Post Your Van Gas Mileage Here

averigejoe · February 2006

No spare? That is just plain dumb!

moparblue2 · February 2006

wife just got back from 1000 mile round trip. she drove 75 mph. with cruise & K & N air filter. she got 20 mpg. average!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dennisctc · February 2006

Think K&N filters are worth it?? Make that much difference? Just wondering. Thanks

crissman · February 2006

When shopping for my wife's new car we seriously considered a Touring model Odyssey. Then I learned they had the Michelin PAX runflat tires. I assume that's the reason you have no spare. I'm sure the tires are good, but apparently they can only be fixed or replaced at Honda dealers and certain Michelin dealers. Maybe the network has improved now, but at the time that concerned me. The whole system, including the wheel, is quite specialized, and supposedly only available in the US on Touring Odysseys and Rolls Royces.

rorr · February 2006

"No spare? That is just plain dumb!"

Off hand, I can't think of ANY cars which are equipped (from the factory) with BOTH Run-flat tires AND a spare.

Now, whether or not Honda's decision to equip the Touring model with Michelin PAX tires was an intelligent decision or not is certainly debatable.....but probably in a different forum than 'Van Gas Mileage'.....

rorr · February 2006

"The whole system, including the wheel, is quite specialized, and supposedly only available in the US on Touring Odysseys and Rolls Royces."

Yep. Availability is very limited (although I believe that Nissan has started to offer the PAX system as on option on all their Quest minivans starting w/ the '06 models).

hansienna · February 2006

Overall average first 1400 miles 27.6 MPG ( miles driven divided by gasoline used).

Mostly highway but some city driving. Trip computer reads slightly higher than the manual calculation.

thegraduate · February 2006

Hi,

Bought 2006 Honda Odessey Touring DVD and NAV end of Sept 2005. Gas mileage is terrible - 13-15 mpg around town (same as my 2002 Suburban) and 24-25 on highway (OK, I get 18-19 on highway with my Suburban), not the 18 around town and 28 on highway they claimed and Honda had on sticker.

Sorry but last thing that bugs me, no spare with Touring model. I know all the reasons but gosh can't I at least get a spare tire with my brand new $38,000 car so I can at least put it on myself to drive to a dealer to get my fancy tire/wheel combo? I know it may damage the vehicle if you're a distance from a dealer to get replaced but what happens if you're out in the middle of desert, you get a flat, you're cell phone or other communication doesn't work? You can't even put a spare on the vehicle because you don't have one!! Thanks Honda.

Sorry, but never again a Honda. They really disappointed me. I have other issues with my new Odessey but I'll write that in a different forum.

Thanks

I hate to admit it, but shouldn't you have considered the lack of a spare before spending nearly $40k? Seems like I'd have to have known that before laying my money down.

Also, when you don't have that cell phone in the desert, you are supposed to run on your flat tire, hence the name of the technology. The tire doesn't fall to the rim, the sidewalls support the car a considerable distance.

moparblue2 · February 2006

They seem to help alot if you are not a hard driver.They are worth the money. You can buy one for less then two factory filters. We own three cars & three K & N air filters.

dtownfb · February 2006

You have to very very careful with the K&N filters. Others on Edmunds have reported Mass Air Flow sensor failures due to exceesive oil from the K&N filter. Also they tend to let larger particles through the filters tha could also cause damage downstream.

hansienna · February 2006

Trip computer reads a little higher average MPG than manual calculation (28.1 MPG trip computer vs 27.2 MPG using manual calculation). However, my son's Ody odometer read 15.6 miles on the exact same course my Sienna odometer read 14.7 miles.
My Sienna now has 1470 miles which would have been measured 1560 miles in the Odyssey. Using the 1560 miles the Ody registered divided by gasoline used in my Sienna, the overall AVERAGE mileage would be 28.9 MPG...instead of the 27.2 MPG calculated. The Trip Computer reads 28.1 MPG overall average which is higher than manual calculation but lower if I used the erroneous mileage that the Ody would have read.
Now I wonder if reports of the Ody mileage is based on ACTUAL miles driven or the higher miles that the inaccurate Ody odometer registers?

ryanocerous · February 2006

How did you figure out that it was the Ody that was wrong? Could it not have been the Sienna? Or some combination of the two?

