Acura MDX MPG Real World Numbers

upstatedoc

The best I can muster from our '07 sport in mixed driving is 17 mpg. Is HL short for Highlander? If you're getting 22-24 mpg in mixed driving from a V6, consider yourself fortunate.

cyrus

We are getting an average of 21.7 mpg combined (80% highway, 20% city) on my Wifes 2007 MDX. This is based on ~7k miles of driving so far with the Tire pressure always at least 32-34 (PSI, cold). Nonetheless, now that the winter is here upon us in Chicagoland, I expect it to drop-off by at least 1 or so mpg over the winter months.

bill124

Getting 12.5 mpg on very local driving with 2008 MDX (tech and ent.). Any suggestions on what we are doing wrong? Does AWD get turned off?

upstatedoc

Is that from the computer or your calculations? Are you using 91 or higher octane? AWD is always on, even moreso w/ city driving. If you notice the SH-AWD read-out during highway cruising it should show mostly FWD torque. In the city, w/ starting and stopping all the time, there is more torque going to the rear wheels-----worse MPG.

bill124

Thanks for the reply. That is the computer based on a reset. Wife says it is using at least 91 (at least that's what it's labeled as!).

upstatedoc

Huh.... Maybe it's time for a diagnostic test at the dealership? Even w/ my leadfoot the poorest mileage I've managed is 16.5 mpg.

bill124

I may do that. I asked the manager and he said that with a 300 hp motor around long island with lots of stop signs and waiting, it isn't unusual but I sort of didn't expect otherwise.

upstatedoc

Long Island...that explains it. That's got to be the worst city driving on the planet. :P I lived in Westbury for two years, that was enough for me. I think you have to grow up in that kind of driving environment in order to tolerate it. Let us know if your MDX passes it's tests.

bill124

I'm East Williston. Anyway, I always say the only people that live on LI either grew up there or moved for family. No one chooses it as a destination because (i) too crowded, (ii) too expensive to buy property, and (iii) very high property taxes. So, maybe it's LI traffic and congestion that explains it. Plus, dropping off kids in a "line" -literally a line -- of cars waiting to get to the school doors to drop off kids too spoiled to take the bus. None of that helps.

jaxbax77

We are getting only 12.1 mpg. Horrible mileage...local driving western suburbs of Philly. The terrain is hilly, not big hills but not flat. I am very disappointed in the MDX. We had a 2001 = about 17mpg....then a 2004 BMW X5 = 16.2 mpg. Now this. I feel like I have bought a Hummer. I talked to the service manager and he asked if I had calculated the mpg's the old way, by manual tabulation...yes! It comes up to a lower mpg. Two more years left on our lease and then it's hello BMW again.

bill124

Jaxbax,

Sorry to hear you are in same boat as me. Yes, very disappointing. I thought the new MPG estimates were supposed to be accurate but I guess not in our case. Maybe we'll hear about some problem other than big engine = low mpg.

Anyone else?

Bill

momster1

We got our MDX a week ago and have already driven 400 miles in it. (We live in the country and everything is a drive!) The meter is showing 15.1 MPG, and I've had to fill up the car twice this week! What a gas eater this car seems to be....

I can't figure out how to reset the trip meter and haven't yet read the manual. I also can't figure out why the meter sometimes shows total miles under the mpg reading that are more than what the car has in total! Other times, it's much less. I'm sure there's a simple explanation for this but it's driving me nuts!

bill124

Welcome to crappy mileage. I reset it by bringing the manual into the car and then using the buttons on the steering wheel that take you through the screen. Sorry I don't recall it offhand but please keep posting about mileage. Surprised yours is so bad if all country driving. Ours it total stop and start.

squirtman

My family lives in Westchester County, NY. So far we have about 700 miles on the car in 2 months of driving - all local with the exception of 2 trips that account for about 100 of those miles. Tire pressure has consistently been around 34-35psi. Avg MPG has been between 12.1 and 12.7, but spiked to about 14 on both of the highway trips. We have only filled the gas tank twice so far (in NJ, which saved us $$) at a cost of about $55 each fill. I am not sure how accurate the computer calculation is, but even I was expecting to get a little better mileage out of the car. Would engine break-in have anything to do with MPG? I guess I have been a little spoiled by 4 cylinder driving - In contrast, my little 2-seater Toyota convertible gets over 30 mpg on 87 octane gas and even my '03 WRX, which requires premium fuel like the MDX, is around 24-25mpg.

