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Has anyone ever studied the real impact on emissions/mile for the reduced octane ("winter blend") vs summer blend considering that more fuel will be consumed per mile with the winter blend?
I'm not sure that "reduced octane" is part of the winter blend scenario as that would put the fuel out of compliance for many, if not most vehicles. AFAIK it's an adjustment to additives to reduce certain kinds of emissions that are more prone to form during colder weather.
 
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My 2022 ascent is currently getting 15 mpg in city, 18 on the highway. Sticker says 20 in city and 26 highway. Dealership said to drive it 5000 miles so that it was broken in. There was nothing wrong with the car. But when I speak to the sales guy and even the sales manager were very surprised. Had not had this problem before. I have 3300 miles on the car. Opened a complaint with corporate and they pushed me back to the dealer. I am confident I have a lemon and pursuing legal action.

anyone else had/have this issue?
The best advice I can give anyone driving an Ascent is: If you can feel the fake shifts in the transmission you are driving too hard to get good gas mileage. From a stop, accelerate to about 2,300 rpms and gently hold it there. You may feel the "First Gear" shift, but nothing from there on. You will out accelerate 70% of the other cars in stop and go driving and still get good mileage. This trick takes advantage of the high torque at low RPM the Ascent's engine is designed to do. The majority of other vehicles on the road need much higher RPMs to generate sufficient torque for acceleration. Also never let your tire air pressure fall below recommended PSI. Running +1 or +2 psi seems to help significantly and doesn't affect the ride or tire wear. Mine did improve around 5,000 miles, but doing the above helped more.
 
The best advice I can give anyone driving an Ascent is: If you can feel the fake shifts in the transmission you are driving too hard to get good gas mileage. From a stop, accelerate to about 2,300 rpms and gently hold it there. You may feel the "First Gear" shift, but nothing from there on. You will out accelerate 70% of the other cars in stop and go driving and still get good mileage. This trick takes advantage of the high torque at low RPM the Ascent's engine is designed to do. The majority of other vehicles on the road need much higher RPMs to generate sufficient torque for acceleration. Also never let your tire air pressure fall below recommended PSI. Running +1 or +2 psi seems to help significantly and doesn't affect the ride or tire wear. Mine did improve around 5,000 miles, but doing the above helped more.
My foot finds 30% throttle as the correct power to not get rear ended, not fake shift, not bog and not destroy fuel mileage. But, I'm not really concerned with fuel mileage because it is tied closely to the usage of the tank. Get a few hours+ highway trips onto a tank and I'll see 22mpg. Do nothing but stop and go grocery getting for the tank and it'll be 18. Either way, better than the smaller SUV it replaced (which needed mid or premium gas).
 
I also have a 2022 Ascent, and my gas mileage is terrible! Over the summer I had 2 whole tanks that only got 10 mpg, then a couple at 11 and 13 mpg. I took it to the dealer, and they found nothing. I'm happy to hear that it will get better after more miles, I've just barely hit 4000 since last March. I find it infuriating when someone blames it on the driving style. There isn't a new car anywhere at any price point that should be getting 10 mpg!
 
I also have a 2022 Ascent, and my gas mileage is terrible! Over the summer I had 2 whole tanks that only got 10 mpg, then a couple at 11 and 13 mpg. I took it to the dealer, and they found nothing. I'm happy to hear that it will get better after more miles, I've just barely hit 4000 since last March. I find it infuriating when someone blames it on the driving style. There isn't a new car anywhere at any price point that should be getting 10 mpg!
I am having the exact same mileage. Drive it like a grandma and it doesn’t improve the mileage. Got mine in April and just turned 4,000 miles. I’ve talked to others with an Ascent and they are getting 20’s. I’m curious which trim level you have? I have the Onyx edition.
 
I am having the exact same mileage. Drive it like a grandma and it doesn’t improve the mileage. Got mine in April and just turned 4,000 miles. I’ve talked to others with an Ascent and they are getting 20’s. I’m curious which trim level you have? I have the Onyx edition.
I have a 2022 Onyx, and my MPG sucked until around 5K miles, then steadily improved. Currently (10.5K miles) getting 18 to 20 in town, 26 to 28 highway. I find headwinds, idling to warm up, and getting into the "turbo zone" affect MPGs. Keep in mind that this is a 2.5-ton vehicle with the aero of a brick. It's never going to be Prius, but your MPG seems too low. I hope it improves!
 
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I'd be thrilled to be getting 18. I am consistently less than 15. At the moment I am getting 11 mpg.
There may be a few factors at play:
1. Winter blend fuel has fewer BTUs per gallon, that = lower MPG
2. Prolonged idling to warm up kills mileage, there are zero miles in the MPG equation when idling
3. Keeping an eye on the MPG bar above the center display and try to drive gently in the green zone to the right.
4. Most find that MPG improves after 5K+ miles

Hope it gets better for you.
 
Thanks. Yes, the MPG did drop from about 14 to 10 when I auto-started it a couple times here in winter. My MPG from the "winter blend" did not really drop from what my MPG was this summer, so I don't think I can contribute much to that. I don't know what the green zone thing is you are talking about. I have the display on my mid-upper dash, but it just goes from total miles, mpg and current mpg, nothing else displays. Hoping to see improvement soon. It's very discouraging especially when I talk to other Ascent owners in my area that are getting about 20 mpg and there are essentially no differences other than I have a different vehicle.
 
