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Not to lose focus: that's still great fuel efficiency........
best, ez..
I think the best single tank I had was about 34, but I rarely get out on the highway (mostly use it around town), and the highways in NJ that I do take are not condusive for good mileage!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
How long have you been driving with 39 psi tire pressure, and what are your thoughts on using such a high PSI?
I've got a 2006 SE Auto, which I beleive specifies 32 Front/30 Rear. I run with 35 PSI at all four tires, and have been satisfied with ride/handling/gas mileage. However, I bumped up the PSI almost immediately after buying, so I can't really compare to the factory settings.
How are the ride/handling characteristics at 39 PSI. How much, if any, boost does that give to your gas mileage?
The higher pressure (still well within the 44 psi max on the sidewall) stiffins the sidewall and makes handling a little crisper. It probably adds a mile or two per gallon in the right conditions. It really helps the car coast well. It also improves tire life as higher pressure tires flex less and don't heat up as much. Heat is what wears out a tire.
Of course the Firestone tire debacle is an extreme example of this. Pressure was too low tires heated up so much that they disintegrated. I have had a tire disentegrate on me in the desert (20 years ago in Egypt) - it is no fun.
Look in the owners manual of a European BMW or Benz and it will tell you to inflate to higher pressures for autobahn cruising and heavy loads (they reccomend 41 front and 48 rear on the 530i).
Depending on the weight of the car and the pressure, it may look like the center is wearing faster, but in reality the edges are just wearing very slowly.
Some of the hypermilers run at 50 psi without problems, but I would not take it that far.
To put it in perspective Lance Armstrong runs 120+ psi in his vehicle - with delicate 1" wide tires.
My past honda Accord (2003) averaged about 25-30
On strickly highway the car averages 34-36...really fine mileage.
However, in strickly city driving, I get 14-15. Boston is very flat. Not many hills. Lots of lights and lots of slow, stop and go driving. But, I'm so aware of MPG that I NEVER accelerate hard, etc... I do what the manual says.
Last week I drove some city and about 60% of the time on highway driving. I averaged, at the end only 24.3 mpg.
City alone 14-15. I'm SOOOOOOO disappointed in the car.
Hope someone has some ideas.
Brian
Remember, for every second you are stopped, you are throwing 0 MPG into your average. I imagine in a large city like Boston, Mass you have a LOT of stop and go. This is HORRIBLE for gas mileage, especially the "stop" part. Buck up, and don't be disappointed in your car. If your car was the problem, you wouldn't be capable of mileage figures that EXCEED the EPA estimates.
Pure city traffic really brings the mileage down. Stop and go is not much better than idleing.
Tell us how many miles you drive in a day of your pure city driving and how much time it takes. What is the max speed during your pure city driving? That will tell a lot about your commute.
I really like the firm suspension on the accord! In fact I would like for it to be a bit more firm. I like to feel the road!
My Bridgestones also pick up a lot of stones.
Consumer Reports tests tires every year or so, and they indicate which ones have the lowest rolling resistance.
On the northbound leg over 275 miles and 100% highway driving average 40.6 mpg. Pleasantly surprised. I maintained roughly 71 mph and had the a/c on, no rest stops. Once I hit the city and did another 50 minutes of stop and go driving, the mileage dropped to an overall average of 38.0.
Normally with half city and half highway I get around 26 mpg. With 85% highway driving I average aroun 30 mpg.
Going down, we only got 32 MPG, but, having sat in traffic for nearly an hour (not topping 25 MPH in that hour), and having my regular commute from two days before (about 70 miles worth), it wasn't half bad. Also, I didn't drive my typical 75 MPH. We had to maintain closer to 80-85 MPH with a couple of stints above 90 due to the insane speeds that people on I-65 were driving.
Also, back home today, I filled up after work (about 35 miles total), which also had the remnants of the trip (250 hwy miles at 80 MPH) and I got 34.8 MPG.
This is with me, my friend, and our stuff (probably close to 450 lbs between it all), and the A/C on 100% of the time.
I'm pleased yet again.
Oil life is at 20% now, time to get serviced soon!
