Potential MPG issue?

[Rival]

Hey everybody,

Not really sure if this is an issue or not, but I figured I'd post and get everybody's thoughts. So I have the 1.5t and am roughly getting between 27-29 (reported by the car, so the real # may be even lower) with mostly city driving. My "city driving" includes driving just outside of Atlanta on I-85 for those looking for specifics. I wouldn't say it's mostly stop and go driving, but it is mostly morning/afternoon commutes during rush hour. The reason I am posting this is because I feel like my MPG is kind of low compared to what I thought I should be getting, roughly at least 31. Now 29 isn't much lower than 31, but I find it weird since 27-29 is with ECON mode on, conservative driving, and no sport mode. I also find it weird since everybody I've seen is just bragging about how good their mileage is. It almost makes me feel like I got a faulty car. I also drove it from Atlanta to Augusta GA (2.5 hr trip) a couple days ago and only got 38mpg with ECON on, no sport mode, and conservative driving. I also did use cruise control for most of the trip just to throw that information out there. Anyway, to reiterate my question(s), has anyone else come across a situation similar? Am I overthinking it? Is there something that may be lowering my MPG that I may not know about? Please lend me your advice. Also, I have over a 1,000 miles on the car already so it should be broken in.

Thank you for everybody's reply in advance.

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[ICanLiftACivicUp]

Even if the engine is broken in, there are still other factors that can mean that you aren't getting the car's most efficient mileage just yet - I'd wait a few more thousand miles before making that judgement. I know I-85 traffic can get really bad, and if you're constantly in stop and go then the 'city' driving mpg is going to be worse on any car. That estimate is not 'rush hour' MPG but just short lengths at around 25-45 MPG. I-85 in rush hour is mostly stop, and maybe you get over 15mph on the go. Gosh am I glad I don't live/work there anymore, haha.

That being said I think you are overthinking it. If Honda estimated 32 MPG and everyone else was getting around 32 MPG for average city driving, and you were getting 30MPG, would you be as worried, all because of that tens digit?

Things you can also think on - the turbo isn't really used until you get to around 2500+ RPM. The turbo+CVT is where the fuel efficiency of this car really kicks in. And I think because of the turbo, the car tends to require a bit more gas pedal before you get moving from a stop. Consider keeping a very slow but constant speed when in bumper to bumper traffic - even if it means leaving a large gap between you and the car in front. The less you are 'stopped' the better, so keep that gap at size.

 

[Rival]

I would like to think I am just overthinking it, but the thing that bugs me is that aren't the MPG estimates given supposed to be without ECON mode on? I'm getting numbers below these estimates with ECON mode on. Then again, I don't know the most about ECON mode so maybe it doesn't work that way. Also, while I have people helping me on this concern, would there be any benefit to MPG to drive this in sport mode with the same conservative driving? Also, how does driving in sport mode with ECON mode work? To me (someone who doesn't know a lot), it seems to conflict but the car lets you do it.

 

[ICanLiftACivicUp]

I would like to think I am just overthinking it, but the thing that bugs me is that aren't the MPG estimates given supposed to be without ECON mode on? I'm getting numbers below these estimates with ECON mode on. Then again, I don't know the most about ECON mode so maybe it doesn't work that way. Also, while I have people helping me on this concern, would there be any benefit to MPG to drive this in sport mode with the same conservative driving? Also, how does driving in sport mode with ECON mode work? To me (someone who doesn't know a lot), it seems to conflict but the car lets you do it.

The estimates are sometimes done with, and sometimes done without, economy saving driving modes (https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/06/do-all-those-driving-modes-affect-a-cars-epa-gas-mileage/). That being said, they take an average of different driving scenarios. So you are driving in the worst case scenario, where you are mostly stopped or slow - using gas to accelerate, but for short distances thus not really going anywhere with the gas that is being used when idling. The best case scenario for city would probably be someone driving at 35-45mph without any stops or traffic to get to their destination.

When you go into Sport mode, the CVT changes the ratios that it uses as you accelerate - a wider range to convert engine rotations into wheel rotations more effectively. In D, that ratio is converted to what is most fuel efficient. It may also affect how much fuel put through when you press the accelerator, but that is also a ratio. When in econ mode, you in a sense decrease the difference between driving (with ECON) and Sport (without ECON), but it is still present. It is counter-intuitive to do that - if you want to go fast, you should turn econ off. In your conservative, stop and go driving, every time you need to use the gas to accelerate you will use more fuel to move faster, but you'll only reach the short distance to close the gap to the car in front faster - you're using more fuel to move the same distance. The car lets you do both primarily because they are two different things - one affects transmission primarily, while the other affects throttle response.

