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This is atrocious. This guzzler is completely killing our budget.
BEWARE!!
The sticker is completely misleading. It's not even close. :mad:
I have a 2012 Honda Pilot EX-L 2WD. I live in FL (flat terrain like a pancake) and don't drag race. I have the drive computer on and notice that at the slightest touch to the accelerator, the MPG does a nose dive. This is the case even on the highway. In city driving I will regularly see MPG go down to 12-14mpg.
Anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance!
However, it is just as likely that traffic conditions and/or driving style are the culprits. And most folks don't like to admit that the driver may be the primary cause for poor mileage. FWIW I record every drop of fuel going into my vehicle, and do the calculations at the pump.
A while back we took a trip from Atlanta Ga, to Myrtle beach in our AWD '03 Pilot. 4 people and luggage. Fuel mileage "Going" was 18 MPG. The return trip, the next day, yielded 26+ MPG.
NOTE: We have been making that trip since the late '60s. First one was in a 67 GTO. Over the years, there have been a lot (20+) of vehicles involved. With few to no exceptions we always get better mileage going than returning.
So what happened with the Pilot? Why the vast difference in going and returning mileage? And why the reversal, from norm, in which direction yielded the best mileage?
During the "Going" trip I drove 10-15MPH over the speed limit, which was 80+ MPH on the XWAY and 65-70 on the secondary roads. It was pouring rain, and the AC was on the entire time.
The return trip, I was driving the speed limit on the secondary roads and a maximum of 62 on the Xways. It was still overcast but not raining, so the AC was not necessary to keep the windows clear. Ambient temperature was the same in both directions, about 68 degrees.
The GOING trip involved crashing through heavy rain at high speed, a much greater air resistance, pushing through water on the road, and operating the AC compressor. Not so on the return trip.
Here are some things to keep in mind.
There are two major differences in Highway and local driving.
1. A body in motion tends to remain in motion. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. Every time we use our brakes, we have either just wasted gas and/or are about too. The more often we brake and the harder we brake, the more fuel we waste.
Coasting to stops rather than waiting to the last minute to remove the foot from the throttle and onto the brakes saves fuel . Timing the traffics lights so we don't come to a full stop. When a stop sign has several folks waiting, try to get there when the last car has gone through so we only have to stop and start once. Tailgating results in too much brake and throttle and isn't going to get us there any quicker. Use the brakes as little as possible and come to full stops as little as possible.
A store we frequent is 2.2 miles from our house. Starting with a cold engine in say 40 degree weather, the Pilot got 13 +/- mpg. The return trip would average more like 16 mpg. Driving a 12 mile round trip to another store would average more in the 18 mpg range according to the dash gauge. Biggest difference is a cold or warm engine. So combine trips. and keep the engine warm.
2. On the highways drive at or slightly below the posted speed limits. Don't "Accelerate" up hills. Keep a steady foot. I've maximized mileage by not using the Cruise control and increased mileage by about 1 mpg over all. But that takes too much concentration for me anymore. So now I just set the Cruise on 62-65 enjoy the ride and let the cruise do the work.
Our '09 Ridgeline is EPA rated 15/20. I consistantly average 18-19 mpg in local driving and 24-26 mpg on the road. My wife averages 22+/- MPG in her 09 RAV4, local driving. 28 mpg on the road. I can better both by 3+ mpg. She has a lead foot, I don't.
Kip
about the ECO drive, the light seems to go on randomly..
Does the heated seats and high heat really make that big of difference? I am only getting
12 MPG around town and 16 on the road.
Unfortunately, the vehicle is 1 year old with 6,000 miles and as much as I would like to dump it I can't because money is hard to come by in these hard times. Only honda is laughing all the way to the bank.
Disgusted!!!!
Go back a few dozen pages and you will see that some folks get reasonable mileage and others do not.
I've posted mileages that many folks just refuse to believe, but others have posted even better. I've been driving for over 50 years, so am familiar with correctly calculating fuel mileage at the pump. For instance, I consistantly get 10mpg on our old 78 Chevy G20 van. The AWD '09 Ridgeline consistantly gives 18-20 in the same type "LOCAL" driving. My wifes '03 CR-V resulted in 22 mpg and her '09 Rav-4 does 23 with her driving and 25 with me driving.
