Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
On the highway going 75mph with AC on we get 23 so I can see that 25 is doable. But stops and starts are a killer on mileage in this huge van. Around town with no highway miles we average about 14mpg.
Still hoping it will get a little better with more miles on the engine...
We average 19 MPG city driving.
Couple reasons why the Kia van has bad mileage:
It is a heavy vehicle; it weight as much as a Chevy Tahoe (~5000 lb). That is about 1000 lbs heavier than the old GM minvan (w/ shaky structure), 400-500 lbs heavier than a Toyota or Honda minivans. So one can't escape the law of Physics here. Kia is not known for their engineering prowess in making light at the same time strong vehicle. So to make it strong, they resorted to adding massive structure re-enforcement.
Another one is engine design and technology: Kia is at least 5-10 years be
hind the Japanese counterpart. Honda and Toyota have been perfecting their engines for decades. Kia and Huyndai, did not design their engines until 10 years ago.
jnt
1. Close to 25 MPG for hwy, at speed of 65 MPH. Vehicle is loaded
2. Down to 22 MPG for hwy, at speed between 70-80MPH. Again vehicle is loaded
3. About 14-15 MPG for city driving, stop and go, speed less than 40 MPH
This vehicle has cylinder de-activation (VCM in Honda speak). This feature helps mostly with hwy mileage. Considering the 4300 lbs vehicle weight + 500 lbs load, the gas mileage is reasonable for a minivan or any vehicle with the same weight. Another thing: its engine does not run out of breath at high speed and heavy load.
jnt
We will be doing a longish trip this weekend, with plenty of highway (but also up in to the hills, and a fair stretch of local roads). Should be a good test. If I average close to 25 round trip, it would be great.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Any advice is appreciated....
On the flip side, the van is a great highway cruiser with plenty of passing power. And if it can continue to get around 22 mpg hwy, I am satisfied. Honda must have been in a no wind situation, 55 mph, no stops, and a lightly loaded van to get 28 mpg.
Don't forget the 6% downhill grade.
Just filled the MPV tonight. This is only my 3rd fillup. On the first I had just over 18 mpg, the 2nd just over 17, but tonights netted me 21.8 mpg. :surprise: Not that I'm complaining, but why the sudden jump? I've been doing the same type of driving the past 25 days and fill at the same station. Hmm, like I said, I'm not complaining.
How to Keep Gas Mileage Records
MODERATOR
Need help getting around? claires@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Tell everyone about your buying experience: Write a Dealer Review
My overall average is 21.223 mpg
Highest is 29.517 mpg (trip to Charlotte 90% highway with cruise set on 75mph)
2nd Highest is 22.485 mpg
Lowest is 18.931mpg
We now have 7,940 total miles on the vehicle, and from what I read the gas mileage is supposed to improve over 10k miles...we're very happy with the performance so far, and would be surprised to see it improve.
On our trip to Charlotte we noticed that the VCM does not kick in even with cruise control set if over 75 mph.
On the way back we added a snowblower but it's mostly a downhill run. We averaged 22.2, still lower than our average for the first 6,000 mioles of 22.8 mpg.
Overall, got about 24 even. Not at all bad IMO, given how nice the van cruises, and the conditions. Plus the AC was on all the way.
I still think I could get an easy 27 if I did a straight run south, since there aren't the big hills I hit in NY, assuming I could just cruise along and not get stuck in any traffic jams.
still getting 15 - 17 in very short hop local driving, about what our Quest got, although I do get better highway mileage (about 10%).\
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
This is significant for me because with a 75 mph speed limit my highway trips are usually about 80 mph. Since the VCM equipped Odyssey is actually geared shorter than the non VCM version (to allow it to use VCM more) it would actually get worse gas mileage at higher speeds.
I got ~16.5 MPG for the first two tanks of gas.
Mainly local driving. Still in break-in period.
This is worse than 98 Toyota Sienna I used to have. I got ~18 for Sienna.