bill124

Thanks for the posting. I told wife this morning not to let car get much below a quarter because it's not like prior car (Mazda MPV) that got better mileage. Ride to train this morning was at 12.1. I need to adjust tire pressure. I looked this morning and it was like 29, which is probably too low. Really disappointing. If I had known this, would have bought Mazda CX-9, which runs on regular and gets better mileage. Hopefully we'll get more postings but I too thought we'd get better, particularly in light of what are supposed to be more realistic EPA estimates on the sticker -- wasn't it like 15? I really do wonder if something wrong.

maverick27

13 mpg?? Wow. I am having second thoughts on getting the MDX 2008.

squirtman

I'm not sure what to make of these numbers, but I don't put too much into them - they are what they are. I never tracked MPG before and I doubt many people did either, but I think that any new vehicle that has a trip computer, especially one like the MDX's that is always accesible, just makes people more conscious of MPG. My perspective is based on only 6-8k miles of driving each year - people that drive to work everyday and/or need to fill their tanks up a few times a month will definitely feel differently.

With regards to the Mazda, I thought that it also required premium fuel (or maybe that was the 2007 model). Do you have any insight into my earlier question about engine "break-in" period possibly impacting MPG?

By the way - the recommended tire pressure is 32psi I believe, but I think that is way too low for an SUV of this size and weight, so we ride the tires a bit higher.

bill124

From what I can gather, breakin is of no real consequence. Maybe 1 mpg.

As to numbers, I agree they are what they are but I really think 12 vs. 15 is a big difference. 25% is misleading, in my vies. I also really wouldn't have bought the car if I would get that bad. We too are not big drivers -- maybe 8-10K per year as second car (clk 320 convertible) gets used in better weather.

I am interested in hearing about others.

It is interesting that we are both in NYC area, where traffic sucks, so maybe that's why we are worse than some/many others.

bill124

CX-9 is regular unleaded, with also a 15mpg city estimate. That isn't the gripe, though. It's the fact that we are consistently 25% under the so-called more accurate mpg.

upstatedoc

An interesting thing has happened to the mileage on my '04. When my wife was driving it the computer always read 17.5 mpg for mixed driving. Now that I am driving it ( ) the computer reads 14.5 mpg. The big difference is that the '04 now only goes to work and back (1 mile round trip) The cold weather may also play a part in this. But I think the fact that it never gets to stretch it's legs has a big impact (like you city dwellers) on the mpg.

bill124

Thanks. Even your 14.5 is better than our 12.1, with about 1,000 miles on odometer to date. Clearly, the city driving is bad and I know my wife has heavy foot but hey, at this point, I'd be happy with 14.5. Also, need to add air to tires to bring to spec or above.

upstatedoc

To be fair, these numbers are the extremes. Our '07 has been getting 17+ mpg in mixed driving (probably better now that the wife is driving it) and we average 22-23 mpg on highway trips.

bill124

Extreme in what sense? This is what we get every day driving kids to school, after school sports, train station -- all local driving. The fact that more than one of us has it suggests it is reality for "city" driving, even if you are in the suburbs.

squirtman

I checked the trip computer when my wife picked me up at the train station tonight - average is up to 13.4 mpg. Again, this is all with local driving and about 700 miles on the car.

bill124

Thanks. Haven't had time to put air in and don't know if wife is resetting the trip computer. Hope to do that this weekend and see if anything changes. We bought car in second week of October and just crossed 1,100 so it sounds like our driving is quite similar.

wtliao321

Currently My X Tech/Ent has 1400 miles. 90% local driving, average around 16-17 MPG. The best gas mileage so far is 20 MPG on a 100+ miles avg 75mph highway driving.

It's not so great but acceptable to me. My wife's 07 Camry XLE V6 gets 22 MPG city and 31 MPG highway.. You can't compare it to sedan, it's a AWD SUV. It will be interesting to see how much gas mileage V6 Diesel would improve in 2010 model.

sigor111

This is very interesting car. It has very efficient engine when it is on the highway and very thirsty when it is in the city.