At 60 mph the Ridgeline consistantly delivers 25-28 MPG depending on terrain and driving conditions. At 70 it drops to 20 mpg if using the AC.
At 60 the wifes Rav4 delivers 35 mpg on a good day, and at 70 it drops to
30 if using the air. She gets 2-3 mpg less under similar conditions.
Here is an interesting experiment. In our '03 4WD Pilot with 4 People aboard we took a trip to Myrtle Beach SC from Atlanta. It was raining, the AC was on the whole time, and the speed was 10 mph over the posted speed limits, So that would be 80mph on the express way. Fuel mileage was 18+ mpg.
On the return trip, I ran the posted speed limit, and a maximum of 60 on the expressway. It was not raining and AC was used very little. 27 mpg!
I don't know what kind of speeds you run or how you are loaded . But the newer Pilots are a lot bigger than the earlier Pilots and MDX models.
You may already be aware of this. If you have Climate control the AC compressor runs constantly unless you turn off the AC button.
Chances are good that you don't want to hear about the ways to improve mileage, so I won't bother.
Good luck!
Kip
The bottom line is the auto industry has to be more honest with mpg figures and not hipe mileage numbers under controlled conditions....
thanks again ....
The numbers for a few vehicles I checked seem higher than the EPA ratings. Mabye that's one of those self-selecting factors and simply indicates that people who really care about their mpg also know how to drive economically?
And doesn't everyone carry a browser enabled smartphone or tablet with them now when they go to the dealer so they can crosscheck claims made on the Monroney sticker or those made by the salesperson? :shades:
Here are/is a couple of other examples of what conditions can do to mileage.
A store we frequent is about 2 1/2 miles from the house. On a cold day the Pilot/Ridgeline get about 12-13 mpg going to the store. The return trip is more in the 18-19 mpg range.
Leaving work, instantly involves a steep long hill. At the top is a traffic light that seems to have it out for me. Generally speaking the gauge will show we got about 8 mpg for that first 1.5 miles. If required to sit there for the entire length of the light the gauge wil drop to around 6 mpg, before we get moving again. If I manage to catch the rest of the lights green the entire trip home will net around 17 mpg. If I catch all red lights, the mpg will be more in the 13-14 mpg range. If I don't have to stop for any of the lights, the mileage will be more like 18-19 mpg.
Point is, that the constant stop and go destroys mileage.
Kip
I hate this car and will advise all who I know to beware of buying it before they take into account the terrible mpg's.
Good luck with yours.
Sincerely,
Jon
aka Can't Wait Until My Lease Is Up!
Odie
Odie
The first and the most recent hwy trip yielded 19-22 mpg, mainly flat roads at 65-75 mph .... Should I expect the mileage would improve with time? Is there such a thing as breaking in nowadays?
Figured the first bad tank was a fluke of how it was gassed up. The 2nd bad tank drew some concern, and the 3rd one prompted some research.
Discovered that part of the New Car Get ready proceedure is for the service Dept to do an ILP. And according the the TSB the ILP should be done anytime the battery is disconnected, or goes dead. OR certain fuses are pulled. I did the ILP and mileage returned to normal.
NOTE: If the ILP wasn't done properly before new car delivery or after a battery problem, the car may not get it's best fuel mileage. Newer cars may not require this.
The 09 Ridgeline seriously conformed to the 15 city 20 Hyway EPA rating. This was in spite of my "Crafty" fuel mileage attempts. One of them was using a very light foot when moving away from a stop. The Pilot woiuld "Upshift" at 1800 rpm. But the Ridgeline didn't like that at all, and preferred to upshift at 2500 rpm.
I finally decided "it was what it was" and just drive the thing. Learned to live with the fact that it's mileage was not going to equal that of the Pilot.
But continued to not tailgate, not do "Jack Rabbit" starts, coast to stops, and not "accelerate" when going up hill. Somewhere around 10K miles the Ridgeline began to get about the same mileage as the Pilot did.
