Honda Pilot Real World MPG

bsolve1

You are not alone. My best tank is 18 highway and only 13 city. I'm driving 2006 EXL pilot and tried several driving style but it even got worst. There must be something that is not working properly with my pilot which I bought only last Nov. I'm feeling very disappointed. Can someone suggest anything to improve gas mileage?

kipk

bsolve1,

What is your driving style?

What are your driving conditions?
Hilly, flat, heavy traffic, ?? Distance and time for typical commute?

What is your typical load?

Are you using 87 octane GAS? Are you using an ethanol blend?

What state/city are you in?

Have you done the ILP? (see post 201)

What speed is comfortable for you to maintain on the highway?

These may seem like silly questions, but the answers can be helpful.

Also have you read as many of the posts as possible?

There are tips on getting better mileage scattered throughout this forum. Some of them may help you!

Kip

hos

Is there a test that the dealer can do to tell you the MPG? What test are they going to do on your car?

hos

You are absolutely right and I am glad I am not the only one. I have been getting 15 mpg at best if I drive very carefully with AC off with my 07 4WD. This is a combination of city and freeway driving. I am greatly disappointed. I did not expect 20+ but at least in high teens. My father has a ML500 with 8 cyl. at 17 MPG at worst, and I used to have a 8 cyl. 5.7 lit. buick which gave me the same as I am getting on my 6 cyl. 3.5 pilot. For my 10K checkup, as soon as I mentioned the mpg issue they give me a printed flyer on how I can improve the MPG on my Pilot. I guess this is a common issue to have its own flyer!!! Amongst the suggestions are not to drive the car for short distances, park the car in shade, don't run the AC, don't drive in traffic, ... So, if you buy a pilot, get a scooter as well for short drives and a fan to keep yourself cool.

If anyone has successfully tackled this issue PLEASE share your info. I love the car but would have seriously considered something more economical if I knew 13-15 is the best I could get. Its funny that I hear Honda is thinking of increasing the fuel tank size for future models. This is hardly a solution.

odie6l

The deflector along with a nice every 4 week Rain-X touch-up has helped a little. I do admit I am not the lightest of foot driver so for the mileage I am getting, I'm happy.
I will be filling up 'The Beast' tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing what my mileage was. I filled up tuesday morning and drove up to Clearfield for the Fair, and made a few side trips over to Punxsutawney and then back down to the Hershey. My trip meter is reading 335 and I have about 1/4 tank left. This was an ALL highway trip.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

P.S. - The reason I haven't been around, I've been trying to get the house up and situated.

mer66

Welcome to the club. The truth is that the Pilot is indeed a great car, but complaints about dismal mileage are plentiful. I believe there is a possibility that the few reports of unbelievably spectacular mileage may be due to poorly calibrated speedometers/odometers. I just do not believe that actually getting nearly 29 mpg in a car with an epa highway rating of 20 mpg is possible. Something is wrong with that picture.

stever

Just to clarify, the 20 is for the '08 AWD flavor.

The rating for a 2008 2WD Pilot is 22 highway. (link). It was 24/highway under the old EPA ratings for the 2007, 22 for the AWD. I just looked up the base trim.

It's easy enough to check speedos with GPS's these days if you don't have one of those measured mile sections of highway near you.

It seems like in most every Real World MPG discussion, there's a few owners beating the EPA estimate by some percentage.

texaspilot

We have had our 06' Pilot EX-L, AWD, 15 months now, with 19,800 miles. In town we average 18-19 MPG when wife drives, and 16-18 MPG when I drive. (I'm a little heavy footed off the line.) On highway driving, with 2 trips to Montana from Texas and a few more to Dallas, Houston, Missouri, we are not doing that bad compared to some other unhappy Pilot owners ~20-22 average overall. Montana trip in June this year loaded, air, cruse at ~80-85 MPH, average 20-22. We did get a couple of really good tanks through Wyoming and through Billings to Helena with 23.4 at 78 MPH with both level and mountains. Biggest issue is not gas on this vehicle. Nothing this size I am aware of does better with AWD for the price... I don't like the road noise and it leans a bit too much in turns, not to mention I had to replace all the stock paper speakers with high end Alpine to get reasonable sound from the 155 W high end stereo it comes with, and Michelins helped with road noise...hey, where is the memory for front seats, and how about moving the sunroof switch being next to the...sunroof?... great car for the money though!

kipk

"I just do not believe that actually getting nearly 29 mpg in a car with an epa highway rating of 20 mpg is possible. Something is wrong with that picture."