 

[bander68]

I am getting similar results to Rival, and it appears we have similar drives and styles. My daily commute is in the Houston area during the early rush both ways. I drive mostly conservatively, but after one tank in Econ mode with lower mileage, I am sticking to normal. I know part of my lower mileage is because when I arrive early I sit in the car idling for a few minutes. I have a trip next week to San Antonio (200 miles away) and planned to drive one way normal and the other way in Econ mode. This will be my first non-rush hour, open road trip. I will be curious if you find a way to increase the regular commute mileage though.

 

[NorthernEX-T]

Many members have stated that Eco mode is infact hurting mileage. Try not using it. I think somebody said Honda will hopefully do an update on the Eco mode soon so that it actually works..

 

[dick w]

Maybe members have stated that Eco mode is infact hurting mileage. Try not using it. I think somebody said Honda will hopefully do an update on the Eco mode soon so that it actually works..

Sadly there is zero controlled testing of this and lots of tester bias built in. Perhaps because I generally give engineers the benefit of doubt, I wonder if at least part of what's going on here is that people unconsciously offset reduced performance in Eco with more aggressive driving to overcome it.

(We'll see what happens when ours gets built and makes the journey out here. I will certainly try it in both modes. It may not mean anything. We have about zero real city driving and highway speed is maybe 60 or 65 max and that is very rare. We are getting almost EPA highway here with our CR-V pretty routinely. In 142 tanks in CO, we averaged 22.7 calculated, in 37 tanks here, we are running 27.0 vs. an original advertised EPA H of 28.)

 

[Ash2016]

I have noticed that Eco mode on hurts mpg and Eco mode off gives me better mpg. I baby my car and no hard acceleration since beginning. I am close to 5000 km and notice Eco off is good for better mpg. Specially when its cold out, your car gets warmer faster with Eco off i.e. all the fluids and coolant, which brings better mpg.

 

[camhabib]

Even the most fuel efficient car still gets 0 mpg when stopped. Your fuel efficiency has everything to do with how you drive. There's a great Top Gear clip where they followed a Prius around the track with a M5; the BMW got better gas mileage.

 

[NorthernEX-T]

I still haven't read on here that any members are getting better mpg with Eco mode on. So far from what I've seen, members are getting the best mpg with Eco mode off. Weird I know..

 

[david1pro]

I just filled up today - my first fill with eco off the entire time (vs. on the entire time previously). Even drove a bit rougher to try to get worse gas mileage - but, best tank yet. Clearly, there's a programming issue with the Eco mode.

 

[HondA.cura]

I have averaged 40.4 mpg on the past 500 miles or so, 3/4 highway on Eco. However during the first 1000 miles I only got around 33 mpg.
I expect after going to full synthetic (royal purple) and easing back on speed I should get another 2 or 3 mpg

 

[NorthernEX-T]

I have averaged 40.4 mpg on the past 500 miles or so, 3/4 highway on Eco. However during the first 1000 miles I only got around 33 mpg.
I expect after going to full synthetic (royal purple) and easing back on speed I should get another 2 or 3 mpg

Just wondering, but why are you planning to run royal purple (full syn) instead on Honda oil (full syn)? What's so good about royal purple?

 

[TyBu]

I'm getting better mileage with eco on, so it's not everyone.

 

[Civicnurse]

Hey everybody,

Not really sure if this is an issue or not, but I figured I'd post and get everybody's thoughts. So I have the 1.5t and am roughly getting between 27-29 (reported by the car, so the real # may be even lower) with mostly city driving. My "city driving" includes driving just outside of Atlanta on I-85 for those looking for specifics. I wouldn't say it's mostly stop and go driving, but it is mostly morning/afternoon commutes during rush hour. The reason I am posting this is because I feel like my MPG is kind of low compared to what I thought I should be getting, roughly at least 31. Now 29 isn't much lower than 31, but I find it weird since 27-29 is with ECON mode on, conservative driving, and no sport mode. I also find it weird since everybody I've seen is just bragging about how good their mileage is. It almost makes me feel like I got a faulty car. I also drove it from Atlanta to Augusta GA (2.5 hr trip) a couple days ago and only got 38mpg with ECON on, no sport mode, and conservative driving. I also did use cruise control for most of the trip just to throw that information out there. Anyway, to reiterate my question(s), has anyone else come across a situation similar? Am I overthinking it? Is there something that may be lowering my MPG that I may not know about? Please lend me your advice. Also, I have over a 1,000 miles on the car already so it should be broken in.

Thank you for everybody's reply in advance.

I am with Rival. I drive I-85 about 30 miles 1 way. I have not gotten past 32mpg. I have tried with and w/o Econ and still no big change. I will say that I have had the surging issue so that may be affecting my mileage. Honda is working on a software/hardware update to fix the problem. I have about 1100 miles on my car now.

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