It now returns 17-19 local driving and 25-27 pg on the open road at 60+/- mph. But at 70-75 mph the mileage drops to around 20-21mpg.
As far as Break-IN is concerned, I truly believe in NOT driving at a steady RPM for the first 1000 miles. Using back roads instead of Xways helps with this. And not revving the engine over 3K for the first 300 miles and not over 4K rpm for the remainder of the first 1000 miles. And no hard acceleration during that first 1000 miles. Then drive as traffic dictates.
Other folks believe in running them hard from the begining.
Now real world is this, with fuel at $3.50 per gallon.
A 500 mile trip at 20 MPG will cost about $87.50. At 25 mpg the cost would be $70. The difference in time would be about 1.2-1.4 hours.
This would be a big deal to some folks and not to others.
Kip
What is an ILP?
Eric
Odie
The ILP is The Idle Learn Procedure.
Page eleven of this forum and starting about post 200 will tell you all about it. As you read through the various post, you will find tips on how to do it correctly with minimum effort on your part.
You will also find plenty of post on how to hurry it up, which in my opinion would not work, as the "KEY" word is IDLE You will also find many nay sayers.
When my mileage dropped that 4+/- mpg across the board, I was pretty disgusted with the car. The dealer didn't have a clue and said I was doing something wrong or had gotten bad gas at 4 different fill ups at 4 different stations. :sick:
Pretty sure it was someone on this forum that suggested doing the ILP. I was skeptical but desperate enough to try it. It worked for me!
Keep in mind that if it was done correctly by the "New Car Technician", doing it again won't accomplish anything, but can't hurt either. Keep in mind also that there are good technicians and poor ones. And the ILP is something that can't really be checked, like if the air in the tires was done correctly.
Apparently it was important. At least at that time. Because there was a TSB on it. (Technical Service Bulletin)
Strangly enough many Honda Dealers thought it did nothing more than make the car idle properly. So if the car was idling OK, the ILP either was done correctly or not necessary. Not true, in my opinion!
I don't know if it is still necessary on the newer Hondas. But I did it on our '09 Ridgeline and the mileage is good enough that once again the NAY SAYERS are singing "No Way"
FWIW: I lurk on several forums concerning fuel milesge. And it "Seems" that there are more Honda owners complaining about their mileage than the Toyota Owners. Yet when the car is correct and the driver is conciencious, Honda's get great mileage in their categories.
Also the best tuned vehicles in the world will not perform at their best, if the driver and/or driving conditions are poor.
Kip
with a steady foot and the eco light on . Tires showed 36 psi while
driving and no AC compressor on and averaged 13.2 mpg . Last week I
drove my friends 2011 highlander and averaged 25.5 mpg on the New
Jersey Turnpike. My truck Idles great seems to run outstanding but I
just can't get any decent MPG . My previous truck was a 2008 acura mdx
and on the same run with 4 people would get close to 26mpg. I looked
under the truck and there are no gas leaks .The dealer wants to run mpg
tests . I will bring it to them soon and when they figure it out I'll
post it if there is a fix. Otherwise, its curtains for me and this
truck after 6,000 miles . I guess I'm the only one that might lose .
Honda motor company don't seem to care since I spoke to them and there
position is gas mileage will vary. This is a very protective answer not
to be liable for anything. This will be my last honda product ,period.
Next time I'll do my homework better.
Its funny, Honda is a billion dollar company and I'm an average joe
middle income family and honda will not even step up to the plate. My
answer is I hope nobody ever has any real problems with there honda
product ,because when the BS hits the fan honda is nowhere to be found
to get involved, I guess MILEAGE WILL VARY, LOL...........
1. If your Pilot has "climate Control" the AC compressor runs all the time unless you deliberately turn "OFF" the AC. With my 09 Ridgeline, pressing the "AC" button will change the window display to "AC On" or "AC OFF", Also with Some of the configurations, the Compressor may be running, even though the window displays "AC OFF". For instance if you have the venting set up to the windshield. If ya don't know what to listen for, you will need to raise the hood and check visually.
2. If an ILP is supposed to be done on your model, and it wasn't done properly, the idle may be fine, but fuel mileage suffer. After my episode, posted above, the idle was not affected, but the fuel mileage dropped about 4 mpg across the board. Interesting thing is that after all was said and done, the service writers and even service managers at various dealerships said the ILP only affected "Idle". According to other posters.