Regardless, if the Ody is reporting higher than actual distance traveled and its still reporting bad gas mileage ... that's really bad.

hansienna · February 2006

Good point. On a different test, the 2001 Ody EX odometer registered 38.0 miles while my 2002 T&C LX odometer registered 36.8 miles. In this situation, the Ody read 3.254 % more miles than the T&C while the Ody read 6.12 % more distance travelled than the Sienna LE.
Now I need to check the obvious: Drive the T&C on a mileage check to compare with the Sienna.
Maybe all 3 are in error?

I think I would get better gas mileage in the Ody if I drove it on a trip than my son has reported for his trips.

user777 · February 2006

i'd make sure every van's tires are properly sized and inflated before taking them on a measured course.

jcchevy · February 2006

Hi,

To the individual who wrote the following:

"I hate to admit it, but shouldn't you have considered the lack of a spare before spending nearly $40k? Seems like I'd have to have known that before laying my money down.

Also, when you don't have that cell phone in the desert, you are supposed to run on your flat tire, hence the name of the technology. The tire doesn't fall to the rim, the sidewalls support the car a considerable distance."

Yes, I did look into the spare as I wanted to know where it was located and what type of spare was included. That's when I found out there wasn't any AND yes, I did ask the dealer to include a spare and guess what, they wouldn't because they said I got a great deal on the vehicle and if I wanted the spare, it would cost extra. YES, I was ready to walk away and believe me I wasn't happy but I had looked around for approx. 3-4 months for this particular model (dark blue exterior, gray leather interior, touring, NAV, DVD) and just simply couldn't. And YES, I do know you can drive the vehicle with the "apparent" flat tire but the fact is what happens when you're driving on a Saturday night, you're tires get slashed by lingering metal in the road, you drive howe say the 5 miles, park the car in the garage, and the next morning your tire is completely flat and you can't drive it nor do you have a spare to put on the vehicle to get to the dealer. Luckliy, it happened at home but not out in the desert.

thanks, :mad:

john

ryanocerous · February 2006

"and the next morning your tire is completely flat and you can't drive it"

This won't happen with run-flats. The tires won't collapse - even with zero tire pressure. (Wasn't this explained in the post you quoted?) I think your frustration comes from misunderstanding the technology. That van doesn't have a spare tire because it doesn't need a spare tire.

Now there is a valid argument that you could get a flat on a Sunday with few tire stores open and even fewer with run-flats in stock. The limited range allowed on the flat tire could put you in a bind.

gmhellman · February 2006

Inherited a 97 town and country from my grandparents estate this past summer. I have not taken any trips yet, but will be taking a 600 mile roundtrip in march to appleton wis and a round trip to Minnesota in April. Around town I acheive a guzzling 12 mpg. I must say that the maintanance in the last year of their lives has fallen off and I am planning a full oil and filter change as well as a lube, air filter change and a new fuel filter. The vehicle has 67,000 miles on the original fuel filter. Will keep posting on any changes when I get the changes completed.

dennisctc · February 2006

I had a 96 SWB Caravan with same engine and easily got 20-25 mpg (50/50 city/highway). Seems like something isn't right??

thegraduate · February 2006

I'd agree, something is amiss in that engine...New air filter and spark plugs should make that MPG number jump if they've never been replaced. Maybe as much as 2-3 mpg.

gmhellman · February 2006

Thanks guys for the info. Most of the driving is in the city since my wife takes it to work and the kid around town. I am going to try new air filter, fuel filter and a change of oil and filter. When I hit 75,000 miles I want to replace plugs and wires. I am actually about to take it in to get the first service done. I tried to change the air filter myself but, was unable to get the air filter box open even after the bolts were removed....it is below zero here and I was worried if I pulled too hard I would crack or fracture the box and have to install a new one.

vcheng · February 2006

After you remove the bolts, you have to remove the entire assembly whcih is not the air filter, but the resonator box. You then have to loosen two clamps, one towards the back to the throttle body, and one below to the actual air filter box. Then disconnect the air recirculation hose, and pull the whole resonator box off. Only then will you be able to see the air filter box underneath. Two more clips, and then the air filter comes out.

