Acura TL Real World MPG

Karen_S · June 2005

Please share your TL's actual MPG.

"Real World" Fuel Economy vs. EPA Estimates

jkgreer2 · June 2005

In 15 months of driving, mostly without use of air conditioning and after the first 2 months of break-in driving, I have consistently obtained about 24 to 27 mpg in-town, and 29 to 31 mpg on long trips. My 2004 TL is a 6 speed manual with high performance all-season tires, which were swapped with hp 'summer' tires at initial purchase to improve wet weather traction.

ed31cincy · June 2005

'04 TL, auto, non-navi, Bridgestone EL42 inflated to 32-35 psi. City: 21-23 mpg, Highway: 29-33 mpg. If you put your right foot into it, you are going to see 16-18 mpg city, and you'll wear out the brakes and tires pretty quickly, too.

bhelsdon · June 2005

04, Auto, Navi, with 32k. I do 98% highway driving with a 92 Mile commute each way on 65mph highways( which actually means 80mph+ during rush hour). My A/C is always on and I always put 93 octane in, and I average 27-29mpg.

bodble2 · June 2005

You guys driving TL Hybrids? :P

For me, pure highway driving would be about 31 - 32 mpg.
Semi city - about 21 - 23 mpg
Pure urban driving - 16.5 - 19.5 mpg.

But here's the kicker. Those numbers are based on imperial gallons, which is 20% larger than US gallons.

danny1878 · June 2005

TL'04 auto
24/25 mpg with speed avg 31mph for the last 6k miles. (70 miles daily)
City driving about 50% @25-40mph speed limit
Highway 55-65 mph speed limit.
Mostly using 93 octane gas but lately I use 50% regular and 50% premium. It turns out the mpg gets better (dont whether it may works on other car) by 1 mpg from 24 to 25.

It got worse to 21 mpg once before the 2nd service @13k miles but it went up again after I used a $7 fuel system cleaner and had the car serviced the next day as required by the computer.

bruizer · June 2005

18.5 mpg so far with two tankfuls of gas and one month of ownership. Almost all city/suburban roads with some hard accelerations. :shades:

tawneycat · June 2005

I get 30 mpg in commute (25 mi one way commute 65 max flat and steady)
I get 32 on highway light load little AC
I get low 20S around town.
this is consistent with my 04 TL.
Aggressive driving lowers all this greatly. I imagine few people drive the way I do.

It shows this wide tired hvy car is quite efficient overall. Motorweek and other testers have been very impressed with long term mileage. Most report mid 25-26 overall during 20 k miles--not bad at all.

laurasdada · June 2005

In mixed local/highway commute, 40 miles/day. Average speed around 30mph.

drcohen · June 2005

Just a little over 575 miles. My last two tank fills have yielded about 17.6 to 18.1 MPG in 90% urban driving and trying like h^%^ to keep my nervous foot of it.
I can hardly wait to take this baby up the coast...I anticipate great MPG's.

My last car, Infiniti i30T had actually better MPG around town, 18.5 to 20.5 consistantly.

Interesting because I almost went for a G35 which EPA's at 18 town vs. 20 for the TL. I would hope that with time the TL will yield better town MPG.

David.....

bruizer · June 2005

On a recent 700 mile trip with probably 3% city driving. The car is very smooth on the highway - I was averaging about 75 mph, but got it up to 120 once on some back roads. :shades:

frisconick · June 2005

Hey, slow down!!! :shades: It is very easy to go way over the speed limit in the TL without realizing you are going 90. :P

tawneycat · June 2005

I must be a mpg freak. I honestly get 30 mpg plus on my commute. Last fill up yesterday was way full 8 gallons and 245 miles. Last fillup was 7 gallons on 220 miles. I have an odd commute. Leave suburbia going downhill to the expressway about one mile and drive 24 miles at 62 mpg average and steady early morning.
At times I have gotten 36 mpg on this commute but with slow downs, warm ups and parking lot time back into the 30-31 range. I have never been pure city but at those times I do the MPG plummets.
The engine is very efficient at 60-70 mph, cd of .29 I recall and super tall gearing all make for a nice highway experience. I alway got simliar MPG in my 02 TL.
I mix 87 and 93 50/50 each tank.

