suprised at MPG

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
That sounds about right for a V6? I don't think being a Honda magically makes get better gas mileage.

For what it's worth, that's what I get in my car which is not a Honda. I might be able to do 24-25 mpg with mostly highway if I kept the speed at or below 70. But I'm sure tired emissions parts doesn't help the cause. Driving back and forth to and from school 2 miles each way with a lot of sitting in traffic gets me around 16 mpg with 93 octane.


Albeit on premium I manage 17MPG around town and near 23MPG on the highway with the related but much larger/heavier 3.7 Acura MDX with AWD. MPG seems low to me also in an accord.

 

[Hokiefyd]

You may consider running premium fuel through the car for a few tanks to see how it runs. You may find that you get better fuel economy, and maybe enough to offset the increased cost. You'll get even better performance.

Yes, your Accord should be able to out-run a '94 Mustang GT.

Honda's V-6 engines aren't all that efficient in my opinion. They're quite smooth, and quite powerful, but I think they run at least as rich as anyone else's V-6 engines run. Our 2005 Acura MDX, a 4,500-lb AWD SUV, is rated for 17/23 on the "old" numbers, and 15/21 on the "new" numbers. Overall, we get fairly close to the old numbers, but it depends highly on the type of driving and where. Lots of in-town driving in the heat of the summer nets us closer to 15 mpg for a tank. A highway tank in cooler weather with no A/C use nets us closer to 25 mpg for a tank. How and where you drive, including the ambient temperature, will make a large difference here. City idling kills the mpg in our Acura, moreso than it seems to in other cars. This engine just seems to be thirsty when idling for some reason.

But I would try premium fuel for a month or so, just to try it. At the worst, you'll be out a few bucks. But it's worth it in my opinion to see if there's a real difference in how it runs or in the fuel economy. Our Acura recommends premium, but you can run regular. We ran regular when we first got it, but I found that fuel economy is worse (closer to the "new" EPA numbers) and performance is worse. The car runs much better on premium fuel, and the difference in fuel economy pretty much pays for the higher cost of the fuel.

Lastly, I'm sure you've found that Honda's transmission programming isn't all that efficient. By that, I mean that it's not always hunting for 5th gear, and it's not always locking the torque converter when you don't expect it. It's a very smooth driving experience, but could be more efficient (not that I wish it was). My previous car (a 2011 Camry) was on the other extreme: it would upshift about every 200 rpm, would lock the converter in nearly every gear as soon as it upshifted, and generally jerked you around unless you had the throttle more than halfway. It was one of the reasons I traded it off: I came to really dislike driving it.

So I guess there's no free lunch. I'd enjoy the smooth and effortless nature the V-6 and Honda transmission deliver, knowing that it could be much worse.

 

[exranger06]

My 4 cylinder Accord gets around 25 mpg mostly highway. Granted mine is using 20 year old speed density technology, but it's still kind of low. And that's right in line with the EPA estimate too.

 

[KrisZ]

I seriously doubt that a V6 Accord roiutinely gets 34mpgs on the highway doing 70mph. That must've been a heck of a tail wind.

That's the problem with reading internet mpg figures, people post their one best tank, that they got when the conditions were just perfect and make it seem that that's the regular mileage.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I seriously doubt that a V6 Accord roiutinely gets 34mpgs on the highway doing 70mph. That must've been a heck of a tail wind.

That's the problem with reading internet mpg figures, people post their one best tank, that they got when the conditions were just perfect and make it seem that that's the regular mileage.



Not sure if you are referring to me or not, but I don't fudge numbers or mention one-off data. I'm nothing if not analytical.

Listen, all I can do is post the information that I have. Personal experience for our Accord is about 32-34 on highway tanks. Not "one off" or "fluke" tanks. My "fluke" tanks, which I freely admitted in my previous post, were 37 mpg and there probably was a tail wind at the time (though I wasn't paying attention). Around town for it seems to be 21-23 mpg. Everyones definition of "around town" is different, everyones driving style is different. Our V6 Malibu routinely outperforms the Accord in normal driving fuel economy - I don't think the Accord is particularly efficient, but it should be able to handily beat EPA highway estimates if it's being driven on a true highway, since the EPA test sequence for "highway" includes several heavy throttle accelerations to 80 mph, stops, and use of heavy braking, none of which would happen on the highway.