This is what Chrysler means when it says on top of what looks like the air filter "remove to service air filter".

Not very intuitive, but I hope my description helps.

gmhellman · February 2006

Thanks for the clarification....I just had the dealer put in the air filter that I had purchased.....I use mobil1 5000 mile 5w30 ,Fram Double Guard Oil Filter and Fram Extra Life Air Filter. The only cost at the dealership was 7.95 for the tech to do the work. I have noticed an increase in fuel mileage since the air filter was replaced. I decided to do the fuel filter and the plugs and wires at 75,000 miles. The fuel filter replacement will run about 60 bucks not including the plugs and wires. My mileage was about 10.8 mpg and now is up to 13.8 and climbing everytime we drive the van. I hope to be near 18mpg in a 50/50 situation by the time this tank is done.

user777 · February 2006

don't use short-term metrics displayed by an onboard computer as an accurate gauge of fuel economy. it's too bad we don't know your "before air-filter replacement" vs. "after" for HWY conditions using the standard method of filling up, noting mileage, driving a long distance, then determining miles driven divided by gallons pumped when filling up again.

i wonder what your net effective increase in MPG was JUST because of the filter alone! if it were 10-20% that would be a wow!

gmhellman · February 2006

The mileage was calculated using the simple method of taking the amount of gallons of gas from fillup from 1/4 of a tank to 1/4 of a tank and dividing by the miles driven. I know it is a gritty way of doing it, but that was just the simple way. The dealer that I bring all of my vehicles to showed me the filter that I had in there...it was black and the paper was falling of when he ran his fingers over it. Most likely he said the dealer in my grandfathers town was taking advantage of him and just charging him for an air filter change being that he couldn't easily see the filter on his own. The checked the tranny fluid and changed the filter and oil, all was good in that department. I do plan on changing the atf to atf+4 at 75,000 miles and getting new plugs and wires as well as a fuel filter change also. Too expensive to do at this time.

user777 · February 2006

you lost me. the only way to do this is to fill up, note your mileage or zero your trip odometer. drive it till it's nearly empty. fill it. use the amount pumped and the miles indicated on the trip OD. do this three times and average the results.

gmhellman · February 2006

I will do your method and let you know what the mileage is. I probably will have to wait for warmer weather since I will not let my car run below a 1/4 tank of gas during the winter. Pretty much I was doing what you recommended but just doing it when filling up from 1/4 of a tank of gas and then do the math of gallons filled and miles run from the last time I had filled up. I will say I only did it once and that isn't an objective method of calculating.

dtownfb · February 2006

You can still use the method described above even if you only go to 1/4 tank. All user777 is suggesting is to use the actual miles driven (miles between fill-ups) and the actual gas used (amount of gas you pump into car) to calculate the mpg. I keep a small notebook in my glove compartment to keep track of mpg.

user777 · February 2006

exactly. you could drive until you have about 1/2 tank remaining and do the same. the further you go, and the more gas you end up pumping, the more "accurate" the results.

trust us, it is an objective method. the more variables you control, the more objective your result. for example, if you try the first tank at 65MPH highway, then the second at 80MPH highway, and the third all city, you're wasting your time right?

well no. dtownfb keeps a logbook. in this way, he can see the vehicle's fuel economy trend and determine if its degrading (during break-in, if it is improving). if you did this you might want to mentally estimate approx city/hwy mix and write that down too. you'd also capture the date and the overall mileage on the vehicle. if you are a real junky at it, you note when certain service is done like oil change, air filter change, sparkplugs, new tires, A/T flush, etc. if you are excessive compulsive, you note stuff like average temperature, humidity, brand and grade of gas, spending money in your wallet, waist size, etc.

but seriously, while i do not do this for every tank, doing it periodically is a good idea, and you dont have to go so far as to average 3 tanks. some idea of your economy baseline can be helpful for you to detect a possible problem requiring maintenance.

