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SUV gas mileage - Feel free to participate
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Comments
My 03 LX averages 17+ around the house. Most of that is a 7 mile trip to work which involves 3 Stop signs, 4 traffic lights, and 6 different roads. Not exactly a formula for good gas milage.
With a bit over 5k on the engine my wife and I drove from Atlanta to Indianapolis and averaged 28.2 mpg for the highway miles and near 27 for the entire 1100+ mile trip including sight seeing while there. Air was running about half the time. Speed was the posted speed limits. Tires are the Goodyear Integra with 34 #PSI. Terrain about half hills some flats and one mountain range.
Another trip was Atlanta to Myrtle Beach SC. Air running most of the time, heavy rain both ways. Tires at 34#, speed keeping up with traffic and trying to not get passed by 18 wheelers, to protect visibility. A lot of 70-80mph. Average for entire 800+ mile trip including sight seeing 23.4 mpg.
Last trip was recently with 4 adults, to Myrtle Beach, and keeping up with traffic (70-80 mph). Air running constantly. Tires at 34#. Entire 800+ mile trip averaged 23.3 mpg.
Obviously speed and driving habits can contribute to fuel milage. For the Pilot owners here is a neat trick that I learned right after getting ours in Feb 03. Our Pilot had a rough idle and had flat spots at times at different speeds. Some times the tranny seemed to be confused about shifting. Fuel milage averaging in the low teens.
Dealer said everything was OK and problem would likely go away with more miles driven. :mad: I posted the problem on a forum and was sent an email of how to "FIX" the problems.
This is supposed to be done by the dealer as part of the "Get Ready". Although sometime it doesn't get done. I got this from a Honda service bulletin web sight. (Can't find it now.) Any way here is the info..
IMPORTANT: Be sure everything is turned off. Radio, air, fans, lights, wipers, etc...
The engine needs to be cold as it would be after not running for 5+ hours.
Disconnect the battery for about 1 minute. This will require you to restart and reset the radio later. (The "HOW TO" is on that little "Radio" credit card looking thingie in your owners package). Don't panic because you are going to have to do this when you replace the battery. Might as well learn how now.
re-connect the battery.
Crank the car. Do not touch the gas.
Let the car idle until the radiator fan comes on at least twice. (On a cold day you might be staring at that fan for a half hour or so). Watch it, because you may not hear it.
That is it! This procedure sets up the computor with the proper smoke and mirrors to properly run the engine.
After doing this the problems all went away.
Kip
Also, I had a 1990 Isuzu P/U, space cab 2 wheel drive 5 speed. The best mileage that I ever got in it was 22 mpg and with the A/C on it would drop to 18 mpg. When I got rid of it it was getting about 15 mpg so I did not feel as bad driving the Suburban.
http://fueleconomytips.com
18 mpg at 75 mph. No problem. Worth every bit.
I have a 2001 Impala. My son's car.
29 mpg highway. very nice car.
radio reception sucks. That's my only problem with it.
I have a 1996 Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4
18 mpg all day long. 135,000 miles and no troubles.
Thanks,
Chintan Talati
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
we use ours as an alternative to flying.
But some still say that flying is the safest means of transportation.
tidester, host
i should mention that both of my kids were sleeping. one woke up and said 'did something just happen?'. we woke up the other just before it went 'piggy back' on the wrecker.
tidester, host
But I don't see anyone renting to save on gas. My Burb gets 18 mpg HWY, I would need to rent a minivan or at the very least a full size sedan with 6 pass seating. I could expect around 26 MPG from a minivan, or maybe 30 MPG from the sedan. There is no way to make up the cost of the rental. Even if you drove some insane distance like 3000 miles, you'd only save 66 gal in the sedan, even at $3 per gal that's only $198 difference in gas. And then you also would be driving those 3000 mi. with your kids crammed in a smaller vehicle fighting. No Thanks.
"Our lifestyle is designed around the car and cheap gasoline. There's very little we can do about it to reduce our dependency on our automobiles"
That's a quote from our own Juice, long time member and Community Leader here.