bodble2 · June 2005

So your commute is downhill both coming and going? :surprise: :surprise:

frisconick · June 2005

In a TL, it always seems you are going down hill :P

delmar1 · June 2005

MPG freak....have you tried to not mix the gas octane and have you noticed any differences in MPG? For instance...going with straight 87 versus straight 93?

tawneycat · June 2005

Funny. You must be a surveyor as the difference best be zero. Point being during that warmup car is coasting mostly and avg to work is 35-36. return usually with ac on is high 20S. hence the low 30's average.

bodble2 · June 2005

Hmm....could that be the reason my wife says I've been going downhill for years?!

:confuse:

frisconick · June 2005

Me too!

:confuse: :sick:

bodble2 · June 2005

LOL!

drcohen · June 2005

Well my third tank (303 miles) with mostly urban driving with roughly 60 miles of it steady @60-70 mph yielded a better 22.12 MPG. Not too bad........time will tell.

I'm not happy, because it only means I need to be "light footed" around town.
Hell why have all this HP teasing me and reminding me that my drivers license is important.

I should have purchased an economy sub-compact with no radio, 13" wheels, 98 HP, lumpy seats, no luxo stuff and just be happy to be bored with more money in the bank.
.
.
.
NNNNNNAAAAAHHHH.....

David

frisconick · June 2005

LOL David :P

You could have bought a Ford Breakdown, I mean Mustang. :P

tawneycat · June 2005

MPG is falling fast with near 100% AC usage and some city driving.
Down from 31 mpg to 27 mpg over 300 miles. Starting to want the new 06 Civic which looks pretty cool. Well, the TL is not bad either.

frisconick · June 2005

Interesting comparison, 06 Civic and TL :P

laurasdada · June 2005

I continue to avg. 23mpg in weekly commutes. Last week I threw in ~120 miles of highway (averaging ~75mph, w/ a/c) cruising mixed in to a total of 330 mile for the tank. According to the computer, 25mpg.

delmar1 · June 2005

You must have had some major headwinds. I get 35mpg with the a/c on traveling 90miles on the flats.

However...general mixed average is 24mpg.

The computer seems to be rather accurate.

nightcrawler29 · June 2005

and you even save more in gas if you dont step on the gas while going downhill..... now if you are as frugal as I am, you can turn off the car while going downhill for maximum gas saving!!!

laurasdada · June 2005

I didn't measure the "highway only" mileage MPG. The overall tank which was approx 60% local/40% highway returned 25mpg per computer. One of these days I'll have to remember to reset the mpg for the highway miles.

I'm satisfied. Although I wish I could safely use regular unleaded!

frisconick · June 2005

LOL, I'm not that frugal :shades:

frisconick · June 2005

Mixed highway 60% and city driving 40%, about 25mpg, pretty good for a 270 hp car. :P

delmar1 · June 2005

25mpg in mixed driving is GREAT compared to the Infiniti G35. In my neighborhood...there is a flood of G35 coupes. By consensus....I am hearing average tank mileage of 14mpg... and the best at 25mpg on the highway...best.

The general day to day cost of that G35 will kill. Not only in fuel...but the coupe has different size tires in the front verus rear...where you cannot rotate the tires. Tires would be eaten prior to 20k.

delmar1 · July 2005

laurasdada.... I would think you could 'safely' use regular unleaded. The car computer would adjust according to avoid any damage. From what I am gathering...there might be a loss of performance (lower the hp by 10% perhaps)...but geez...how many continue to scream the car at 270hp constantly?

What are the experiences of others here who have used 'regular' instead of 'premium'??? Performance wise....MPG wise....any other comments...

frisconick · July 2005

I have only used premium because I have heard you could mess up the computer having to adjust all the time when using regular.

laurasdada · July 2005

I'm not sure you could use regular "safely." I'll have to read the Owner's Manual again but I'm fairly certain it's adamant about using 91+, at least most of the time (even sternly warns you on the gas filler door!). Believe me, I'm not happy about it. But an extra 20 cents/gallon will probably come out to only about an extra $150/year. As I'm getting about 10% higher mpg than I did in my 300M running 87 octane, it's not a big deal. Sure, I'd rather have the buck and a half. That's 15 hands of blackjack!