Who has said they are actually getting nearly 29 MPG?

What part of tank to tank and average are two different things, do you have trouble understanding?

TRUTH is, if you drive it at 80+ on the road it will get MUCH WORSE MILEAGE THAN DRIVING IT AT 65. That is a truth than neither you or I or anyone else can change.

You can believe that or continue to get poor mileage. Your choice.

Kip

justaveragejoe

Texaspilot,

How much to replace the speakers and are you satisfied with the way the stereo sounds now (Was it worth it?) I replaced the front two on our Odyssey last week with a set of $50 Pioneer and that made a nice improvement. I am thinking of replacing the ones in the Pilot now.

By the way, I haven't been able to get better than 22 mpg.

stage

Don't bother buying a Honda Pilot if you are looking for decent gas mileage- it just isn't there. Have had my Pilot for 2 years and can't wait to trade it in for something better. Best around town mileage is 15-16 mpg ( I'm not a lead foot) and on the hiway 20-21, if I'm lucky. The Pilot has extreme road noise also on the highway. I do like the way it handles on the road though, easy to drive.

odie6l

Well, I finally filled up after that long tank. I had 362 miles on the trip meter and got 24.3 MPG on that tank. This was straight HWY (and alot of back country roads.)

Odie
Odie's Carspace

oldbird

I suggest that you guys stip arguing and begin to enjoy your Pilot. Look at 8/1/2007's Chicago Tribune article

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-mxa0801tempofuelishaug01,1,4805141.st- ory

If you can crawl into a stop sign at a few miles per hour you can acieve 59 mpg by driving a Honda Accord. BUT it warned that do not try it at home.

8sparkplugs

Bought a 07 2wd EXL last monday(7-30-07). So far after three tanks I'm averaging around 20 mpg. The third tank which was mostly highway was around 21 mpg. The second tank with some in town and some highway was 18.8 mpg. The first tank was about 20 mpg.

kipk

Good stuff oldbird !

Of course some of the guy's practices are down right dangerous and others impractical. However for real world drivers there is a lot to be learned.

Willingness is a major KEY to achieving better mileage from any vehicle we drive.

Interesting that over on the Civic or the Fit or the Accord forums, when someone reports they are getting better than average mileage, the others want to know how, why, and so forth.

On the Pilot forum, comments like absurd, can't be done, something wrong with the picture, and so forth are written more. :sick:

Thanks,
Kip

justaveragejoe

Thanks for the link. That guy is truly unique. (And a bit political to boot, but its good to have a cause.)

I started enjoying my Pilot a few months ago when I was determined to utilize the V-TEC motor to it's potential. I now routinely tach my motor to above 4300 rpm to feel and hear the different valve duration kick-in. Fun, fun ,fun! Then I usually return to my regular driving habits which includes 7 of the 8 items recommended in the article. (I use my air conditioning often). Still getting around 19 mpg in my regular carpool commute.

Joe

jimmmmmy

To justaveragejoe from Jimmmmmy:

averagejoe - When I tach higher than 2500 rpm, I think I can actually see the fuel gage moving down. What happens at 4300? Have fun, Jimmmmmy

justaveragejoe

Jimmmmmy,

At 4300 rpm, a control module directs the VTEC system to switch intake valve operation to the high-speed mode. An electric spool valve opens to route pressurized oil to small pistons within the intake-valve rocker arms. These pistons then slide to lock the three rocker arms together. As a result, both intake valves follow a central high-lift, longer-duration cam lobe. The extra lift and longer duration provide the added air and FUEL the engine needs to produce high peak horsepower and a broader torque band.

In other words, it is when the Pilot starts to go "BRAAAAAAT" and I start to say "WOWEEEEEEEE".

I really try to drive both ends of the spectrum but have a difficult time keeping my RPMs under 2500 even when I try hard. I think it is the tendency of the vehicle.

