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Mixed driving (50% to 80% highway) gets 17 to 21mpg.
Long distance highway at 60 to 70mph is rewarded with 22 to 25mpg.
But the main facture is lower octane, I've only used the 87 the cheapest gas sold.
If I move to mid- grade 89 octane, has "anyone" had better MPG on the higher octane. The manual said 89 octane or higher.
As you can read I'm low milage on my EX also and was asking wether the high octane will reward me on mpg.
Gas mileage can vary greatly and the only true indicator of any vehicle actual highway mileage is to fill before the trip, during the trip, and refill at the end of the trip with almost no stop and go city driving. :shades:
We took the scenic route back from St. George going through Zion National Park, clipping through Bryce Canyon, stopping at Calf Creek outside Escalante to camp for the night, then continuing on up through to Richfield and on up through Nephi to SLC. The return trip was on a winding two-lane highway with a lot of ups and downs. Managed to get 23.4 MPG for the winding trip back home. Pretty pleased with the mileage numbers. Total miles covered was just shy of 850 :shades:
Purely freeway at about 75 mph: never above 23 mpg
Total mileage: 2500
but just got a recall for the EGR valve which is being replaced - that should help my gas milege.
with gas approching $3.00 in Calif. I'm leaning towards another Oddy over the move to an AWD Pilot.
First Tank=16.21 70% highway/30% city
Second Tank=17.51 Same highway city mix
Third Tank= 18.24 With same highway city mix
Fourth Tank=23.9 This trip was 75 miles of freeway at 75-80 and over a pass. Also a 20 miles of city driving and also the rest driving on winding moutain roads that never exceeded 45 mph and went from 2500 feet to 7500 feet and back down. Had my wife and I and 4 year old and newborn so lightly loaded. I filled up right as we hit the freeway and filled up as we got off so the number has no city.
I have a 2005 Dodge GC with a 3.8 V6. I also live in hot Arizona and have noticed the same thing you have. When I first bought my Dodge in Dec. after the first cople of tank fulls, I was getting 18-19 mpg in mixed city/hway driving. Got as high as 25.8 on one trip to Prescot AZ. But when it got hotter and I have had to use the A/C continually, mileage really dropped. I am lucky to get 20mpg on mostly freeway driving. It's more like 17-18 mpg.I am sure the heat has a lot to do with it, along with the additive they put in our gas in the summer to cut polution. I can hardly wait till it gets cooler and mileage goes back up, especially with todays gas prices.
Trip included anassortment of open highway (70-80 MPH mostly), some local in town, back highways (lots of lights and traffic jam) and way too much time stuck in traffic on the NY Thruway.
So, almost 25 with a considerable amount of time not cruising along, and when the road was open, not putting along. More than acceptable IMHO.
I still have not doubt I could get close to the 28 highway number if I went south (to the flatlands), at an off time to miss traffic, and set the CC at 69 and just get going.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
We have a 05 Nissan Quest and on the MAX AC setting it cools the vehicle down surprisingly fast. Several of the folks complaining about AC capacity in the Quest forum didn't seem to know about the MAX setting, or recirculate mode.
The best tank we've gotten so far, 26.5, was with the AC running.
I maybe wrong, but I don't think it makes any difference if the recirulating mode is off or on in saving gas mileage. Or if the fan is on high or low. Once you turn on the A/C, the belt turns the compressor at the same speed, it's the blower that is blowing it out high or low. I would think as long as the a/c compressor is turning, it is what uses more fuel, not the fan speed or recirulating switch.
Not sure about the tire pressure, except I heard that when setting the pressure, use the one that's on the door, not the tire. But I don't know if that's a hard fast rule. It could be because the tire is also used on different makes and models with different weight requirements. The pressure on the door is for that weight of vehicle.
Blindly following the number on the door jamb is not always the best (though it generally won't steer you too far wrong). Remember the Ford explorer and its exploding tires - all because of too low inflation.
And Does higher octane recover more MPG's?
i trust tire inflation does impact mpg / fuel economy. inflation affects tire radius does it not? how about rolling resistance?
from these two factors alone I assert that your factor of .01% (that would be a multiple of .0001 by the way) is completely off.
if i were to make a WAG, i'd say somewhere in the 3-5% range (ie a factor of .03-.05).
Your Ford Explorer example is legit, but is a VERY RARE instance when a manufacturer's recommendations were off the mark.
I trust the engineers that help build cars to know what the correct tire pressure to make sure a vehicle drives well.
