Honda Odyssey Real World MPG

bobber1

Just filled up our 07 Odyssey EX. 100% city driving. Averaged 17 mpg. I'm quite satisfied with that number. We've been in the 25 to 26 mpg range on road trips and also am satisfied with those numbers as well.

gotoyota

My Ody also gets horrible gas mileage and always has. I have to say up front I just replaced it with an 07 Sienna Limited in August which solved my bad fuel economy problems, but my 04 EXL-RES has NEVER achiever higher than 19.9 mpg (100% highway on a recent trip), and consistently averaged between 12-14 mpg in town, where we do 95% of our driving in this vehicle (our Sienna easily averages 21+ in 100% city, just for comparison, and it feels like we only fuel it 50% as frequently). The dealer couldn't find anything wrong with it and American Honda would never admit anything was wrong no matter how I pressed them, which especially displeased me since my brothers 07 Armada has been averaging about 14.5 around town. How do you like them apples? It is sitting in my driveway now, waiting for a new owner.... Anyway, just thoght I'd put in my 2C worth - according to Honda, there is nothing wrong with these vans. It's a mystery that some of them can get in the upper 20's while many of them are worse than full size SUV's. The break in theory is bogus - mine curretly has 56K on it - plenty of time to break in.

bobber1

Oh Go Toyota I think most of the Honda's get in the Mid 20's(I do.) and a few get lower mileage like yours. Your letting you experience cloud your judgment.

gotoyota

Oh, I thought this was the Honda Odyssey Mileage Forum where people report on their own experiences. Don't we all form judgements based on our experiences? Hmmmm? I didn't say I think the Ody is a crappy van, I just reported what my mileage was and what Honda did to fix it - nothing. :confuse:

bobber1

Sure sure. I just noted that you had lumped the poor mileage comment into most Odyssey owners and that only a few probably got good mileage. It was probably subconscious on your part.

You post a lot here and from the problems you had with your Honda, I don't blame you for having a sour view on them. :sick:

As I've mentioned before, I'm just trying to add a little balance as my experiences with my Honda have been quite positive.

gotoyota

No problem bobber1. The bad fuel economy is a sore spot, no doubt about that, but I didn't mean to say that all Honda Odysseys are getting bad mileage. It appears that way when I find more people who are getting mileage like mine, though. My bad. Still, I am very puzzled as to why some get such poor economy, while others perform as advertised.

zdawg

All you people who are complaining about the mileage. How are you coming up with your figures of 13-15mpg? I can't seem to reproduce your problem even during the breakin period. I get at least 19mpg city and running AC. Of course I use the proper method of tracking the mpg by using the actual amount of gas I put in vs the real miles I drive. Are yall sitting in traffic all day or something?

gotoyota

Using the same tried and true method you're using, zdawg - miles driven/gallons used. Nearly all of our driving (in the van) is in town, relatively short trips, probably less than 10 miles at a time. But I think what you're after is the method of calculation being used, right? I'm not using any fuzzy math or anything. As I have said in other posts, we drive the new Sienna in the exact same manner and consistently achieve low 20's in town, 30+ on the highway. I can accept the idea that we might not be driving the Ody for optimal MPG - the engine is tuned for much higher RPM power after all... but by no means was it driven hard, except on occasion when power was needed, just as we now drive the Sienna. Soooo..... It is what it is - if there is a secret for getting optimal mileage in the Ody, maybe you could share?? It sounds like a few folks in here would like to know how you are getting the mileage you are achieving. The only thing I can think of is that it could be that some people hit the gas harder in the Ody because the engine is relatively "peaky" and is moving 4500lbs of mass, so to get the same amount of forward motion you would get in, say, the Sienna with it's more punchy low end, you have to give it more fuel??? I don't know, I'm just guessing for lack of an explanation....

zdawg

Well...if you are using the same way to calculate your MPG as me, then I have no other explanation as to why you're getting lower gas mileage than me. I do occasionally drive with a lead foot to pass and such, but for the most part I don't lay on the gas on acceleration. I've only got 700 miles on my oddy, and make sure tire pressure is to spec. That's about all I can offer.

