to the last poster. Almost exclusively let the tranny shift on its own. Running ethanol free gas. After the car warms up I find that the shifts usually occur around 2500-2800 rpm.

S4 has direct injection, an arguably more efficient motor at low load/rpm, and also much longer gearing then the RA.

The S4 could also be more slippery but that one I have not even looked into.

Speaking of which, damn are our mirrors noisy!

Slippery meaning more aerodynamic?

something to consider also is that Mitsubishi does so bad in MPG is that their numbers are realistic. They put 5 people in the car in 3-5 cars. drive, and then calculate average fuel. there are your numbers. I'm off by 0.5mpg from what the sticker says.
I own a Hyundai Genesis, i was off by as much as 10mpg some days. and same goes for the audi.
OP i understand your not a gear head but is your foot a little heavy. please don't say NO> even my fiancé has learnt how to push this car. it just wants to go faster than the average car and therefor sucks more fuel.
I just did a trip across canada with the Ralliart and I can give some numbers after just doing 5000km in 6 days.
@90km/h i can get 580km
@110km/h- 550km to a tank
@120km/h- can do 500km to a tank
FYI if your going to go any faster than 120 might as well do 140 ( minus speeding ticket) as you get the same milage at 140 as 120 ( or a very comparable one)
if its just sitting driving and pushing my car i easily get 400km.

When i was in toronto there was heavy traffic 45min before entering and 45 min after entering. Traffic was fluid though. The car ahead of you breaks your head wind so for that stretch of road, i was doing 56mpg and was clear of 600km to one tank.
Remember you want Prius milage drive like a prius ( don't accelerate. coast to a stop instead of braking)
You want to drive spirited, acknowledge that fact, have fun and drive

I will say this..... That info is isn't legit. At full weight and including the spare and full tank my car weighted in at 3235 or 10-20 difference I dont remember. I was required to weight my RA at a Track Event.

The Evo Comes in at 3500-3700 depending on difference of model.


OP, to correctly find your Highway MPG.... They drive a car on a flat surface bring it up to 65-70 MPH Keep the Throttle steady and RESET to recalculate MPG. That is the correct way of doing so.... the RA has a baby turbo meaning you build boost pretty quick even when you try not to. If you go with a bigger turbo you will notice a increase in MPH when not going into Boost.

On my way to Vegas I got 293 Miles (26.3 MPG) to the tank without it saying "PULL OVER MOFO AND GET GAS!"

On a Full tank going home, since it was mostly down hill, I drove 3.5 hours and I had a Half a tank left.

this is still way better than my last car so i'm happy :)