Hey, I've always been a fool for a pretty face and that the TL is. Therefore, whatever Lola wants, Lola gets...

frisconick · July 2005

Why risk messing up an awesome car by getting cheap gas. :surprise:

delmar1 · July 2005

ok..ok...let me be honest....I only use premium in my car. Just throwing out the possibility.

However...have you noticed that different brands delivery different mpg? I used Costco brand in one of my previous cars. It may cost $0.10 less...but I also received 2mpg less. Go figure. I use either the Shell or Chevron premium...seem to work out best for my cars so far.

Your experiences???

frisconick · July 2005

I agree, Shell or Chevron get me the best mileage, just a little better than most.

avikb · July 2005

Greetings all... long time reader first time poster...etc.. etc...

Before buying my '05 Acura TL, I asked the service manager if I could use regular gas without any long term effect, he said as long as you didn't use cheap gas, it would be ok (something about fuel additives or lack there of in cheap gas).

Looking at a USA Today site dated a few months ago.. the service managers advice seems to come from Honda, Toyota, Porsche, etc. engineers as well.....

link title (search for the word "regular" to jump to the relevant part)

To quote:

"Engineers from Honda, Toyota, all major brands -- even Porsche -- have assured me that good-quality regular will not harm their engines. Period."

frisconick · July 2005

I have heard both sides of this issue. I have heard from scientists and engineers that regular and primuim are so similar it does not make a differnece. However, if the owners manual tell me to use higher octane, I will use it. I am not going to spend 30k plus for a car and then go cheap with the gas. :P

bodble2 · July 2005

Yep, that's how I feel too. Also, in my case, I really don't put on that much mileage, so the extra cost for premium is negligible.

frisconick · July 2005

Agreed, over the life of the car, the cost is really negligible. Americans truely go nuts when gas prices go up a bit, we really pay peanuts for gas compared to the rest of the world.

nightcrawler29 · July 2005

Well, you probably would go cheaper if you were in southern CA!!...

delmar1 · July 2005

I believe frisconick is in the bay area...so he is also paying some stiff prices like us.

What kills me most is the spread (price difference) between regular and premium varies. I see it as low at $0.20...and high as $0.40...and now commonly seeing a $0.25 spread. That is not right to have such a wide spread...and I boycott and move on to another station.

frisconick · July 2005

True delmar, we in the Bay Area pay the highest in the country, and it does tick me off. The oil companies say the reason is, we can afford it. :mad: You are making a smart move to check out other stations.

delmar1 · July 2005

Premium was selling for $2.99 a gallon this weekend down in San Diego. Ouch.

MPG update. Getting 26mpg (actual calc from mileage divided by fillup...not computer...which also stated the same) in mixed traffic usage. Not bad at all. Improving with mileage. Wasn't expecting above 25mpg...bet I will cap out at 26mpg.

frisconick · July 2005

I am getting a little over 25 mpg in mixed driving, not bad for a 270 hp car. And I tell my wife to gun it all the time, and she really does. :P

nightcrawler29 · July 2005

I was surprised at the MPG rate of this car on my first week of using it.... 25 MPG on mixed driving.

frisconick · July 2005

It is my understanding, that after the car is broken in a little, it will get even better mileage. Is this true?

laurasdada · July 2005

Yes, I believe that is correct. Assuming your driving habits don't change and the car is maintained.

My last tank I averaged 28 mph and 24 mpg. After a littl more than 6000 miles, I do think the mpg is improving slightly.

delmar1 · July 2005

MPG does improve with miles. I have about 2000 miles and it is getting improved mileage.

Last tank...I went ahead and stuck in half tank regular (on top of my half tank of premium). What I don't understand is how I picked up 2mpg to 27mpg on similar mixed driving and same driving conditions. Any ideas?

frisconick · July 2005

That's amazing, a 270 hp car getting the same mpg as my old 190 hp Camry. :shades:

Acura TL Real World MPG

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