gotoyota

No problem, I didn't expect any new "revelations" :shades: My whole point is... I don't think we're doing anything to cause the bad mileage. The tires are all fairly new and inflated to the proper PSI and I really think we drive it conservatively. Even if they were low, it wouldn't account for 30% fewer MPG than rated - maybe 10%. It runs perfectly, there's nothing amiss about it, it just drinks a lot. But with so many other reports of bad mileage in the Ody, something IS going on. There's a bunch of us who seem to be getting this kind of mileage, from the posts I've read. Anyway, I do hope you continue to enjoy your new Ody - it is a very nice van.

babsy2

I think it's pretty obvious we're all experienced drivers who know how to calculate mpg, and we would not be complaining if, as you said, mpg was only 10% off. I now have 10,000 miles on mine,with our 1 yr anniversary of owning the vehicle coming up, and while it is an incredibly comfortable car to drive, and the kids adore everything about it, the 13 mpg driving around our suburban town still stinks. 22mph on the highway and that's acceptable. No doubt problem will pass along to the 2008s.

thegraduate

We moved my parents back to Alabama from Oklahoma City, in their 2007 Civic and my great aunt's 2005 Odyssey EX cloth (no VCM). Running 78-83 MPH with A/C on 100% of the time (temp was around 85-95 most of the time). The Odyssey was loaded to the gills with "stuff" and two people, and got about 26 MPG overall over 4 tanks. (Best at 27 MPG, worst at 24, but included some in-town driving in OKC). My aunt gets about 17 MPG in town, but this highway mileage was pretty good, I think. My folks in their loaded Civic got mid-30s.

The Odyssey had about 33,000 miles on it at the time of travel.

gotoyota

I don't think anyone is challenging anyones claims of achieving the manufacturers stated MPG. On the other hand, it's not hard to find other people with underachieving Ody's, but obviously, the problem is not inclusive of all Ody's ever made... and I'm sure the number of folks with bad mileage is small compared to the number of Odys out there. I, for one, would just like to know what it is about the sizeable number of us folks who can't seem to get anywhere close to those claims in our driving. The main reason I am so puzzled is because my Sienna, with its identical mileage ratings and identical driving conditions, consistently overachieves the mileage claims, thus ruling out driver input as the cause. Our Ody has always been about 30% under. Honda will probably announce a recall campaign as soon as our Ody is sold :shades:

ced33

1st tank 18; second tank 19.9 still under 3 weeks old. I am very pleased.

thegraduate

Well, the EPA conditions have now been revised. I think the numbers look like 16/23 or something similar, for the 2005 non-VCM Ody.

We had a 2000 Odyssey (3.5L 210hp that wanted premium). It delivered below city mileage (17 or so) but could get 26 MPG at 75MPH on the highway with little effort. My Accord, on the other hand, can beat EPA highway numbers by as much as 6MPG when I'm going 70-75MPH, so I think the Odyssey has more MPG issues than most Hondas based on our experience.

I'm not trying to challenge anyone, just reporting experiences within my family. Not overachieving like some of our other Hondas can do, but not terrible like some people seem to have either.

bigdadi118

I think these factors have to be considered instead of what way in how to calculate mileage.

Proper air pressure to spec., electronic guage is best accurate.
Heavy vs light foot, on gas pedal.
Gradual acceleration, earlier off the gas pedal before the red light.
10% Ethanol added on gas or not. Some say the Ethanol add-on reduces MPG.
Motor Oil/Oil Filter/Air Filter condition - are they fresh right after service or already there for 4,900 miles.
Season of year - winter time warm up the engine reduces MPG
Traffic Jam - sitting on traffic with lots of idling reduces MPG.
I also think more braking means less MPG.

gotoyota

Sure these could all be potential factors, but none of these variables are factors in my case. These have all been considered and ruled out long ago. I can't speak for anyone else. But my point is that our Sienna, with its nearly identical stated mileage ratings consistently, easily, overachieves on mileage, while our Ody, consistently underachieves - by a lot. It always has from the time it was new. So, if we have two vans with the same mileage rating, being driven under identical conditions and being driven the same way, one would expect them to get similar mileage.

zdawg

I forgot to ask everyone with the poor mileage. Do you guys have VCM (variable cylinder management) on your oddys? I figure we should all be on the same page. I've got the EXL which comes with VCM, so just wanted to make sure we comparing apples to apples.

tseosh

After reading posts here, I wasn't sure if I'd get 25 mpg, so I'm pleasantly surprised. This is 62-72mph hwy driving only.

michaelok

I've not been wildly impressed with the mileage of my Acord (mostly 32-33, with AC, perhaps 37 without), but it makes the Odyssey look good, which is a far far bigger,heavier car, and less aerodynamic. The gear ratio seems much better, as at 60mph I can be under 2K rpm I think, whereas the stick Accord is hitting almost 3K rpm at 60-65.