In the city, 100% driving, stop and go etc, I was able to get around 12.5 MPG on the first tank, and then 14.1 on the second.

on the other hand, on the highway trips I was able to go up to 28 MPG, with 60 Miles constant speed. That is a record in my opinion when you have 300Hp engine. If you jump up in speed to 80-85 MPH, then mileage drops to 23 MPG, which is also great in my opinion. So far I am happy with this, since I am coming from VW Touareg V6 that was much worse than Acura.

Hey, we drive SUV for the reason and nobody should expect from 3.7L engine to have anything better.

squirtman

sigor, your last point is only partially true - i would clarify your point by saying thst people who select the MDX shouldnt expect too much better mpg. you can find other SUVs that get better mpg (e.g., Toyota Highlander, RX 350 especially the hybrid models of these cars) but then again they aren't the MDX, which people buy for other reasons - styling, performance, handling, cargo space and perhaps the technology and Acura brand. I'll be the first to admit that one of the main reasons I love the car is its styling, which in my opinion just looks sportier and more "aggressive" than any other SUV out there yet offers compatible features if not more than other luxury vehicles. Aside from the local mileage I am very happy with the car so far - its fun to drive it and it should still hold its value very well - not too bad for what amounts to our "baby hauler"...

sigor111

Totally agree.
I am so happy about my decision to buy MDX. It took me some time to actualy swallow the design of the front mask of the car, but then two of my firends bought it and none of them said anything bad about the car. Both of them were amazed about the performance and sporty feeling so I was finally convinced to go for it.
I just hope that after my lease expire, Acura comes out with either a great diesel or a hybrid and improves the gas mileage. Unfortunately by that time, gas will be probably 5$ a gallon and we will have the same or even higher expence for driving an SUV.

squirtman

On the way home from relatives house on Christmas we filled up the tank then before starting on our 55 mile highway journey home I reset trip computer B so that I could get an accurate reading on avg MPG for the trip. This is the first time I reset either of the trip computers and I wasn't sure how much of a difference it would make. Well, needless to say I was quite surprised and pleased with the results...23 mpg average for the trip. Some notable details - the car was filled (as always) with 93 octane gas. The cruise control was on and set to about 68 or 69 mph. the terrain was rolling with some lengthy uphills and downhills. Average mpg dropped on the uphills when the car was accelerating and increased on the downhills as one would expect. I plan to reset trip computer A and monitor the results for local driving the rest of the week to see what results we achieve. For those of you who have been seeing averages in the 12 to 13 range I would suggest resetting one of the trip computers and see if the numbers change.

mtairyordge

Squitman,

What part of the country are you in. I live in Central Md and travel to Penn and Va often. Hilly terrain around Carroll and Frederick counties can be hard on MPG. I am looking for a better driving vehicle than my HL now and still have family travel.

This week we are in North Myrtle Beach and HL gqave me 23.4 MPG on HW at 70MPH.

I am interested in you driving style and terrain.

Thanks
Mtairyordge

tpulak

I don't know about you guys, but I am pleased with my SUV's fuel economy. I've been getting 17-20 miles per gallon in the city, and 20-26 miles per gallon in the highway. On a 300 mile trip to Houston(from Dallas), I averaged 25 mpg, cruising in 70-74 mph range . In total, most of the time, I can drive up to 320 miles on one tank of gas. The lowest range I ever got was 302 miles. I am impressed. I used to own a Volvo XC90, and got only 14 MPG in the city, and 22 MPG MAX in the highway. I could only go 260 miles on one tank of gas. So compared to Volvo, the MDX is impressing. I never ever touch the 3,500 + rpm range, so maybe thats why I get good fuel economy.

squirtman

After resetting trip computer A so that we could track local MPG, I was again pleasantly surprised to see us now consistently getting in the 16-18 MPG range. This is in stark contrast to the 12-14 MPG readings we were seeing for the first month of owning the vehicle after we initially drove the off the dealership lot. I don't know what the reason behind the low initial MPG readings (perhaps something done at the factory prior to ship?) but since resetting the trip computers the readings have been drastically better.

bill124

We will reset when we get car back from dealer. Car has been there for 2 days trying to figure out what is draining the battery. Not sure what it is.

smoss1

We are looking at the MDX and have seen some posts where people are getting ~15mpg city and I've seen others where they are getting 11-13 mpg. What mileage are you getting? I drive mostly city but usually not much traffic.

nobody88

I've been tracking the mileage since April 1, 2007 the first day I bought the MDX. From April1 to Dec 31, I drove 16627km and filled 2875 litre, all octane 91. It equals to 17.29 L/100km or 13.66 mpg. I am 80-90% city and quite often downtown.

bill124

We are around 12. All very local. Dropping kids off at school, waiting in line.

