We just took the 5MT on a 350 mile trip with a roof rack (w/fairing) and a cargo carrier. the majority of the trip was 70mph as above that, the economy dropped pretty substantially. The average of the first 320 miles was right around 34.5mpg and that was mostly at 70mph. The journey however was on rt 88 in NY which is lots of up & down hills and the cargo carrier/fairing combination was definitely creating some major drag. As for noise... well... it was loud in the cabin but much of that was from the cargo carrier on the roof but I noticed a serious increase in road noise when I put the OEM wheels/tires back on after my winters were on. I'll be taking the cargo box off tomorrow for the majority of driving and then back on for the return trip.

Of note, I need to get a more aerodynamic box (it's a thule Sidekick which is a shorter, taller box) and probably need to remove he fairing to increase MPG. I didn't want the potential noise for a 5.5 hour trip.

~SB

 

I think there's something fishy about EPA mileage with the AT and MT's. With my Fit, which weighed 2600 lbs with a 118 hp 1.5L, and a slushbox, I was getting ~26-27 with all city driving. On the highway, 37-40 was typical. EPA rating, of course, was 27/33. My Scion is 400 lbs heavier, with 60+ more hp and an extra liter of displacement. Even without the engine nearly as broken in, I'm seeing 25-26 around town on the same routes and ~33-35 on the highway... Who knows once it's broken in all the way! Meanwhile, MT fit drivers are seeing 30+ in town and consume reports finds large differences in AT and MT in otherwise identical cars.

 

FYI, I have a 50 mile journey to work in stop-n-go traffic and not even once I wished I bought me an A/T. The manual transmission is awesome and very easy to live with.