 

[randomhero439]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I seriously doubt that a V6 Accord roiutinely gets 34mpgs on the highway doing 70mph. That must've been a heck of a tail wind.

That's the problem with reading internet mpg figures, people post their one best tank, that they got when the conditions were just perfect and make it seem that that's the regular mileage.



My buddies Accord V6 6-speed got 37mpg on a 400 mile highway trip. In Ohio its very flat and straight, so he had that going for him. But its also quite modified (built heads, higher compression, intake, exhaust mods) with flow mods to help achieve this

 

[Vikas]

Anybody who is even remotely interested in gas mileage needs to buy UltraGauge (or ScanGauge) and only then they would understand how to change their own driving behavior to get the best possible mileage.

Given 5 miles highway + 5 miles town with stop signs and stop lights and with winter gas and with warming the engine until the interior is warm and toasty for your comfort *will* end up costing you mileage.

UltraGauge costs under $70, invest in it if you want to understand how to improve your gas mileage.

You can rule out stupid stuff like dragging brakes, stuck calipers, low tires etc very easily. If there is NO check engine light currently on, there is NOTHING wrong with the car.

 

[AccordV6MN]

I have 06 V6 6MT. When I do mostly city driving, I got 24-26 MPG, when mostly hwy, I got 31-33 MPG with 37 MPG at best.

My typical mix driving in the small city, at about 15 miles from one end of the town to the other, I got 26-28 MPG with winter fuel and 27-29 MPG with summer fuel. The mix driving are usually about 30-40% city with about 4-6 traffic lights.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
If there is NO check engine light currently on, there is NOTHING wrong with the car.

Not always. For example, O2 sensors could be past their prime, negatively affecting mpg, but they may not be bad enough to trip a fault code just yet.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

Not always. For example, O2 sensors could be past their prime, negatively affecting mpg, but they may not be bad enough to trip a fault code just yet.


Right - there are plenty of sensors and maintenance items that could be out of their prime without being bad enough to trip a sensor. MAF sensors won't trip a code unless they're really acting up, O2 sensors as you mentioned, and dirty fuel injectors with poor spray pattern. There are plenty of stories even on BITOG about replacing spark plugs and noticing a marked increase in fuel economy even when the old ones appeared fine.

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Anybody who is even remotely interested in gas mileage needs to buy UltraGauge (or ScanGauge) and only then they would understand how to change their own driving behavior to get the best possible mileage.


This much is true. I've always been able to pull very good fuel economy out of vehicles, but purchasing the Ultragauge has allowed me to improve it even further - without hypermiling, just learning how to apply the gas most efficiently, coasting when I see a red light ahead, etc.

 

[surfstar]

Took a trip to San Jose last weekend. All hwy with mostly 75mph driving in a 2008 TL 3.2L v6, 5spd auto = 31 mpg. EPA rated 18/26. It usually averages 26-28 mpg with work commuting and around town stuff. Hwy trips are always 30-32 mpg winter or summer. Premium fuel, though. This is with 31-32 psi in the tires - if it were my car it'd be 36 psi minimum and probably break 32 mpg hwy.

It is surprising what some of the Honda v6s can acheive with hwy cruising, but then again, we hear reports of American boats doing well also on here.

 

[yesthatsteve]

I'll add another recommendation for the Ultragauge. I've had it for about 18 months, and it's made a HUGE difference. It's paid for itself six or seven times over with the fuel savings I've seen in the xB. The revised EPA rating for the '05 xB is 31 mpg hwy with the MT (old rating was 34 mpg hwy). Since buying the Ultragauge, I've averaged 38.8 mpg. Over the last 4 months, I averaged 39.9 mpg in mixed driving. Yesterday, I averaged 45.7 on my 34-mile round trip commute.

My brother had an '04 Accord V6 automatic for a while, and regularly saw 30-31 on the highway, and 26-ish in mixed driving.