How do you reset the MPG for trip A and trip B? I am able to reset the screen that indicates the number of miles but not the MPG.

Thanks.

junbug6

can anyone comment whether the computer estimated avg MPG is accurate or not? Friend of mine has a MDX, it shows a 11.8 L/100km avg (or 19.9 MPG), but he only got 210km (130miles) with nearly half tank of gas. My ody EXL can gets about 300KM (186miles) with half tank gas but my calculation is 12.7 L/100km (or 18.5 MPG) get the best. I know Ody has a slightly bigger fuel tank (19.2 gal vs 21 gal).

texmdx

I am pleased to report 19 mpg on my first tank; 60 % highway driving, sometimes with heavy traffic. Better than I expected from a 300hp AWD 7 seater SUV!

At delivery of the vehicle I was told that premium was definitely NOT required. I will experiment and estimate the impact of using regular on fuel economy. Still plan to use premium in at least one of four fill ups though.

I noticed that at 40 mph the car stays on 4th but can be manually shifted to 5th. Don't know how much it would impact economy but it drops rpms by nearly 1000... (and makes for a smooth quiet ride :shades: ).

crvexl4wd

I have now around 1400 miles. Since then my avarage is 14.5. Today I drove 150 miles on Highway (95% on hwy) and got 22.5. I have always used Premium Gas. Also I have noticed that when I was crusing between 65 and 70 miles, I got around 24.5 Avg and It drops drown if I increase or decrease the speed. Also my engines was running at 2000 RPM. These MPG readings are as per car computer.

bill124

Can someone help me with resetting the MPG on 2008 MDX? I can't seem to get it to reset and I really don't want to see the 12.2 my wife consistently averages with her horrible driving habits. What do I need to hold down beside reset? I put it to drive A and press reset but it doesn't zero out.

barb36jack31

With the dashboard screen reading Trip Computer, click the upper end of the bottom button on the right side of steering wheel. This will bring up readings for oil life, MPG A, MPG B, temperature etc. Click the top button until MPG A is showing. Then press and hold the top button for about two or three seconds and the Trip A will go to 0. Follow the same procedure for Trip B. This sets the MPG for both Trip A and Trip B to 0 as well. Do this each time you fill up and you can see your MPG for each tankfull.

Good luck!

Jack H.

My average mileage is running between 18 and 19 per gallon. I can pull as high as 24-25 on the highway, but this is FL and the land is very flat. Also I notice if the MPH go above 70 the MPG starts to drop somewhat..

beachtraveler

I average about 14mpg. I've been trying to figure out why it's so low and I think it's because we live in the hills. I've noticed that I may be averaging around 16mpg, then as soon as I start up the hill it drops way down. That's my only complaint about the MDX. I love everything else about it, but the mpg is bad. Couple that with the requirement to put premium gas in at $3.75 a gallon!

bill124

I can get to trip A and reset MPH and time driving back to 0. I then go to the screen that show MPG and total distance I can travel and hold the reset button but it doesn't change. Continues to show the same MPG and distance. Am I doing anything wrong?

scuba01

you are in the wrong screen set up.
read your English manuel.
The process is very easy.

tidester

read your English manuel.

It's kinda funny that you used the French spelling (manuel) to refer to the English manual!

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

scuba01

LOL
You are right. That is very funny.

bill124

Based on a call with the technician from the dealer, I learned that to be the case. I didn't find the manual particularly easy and don't drive the car very often (and, I must add, truly dislike this car).

bill124

Took car on first long drive this past weekend. Average around 22 on highway even at around 70-80 so that seems okay. Local mpg continues to be totally abysmal at around 12. Can't wait to see what happens when wife starts driving with A/C on !

ennamagunna

Considering a 07 MDX and am concerned about mileage. Will be driving 70% around town. Have read some posts and seems that it could be as low as 13 around town ? Can someone give me their latest stats on an 07 (or 08) model year.