This has happened to me twice in the past few months. Simply driving a little bit cleared it up within a hundred feet.
I had the dealership look into it while in for service (of course it didn't happen for them), if only to have it documented on file.
I'm commuting 60km in each direction, mostly highway in a manual PP EB. Using cruise control at 110 and driving like a grandmother I'm getting as low as 7.5 avg, but the moment I get into traffic or get on the gas it goes to 7.8ish (91 octane, summer gas).
Of course driving with enthusiasm...
Congrats! I'm really happy to hear you like the Guard/Saddle combination: I ordered the same car but in Ecoboost PP and I haven't seen an example of dark saddle yet (other than photos), or Guard for that matter.
PS: time for a new license plate there, hachiroku. :)
The cricket noise culprit was ethanol in the fuel, and could be heard plainly with the hood open.
If you can, try getting ethanol free fuel the next time you fill up and see if there is a difference (see http://pure-gas.org/).
Off topic, but related. For the folks in negative temps, does the radio turn on? My last couple cars wouldn't boot up the lcd/radio/nav with -5*F and colder temps until the car warmed up some 20 min down the highway. No radio, no traffic report can make for a crappy commute.
Costs between 87 and 93 (if available) fluctuate market to market. It might be $3-$4 for you, it's more like $8-$10 for me.
I'm driving 15 hours each way for the holidays, and going through three tanks of gas in each direction. If I can save $50-$60 at the pump I'll do it (assuming mileage...