Joe

kipk

"I really try to drive both ends of the spectrum but have a difficult time keeping my RPMs under 2500 even when I try hard. I think it is the tendency of the vehicle."


Joe,

Your explanation of the HONDA VTEC operation is better than I have seen elsewhere.

I'm still trying to understand the advantage of overhead cams if rockers are used, other than the VTEC and similar devices used by other mfg. Which are fairly new on the scene. Originally the OHC purpose was to provide an "INLINE" operation to the valves from the cam and eliminate the rockers and long push rods from changing direction and so forth.

Is there a URL with Pictures and such illustrating the Honda operation?

I can usually understand pictures and slow moving animations! :confuse:

Thanks,
Kip

dampmp

Okay, passed the 1,000 mark and have filled up twice since last posting. I have a bit of a heavy foot on highway driving.

Sunday fill: 22.823 mpg, Around 180 highway miles, mostly flats and AC, probably 65mph avg. on highways.

Today's fill (not even half tank, but cheapest gas in a while)so filled up:
19.866 mpg, 120 highway miles, AC, 70+ MPH avg. on highways.

jimmmmmy

I will continue to post my MPG records for my new 2WD PILOT. My first record (Summer 2007) is at the top of this post and the latest record will be on the bottom of this post.

- 22 MPG, 90% highway 65 mph and moderate rolling terrain, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MI, WI, MN

- 17.6 MPG, 100% city, 0-50 mph, flat terrain, half loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN

- 18.5 MPG, 100% highway 80 mph, moderate terrain, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN, IA

- 20.5 MPG, 100% highway, 85 mph, flat terrain, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, NE


- 20.6 MPG, 90% flat highway 80 MPH then 10 % slowly up 2000' in elevation, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, CO

- 22.2 MPG, 90% flat highway 70 MPH and 10 % slowly down 2000' in elevation, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, CO

- 21.4 MPG, 100% flat highway 84 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, CO, NE

- 21.0 MPG, 100% highway medium terrain 82 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, NE, IA

- 22.2 MPG, 100 % highway medium terrain 78 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, IA, MN

- 19.7 MPG, 100 % city driving with a LIGHT-LIGHT foot, half loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN

- 16.8 MPG, 100% city driving, 0-50 mph, flat terrain and more stop and go, half loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN

I'll keep you posted. Jimmmmmy August 10, 2007

rich1945

Brought the car in for road test they fill up tank drive it then refill it sucks they got 15 mpg i get 13 but someone told me to look into a cold air filter ( have no idea what it is ) to increase horsepower and gas mileage any ideas about it

zeg

07 AWD EX-L, 20 for the mileage 75-80% HYW (65-70 mph) for the the first 1000 miles, AC on all the time. Not bad in my opinion.

I had some individual experience with my traded 03 Camary SE (V4), 20 for the first 2 years, 18k (75% city, even that is quite low)! Eventually reach 25+ when I started long commute for a year, finally reaching close to 30 by the time I traded around 50K miles

justaveragejoe

You are correct that the push-rods are eliminated in an OHC engine but the rockers still have to open the valves. I found these links which hopefully will be enlightening for everyone with a VTEC Pilot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcT_ZyY3F0k&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q24D0xv49d4&watch_response

Joe

justaveragejoe

The dealer should not dismiss your poor gas mileage. If they do not at least check the fuel-trim, exhaust gas analysis, and all of the related components, then find a dealer that will.

There are many components that provide information to the computer. If a few of them get close to being out of specification then the computer will not be providing the optimum air/fuel mixture. Since this engine is a ULEV, it is very sensitive to the readings and may over compensate for what it senses as a excessive emission.

joesacramento

What year and model is your Pilot? How many miles it?

kipk

Joe,

Thanks!

Are there 2 cams in each head? One for intake and one for exhaust.?

Kip

justaveragejoe

The 3.5L V-6 in the Pilot is a single overhead cam (1 per head) with 4 valves per cylinder. So that would mean on each cam there are 12 regular cam lobes (two intake valves and two exhaust valves per cylinder) and 3 VTEC lobes between each of the 2 cylinder intake valves (I think).

Clear as mud, right?