A/C seems to also make the big difference, fuel type not so much. So I'm pleased with the mpg, they certainly could do better though. Seems the market demands power though, and the capability to tow 3500lb might come in handy..

So Consumer Reports got 12mpg? I really don't look to that mag for Car information, stick with Edmunds. Their user feedback is useful though (electrical, tranny, etc)

jchan2

32-33 with A/C in an Accord is pretty impressive, considering it's been rated 24/34 (2007-prior Accords) or 21/30 (new Accords)

pmickle

Why don't you just use the instant miles per gallon meter. It is a lot easier to see when the mileage drops off. I think it is around 73 miles per gallon.

dsrtrat2

Stability control works by applying single brakes selectively to help us maintain control of the vehicle.

If this system is malfunctioning and is applying some braking it would drastically affect MPG. If you have abnormally fast brake pad wear and very poor MPG this could be something to look at.

VSC can be turned off and if you run 2-3 tanks of gas tru it and your MPG improves a lot, you've found it.

This is only a theory, so don't beat me up too much.

nd5056

I never liked to use Cruise Control until we got our 2007 Ody. The Cruise is working so smooth, there is no way I could do a better job regardless how gentle I am. I can tell the difference just watching the VCM light being ON for the most part using Cruise Control.

We too a trip to Ontario, CA over the Labor Day weekend. Our EX-L was 2 weeks old and not broken in yet on the way there. We took it easy.

But on the way back, we crossed the border in Buffalo, NY and drove to Chicago, IL overnight.

With the Cruise Control ON, driving somewhere between 65~75 MPH for the most part (sometimes even more), we did average almost 27 MPG.

Don’t know what our tire pressure was, etc. The only thing I know, I’m always buying Premium gas and Cruise Control was ON for 95% of the time.

I always buy Premium on a long trip, engine runs a hair quieter and ads more kick to it.

Van was loaded, 2 adults and 3 children on board with all the works…. .

.

thegraduate

I'm not personally attacking you here, but I think the only thing premium gets you is a gas bill that is higher by about .30 a gallon more.

You'd really do yourself a favor by saving the money and using regular.

My ice cream all around with the money you save!

leg01pd

I have had two 2007 Odysseys, a EX-L and a Touring (thanks to a kid running a red light). On both the 2007 models I have gotten 13 city 17 highway. I see the various theories on the causes, but we may also want to check another one that I don't think I've seen mentioned (except for ethanol). Each city may have a different blend of gasoline mandated by the EPA (along with an ethanol content). I am wondering if that could also have an effect. Perhaps if everyone who has bad gas mileage would say what city they buy the majority of their gas from we could see a pattern. I am in Tulsa Oklahoma.
I will say the only time I got decent mileage was when I travelled outside of Oklahoma, which was the only time I got 25 on highway, every other measurement was the 17.

nd5056

Nothing personal thegraduate, no offence taken. :shades:

In theory you’re right. In practice, that’s a different story.

Let me tell you something from my own experience. I used to own ’99 Olds Silhouette and I loved that minivan. Around 25,000 miles on the odometer, the minivan started to misfire, didn’t matter if it was from the cold start or in the middle of the drive, like stopping at the stop lights.
Idle or low RPM was triggering that.
Couldn’t get rid of it. Several trips to my friend’s shop reassured me that there must be a serious problem, like bad injectors, head gasket or the intake manifold gasket.

You’re talking major $$$ to fix. But since no one was sure what the problem was, he just put in a bottle of a really good fuel injector cleaner in the gas tank to see what develops.

The van was running great! So I’m thinking, why not try the Shell V-Power gas, as advertised HERE::

It was running fine, so I’m thinking to my self – let’s try Shell Regular gas. Once again, it turned out to be just fine.
OK, so I had dirty injectors, they got cleaned & everything is fine, right? Wrong!
The only Reg. gasoline I could drive on without hiccups or misfire was Shell Regular. All I had to do is fill up anywhere else, the problem returned almost instantly.