marine2 · February 2006

Make sure that your tire pressure is at what it should be. If it's nice enough out that you don't need A/C, close your windows over 35mph and turn on your fan and let in cool air through your heater/A/C vents. Make sure your air filter is clean and your engine is tuned up.

hansienna · February 2006

Fill up, drive on a long round trip, fill up at the end of the trip, divide miles driven by gallons used. Round trip in excess of 1000 miles provides a fairly accurate result.
Mileage is higher when A/C is not needed, vehicle is well maintained, and tire pressure is correct.

dtownfb · February 2006

I do keep the total mileage and date on my log book. Takes a whopping 1 extra minute at the gas station. With 110k miles on my vehicle, i use it to ssee when I need to do certain maintenance.

user777 · February 2006

yeah, i think it's a smart thing to do. then you can correlate MPG with other service work performed if necessary. also the date information will help one know if there is a seasonal influence to the MPG because of gas formulations.

haseebkhawaja · March 2006

Hi, I am wondering how long do run flat tires last? What are sources of replacements besides the dealer? The dealer says I can put regular tires on run flat rims as long as I did not have a flat earlier, then what is the benefit of run flats? Yes my 05 Sienna has no room for a fifth tire either.
I do get up to 20-24 MPG on highways, up to 420-440 miles in a full tank in favorable conditions.
HK

hansienna · March 2006

All I do to get good gas mileage is drive within the speed limit, no jack rabbit starts, and no screeching tires when stopping.
I am very pleased with both the power and fuel economy of our 2006 Sienna.

garandman · March 2006

We have an 05 Nissan Quest SL. It is used for business and family. Usually driven at 75mph or so on the highway. But our driving is mixed, including back roads and urban driving. We log all fuel use and I just calculated it for 15-20,000 miles and 20-25,000 miles.

For 15-20K it was 22.9.

For 20-25K, despite winter and having snow tires (Michelin X-Ice) average was 23.1.

The highest single tank we've recorded is 27.5 mpg, on a trip from NH - Boston - CT - NH that was mostly highway 65-75mph and the AC on recirculate.

The 3.5l Nissan engine is AWESOME!

Someone mentioned poor mileage in the city. We also have a 99 Caravan (not Grand). With a lot of short trips in cold weather and idling at traffic lights, our average can dip to 15mpg in winter. If we take a highway trip, it's 22+mpg, so you may just be facing the winter and city driving.

Also folks here are highly variable in how they record mpg. We keep fuel logs of exactly how much fuel is purchased and the elapsed mileage. Others here look at the readout, or SWAG it. So YMMV.

We have two friends with nearly identical Chevy Suburbans. One says he "gets" 18mpg because that's what it was the one time he checked it. The other guy logs fuel use and averages under 14 - under 12 around town. YMMV.

hansienna · April 2006

Overall average of 26.1 MPG for first 2300 miles.

Last tank dropped to only 23.8 MPG with more city driving than previous tanks. Highest was 36.0 MPG in a controlled test drive with speeds about 55 MPH. Lowest ever was 22.4 MPG in cold weather of late February.

Cold weather and stop and go driving lowers the gas mileage rapidly. The Sienna idles when first starting at the same RPM as driving 60 MPH on the open road.

averigejoe · April 2006

Just curious. What do you mean by controlled test drive?
How many miles did you drive at about 55 mph during the drive? Was it level ground? How big a load?
And how did you arrive at the 36 mpg? Was it the computer display? Or miles divided by gallons used at fillup? Or estimated by fuel gauge?