VCM does not work above 75 mph? That would be a bomber for long interstate trips.
It helps to be cruising downhill though. It will kick off quick going up hill at high speeds.
I think they should have geared it the same as the non-VCM units, but I guess they had their reasons.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Best full tank was 26.5. Worst full tank was 16.4.
ANY minivan will exceed EPA highway mileage ratings on the highway when speed is kept at 65 MPH. However, these newer, heavier minivans guzzle fuel when starting from a stop but barely sip fuel while cruising.
I get high mileage because the DC 3.3L V6 is NOT a high performance engine. I am not tempted to drive my minivan like it was a Chrysler 300C or a Ferrari.
Here in OR the rural interstate highway speed limit is 65, just north of us in WA it's 70. As far as I'm concerned one shouldn't have anyone harassing you at that speed. Unless of course you're that idiot puttering along in the left lane holding up traffic. :mad:
'Course, that's a post for an entirely different topic.
Having just followed my brother a couple hundred miles out into West Texas as he drove a non-cruise-control-equipped U-Haul, I was reminded what a pain it is (literally!!! ) having to keep my foot pressing on the gas pedal for hours. Finally, it occurred to us that I should lead and then he could gauge his speed off of my cruise control (duh!?! At 51 it seems to take longer sometimes for the light to come on... ).
Had a fairly large load of materials to be used for a project in Maine. Met friends at airport in Maine and hauled a large load of luggage and 6 passengers to hotel, and returned friends after 7 days back to airport with their luggage.
After getting them to the airport, I loaded all the supplies back in the van. Stopped in Connectuit and loaded a heavy, oak dining table and chairs for remainder of trip home.
Each day I had a commute of several miles carrying 5 passengers and myself. Three of the passengers were pretty heavy. We also did some sight seeing and lobster tasting along the coast near Portland.
Traveled in a lot of mountains. Brakes at times got very hot and the vibration from what appeared to be warped rotors was heavy until brakes cooled again. No problem stopping, however.
Probably 90% of my driving was highway, but there were many stop and go traffic jams that lasted from 5 to 20 minutes.
The temperature was very high. I saw 104 degrees in Greensboro and Charlotte. My wife suspected our reading was not accurate until I pointed to a thermoter in front of a building that read the same as ours.
My overall average was 22.42 mpg. I saw mileage as high as 26, and as low as 16 on individual stretches. The mileage computer in the car was not changed at all for the entire trip. It read 23.1 mpg. On some of the stretches the actual mileage calculated with a pencil was higher than the computer reading, and sometimes it was slightly lower.
No problems. The van was comfortable and trouble free. The AC cooled very well in spite of the very high outside temperature.
Gas cost as much as 2.69/gallon for regular in CT.
The van now has 18680 miles on it.
Sadly, DaimlerChrysler took off the instant mileage from the trip computer a year or 2 ago. Stupid decision. :sick:
Of course, saving money with cheaper instruments (hoping no one will notice) had nothing whatever to do with it! :surprise:
The sensor for temperature on my 02 T&C LX is under the front grille.
BTW, what information does your Yukon XL overhead console display? My co-worker had a Cadillac some 15 years ago and he loved the trip computer. Said it was nice to see the Cadillac getting over 100 MPG (even though he was going downhill).
Got 24.5 mpg @ 75 mph using a/c
Got 28.1 mpg @ 65 mph with no a/c, think it would be 29 mpg @ 60 mph but was afraid to drive too much slower than other traffic
tried using the a/c and mileage quickly dropped 2.5 mpg and that was at night with outside air of 67 degrees, would think mileage would drop more during the daytime with outside air in the 90s and a/c running more often
One can get higher mpg we found by driving slower and not running a/c if not needed
Motor Oil : Mobil 1
Gasoline : Mid-grade
Would be the perfect time for Mazda to reintroduce the smaller MPV with hybrid capability.