We put 30,000 miles more since then on the van without fixing anything.

And always, regardless what car I’m driving on the Expressway, I can hear the engine running differently on the high speed drive. Maybe because the Regular quality is below the specs, or somehow more water gets mixed with it, or…… ?????

PS. Absolutely no need to prove me right or wrong, this is just my own experience. And my Olds with 3.3L(?) engine did average around 25 MPG driving down to Florida, doing 75~85 MPH most the way at night, mostly NOT using Cruise Control and running on Premium.... .

.

thegraduate

Absolutely no need to prove me right or wrong, this is just my own experience.

I'm not looking to do so. What works for you in your area, works! Maybe the gas in your area is formulated differently than in my area.

Personally, I always use Chevron regular because it has the detergents in the lowest grade of gas, not limited to the premium grade. Maybe that would help?

gotoyota

Each city may have a different blend of gasoline mandated by the EPA (along with an ethanol content). I am wondering if that could also have an effect.

We have purchased gas in CA, UT, NV, with no change in MPG for our Ody. Best ever hwy was 19.9 on a 2k mile round trip, loaded with 4 small kids (all between 2 and 7 yrs), and probably 150 lbs of luggage. It's a plausible theory, but where we bought gas did not affect our mileage in our case. Our previous best was about 18, with about 80% hwy on local roads.

boco063

Well, being an engineer I decided to give it some time and gather a little bit of data. My vehicle is a 2007 Ody Touring which was purchased new. My van is still getting 15.5 city*/20.0 highway. (* city isn't very accurate as it's all country roads around my home with _very_ infrequent stop signs/stop lights).

I've taken several long roadtrips in the van now (it's currently got 5500 miles) and have observed the following:

1) MPG reported by the computers is within about 2% of what I calculate by dividing odometer mileage by gallons of fuel for each fill up. So I feel pretty confident that it's not a matter of the computer reporting bad mileage ... the van is just really, really thirsty.

2) Turning off VSA does nothing for my mileage. I didn't suspect that it would, but at least that would have given me something to hang my hat on. I turned it off for an entire tank and saw no measurable improvement in mileage.

3) Turning off a/c made about a 4.5% difference in mileage. Nothing to write home about and not unexpected at all.

4) Tire pressure is 33 front / 35 rear as spec'ed.

My latest road trip (yesterday) was about 100 miles each way and I noticed some interesting behavior. I reset the trip odometer once i was at speed, cruise control set at 65 on a level stretch of highway. This time, I decided to watch the instant fuel economy to try to watch for any anomalies and I found something interesting. On a level stretch of highway, with A/C off, the van will stay in 'eco' mode for a LONG time. It gets ~25-27mpg this way but about 15% of the time, the instantaneous mileage will drop to just over 10mpg and stay that way for 20-30 seconds at a time. During this time, the 'eco' light stays on as if the van is being tremendously efficient.

At first, I thought I had accidentally left some accessory on, but double checked no a/c, no radio, no defroster, no dvd, no heated seats, no vsa ... nothing on. I then suspected that perhaps cruise control was giving it more gas to maintain speed due to a hill i didn't notice. So, I turned off cruise and with a _very_ light foot did what was necessary to maintain 65mph. The same thing happened. I noticed that if I hit the gas when I see the instant economy drop, the engine drops out of 'eco' mode and the mileage jumps up to about 20mpg. Letting the foot back off the gas drops the engine back into 'eco' mode and mileage goes back to 25-27. Doing this the entire way home I was able to average 24.5 mpg over about 100 miles. That's Almost 4.5mpg better than I've ever managed before. But it took a LOT of effort on my part to get that.

So, it appears that something is going on when the van's been in eco mode for a while to tank the mileage. The effect is very reproducible and I'll be showing my dealer. I'd like to know if anyone else sees this same effect. Anybody up for running an experiment?

Otherwise, I'll just put on my tinfoil hat and head in to argue with the dealer

phank

what is eco mode or echo light?