mojdodyr · April 2006

3 days old Toyota Sienna LE 8 seater - 120 miles of the city driving - 19.5 miles/gallon based on van's computer. Drops to 24-26 during few short highway trips. So far - so good ))

hansienna · April 2006

Filled tank slowly at gas station less than one mile from my home. Continued filling after shut off until 2nd shut off. Drove the Sienna at about 55 MPH on a 72 mile round trip on almost level road I-215/I-80 from Salt Lake toward Wendover and back to gas station where it was refilled using same procedure. It is only 1-1/2 miles from interstate on/off ramps to the gas station. Two persons in the vehicle. Very little wind and temperature in low 40's so A/C was not used. Divided the miles driven by the gasoline consumed. The manual calculation was almost the same as the mileage indicated by the trip computer.
As stated, the maximum possible gas mileage is MUCH higher than the overall average of 26.1 MPG in first 2300 miles.
My test was to show myself the "potential" mileage under ideal conditions. Ideally, a round trip of 500 or 600 miles would be more accurate but I could never drive at or about 55 MPH for that long. My time is worth more than the cost of the extra gasoline burned driving at or above the posted speed limits.

easym1 · April 2006

36 MPG??????Impossible.

pusterracing · April 2006

Still hovering at 22MPG mixed driving 85C/15H, usually in the 22.5-.6 Range....

'06 Honda Odyssey EX-L R&N

dudleyr · April 2006

430 mile round trip in a 2006 Sienna. Mostly highway at 75 mph with A/C on, about 20 miles city. 25.9 mpg.

I believe 36 mpg at 55. I get about thirty going 65.

hansienna · April 2006

THANKS for your confirmation that a 2006 Sienna WILL GET 36 MPG at 55 MPH. Frankly, we who own and drive a 2006 Sienna do not give a &@$% whether people who drive faster than the speed limit believe us. :shades:
I believe a 2006 Odyssey will get mileage just as high as the 2006 Sienna under the same conditions and the GC SE or T&C LX with 3.3L V6 will get only 1 MPH less than our Sienna or Odyssey with a 5 speed AT. The GC SXT or T&C Touring with 3.8L V6 would get about 2 MPG less than our Sienna or Odyssey under same driving conditions.

I am NOT going to drive 55 MPH for an entire 1400 mile trip to save a few dollars getting 36 MPG when I can drive at 65 MPH and get close to 30 MPG or drive at 75 MPH and get 25.9 MPG.

dc_driver · April 2006

The way gas prices are going, we all may be driving 55mph on the highway (hopefully downhill with a nice wind to our back)

fred222 · April 2006

THANKS for your confirmation that a 2006 Sienna WILL GET 36 MPG at 55 MPH. Frankly, we who own and drive a 2006 Sienna do not give a &$% whether people who drive faster than the speed limit believe us

Where is the speed limit 55 mph on Interstates? Please do not be a traffic hazard by driving 55 mph in a 65 mph or 70 mph or 75 mph speed limit zone to squeeze a little better gas mileage. Most serious accidents are caused traffic traveling at different speeds. If you are doing 55 mph in a 70 mph zone you are a hazard. Plain and simple.

hansienna · April 2006

The 55 MPH speed limit on Interstates in the western part of the USA is ONLY in construction zones. :shades:

As I said, I am NOT going to drive 55 MPH just to get high gas mileage when speed limits are 65, 70, or 75 MPH on the Interstate or Freeway.

leefarm · April 2006

We are extremely pleased with our new sedona van . the mpg is great! we now have 5000 miles on it and on the interstate with cruise on at 65 mph on hilly roads we traveled aprox 200 miles and averaged 27 mpg. at 55 mph on rural roads we get around 28 mpg driving very carefully.
but forget and drive aggressively or tow a trailer then you can watch your mpg go down the drain... we get around 19 mpg in the city with bad traffic. so we are very happy as we drive 1200 miles a week every week .

user777 · April 2006

plenty of places between GA and NC will have a posted limit of 55. the interstate speed limit on 85 in GA is not constant.

typesix · April 2006

RT-128(also partially known as I-95 and I-93) here in Boston area has 55 mph limit although many are going about 20-25 above that rate.

easym1 · April 2006

Stats shows that EPA results which are based on a perfect condition are normally 10 to 25 percent off in the real world. Once EPA starts using real world datas/tests, you'll see that all of the numbers posted by EPA will go down big time.

If EPA shows 18 MPG HY, It would be impossible to do 36 MPG even at 55MPH drive. If Sienna could do that, it would be a headline. Let's not kid ourselves. Right Fred222?

Post Your Van Gas Mileage Here

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