New Vehicle Owners

[Patrick M.]

Just returned from a 2,000+ mile mostly Interstate trip in our 2007 Honda Odyssey EX. EPA rating is 18/25 and we averaged 24.6 running at 75 MPH on cruise control. In-town driving really impacts this car as I'm seeing 15-18 despite coasting to red lights, while other blast up to the red lights at full speed just so they can then slam on their brakes.

[Ken D]

I was just wondering if you folks which have bought new vehicals in the last few years are getting close to published miles/gallon of fuel on normol driving conditions.
EG---My Toyoto Rav 4 is stated to be 25 City and 37 Highway.I am not getting close to the posted Highway rating of 37 miles per gallon CDN

How about you all.

Chester: I too drive a new Rav4 with the V6. Mine is still far from broken in but it appears to get 32mpg (canadian) on the highway, rather than the rating of 36. It sure works nice when pulling my T@B though!!!

Ken D

[Lainey]

I just returned from camping in the Rockies for the weekend.
On the way back I averaged 16.3 L/100km. Not too bad considering

[james kent]

How heavy is your foot? It can make a sizeable difference. When my RPM goes over 2000 my mileage drops considerably. If I keep it under 1800 I get excellent mileage from my Dakota with a 4.7 v8.
On the hwy at 55-60 mpn....excellant
65-70...........crappy
Jim

[Brian B-P]

Ken introduced the idea of breaking the vehicle (or engine) in... while new engines don't require the same sort of break-in period or practices which they did decades ago, it is still a factor, although probably more relevant to available power than to fuel efficiency. In addition to the engine, transmission control computers now often "learn" the driver's habits, and adapt to them, so drivetrain behaviour changes with time.

Chester, since you've been tracking fuel consumption for a little while now, have you seen any change?

[Roger H]

We bought a new '06 Honda Civic, with all of the options and the gas engine a year ago January. It now has a little over 30k miles on it. My wife drives 90 miles/day round trip to work in the car. It's mileage has continued to increase and she is now consistently getting between 39 and 41 mpg (U.S.) out of the car commuting. It started at about 36-37 mpg average. I couldn't be more pleased with it.

Roger

[Brian B-P]

Honda lists the automatic Civic sedan at 30 (city) / 40 (highway) MPG, and a 45-mile (each way) commute is presumably mostly highway, so that sounds like a pretty good match between the claim and the actual experience, Roger.

[Chester Taje]

Ken introduced the idea of breaking the vehicle (or engine) in... while new engines don't require the same sort of break-in period or practices which they did decades ago, it is still a factor, although probably more relevant to available power than to fuel efficiency. In addition to the engine, transmission control computers now often "learn" the driver's habits, and adapt to them, so drivetrain behaviour changes with time.

Chester, since you've been tracking fuel consumption for a little while now, have you seen any change?

We have not used the Rav4 since my last trip out.Going on vacation on the 16 Aug so will get a real good idea when pulling trailer.