Steve, Host
-juice
Of course some folks don't make real good decisions. I know someone that had a 2.5 year old Envoy XL. Last year he complained about how much he had lost on depreciation and how much gas it was using. Traded it in on an HHR to get better mileage and of course sealed his loss on the Envoy. Bottom line would probably have been better to ride the Envoy for 5-6 years so the depreciation would level/spread out over time and paying $5 a week more in gas would only be $250 year. I think he really WANTED the HHR and was trying to justify it.. Did not make sense to me, but it is his money :-)
-juice
The trend I've noticed is SUVs going slower on the freeway. I don't know if they are trying to save fuel or what, but it is a bit of an inconvenience. :surprise:
Man you must be driving down hill (LOL). My 2000 Suburban 4x4 (65k miles) averages around 16mpg on the hwy when crusing @ 70. Best tank ever netted 17.4, but we had a nice tail wind the whole way. I've taken the burb on many 700+ mile trips and most of the time I get around 15-16hwy, 12-13mpg in town. Towing my 4,800lb boat and I get 10-11mpg @ 65mph.
I agree you can't beat the space. We only have 2 kids 3 & 7, but they each get their own row and they don't fight (priceless) and all our stuff easily fits behind the 3rd row.
Steve, Host
It's probably as quick as a Grand Cherokee SRT-8, too.
-juice
simply because I do not drive much. I have a big car
that get 18 mpg city, and 29 hwy ( real figures off my
dash computer ) that I drive 70% of the time, and a
3/4 ton Suburban that I drive the other 30%. Between the
two I drive about 7600 miles per year. Can not trade my
Suburban, I use it for what it was really made for,
hauling heavy loads. Two weeks ago I had 20 bags of
concrete in the back that weighed 1600 lbs, Suburban
barely knew they were there. I haul lumber, metal,
all kinds of equipment. My Suburban does not cost me,
it makes me money. Do not really like pick up trucks,
because no way to protect load, and with a Suburban you
can fit a 10', or even a 12' board in it, and close the
back hatch.
Not really since the word "worry" does not appear in the title. Apparently, you surmise people are worried about it.
tidester, host
OK, semantics. The point is that SUVs are not expected to get very good MPG. How many times do we need to see that a large, heavy full-sized SUV is getting 13 city / 17 highway?
Each car forum has a MPG topic...
Read up above and you'll see multiple posts from Forester and CR-V owners that might influence someone who subscribes to this thread to consider some of those more efficient alternatives.
-juice
PS 25.1 mpg 9 year average, peak 30.4 mpg, low 17.3 mpg while towing with my '98 Forester (165hp, 166 lb-ft)
Looking for a great bargain...35k range...$400/month lease range
Avoid Toyota/Honda and the crossovers and it should be a buyer's market starting now. If you're looking for a collapse, start following the Delphi bankruptcy reorganization and if the judge hammers the employee package, get your financing lined up. (link)
Steve, Host
"Auto sales in May sank, with all three U.S. companies down and looking warily at a summer selldown of 2006 models that could force cutthroat discounting, especially to move increasingly unfashionable and impractical SUVs and trucks." link
Steve, Host
Have to disagree with this statement. SUVs are very practical - probably the most practical of any car sold. However they are not fuel efficient. The sentence reveals the bias of the author.
-juice
Don't tell the NBA homeboys with their pimped-out Escalades!
Thanks.
Thanks.
And how would you go off road with a lowered SUV?
Funny thing is narrow tires would help more. Wide tires create more wind resistance.
So if you have a 225/50 and swap to a 205/55 (same overall sidewall height), you'd probably notice a bigger improvement.
Looks dorky, though.
-juice
Narrow tires also have lower rolling resistance.
-juice
Any thoughts from someone who has made the move to a car would be appreciated.
Any thoughts from someone who has made the move to a car would be appreciated.
Check out Honda Fit, it has as much room inside as the CR-V (smaller SUV) but gets 38 mpg. Toyota AValon is not much better on gas than the Tahoe. Plus the fishing rods will be a problem with a sedan. You need a hatchback, Fit fits alot of stuff. :-)
But...it is a big change to suddenly go to a FWD sedan. You're giving up the 4WD and the big cargo area.
I'd suggest a good wagon, or even one with AWD. It would be a lot less of a shock for you, and mileage can be be pretty good. Lots of choices - any number of Subarus, the Mazda6, the Passat, some Audis, Saab SportCombi, Benz, BMW, one to fit any price class.
Wagons also have the roof rack, so if it don't fit inside, tie it to the roof!
I've hauled 5 sheets of plywood on top of my Forester, no problem. I get 25mpg and still enjoy AWD.
-juice
Don't be ridiculous. The Fit has about 1/3 less room than the CR-V, and WAY less cargo room. I had a CR-V and my mother in law just bought a Fit. Not even close in size. I also suspect that the Fit doesn't have the payload capacity of the CR-V, and AWD isn't offered.
I like the Fit - it is cute and practical. But it is not designed to fulfill the role of an SUV.