 

[Vikas]

Get UltraGauge and have it display instantaneous and tank average economy. Your eyes will be opened when you see single digits mpg as you take off from that stop light.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Your eyes will be opened when you see single digits mpg as you take off from that stop light.

Haha... that's one nice thing about a bmw... when that instant mpg needle gets buried in the single digits of the scale, it certainly sends a strong message to the brain and to your right foot. Then again, the car was made to be driven, not babied.

 

[meep]

had an 02 accord 2.4L 4sp Auto. My typical tank never bested 24 mixed with the A/C off. I think that the best it ever did was 26-28 highway, below 70 mph, more typically 25-26.

m

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I seriously doubt that a V6 Accord roiutinely gets 34mpgs on the highway doing 70mph. That must've been a heck of a tail wind.

That's the problem with reading internet mpg figures, people post their one best tank, that they got when the conditions were just perfect and make it seem that that's the regular mileage.




Not sure if you are referring to me or not, but I don't fudge numbers or mention one-off data. I'm nothing if not analytical.

Listen, all I can do is post the information that I have. Personal experience for our Accord is about 32-34 on highway tanks. Not "one off" or "fluke" tanks. My "fluke" tanks, which I freely admitted in my previous post, were 37 mpg and there probably was a tail wind at the time (though I wasn't paying attention). Around town for it seems to be 21-23 mpg. Everyones definition of "around town" is different, everyones driving style is different. Our V6 Malibu routinely outperforms the Accord in normal driving fuel economy - I don't think the Accord is particularly efficient, but it should be able to handily beat EPA highway estimates if it's being driven on a true highway, since the EPA test sequence for "highway" includes several heavy throttle accelerations to 80 mph, stops, and use of heavy braking, none of which would happen on the highway.


If you're on a fairly flat surface and doing about 60mph, then I can take 34 mpgs. However someone else mentioned that they get similar mileage while doing 70mph, which I find to be a stretch. It could happen, but not on a consistent basis.
My Mazda 3 gets about 37mpg consistently on 90% highway trips, there is absolutely no way that a heavier, V6 equipped Accord gets only 3 mpgs worse gas mileage under the same driving conditions. That is why I look at those numbers with a grain of salt.

 

[Vikas]

All of my 3 cars routinely lose close to 5mpg in winter. They have done that as long as I can remember.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
All of my 3 cars routinely lose close to 5mpg in winter.

What reference MPG are we talking about here? Going from 35 to 30 MPG is not as big of a hit as going from 25 to 20.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
If you're on a fairly flat surface and doing about 60mph, then I can take 34 mpgs. However someone else mentioned that they get similar mileage while doing 70mph, which I find to be a stretch. It could happen, but not on a consistent basis.
My Mazda 3 gets about 37mpg consistently on 90% highway trips, there is absolutely no way that a heavier, V6 equipped Accord gets only 3 mpgs worse gas mileage under the same driving conditions. That is why I look at those numbers with a grain of salt.


Take this for what it's worth, but in my experience 4-cylinder engines in comparable cars rarely get substantially better highway fuel economy. For example, the 4-cylinder Accords usually do much better in "around town" driving, but on the highway there's very little difference in my experience and corroborated on the Accord forums (where there is a lot of discussion about this stuff). I've observed similar things in other vehicles in this market segment as well.

Once you're moving at a steady state the advantages of lighter cars and smaller engines can be minimized to some degree. I'm not saying they are eliminated or even reduced below a measurable threshold, but certainly minimzed. It's in the "non-steady state" or "dynamic" situations where weight plays a bigger role.

For example, in my experience our Accords fuel economy on a pure highway tank when we are running with 3 people and a trunk full of luggage is within the "noise" of running with just me and no cargo on the same trip, even though the overall weight is about 500 lbs less.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: Vikas


Given 5 miles highway + 5 miles town with stop signs and stop lights and with winter gas and with warming the engine until the interior is warm and toasty for your comfort *will* end up costing you mileage.



Your a funny guy "nice and toasty for my comfort" NICE..
I dont make a habbit of letting any of my stuff just sit and run unless i see in necessary. Ive only been driving this car 3 weeks.. so its not been necessary just yet.