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Comments
I would prefer your 3.8L over my 2002 T&C 3.3L. Almost same gas mileage but more power with the 3.8L. Chrysler goofs by not offering the 3.8L on every DC minivan.
BTW, the Trip Computer in my 2002 T&C is VERY accurate.
I would say most new vehicles can MEET EPA Highway ratings when driven responsibly.If they could "easily" exceed the EPA Highway rating then the manufacturer would list their expected MPG to be higher. Useing the higher MPG in their advertising.
I have a '99 Quest also. It gets about 15 MPG most tanks, but that is heavy short-hop around town driving. Lots of stop/starts, etc. On the highway, I usually average about 22 overall (best ever tank was about 25, sometimes I get 20). But, that is usually on the NJ turnpike and NY Thruway, so a combination of traffic jams, running at 75-80, and (in NY) lots of hills, plus some around town during the trip.
I think if I did a straight run south (where it's flat), at around a steady 67, I might get 27 mpg or so (like thats ever going to happen!).
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
How exactly does the EPA arrive at mpg?
Its what we got, and a better comparison than each manufacturer posting their own fantasy numbers.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Driving for max economy is possible, but very hard to do.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
As the sticker says...mileage may vary....
I drive responsibly with most of the driving on open road (Interstate or state highway with few stop signs).
The gas mileage will probably drop now winter is almost here.
My wife has gotten 25-26 mpg with our 03 Sienna on two-lane roads. I have gotten as low as 12-13 mpg in January on a short commute.
Reasonable drivers, same car, different circumstances.
-Mathias
My VW beetle got as low as 12 mpg in the winter when driven around town.
96 Dodge Gr. Caravan -- 3.3L
Also, 26 mpg "AVERAGE" means that you can sometimes get more than that! Is it true? Or you meant to say you successfully squeezed out once or twice 26 mpg? I think EPA for Chrysler/Dodge van is something like 19/25 mpg (but "may vary").
If what you say is true, I'm excited. I'm going soon to replace my '02 Windstar (horrible mileage!) with an '05 Grand Caravan (SXT, the 3.8L engine). I hope my mileage will be better than in the Windstar.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
http://www.allpar.com/model/m/grand-caravan-2005.html
My 2004 Sienna XLE FWD has 13,500 miles on it now (after 15 months of use) and the trip computer is reporting 21.5 MPG. It's mostly used around town and commuting 15 miles roundtrip to work. We've never taken it more than 100 miles from home. Less than half of the miles are freeway/highway miles. This is about what I expected.
--Steve
Now at 16K I am still getting no more than 14 mpg in the city. Last city tank was 11.6. This is while keeping the rpm at 2500 max before shifts. Get passed by nearly everyone when accelerating from a light.
Anybody have a fix?? If the EPA estimate had stated 13 mpg I would have never bought this Honda product.
Please help!
Sean
Odyssey Is Best in Fuel Class
Steve, Host
The 3.8L does NOT give gas mileage as good as the 3.3L under normal driving conditions. I think the new 2005 Odyssey will give the best gas mileage of any recent minivan of comparable size while also having the most power.
Most cars get slightly worse mileage in winter because they run extra-rich during warmup; the fluids are thicker greating more drag; most people don't bother to reinflate their tires; the air is more dense; and the fuel is reformulated for cold weather starting and operation. I clocked it fairly precisely in a couple vehicles and it was in the neighborhood of 5% in mixed driving.
We live in Boston and drive mostly in total urban traffic. We have a 99 Caravan Sport (not Grand Caravan) with 3.3l engine. In total urban cycle we get 15.5-16 mpg, both on the trip computer and by calculation.
Highway driving 72-80 mph with a Yakima RocketBox (20 cu ft box) on the roof and five people we got between 21 and 22.5. You're moving a lot of air at the higher sppeds, but if you adopt the truckers approach of speeding up to 80 downhill and backing off to as little as 65 mph uphill you can get 22-23 instead of 21.
Driving 65 or less the mileage goes up above 25 mpg on the highway.
All the new vans are around 200 inches long, have 3.5l OHC V-6's, and weigh over 4,000 lbs unloaded. And their EPA #'s are pretty close. So don't expect them to get much diferent mileage unless the rules of credulity or physics are suspended.
Craig
'04 Sedona EX
I get 11-13. I know something is wrong with my Odyssey and all the dealer can say is the computer says everything is OK. My pocketbook knows otherwise and I would not have bought the van if I thought it would get around 200 miles to a tank in the city.
City driving KILLS fuel economy. I can watch the fuel economy drop after a 500 mile trip while waiting for a stop light. (One advantage of having an accurate trip computer in a DC minivan).
The Odyssey will deliver the best gas mileage of any minivan if all are driven in the same manner. DC minivans deliver great fuel economy but do not have as much power as the Odyssey.
The term, "City Driving", can have many meaning to it!
if you are driving in route that has just a few traffic light, your mpg should be higher!
If the route you travel with many stop signs and traffic lights, with congested slow traffic, (low average speed), then 14 mpg is not bad!
I drive a van too, and i am being light foot, too! Not pass 2500rpm in city, i still could not reach to EPA mpg...
