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Comments
Almost have 4,000 miles on my 2004 Mazda MPV.Wanted to put some miles on the engine before checking mpg.Plan on checking for the first time at next fill up. I am guesstamating about 20mpg
combined (60hgwy/40city)I'm sure most of you have a pretty good idea of your mpg without having to calculate it out.(or look at your overhead trip computer)
Can't answer about the rust or bubbling, but if your getting 15-16 mpg on your Odyssey in mostly city driving, it's not bad. When they give you estimated mpg city, it is also believed a certain percentage of that is mixed with highway driving. So if your not putting on that highway driving, your mpg city, will be lower than what was on the sticker.
I tried to explain this phenomenon by the fact that we left home in FL early in the morning and the oil and fluids were still cold for part of the way until our first fill up south of Atlanta. But in summer, even early morning temps aren't all THAT cold. And on the return trip, we always filled up in GA just before the FL line - and our fuel economy still went down for that last tank driving in FL!
Also, early morning starts meant that we didn't begin to run the A/C until our first fuel stop. And I was always on the gas a lot more in the hills as I tried to maintain speed on the upgrades.
Another of life's little mysteries. We are waiting for our 2005 T&C Touring as I write, so we shall see if the situation remains the same with it.
We always got around 21-22 mpg in our suburban (traffic lights around a mile or more apart and 40% interstate) driving and up to 26-27 mpg on the highway with the Dodge. The T&C returned 19-21 mpg in suburban driving (but traffic has gotten heavier around us in recent years) and a best of about 25 on the highway. But I'm usually around 80 mph on the interstates, so I don't consider these figures half bad.
Second tank driven 297 miles yielded 18.04 mpg.
3rd and 4th tank results were 20.01 and 20.08 mpg respectively
Up to about 1450 total miles of mild mannered driving on predominantly highway and interstate. It's an improvement!
This is much better than break-in. When the gas stations switch over from the winter blend I wouldn't be surprised if it went up another 1-1.5 mpg.
This is a GREAT vehicle! Even the minivan haters like driving it.
2nd tank 18.04 mpg
3rd tank 20.01 mpg
4th tank 20.08 mpg
5th tank 19.87 mpg @ >1500 miles
I agree w/ Stickguy as well. Not bad mileage for the size of the vehicle. However, it's certainly not what's touted in all of the automotive reviews or the "window sticker". Posted are 30/70 city/highway miles. I'm sorta interested in watching the trend as it relates to the "wait for the engine to break in" advice. Anecdotally, I've found that as your "low" mileage continues to persist, the suggested break-in also increases. )
1st. tank 16.10 mpg.
2nd. tank 18.77 mpg.
3rd. tank 19.66 mpg.
4th. tank 18.75 mpg.
This is also about 70/30 highway/city driving.
2nd tank 19.14
3rd tank 14.84
4th tank 11.41
5th tank 11.16 (1066 miles)
That 5th tank was the worst ever (this was winter in Anchorage). The lifetime average is 21.4.
Steve, Host
I get better than that with my Suburban. Only got 19 once on a long trip. Never under 12.4 mpg around town with the truck sitting for weeks on end. I was starting to think I might like the Odyssey EX-L with that slick NAV. If the combined average is under 20 I would not consider it. Is anyone getting 20/28 EPA rating with that fancy VCM V6?
Oops, just noticed a 10.31 tank at 28,533 miles. Probably a typo. :-)
I'd love a NAV - got lost yet again today going to a store I've been to at least four times before (turned too early and got stuck in a dead end industrial area). My lifetime mpg would be great if I could take away all my cruising around lost. I even checked Mapquest before I left, but forgot to print the map out.
Steve, Host
You deserve a free Nav system for all the great work you do in these forums. You have a talent for moderating with sensitivity and tolerance.
Kudos to you.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
Steve, Host
That was on whatever 87 gas I got from the dealer. Just filled up with 91 Shell - will see if it makes any difference.
I hear all the stories about break-in period and winter driving so I compared 99 lx over 2 weeks to 2005 EXL-DVD. 1st week new van used for 440 miles of round trip commuting gas mileage 20.11 mpg 2nd week used old van (99 lx) for same 440 mile round trip commute 24.22mpg.
That old technology really works. Off topic but new van better riding and quiet vs. 99 lx. 99 lx feels like it handles better. Be interested in comparing the road holding index on 2005 to 1999 (.74 if I remember) when the 2005 number comes out.
The '05 Ody gets about the same 15 local. We haven't taken a trip in the last couple of months, but coming home from Christmas (with LT 1K on it) I think we did about 23-24.
I need to get it on a decent highway run to see what it will do know. We are almost up to 2K on the clock.
I have my expectations set low, sinve the stop/go we do is deadly for mileage, and highway runs are ususally a combo of 75+, with hills, and some local back highways with lights.
Some day I will take a drive south with the CC set at 67 to see what it can really do. Or not.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Hard to blame them for using the results in advertising, but they always have the YMMV disclaimer, and I'm sure they know that they will get some flack when noone can replicate the results.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
town & country driving (hills) with occational open roads. Regular low grade 86 octane.
can't wait till spring...
So far I am disappointed with the new HO gas mileage. I would add to achieve higher gas mileage with the new HO you really have to watch your driving and avoid accelerating to fast. The 99 HO you just drive and still achieve good gas mileage.
I am holding out hope on Steve's (Host) comment that his gas mileage went up over time.