Keep in mind that tiny little bicycle tires inflate to over 100 psi. It is not like these tires are going to expode from the pressure.
Heat is what kills tires and underinflation creates more heat.
Never inflate over what it says on the tire, but as long as you are under that number you are perfectly safe. Consult the owners manual of a performance car and you will see that they reccomend higher pressure for high speed driving. They would not do that if it was not safer.
To stay on topic. I just made a cross country trip in a first generation Ody/Oasis. Averaged just under 27 mpg driving with A/C on all the time, 5 people and lots of luggage. I generally go about 5 mph over the speed limit and during the slower portions of the trip (65 mph speed limit vs 75) got as high as 30 mpg. The low was about 22.5 going 80 mph into a slight headwind.
With gas prices how they are I wish Honda (or anybody) still made a nice sized 4-cyl minivan. With current technology it would do quite a bit better than the first gen Ody. Funny how everybody sells half a dozen or more SUV's but only Mazda sells 2 minivans (the new five is quite small though - signifacanly smaller than the first gen Ody).
I'll bet they'd explode if someone the mass of a minivan sat on that bike!
You may well be correct in your assertions, but the bicycle metaphor (or was that a simile, I can't keep them straight?!?) isn't the reason.
I'm not a physicist (nor have I ever played one on TV!), but I remember enough from those grueling college classes to know that you cannot reliably extrapolate from a small thing (like a bicycle and its tires) to a large thing (like a minivan and its tires).
This principle is why we will never be afflicted with insects the size of a human (much less any bigger). Their structure, amazingly functional at their small size range, would be insufficiently strong at human size. They would need so much more exoskeleton that not enough room would be left for guts, muscles, etc. (not too mention the incredible muscle mass they'd require to move that exoskeleton!).
And, I can tell you from observing the tire debris along the highways from those high-pressure (and also much more heavily built) truck tires that these tires do, in fact, blow up now and again! :sick:
I'll give it to you because your right, the factor is closer to 5 % which is in fact on a 05 ody ususally 1.3 MPG. Right?
I wish it was more, and with all this talk its apparent that there must be a way to increse MPG on auto's.But we can shoot a rocket through the O-zone in to space but to make a engine run on small amounts of combustable liquids is tricky.
Ideas range from solid tires, compress your gas tank, buy a new Hybrid.
However, the overall gas mileage is 22.6 MPG.
I hate to disagree with your theory, but blower speed and any other electrical load of any size will sap some power from your engine. As you increase electrical loads on the engine, the Alternator has to work harder to keep up with the demand. Think of it this way-- if you drag a stick while riding a bike, the more pressure you put on the stick, the harder you have to pump to keep the same speed. Alternators work kinda' like that. With no load, they do not require much HP from your engine. But the more electrical demands you turn on, the harder it is to turn the alternator, and therefore requiring more engine HP.
Granted, it may not be enormous amount of HP required, but every little bit adds up. I can attest to this because on my boat I use the Alternator on my diesel engine to recharge my 4 batteries on board. Everytime I start the engine with one battery, then switch the engine/Alternator output to the remaining 3, the RPM goes down by at least 100/200. It is the load on the alternator causing the decrease in RPM to bring the batteries back to full charge. This is a large demand on the Alternator, but the theory is the same on any engine.
IMHO Boxwrench
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/echronicle/archives/2005/Q3/gas-prices.htm
I had one experience with my 95 Caravan (3.0) where I got a tank full of HESS 87 in Saddle River, NJ and drove that well into South Carolina!!! Even though it was smooth driving the rest of the trip into South Florida, I was never able to duplicate that again. Why is that?
For now I plan on using Chevron to keep my new Sedona clean, but I would love some links to some solid info on this if someone knows any. There must be some reason why one brand does better then another.
Phil ~
What I do not understand is how Shell brand can be 40 or 50 cents a gallon more than Flying J in Barstow, California when the 2 stations are just across the intersection from each other. (Chevron is much less expensive in Barstow than Shell but still more expensive than Flying J).
Thanks for that. It explains why I have been searching for something that does not exist. The man knows his stuff and it sounds like he has it down. I will follow his suggestion.
Thanks again!
Phil ~
Try the above link for the best gas....
From the first link it seems that all base gasoline produced is the same until the time additives or detergents(same thing) are put in them.
Have about 7200 miles on engine, so not really broken in yet.
I don't blame you for being skeptical though.