3. Be sure to do the calculations at the pump with miles driven verses fuel used, Your gauge might be defective, if you are using that to determine your fuel mileage.
4. Be sure the "OD OFF" lite is not lit on the dash display. Your rpm should be somewhere right around 2000 at 65 mph. If it is higher than that, something might be causing the tranny to not shift into 5th gear and the Torque Converter to not lock up.
5. Your heat gauge shuold have the needle just under the logo in the center of the gauge, when the engine is at operating temp.
It would "SEEM" that if there is a fuel delivery problem resulting in 13mpg instead of the mid 20 at 65 mph, a check engine lite should come on. Maybe not! :confuse:
I do agree that HONDA products or drivers "seem" to have more problems with fuel mileage, than Toyota. This observation is from lurking on the various forums.
One last thing! Hold the dealers feet to the fire on this. Insist that a service writer go for a ride with you and see the poor mileage, first hand. Don't know about your state, but in Ga., the 3rd trip to the dealer, with the same unresolved problem, clicks on the Lemon Law.
Kip
Thanks for the help
Kip
Thanks again
I religiously kept up with the recommended maintenance, which can be expensive (e.g. right now it's due for a timing belt/fuel pump for $1000). Yet last year this dropoff and neither they nor any other mechanic could find anything wrong with it. I bought new tires - very expensive Michelins - then read on some forums that this may have caused the drop in mileage. I highly doubt it. After reading online forums with a number of suggestions, my son replaced one of the oxygen sensors and that helped a bit - we're now up to consistently around 19 mpg. I haven't gotten around to replacing the other oxygen sensor. I sure miss the better mileage, and still believe if I can find the problem, I'll get it again.
Other than that, I love this vehicle. Very reliable.
Has everyone seen this lawsuit against the Civic? Maybe a theme for the Honda Company.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-honda-loses-civic-lawsuit-2012020- 1,0,6604197.story
Over all mileage ,in town driving and interstate is 22.5 MPG.
I use Shell gas only.
Odie
("The Beast" - '06 Honda Pilot EX-OR)
To those who replaced the oxygen sensors - is this a long-term solution?
Please share! Thanks!
Just driving around town on short trips of 2 to 5 miles, I am averaging 17.5 MPG, which by the way is better than the best I ever got out of my old GMC SUV (of the same size) in highway driving.
For a long trip last month that included half hwy a lot of mountainous driving, I averaged 23.5.
For my commute to work that includes mostly level highway, and about 25 percent town driving, I have got as high as 25.6.
The more I drive the Pilot the better my mileage seems to get. I try to drive sensible, and pay attention to the ECO light and the Trip Display on the screen, to determine the best speed and manner to drive to get the most out of it.
You can also visit Dealer Ratings and Reviews and fill out a review.
Hope this helps.
Odie
As someone mentioned, up there you can get NO ETHANOL gas at some stations for the same price and it does make a difference, but it's hard to find. 10% Ethanol is typical and you can expect less mileage using it, by a factor of 10-15%.
Based on prior experiences with other SUVs and our PRIUS, I am certain that any of the following changes would help improve mileage:
1. Switch to Michelin Latitude Tour tires (or similar) for better energy efficiency, when it's time to get new tires, if you are not doing a lot of off road or gravel road traveling. Any Michelin dealer can order them or you can get them on tirerack.com and pay a local dealer to install them.
See: http://www.michelinman.com/tire-selector/vehicle/2011/Honda/Pilot/EX/-1/OE/BNW/l- atitude-tour/tire-details
2. Use Mid-grade high quality gasoline. The cost difference is pretty small, but the mileage increase can be 2-5 mpg, so it can pay off percentage-wise. Think about it... if you are getting 20 MPG, and it goes up to 23 MPG that is a 15% increase, for a few pennies more.
3. Change your tranny fluid to synthetic transmission fluid. (And keep it that way). Do the same for the differential, if you can afford to do both.