To round out the earlier post DVD was on as was Heat and A/C, 7 people estimated weight including luggage 900 pounds. With the 1999 LX I really never noticed a material difference to having the DVD (aftermarket) and the heat/AC on vs. not having them on. As for the weight carried I have never gone anywhere of any distance with less then 800 pounds so never developed a comparison.
Obviously I drive more conservatively and get 25 to 27.5 MPG on round trips in my 2002 Chrysler T&C LX with 3.3L engine.
I think it would be easy for me to get the same 30 MPG in a 1999-2004 Odyssey on a round trip that you are getting.
OT, I got 16.5 mpg on the last around town tank on our '05 EX-L (up from around 15). Weather was a little better, and did a few more "excursions", which to us is going 5 miles on a local highway to a different shopping center, and a 20 mile round trip to a concert.
We will take a vacation over easter, so it will be my first chance to check highway mpg since just after we bought it (at Xmas). I have 6 years of baseline numbers on this route with our '99 Quest, so I will really be able to tell what it can do. If I average 24 on the trip, I will be very happy.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
In my view the diff. has to do with the engine.
99 LX 205-210 HP 2005 - 255 HP. You can easily tell the difference in pick-up.
Generally I have found the 99 HO's to do better on MPG than the later models as HP was bumped to 240.
I do expect the MPG to go up somewhat when we make our annual trip to SC. Usually 6-7 straight hours of driving on cruise control all highway at 65-70 MPH before we make our 1st stop.
Overall the van is great was just hoping the VCM would achieve MPG comparable to the 99 HO.
"Stickguy"
"Having driving the NJT and I95 route more times than I can count, I can't imagine doing it at 68 mph, even if you promised me 35 mpg! At that speed, school buses will run you off the road."
I make the NY DC run at least 8-12 times a year. The traffic is horrible most of the time during the day. I grew tired of the 5-8 hour trips. For the last several years I leave around 12:00am-3:00am and take a leisurely drive down at 65-70 MPH you get there in about 4 hours. At that time there is virtually no-one on the road to run you over.
I absolutely refuse to to leave NY at a time that will put me at the DC Virginia border after 6:00am when heading further south.
I used to be able to drive like that.....and then I got married.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
If my destination is 10 hours non-stop it turns into 13 hours. 1st 7hrs wife and children sleeping 12:00am -7:00am which leaves 3 hours driving however, 1st stop is long 2 hrs breakfast etc. etc. now wife and kids are up and odds are a different person will need to stop every 30 minutes. It takes awhile to unbuckle and buckle those car seats.
Packing morning before hitting the sack at 3:00pm and leaving at 12:00am when kids are just drifting off is the only way I will travel.
To keep on topic leaving this time saves alot of gas. You have to get out of the Boston Washington corridor as quickly as possible. One downside vs. leaving in day light is you lose the opportunity to really study the imperfections in the guard rails and overpasses while cruising on I95 at 20 mph.
Done for now will post gas mileage again if it changes.
13,532.6 miles
634.9 gallons
21.3 miles per gallon
We use the Sienna for commuting and so we have more highway miles than city miles, but it's also a five-person carpool, and a 6-cyl. engine, so I've been pleased with the overall gas mileage.
As a comparision, here are the numbers for our '04 CR-V EX, bought one year ago, almost to the day.
11,250.1 miles
540.9 gallons of gas
20.8 miles per gallon
With the CR-V (4-cyl, AWD), it's probably a 30% highway and 70% city (actually, suburban) mix of driving.
Best recorded mileage for both vehicles - a trip to Tennessee my wife took in the CR-V and a trip to and around New England we took in the Sienna - is the same: 25.9 mpg.
84 plymouth acclaim
85 buick skylark
88 taurus
86 civic
I was at my best when I did a 24 hr drive from boston to orlando and I only had 2 redbulls.
now I got tired for just driving an hour with kids screaming and wife yapping.
what gives?
Steve, Host
My 2002 T&C LX with 3.3L V6 is rated 18 City 24 Highway and I usually get between 25 and 28 on round trips. The AVERAGE since I purchased it has dropped to 24.9 MPG because of winter driving.
EPA Highway ratings are actually lower than the actual mileage a conservative driver would get on the open road if the vehicle is driven at or below the posted speed limit.
However, City driving has too many variations to make a realistic comparison.
“We've only put around 700 miles on the van (it came to us with around 2,000 miles on the clock), so it's a little early to tell whether our average fuel economy of 17 mpg will improve. We imagine it will increase once we get a few long trips under our belts that will allow the VDC to do its thing. Our 1999's average over two years was 18.3 mpg.”
“Current Odometer: 2,710
Best Fuel Economy: 17.2 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 16.7 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 17.0 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: Possible slow leak in front passenger tire.”
I’m glade to see AAA challenging the EPA’s outdated formulas for calculating fuel economy. It is rediculious for people to be getting such low mileage on such a technologically advanced vehicle as the 2005 Odyssey. I could have easily been one of the very angry Odyssey buyers, but opted for the Sienna due to the softer ride quality. The wife and I have been able to manage about 18.5 mpg in the city and about 24mpg on highway trips. With gas now going over $2 a gallon, we’re pleased with our purchase decision, but averaging around 20 mpg overall is still nothing to celebrate.
Is the Sedona engine inefficient when the 3.5L V6 produces only 195 HP and 218 lb-ft Torque while the same size Odyssey 3.5L V6 produces 255 HP and 250 lb-ft Torque and also gets much higher 19/25 (or 20/28 with VCM) EPA ratings?
In the CR tests the new VCM mileage was the same as the old non VCM.
Remember that when the eco light is on it does not mean VCM is engaged, just that you are driving economically.