I have honda ode ex ,has 2000miles sofar in town and highway (50/50) i get 18 and
i have seen 14-15 when i was using city only that is so bad for economy i am waiting for hybrid toyota seinna but not until 2009?

thanks
hp

boco063

the 'eco' light is the little green light on the dash that shows up when the vehicle is operating on 3 cylinders (VCM is active).

coupedncal

From my reading, ECO light is not related to VCM. You could be in the 3 or 4 cyl mode and still not have ECO light on. But ECO light is only available on VCM models and not on EX. If my statement is correct, then I don't know why they don't offer ECO light across all trims.

gotoyota

From my reading, ECO light is not related to VCM. You could be in the 3 or 4 cyl mode and still not have ECO light on. But ECO light is only available on VCM models and not on EX. If my statement is correct, then I don't know why they don't offer ECO light across all trims.

I believe that is incorrect. The ECO light comes on whenever you are in Economy mode, which expressly means that the VCM is active, therefore fuel demand is reduced and economy increased. The ECO light is only on VCM equipped models because it indicates when VCM is saving fuel.

gotoyota

Very interesting post. Cars definately use a lot more gas than most people realize when climbing hills - only an instant MPG readout can really give you that startling picture. Who drives 65 all the time on level ground though? Not me, and definately not my wife! Our 07 Sienna has no trouble averaging 31+ on the freeway. I've even seen 34 MPG a time or two, and we drive about 75 avg. Our 04 Odyssey was every bit as thirsty as your 07 Touring, which was hugely disappointing. We could never understand why it was so thirsty and the dealer could not provide any explanation, other than accusing us of being heavy footed :confuse: I like the Odyssey, but I don't think it's going to win any economy wars, and I'd really like to know how Honda came up with the MPG ratings that seem so hard to achieve in the real world. Maybe that engine is just really sensitive...who knows. We sure are happy with our Sienna though!

thegraduate

Out Odyssey vans never had trouble matching HWY ratings, but exceeding them was very rare. 17 MPG in suburban driving wasn't uncommon.

gotoyota

Yes, I'm well aware of the many other Odyssey vans that DO get pretty close to stated MPG. I just find it very interesting that there are such inconsistencies among owners. Usually, if one is really trying to achieve good mileage, it's possible to get to at least the claimed rating. Unless you live in the hills, there's no real explanation why it seems to be impossible for some of us to get decent MPG from the Ody. You'd expect to find something wrong, so it's frustrating when eveything checks out just fine.

thegraduate

No doubt that it would be incredibly frustrating, especially when in a van with more power and similar ratings, you can do SO much better. I'd be unhappy too!

hj708

If you are reading this, do not buy a Honda Odyssey. This thing is an absolute joke. 18/24mpg....maybe down a hill with a nice wind at your back and the thing in neutral. I had a Pilot with the ECO thing on the motor and I consistenly got 23-26mpg with 4 adults and luggage. This Odyssey BARELY gets 18mpg at a steady 75mph. 12-14mpg is the norm on in-town driving. What a complete POS

thegraduate

I just returned from a sixteen hundred mile trip in my aunts 2005 odyssey. With the cruise control set on 78 we averaged 24 mpg. Temps were around fifty, we didn't run the ac much, and the car was loaded with three big adults and a couple hundred pounds of gear. Great vehicle! No vfm by the way.

fljoslin

I purchased a 2006 Odyssey EXL in September of 2005. The van has just under 14000 miles on it right now and I have been tracking the mileage since 1723 miles. The average gas mileage over 11028 miles is 20.71 mpg. In town the mileage is 17-20mpg and highway is 24-27 mpg.
On extended trips the van has the following mileages:
395 miles 25.99mpg
403 miles 25.70mpg
233 miles 27.64mpg
392 miles 26.42mpg
432 miles 25.71mpg
376 miles 25.07mpg
414 miles 24.78mpg
393 miles 26.06mpg
403 miles 26.69 mpg
403 miles 26.92 mpg
These trips were all on I-90 in Washington State at about 70-75 mpg and driving through the Cascade mountain Range.
The only way that I could see getting 18 mpg at a steady 75 mph is if the vehicle was left in the third gear setting! The engine is smooth enough that you may not notice that.

gfh77665

Those are impressive numbers without a doubt! They are also totally out of reach for my 2006 EX (13,000 miles). I drive on pancake flat roads in SE Texas, and I drive 90% of the miles on highways, with the cruise set exactly on 70. Best I ever clocked was a dissapointing 21.5. I drive very easy, coasting to a stop and very easy acceleration, and I keep my tires at proper pressures.... I just don't understand it....