Thanks. Yes, the MPG did drop from about 14 to 10 when I auto-started it a couple times here in winter. My MPG from the "winter blend" did not really drop from what my MPG was this summer, so I don't think I can contribute much to that. I don't know what the green zone thing is you are talking about. I have the display on my mid-upper dash, but it just goes from total miles, mpg and current mpg, nothing else displays. Hoping to see improvement soon. It's very discouraging especially when I talk to other Ascent owners in my area that are getting about 20 mpg and there are essentially no differences other than I have a different vehicle.
There is a bar gauge in the display between the speedo & tach. At the top is the MPG graphic display. It goes in the yellow to the left for low MPG, green and to the right for good MPG. it's sort of a visual aid to know how your MPG is at any instant. I try to drive gently and stay in the "green" as much as possible. You'll notice it is all the way to yellow when the car is stationary and idling.

Your car will warm up more quickly if you just start it, wait maybe 60 seconds to get the oil flowing, and then drive off. Idling produces very little heat in the engine compared to actually driving when it's under a load.
 
I believe the bar is a comparative gauge. Meaning, if you have an avg of 10mpg on the clock then 15mpg acceleration will show green. But if you just got off a hwy trip where you got 25mpg avg on the clock, that same 15mpg will show as poor (left).
 
I believe the bar is a comparative gauge. Meaning, if you have an avg of 10mpg on the clock then 15mpg acceleration will show green. But if you just got off a hwy trip where you got 25mpg avg on the clock, that same 15mpg will show as poor (left).
That's correct. The midline of that ECO meter is your current average. I believe it resets when you reset the trip computer.

the 2023 meter is all white, so it doesn't show the yellow-green scale. You can now change that part of the display to show other things instead (Temp/clock, compass, gas range).
 
I believe the bar is a comparative gauge. Meaning, if you have an avg of 10mpg on the clock then 15mpg acceleration will show green. But if you just got off a hwy trip where you got 25mpg avg on the clock, that same 15mpg will show as poor (left).
I know that is how the avg MPG works on the MFD display above the center large display (2022 Onyx), but I think the "bar graph" in the small display between the tach & speedo shows instant and current MPG (trend, not actual numbers), regardless of the previous avg reading. At idle, or under hard acceleration, it is in the far left yellow, when engine braking it is in the far right green (injectors shut off). Just my observations in practice. It may be different for 2023.
 
Some of the best advice I received on my 2020 was to set eyesight cruise to eco setting. Try to keep highway speed around 70 and when driving stop and go or anytime you accelerate watch the throttle angle meter and keep it below 25%. Even at that the Ascent still accelerates at a good rate. If it bogs a little use manual mode at 25% throttle angle and upshift manually. Actually it is much peppier. All in all this has netted me around 26 to 27 on the highway and 20 around town. Actually pretty good for such a large heavy SUV. Give these tips a try, you might be pleasantly surprised at the mileage you can achieve. Best of luck. Nick
 
One of the things I pay attention to while cruising is engine RPM. While the vehicle software manages the combination of engine RPM and CVT ratio and actual efficiency isn't always at lowest RPM, it still can be an indicator of what's happening just like the plus/minus mileage gage previously mentioned can be. My MY19 Touring at 65 mph "on the flat" with no headwind typically shows about 1600-1700 RPM, for example. A slight incline brings it up to about 1800. Learn what's normal for your vehicle but also note that if you are always seeing higher RPM, even when conditions are "easy traveling", there's something amiss. My current general driving average is about 19 mpg...I don't drive the vehicle much and it's pretty much local trips of about 10-15 miles max for shopping, etc. On the highway, my general average is about 26.5 but I've achieved as high as 28 on some tanks at 65-70 mph max.
 
I'm not sure that "reduced octane" is part of the winter blend scenario as that would put the fuel out of compliance for many, if not most vehicles. AFAIK it's an adjustment to additives to reduce certain kinds of emissions that are more prone to form during colder weather.
Correct, winter blend increases the fuel's volatility during the colder weather, making it easier for the car to start and run in colder climates.
 
My 2022 ascent is currently getting 15 mpg in city, 18 on the highway. Sticker says 20 in city and 26 highway. Dealership said to drive it 5000 miles so that it was broken in. There was nothing wrong with the car. But when I speak to the sales guy and even the sales manager were very surprised. Had not had this problem before. I have 3300 miles on the car. Opened a complaint with corporate and they pushed me back to the dealer. I am confident I have a lemon and pursuing legal action. anyone else had/have this issue?
Yes we are having same issue, we bout car in November of 2022 problem is still persistent, mechanics or so called Specialist don't no anything they keep saying ur never gonna get the full range of gas tank capacity. We also have a kia 2015 we fill up gas tank and when it's full it says we we have a gas mileage range of 411 miles and we get the 411 miles from are kia. The Snbaru 22 ascent we have says it has a gas tank capacity of 520 miles when completely full and fill it up it only gives use 340 miles and then gas tank light comes up and arrow oil on empty so frustrated with these mechanics and Subaru cause they have not been helpful
 
My 2022 ascent is currently getting 15 mpg in city, 18 on the highway. Sticker says 20 in city and 26 highway. Dealership said to drive it 5000 miles so that it was broken in. There was nothing wrong with the car. But when I speak to the sales guy and even the sales manager were very surprised. Had not had this problem before. I have 3300 miles on the car. Opened a complaint with corporate and they pushed me back to the dealer. I am confident I have a lemon and pursuing legal action.

anyone else had/have this issue?
How many points in a spread do you want on a lemon law bet. Not even close. Keep us posted.
 
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