Joe

stxyz

for the new 07 EX 4WD pilot, the first 600 miles uses 2 tank of gas (about 39~40 gallons), so mpg is about 15. is it too low? or is it too early to calculate the mpg for a brand new car?

jimmmmmy

I will continue to post my MPG records for my new 2WD PILOT. My first record (Summer 2007) is at the top of this post and the latest record will be on the bottom of this post.

- 22 MPG, 90% highway 65 mph and moderate rolling terrain, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MI, WI, MN - July 6, 2007

- 17.6 MPG, 100% city, 0-50 mph, flat terrain, half loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN

- 18.5 MPG, 100% highway 80 mph, moderate terrain, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN, IA

- 20.5 MPG, 100% highway, 85 mph, flat terrain, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, NE

- 20.6 MPG, 90% flat highway 80 MPH,fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, CO

- 22.2 MPG, 90% flat highway 70 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, CO

- 21.4 MPG, 100% flat highway 84 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, CO, NE

- 21.0 MPG, 100% highway medium terrain 82 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, NE, IA

- 22.2 MPG, 100 % highway medium terrain 78 MPH, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, IA, MN

- 19.7 MPG, 100 % city driving with a LIGHT-LIGHT foot, half loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN - July 30, 2007

- 16.8 MPG, 100% city driving, 0-50 mph, flat terrain and more stop and go, half loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN - Aug 10, 2007

- 22.2 MPG, 100% highway medium terrain, 65 mph, fully loaded, 100% AC, dry conditions, MN, WI - Aug 13, 2007

I'll keep you posted......... Jimmmmmy August 13, 2007

justaveragejoe

I have heard that it takes these Honda engines 10,000 miles to break-in. :confuse:

I would think that if you are doing a lot of stop and go city driving, then you are are okay. If you are driving only highway miles then 15 would be low.

Keep track, see if things improve.

Joe

stxyz

forgot to mention that about 60~70% of the first 600 miles was on highway (~70 mph), I expected something like 18~19 mpg. so I am wondering if it's normal to have low mpg during the break-in period, or should I have my new car checked?

kipk

Dealer probably will not check anything until a few thousand miles are on the clock.

Some get decent mileage from the start, others need a break-in.

Next door neighbor just got a new Ridgeline. Basically a Pilot with a bed. Local driving, no heavy traffic, but a lot of short trips yielded 18.01 mpg for 1st tank. He has a pretty light foot.

Kip

hondaford

I have reported before with what I thought was good mileage.
The last trip I took impressed me!
354 miles 1/4 freeway, 1/4 hilly country, 1/4 flat country, 1/4 suburban. AC on, 70+ on all freeway, 65 + on flat country.
23.6 Not bad at all.

stever

I have heard that it takes these Honda engines 10,000 miles to break-in

My (Nissan) minivan averaged around 15/16 mpg the first 4,000 miles of city driving over the winter. Then I did a long road trip and got the lifetime up to 19 at 10k and 21 mpg over the next 20,000 miles. It's been a little better than 21 overall since 30k (now at 119,000 miles).

So 10k may still not be enough to get that extra one or two mpgs out of the drivetrain.

kipk

"354 miles 1/4 freeway, 1/4 hilly country, 1/4 flat country, 1/4 suburban. AC on, 70+ on all freeway, 65 + on flat country. 23.6 Not bad at all."

That is good mileage?

How many miles on the clock now?

Kip

kipk

Good grief! Seems to be quite busy under the valve covers.

Thanks,
Kip

cbrunson1

My wife doesn't think she is a lead-foot either, but there's a big difference in our driving styles. She charges up hills, where I maintain a constant pedal pressure, which costs me a little momentum but saves gas. I coast to every red light/stop sign, where she has her foot in the gas until she starts braking. I ease away from stops, particularly in town (Houston) where I know I can't possibly make the next light anyway, but she's gunning it from light to light. But somehow she's amazed that her MPG is below the EPA estimates.

I have no reason to doubt the MPG figures posted here and it gives me something to shoot for. I got 61 MPG out of one tank in my old Civic HF.