bogacz

:sick: I have purchased 2007 EX Odyssey in October. First few fill-ups gave me about 250 miles for about 17+ gallon . I thought that it was simply the case of the brand new engine.
This was not an easy conclusion as I have been told at the dealership that Honda breaks in their engines before they put them in their cars. Well, two months later and about 4K miles more, the same reliable milage (250 mi / 17 gal = 14.7 mi/gal) is the norm for mostly suburban driving without any stop-n-go traffic. Granted there is some elevation difference in my 7 mile commute to work.

Now, to the variability amongst the multitude of owners. I wonder if someone can comment on the fact that the Odyssey has fly-by-wire control (I am talking about the accelerator pedal here) . This means that even if ones holds the acceleration level indicator steady, thus doing the easy driving, the electronic brains could very well be stepping on the gas pedal to the beat of the song playing on the radio.
I have noticed that my Odessey has a tendency to remain in the lower gear and causing extra noise in the cabin coming mostly from the exhaust system when the engine is in low RPMs climbing some low grade hill. Is it possible that these low RPM are not es efficient for the engine and the milage suffers?

Thanks.

thegraduate

7 miles is a pretty short commute; that could have a lot to do with low mileage.

I'd be VERY interested to know your previous vehicle and what mileage you acheived in the same conditions as your Odyssey.

dsrtrat2

I hope boco063 keeps us updated on his results. That is the most plausible reason for p. poor MPG that I have seen, and it is reproducible.

I can't try it as all 4 of my ODYs have gotten close to EPA numbers.

klondike8

Just on a trip from Orange county to San Francisco and back. We've 2 adults and 2 young kids on car steat, I'm getting 22 on all interstate driving, cruising is off, I was doing 75 MPH during the trip, outside temp. was 37-45. There are some hilly north of LA.

On city, I'm reliably getting 15 MPG with only the driver (me) in the van. The van had 1500 miles on it before the trip. I know the gas mileage of Ody is bad but I expect more than that. Is there something wrong with my van? :confuse:

capizzo

WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH OURS! THE 2004 LX HAD A MUCH SMOOTHER SHIFTING AND ACCELERATION PATTERN,AND THE MPG'S WERE AS TRUE AS THE 19/25 POSTED ON THE STICKER!
THE 2007 HANDLES NICE, BUT I HAVE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH THE WIND NOISE FROM THE REAR WINDOWS,THE "HOLD-BACK" DOWNSHIFTING WHEN I MOVE BETWEEN THE ACCELERATOR AND THE BRAKE!, AND OF COURSE HAVING TO VISIT A GAS STATION ALMOST EVERY TIME WE GO OUT!
I HAVE ONLY **4,800** MILES (NOT A MIS-PRINT)! ON THE VEHICLE SINCE I DROVE OFF THE LOT IN MID-MAY 2007...AND I HAVE PROBABLY LAID OUT AT LEAST 150.00 A MONTH FOR GAS!---UN-ACCEPTABLE...RIDICULOUS...EMBARASSING..!!!!

motorider

motorider

I, too have a 2007 touring model have been disappointed in the mileage. Today on a 250 mile trip only 21.5 mpg. I did also notice that at 65 the mpg kept dropping during a 45 mile strech. The engine was at 1800 RPM. Once up to 75 and about 2100 RPM the mileage started gradually getting better. Seems like maybe the engine is lugging at lower speeds.??? My caddy with the 4.7 liter got 26 MPG. ">

gujuguy

Recently (currently 3300 miles) bought an Odyssey EXL and disappointed with the mileage in NJ. City driving consitently geting 16 mpg . I knew the mileage problem about odyssey and wanted to buy Sienna only if Toyota improved bloated drive feel on it.
I know how to calcualte mileage, I dont accelerate at green light, so I expect my figures to atleast match EPA figures.
Other problem (or pecularity) I experienced (compared to Camry) is that odysey feels like it is running in higher gear between 30 -50 mpg and engine sounds laggard in that speed range. I also ocassionaly noticed slight jerk on braking. Any of these is norm ?
Overall I am very happy with the van but if the mileage wont improve over time I would be very disappointed.