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Terrible gas mileage ?!?!

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Old 11-22-2005, 12:26 PM
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Andrew97CivicEx
3 Hondas in the garage
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Default Terrible gas mileage ?!?!

I have an '02 Odyssey EX-L and can barely get over 300 miles on a full tank (mixed city/hwy driving). Is this normal?
Old 11-24-2005, 09:42 AM
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KRAKY1
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The only things I can think of are the basics....make sure you have a good clean air cleaner. Make sure tire pressure is maxed out. Take it easy on the throttle. Driving habits can quickly cost 3mpg.
Old 11-27-2005, 07:31 AM
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sherwood
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whats the gas mileage you are getting, without that you are telling us jack.

take miles driven over gallons put in.

fill the tank.
take note of mileage or reset the trip
fill the tank again after draining it
and devide
Old 01-03-2006, 10:13 AM
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waterbug
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Default Mileage

We just got the EX-L (2006) with the engine control thing that's supposed to increase fuel efficiency. Just for info, here's what we've got so far...

Sea level driving, mild temperatures (50 - 80 degrees)
Fuel - 87 octane

Tank 1 (from dealer) - 20.4 mpg
Tank 2 - 23.5 mpg
Tank 3 - 24 mpg
Tank 4 - 19.1 mpg - pulling a boat/trailer 400 miles (highway)
Tank 5 - 26.1 mpg - returning (without boat trailer)

The owner's manual did mention that the fuel efficiency would increase slightly as we break in the engine during the first 3750 miles.

These latest tanks of fuel have been used 3/4 on highways and 1/4 in city traffic. On the highways, we've kept the speed around 75 to 75. We seem to get about 400 miles per tankful (or a little more if we run it until the light goes on)

As should be expected, even higher fuel efficiency than this "average per tank" (listed above) came when I was driving at 55 mph on some of our older (and more scenic) highways. Cruising at 55 gave us almost the 28 mpg that the sticker claimed.

Other fuel efficiency killers (to complement those listed in prior posts):

- Air conditioning. Every time that compressor kicks on, it takes about 5 horsepower out of the engine. We've got great weather now, and I make sure the console says "A/C off" to save fuel

- High speed cruising. The van has a pretty big profile (when viewed from the front). The faster you are cruising, the faster you are trying to push air around the car. This means more work for the motor, and less fuel efficiency.

- Hills. There are no hills of any appreciable size around here.

- Weight. We don't keep much stuff in the van that we don't need on that trip. I've seen some stuffed to the gills (usually it's baby stuff), which adds weight. Yes, it's a little more work for me to load/unload, but as fuel prices increase....

- Tires. Check the "rolling resistance" on your tire selection. Lower rolling resistance means higher fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, this usually means you give up some tire grip or speed rating. But who in their right mind would drive a minivan over 100 mph?

- Not using cruise control. I've found that in most cases, cruise control increases fuel efficiency.


By the way, did anyone else notice a slight hum in the engine when it is running in "ECO" mode? I presume this is normal...?

Last edited by waterbug; 01-18-2006 at 06:56 AM.




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