I agree with whomever it was that wrote that we should be enjoying our vehicles more than we seem to. Thanks for posting; I have really enjoyed and learned from the reading.

kipk

Good post! You nailed it!

kipk

Anyone have a phone number for a technical dept at Honda.

Some dept that could answer questions concerning fuel mileage, octane when towing, etc...

I tried customer service and got absolutely nowhere!

Thanks,
Kip

jim1234

Great post! One more thing; check your tire pressure.

aspesisteve

I'm getting 22 mpg this summer while on road trips with the car fully loaded. I even have bikes on the rear hitch.
Filters, oil and tires well maintained.

I keep my speed usually under 70 mph on the HWY

-quite pleased to be getting 22 mpg with a great engine in a SUV that can carry alot and run on 89 octane.

jpb7190

Just purchased a 07 LX AWD from Lisle Honda in Chicago. Drove it back to Denver and at 65-70 I avereged 26.2 mpg. Needless to say I was astonished and I am 60+ with a light foot! What a car!

justaveragejoe

Nice to hear that! Wow!

Joe

kipk

Congratulations on your new Pilot and the great mileage!
Kip

feet2fire

Another update on our '06: Went for another round trip in Northern New Hampshire/Northern Maine, all two-lane roads, mostly hilly, small towns every 10-20 miles or so. Used A/C only about 10 minutes on entire 400-mile trip. Kept speed 50-55 given speed limits and traffic, used cruise control maybe half the time. Filled up at beginning of trip and end of trip at same gas station. Factoring in consistent 2.2% odo error, ended up w/25.7 MPG, a personal best. Last year, on similar trip, same area, got 24.7, but used A/C more on that trip.

I'm guessing the lower speeds (lower than on the interstate hwys) on the two-lane roads help the MPG but the hilly terrains costs some. Would like to try some flat roads at these speeds/conditions, probably would do better on the MPG. But hard to find flat roads around here, unlike when we used to live in Fla!

Went to the dealer the other day, noticed the '08 AWDs now are posted at 15/20 MPG EPA estimates due to their recalculations. Pretty much the same mechanical specs, just different estimates on MPG?

Thanks to all the posters who contribute their MPGs here, it really helps to see how we're doing in this age of $50-$60 fillups! feet2fire

jsmith1975

We recentely took a trip to a lake that was about 500 miles round trip. Had two adults, two kids, gear and a 3,000 pound boat in tow.

15 MPG for the trip driving at 60-65 MPH, no cruise control used.

I thought that was very good considering the load. BTW, I installed a Tru-cool transmission cooler before the trip. I needed it on those southern Missouri hills.

trmend1

I must say, city stop and go driving especially with alot of impatient drivers around and alot of construction zones kills any reasonable mpg. Granted I have under 2000 miles on the truck, but my worst tank was 13mpg. Boy did I cringe!! I try hard to keep the tach under 2500 and coast to lights as best as I can in the city. On a brighter note, I did take the truck on the first road trip through the Rockies and with 5 passengers, luggage and full A/C I got 22 mpg with many 6% - 10% grades on long stretches. I didn't push the tach past 4000 however I did hear an Odessey push it hard and hearing a minivan "Blat" with the VTEC kicking in was a bit amusing since I am so used to the kids in civics in my neck of the woods doing that I associate the "brats" to the brats... not grandpa in an Odessey!

The pilot is a great vehicle for my needs with 3 boys, 3 different sports depending on the season and my weekly need to stock up at Costco. It is the best in price, cost of ownership and utility for my life right now. Besides I didn't want them trashing my Acura RL anymore!

Cheers!

jtmjw2

Have 1000 miles on 2007 exl getting 15 mpg, have not been on an extended highway trip yet, all aound town.

sas1

Just turned 25K on the odo. Still excellent mileage:

Just did a trip from Tucson to Alberquerque on one tank (459 Miles).

Temp: 90-98F
Elevation 2500-5000 (going up)
Load: full
Road Conditions: %95 highway
Speed: 70-80mph
Fuel: 89
Tires: 37psi, 60% worn (original)
AC: on 90% of time

MPG: 26.6

Avg: city/surburban driving: 20Mpg
Only mod to car is: Heat reflecting tape around entire airfilter box. (reflects 95% of heat radiation from engine)