It is all because of the "time" i travel. I drive about 28 km away from home to school everyday!(8:00am) the traffic is very congested and slow, and it takes me over an hour drive to get there! If I leave my home an hour earlier (7:00am), on the same route, the time it take me to get there is 30 mins, I surely do avoid a slower traffic, and the mpg also went up!
Our lust for extra features and more room have driven up the size and weight of these vans. This absolutely has to take a toll on their gas mileage.
My 2004 Seinna LE will average around 20-21 mpg on my weeekly commute and weekend driving mileage. This is basically mixed driving with 35% city and 65% highway.
I have never driven through an entire tank of fuel on highway mileage so I don't know what my true highway mileage would be.
I have driven tanks that have been 75% highway and 25% city. On my latest such excursion I calculated around 24.3 mpg. This is not bad.
The best gas mileage I have calculated on this van was 25.2, the worst was 19.3.
Based on my limited knowledge, I would guess that if I only made short trips around the neighborhood, I should only expect from 15-17 mpg.
Most people forget that the highway rating is for highway driving only with no stop and go. It is very easy to exceed EPA estimates while driving on the highway.
However, once you leave the highway, the stop and go and waiting at lights KILLS the mileage. Warming up in winter also kills gas mileage.
A 2004 Sienna LE can easily get 28 to 30 MPG if driven on the highway ONLY and keeping the speed at 65 MPH or lower.
It is impossible to actually conduct a fair test of any 2 vehicles driving within the city as no one can control the stop and go and waiting at lights. A strict round trip highway test on the same test distance with NO stop and go is the only really accurate comparison of gas mileage between any vehicles...although the EPA testing is the most practical, legitimate test available.
Still, I can usually average 22 mpg round trip from Phila. to upstate NY, even with hills, speed, and some local highways (not all interstate).
We get about 15ish around town, but that is real short hop driving (lots of 1-3 mile trips, lights, start/stop). basically everything that kills mileage.
I could probably take a trip south at a quiet time (ie flat roads, low traffic) and keep it on cruise at 65 and maybe get 26-28mpg. Lot that's ever going to happen.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Some people also exagerate (inaging that on the internet), or trust the trip computer #, or whatever, which can skew the results.
In any case, a 4,000 - 4,500 pound box on wheels just isn't going to get the mileage of a Prius, especially around town. In local driving, weight is a killer.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Any suggestions?
A friend had a VW Bus that got 11 MPG on the road. After the cylinder head temperature sensor was replaced, it got 30 MPG on the road.
Take it back every time you check the mileage and do not get AT LEAST 25 MPG on the road if you keep the speed 65 MPH or less. Get the problem in writing so you can sue under the lemon law.
My gas mileage was 22.1 mpg (the EPA rating on the highway is 28 mpg). The Honda dealership told me that 22.1 mpg was within the acceptable range, and since my vehicle did not have any fault codes there was nothing they could do.
I understand there may be a variance from the EPA estimate but 6 mpg or over a 20% difference is not an acceptable variance.
I have owned approximately 20 vehicles and have never had a problem getting close to or even greater than the EPA estimate. So I am not sure what the problem could be, and Honda doesn't give a hoot.
But I don't complain just yet, for many reasons: 1) the car is still new, less than 500 miles, so as I read all over I may have to wait a few thousand miles; 2) I am doing mostly city driving with the heater on; 3) I do warm up my car every morning for about 3-6 minutes and that helps kill mileage.
But I really hope it will improve over time. That was one of my major reasons I chose the Caravan to replace my old fuel-lover Ford Windstar.
We had the T&C at the dealer. Chrysler says they won't touch the car until we have 7,500 miles. They claim that the piston rings need to run in. Well, that disagrees with all my data as the mpg has not changed from 200 miles - 3000 miles. Today I paid $200 to have the sensors checked and the dealer claimed they couldn't find anything wrong. Miraculously the car went to 24 mpg on the freeway on the drive back home (approx. 60 miles). This is the best it ever had. Something most have happened when they made the test. I suspect that connectors were disconnected or the computer was initialized.
Could it be that the computer is set for the first 7500 miles to a different program? Where would that magic number of 7500 miles come from? It is true it is the oil change and service interval but why would that have anything to do with the mpg?
The dealer told me something of a sudden mpg increase after 5000 miles - has anyone experienced that?
Good look with you new Dodge. Please check the following.
1) Are your front rims very black with break dust?
2) Does the car seem to "push" more than you think it should?
3) When you drive in cruise does it switch the gears down?
4) Does the van use all gears?
If the answer is: 1) yes; 2) Yes; 3)No ; 4)No then the connector to the temperature sensor on the transmission is not connected well. Please let me know if this is the case. If so, it happened twice with new Caravan's and that suggests that something is wrong with the connectors.
More in another 3000 miles when I am either happy or will invoke the lemon law.
I too have a similar problem. I bought a Nissan Quest 2001 from a dealer with Powerterrain warranty. The gas mileage is very poor averaging around 15 for 70% highway, 30% city driving. The outside temperature sensor either reads 140F or -40F always. The dealer had ordered part to replace this sensor.
I read in your post, that changing Cylinder head sensor increased mileage for your friend's VW.
Could you explain this in detail, so that I can ask the dealer to check it. Not sure if changing
the outside temperature sensor is related to this.
If I don't talk to my dealer with enough details, his answer would be 'They found no fault with the vehicle and so can't help me'. Thanks for your help.