4. USE THE CRUISE, as much as possible. Driving habits make a big difference.
5. REDUCE the WEIGHT:
a) If you have AAA and you commute and can take the risk, remove the spare tire and carry a can of that green stuff that fixes most flats. The spare tire is very heavy. This is not for everyone, just the truly brave.
b)Remove other excess "stuff" you cart around with you that you don't really need, such as bricks, concrete blocks, old refrigerators, and so on.
c) If you can figure out how to do so, remove the 3rd row seat and devise something to take its place (I am still working on this one myself).
6. Make sure your air filter is clean.
7. Use 35 PSI tire pressure.
8. Tell Mitt that the dog and the rooftop carrier have to go! (No, just kidding.) But seriously, the roof rack cross supports do cut down your mileage because of air resistance (and interfere with satellite radio reception, too). If you don't use 'em - loose 'em.
Hope these suggestions help.
.
It has a hood wind deflector and awnings over all 4 windows.
At 60 mph it averages 25-27 mpg on the road. at 70mph it averages 20-21 mpg. at 75 it drops to 18ish.
Towing our 2600+/- lb Casita camper at 57 mph it averages 15-18 mpg depending on head winds and terrain. At 70 the mpg drops to 11-13 mpg with the same considerations.
Our 03 Pilot with 4wd returned an average of just shy of 28 mpg on a round trip from Atlanta to Greenwood Indiana and back (1100 miles). Most of the speed was 60 mph. Generally drove the posted speed limit, but did not exceed 65 mph. Did that several times on 700+ round trips to Myrtle Beach from our home.
These numbers are calculated at the pump. Generally starting and ending at the same pump in the same position, running the nozzle on the slowest setting and stopping when the nozzle clicks off. 87 octane. Top tier gas when possible.
Local driving yields 17-19 mpg with Ridgeline and about the same with the Pilot.
The dash MPG meter generally is within .5-1.0 mpg one way or the other.
EPA rating on the window sticker was 15 city-20 highway.
The Ridgeline MPG really sucked for the first few thousand miles and decided to get better around 10K. The Pilot got good mileage beginning with the 2nd tank.
Speed kills mileage.
Kip
In short, one brand (that I pass when I go to a part of the city I usually only pass a couple times a month, unfortunately) seems to increase my "town" mileage from 15 to about 18 mpg - back to where I was pre-Fall 2010 with "any" gas! I haven't used it on a longer trip but am hopeful I could at least get back to 22 ?!?!
The other highly recommended brand (conveniently located) I tried first on a longer trip and only got 19, and am still in the process of testing it for an honest to goodness town average.
But now I'm wondering if you or anyone has knowledge of station-to-station differences??? If I stick to one brand, does it follow that any of their stations should have the same ethanol mix of gas? Or does it also vary station to station?
Again, thank you so much - I have hope for the first time, lol!
Most stations - no matter the brand - are typically independently owned. Station owners order gasoline from whichever distributor they want and the delivering truck adds the specific additives for that brand. The gas that comes out of the pipeline is the same no matter the brand.
To give you an idea, below is a map of one transporter in New England. The locations are the distributors. All the brands get their gasoline from these distribution points no matter the brand.
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!
I wouldn't read much into the first three or four (or more) tanks of gas on a new car. Better to rely on owner's reports over several months, and realize that your driving habits and local road conditions may be a lot different.
I am pretty happy with it. I guessed I would have around 20. Considering the amount of city driving in Dallas, I think it's very good and at the top of the range among competitors.
If Honda could release a Pilot Hybrid it would be even better.
I just got the best mileage since I've owned my 2007 EX (no VCM). I got over 24 mpg on the same trip that I took almost 5 years ago when I got over 23 mpg (see Msg#683). Those are my only two trips I have gotten better than 22 mpg.
The majority of this trip was in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was above 5000' elevation. Most of the roads were 55 mph speed limit with many turns 35-45 mph and a few straights that I hit 60. Also drove some USFS roads (some dirt) for over an hour.
I don't think that the elevation had much to do with good mileage, but the low speeds definitely did.
Anyway... I'm hoping my MPG starts to go up a bit. I need to get new shoes for "The Beast" and hopefully they will help out.
Odie