I had been averaging around 36mpg...mostly highway, some stop and go. The only thing that is different, is that I finally changed the old factory oil and put in synthetic (Pennzoil because it was on sale). I dont think this would make a difference, but I'll keep an eye on this.
I'm impressed. (4 cylindros nonwithstanding, you have joined a painfully small fraternity....)
I have tried repeatedly to no avail.
I have a good excuse (V6 6M)...but I keep trying - - (39 twice). Numerically close but I'm afraid a long way from the 40 MPG barrier..........
..best..
.ez.
I didn't get near 40 MPG this time, but I must say I didn't drive in a way that anybody could call prudent.
Car is used by wife 1 out of every 3 weeks to drive to work (65 miles roundtrip, mostly highway).
Car is used by me 2 out of every 3 weeks to drive to the train station (3 miles roundtrip, city).
Car is used for teaching teenage daughter how to drive - started in parking lots.
Car is used by anyone weeknights and weekends for whatever and for driving practice.
I don't see the Accord v6 lasting much longer. It's a superb engine but it never sold much. (Even the hybrid version was dumped.)
I am a huge fan of the I4 but I highly doubt that Honda is going to dump the V6 anytime soon. (And there will be some V6 fans who will be here soon to REALLY disagree with you.)
With the Civic, I'd imagine 45 MPG would be attainable if driven in the same manner as I drive my Accord to get such numbers.
I must mention, that I drove without caring about my mileage on my last trip (I also had the A/C on 100% of the time, and an extra person from normal). I averaged around 80 MPH, and got 35 MPG. Quite a big drop from 40 MPG. Just goes to prove that a HUGE factor in MPG is driving style.
http://kandell.googlepages.com/mpg2232
Have a great weekend!
Anyway, I was thinking of buying a new civic in Sept. That would mean having to take off my seat post, in addition to the front wheel, to fit my bike in the trunk. Will I get much better mileage in the civic? It is amazing to me what low rpms the accord 5A achieves when driven gently. Anyone have any experience with civic hypermileage?
2007 Accord I4 SE MT. Mobil One oil 39 psi.
43.8 mpg.
This is on rural 2 lane highways. Started out going 65 with the A/C, then got bit by the bug and turned off the A/C and slowed down to 60 mph (61 on the speedo - gps was 60). Reasonable on these lightly travelled roads. I think that is about as slow as I can manage for any length of time
Highlight - 51.5 mpg over 40 miles with a stiff tailwind (this is with a warm engine and a running start as recorded on the scangauge - including warming up and getting to speed the mileage was 47.8).
Lowlight - thunder storm with very heavy rain had to slow down to 50-55 mph and still only got low 30's for about 10 miles.
Used cruise control, but did glide trough small towns.
Even after 527 miles the fuel gauge was between the third and fourth tick. 325 miles at midpoint.
Three biggest factors for mpg.
Wind
Speed
Temperature
I was lucky to have a tailwind for more than half of the trip, the temp was warm enough for good efficiency but cool enough to require minimal A/C use.
Couldn't resist.
Thanks for the trip report. Impressive mileage!
How low, BTW, was your mileage during the time at the beginning of your trip when your speed was 65 and you had the AC on?
Regarding the Scangauge, how easy have you found it to calibrate? I suppose you've seen Wayne Gerdes' review of the Scangauge on cleanmpg.com. He does like the product, but he says that, as the Scangauge doesn't monitor fuel usage directly, but rather airflow, it does require regular re-calibration as external conditions (ie, temperature) change. What's been your experience with this?
Also, how often does the Scangauge update the instantaneous mpg display? This mode would seem to be the tool's most useful. Can you easily correlate fast-changing adjustments in driving behavior with fuel usage?
And now that you've had the Scangauge for awhile, do you feel that it continues to be a very useful tool for adjusting your driving habits for fuel savings in ways that you wouldn't otherwise be aware of?
I decided to see the effect of A/C on mpg. Seeing how much the A/C brought down the numbers is what prompted me to turn it off - as luck had it this was on a Sunday and I was in shorts and a T-shirt so it was not too hot.
When engaged the A/C cuts mpg by nearly 10 at those speeds. Of course the A/C (compressor) is not engaged all the time so the real difference seems closer to 4 or 5 mpg. Just seeing the higher numbers without the A?C (jumping around the mid 40's) is what propted me to try going without. Before I knew it I had gone far enough and the numbers were high enough that I figured why not keep going.
The scangauge is extremely easy to calibrate and is done constantly ( I have the scangauge II - not sure what wayne tested). Every time you fill up you reset the gauge and it prompts you for how many gallons you put in. You can then chose to accept that the gallons used was close enough to what was actually used or you can enter a correction. If you correct the number of gallons your scangauge is recalibrated. I have not had to adjust it in months. Right now it is set for a 2.7% reduction in measured numbers. I would say 7 out of 10 times it reports more fuel use than I measure, and even then only by a small percentage.
As far as reading the air goes and nothing else - I don't know. As long as it is accurate, and it seems to be.
In instant mode the scancauge updates extremely fast. If you take your foot off of the gas you mpg will skyrocket within a second. As I said before it is sensative enough (and fast enough) to let you know when the compressor kicks in.
Here is the review
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/reviews/t-cleanmpg-reviews-the-scangauge-ii-4495.html
I love my new Accord, but this makes me miss the '04 Civic EX auto sedan I traded; I got 32 mpg for the same type of driving.
Honda was sued for high-reading odometers by a group in connection with the warranty mileage. Maybe that ties in, and my later-built Accord has a more accurate odometer.
So your mileage - even while using the A/C and going 65 - was still exceptional at just under 40. I've not been able to do better than 36 mpg at this point ('07 Accord LX 5M/T). That's calculated over at least 10 gallons used, largely highway driving, and with the A/C almost always off. Tire pressure is about 37lbs. What's likely hurting me is my 65-75mph highway speeds. Very hard to keep the speed down on the major roads here in the Boston area.
I've been thinking about getting a Scangauge, but I'd like to be assured that it will provide some real utility over time and not become little more than a novelty.
BTW, did you notice any improvement in mileage after simply putting some miles on the new car?
By stating that you are driving highway around Boston you must be commuting for your highway miles. Every time you start a cold engine it takes many miles to reach peak efficiency. Usually between 5 and 15 miles depending on temps. The only way to get the real high mpg numbers is on long trips that minimize the number of cold starts.
There is a huge difference between largely highway driving and pure highway. You can take a 500 mile trip, and if you fill up 50 miles after you return you may lose 2 to 4 mpg off of that trip. It does not take much to bring down your numbers.
If you drive 65 mph in your MT and there is no headwind, no A/C use and no other poor conditions (steep hills etc), then you will get 40 mpg. Go for a nice drive through NH at a leisurely pace - or go up to Maine, Lobster is almost in season.
The scanguage will always have to ability to read (and reset) any codes that your engine throws, so in that regard it will never lose its utility.
..dude who said that performance and economy are mutually exclusive (IMHO) was dead wrong.
..best, ez..
M1 10-30 and reasonable maintenance. Tires at ~36PSI, otherwise they wear unevenly. The factory suggestion of 32 is, IMO, far too low. (After reading several other posts, I might bump it another PSI or two and see how it feels.) I'm careful to look far ahead, and attempt to minimize 'damage' caused by those #$%@$# stop lights. "Glide, Grasshopper, glide...."
Best tanks (4): 36.9
This was a long relaxed road trip, mostly following rural two lane highways. Average speed of 60 or so. Lots of cruising around 50~60. Only a few small cities and one steep mountain pass to hurt economy. I've hit low-mid 36s on several other backroad tours.
Worst single tank (probably more noise than data): 26.5
Cold weather, more city slogging than usual. Roughly 1/2 the miles were stop and go.
Average commute mileage is 32. 9 miles to work over 4 lane surface streets. One ~3 mile uninterrupted section of 55~60 MPH offset by about 8 stop lights, several of which invariably manage to catch me.
Superslab mileage starts around 31 when blasting along at 75. Slowing to 65 gets 33~34.
-Greg