What grade of gas? All gas questions answered! **Merged all gas threads**

[jettinbikinigirl]

I have a question after reading most of these posts - some members say they go 320 miles, 360 miles, etc... But is this all highway miles? And if so, what speed are you driving? 70 MPH? 75 MPH? 80 MPH?

[airportguy770]

for one tank I drove like a granny, No VTEC, windows up, and used cruise control the whole way. I managed to get 35MPG. Went 407 miles before I filled up. Had 1 bar left. I was shocked, but it proves this car is capable of giving us great gas mileage. I've also noticed my MPG are getting better the more miles I put on it.

[jettinbikinigirl]

Originally Posted by airportguy770

for one tank I drove like a granny, No VTEC, windows up, and used cruise control the whole way. I managed to get 35MPG. Went 407 miles before I filled up. Had 1 bar left. I was shocked, but it proves this car is capable of giving us great gas mileage. I've also noticed my MPG are getting better the more miles I put on it.

How fast thought?

[airportguy770]

never went over 75. I was mainly on I-285 and downtown. Speed limit was 55 so I drove around 65-70 on average

[Brent278]

2600 miles on my 07 ex and I am getting 28-29 mpg each tank. 70% hwy and 30% country roads @ 45 mph. I am not happy with it as I was expecting to avg. 35 mpg according to specs. I was tossed up between buying this car or a new 06 diesel vw beetle @ 40-49 mpg. I chose Honda due to auto tranny,4 doors and 2000 cheaper.

[atlantaml]

wait till after your first oil change. it will get better!

[misscaseyjean]

I thought I was the only one with this issue! On my 07 Civic Ex auto I got 28 on my first tank (all highway), 22 on my second (city) and 18.15 on my 3rd! I am getting very worried. I sold my 98 Civic that got WAY more than this! I really hope it gets better after the "break-in" period, whatever that is. My car has 650 miles on it now....

[Tom1222]

Originally Posted by misscaseyjean

I thought I was the only one with this issue! On my 07 Civic Ex auto I got 28 on my first tank (all highway), 22 on my second (city) and 18.15 on my 3rd! I am getting very worried. I sold my 98 Civic that got WAY more than this! I really hope it gets better after the "break-in" period, whatever that is. My car has 650 miles on it now....

WOW, an EX should get way more than 18.5 mpg. My Si never got less than 25mpg from the first fill up on and now it is getting between 26.9 and 30 mpg (highway and city mix) It is very consistant and there has never been a major up or down decrease such as you describe.
Even after my first oil change the mileage stayed right on the nose and didn't increase or decrease. If it doesn't improve I would take it in and have them check it out. With 18.5 mpg you get the same gas mileage as my old 94 Grand Marquis with 135000 miles on it and it has a 4.6 V-8.
So something isn't right..

[misscaseyjean]

I'm hoping that things get better on their own, as from what I have read, the dealers don't offer much assistance! Do you know anything about the remote start? Do you think that has anything to do with my low gas mileage? I start it about three minutes before I go outside, but I wouldn't think that would cause my mpg to go that low, unless it uses a lot of gas to start it???

[Tom1222]

I don't think the remote start would have anything to do with it. I don't have it but I always go out in the garage and on very cold days start my car up to let it warm up for about 2 minutes with very little or no effect on overall mileage. Sure for those couple of minutes you aren't going anywhere but there isn't any load on the engine either so gas consumption is at a very minimum. Your gas mileage should actually improve and not decrease with every fill up. Are you sure you are calculating it correctly?
If you are check for any hoses that might have popped off which could cause a vacuum leak. Check your gas cap to make sure it is on tight. Check your Oil Level. I know it's a new car but you never know, maybe they didn't fill it all the way at the factory. Check your tire pressure and make sure it isn't low. Buy a bottle of Lucas fuel system cleaner and put it in your tank at the next fill up. If nothing else it will help with upper cylinder lubrication and keep your injectors clean.

If all that doesn't help than there is a problem that you can't solve on your own and I would take it to the dealer. It is under warranty and they can at least hook it up to see if it throws any codes. Not all codes will turn on the check engine light.

Good Luck and I hope your gas mileage improves. I think with 18mpg you get about the same gas mileage as the Hummer 3

[wing_gundam]

If its winter related driving than don't really worry about it. It can't be helped. For example - my car: Avg 550km-600km/tank on about 42-43L until Dec. Now I get 400km/tank on about 42L. It's nuts, seriously.

Another example, my bro's 4runner hybrid - also used to get like 600-650km/tank now gets 450/tank.

[undrgnd]

FWIW:
First tank right off the dealer showroom, 2007 EX auto.
Almost all highway, very rarely over 65 mph, with 1.5oz acetone added to the full tank. Temps below freezing every day:

42.4MPG

[Tom1222]

WOW, that is GREAT! Best I ever gotten from my Si is about 28mpg and that is a good Highway/City mix. Mostly City and Stop and Go my present mileage is about 24.3 mpg which is wintertime mostly below freezing temps.

[undrgnd]

Originally Posted by Tom1222

WOW, that is GREAT! Best I ever gotten from my Si is about 28mpg and that is a good Highway/City mix. Mostly City and Stop and Go my present mileage is about 24.3 mpg which is wintertime mostly below freezing temps.

Actually, that's not bad. I drove like an 80 yr old man for a week to get that, and didn't hit 20 red traffic lights the entire tank. However, I suspect I will be in the 50's by the time it's broken in, if I don't mind alienating every other driver in Maryland!

[wing_gundam]

Hah I bet you get honked or flashed a lot! jk.

Breaking in the engine at a constant speed for long periods of time isn't really recommended though.

[GMech]

I'm on my 2nd tank of gas since I got my car 10 days ago. The 1st tank lasted 390 km and I thought the engine ran pretty rough from the way it sounded. Right now the fuel gauge sits right at the half mark and already ran 262km. What grade are you people running yours on???

[wing_gundam]

regular for my sedan

[Robert J]

Your dealer should have explained a couple of things to you about posted MPG when you got the car.

1st: The specs that you are reading in the window are not real life driving test results, they are tested on a Dyno under perfect conditions. You will NEVER get the milage in the window, unless you are always going downhill with a tailwind and at a constant speed.

2: The break in period for the engine is really about 5-6,000 miles, and your mileage won't really get better untill you get through that first breakin oil that your dealer sent you out with. The dealer also (for good reason) won't change you oil earlier for you just so you can get better milage. This high tech engines need that full breaking in order to get pumping smoothly, which will result in better and better mileage.

3. Unless you are the ultimate "grandma" driver, you will never get close to the sticker numbers at any rate.

BUT: I gotta tell you - I drive my 06 Civic Hybrid like a bat-out-of-hell and the WORST milage I get is 30. That's about 5 times better than any of my other cars when I jump on them. soooooo I don't really care that I'm not getting the 50 mpg that was posted in my window sticker.

4. These engines were designed to work with the lower octane fuels. You dealer should have told you NOT to use higher octane fuel as it will actually shorten the life of your engine componant. Stick with REGULAR UNLEADED

My Hybrid is nearing 6,000 miles, and the log says that I've achieved a TOTAL of 34.8 MPG under all of the differnt driving conditions, with the thicker oil, and in the colder months of Nov. - Mar. I couldn't be happier.............. and I get my oil changed in a couple of weeks so it should go up from there now that we are in the warmer weather too.

[make_shift]

[quote=Robert J]Your dealer should have explained a couple of things to you about posted MPG when you got the car.



4. These engines were designed to work with the lower octane fuels. You dealer should have told you NOT to use higher octane fuel as it will actually shorten the life of your engine componant. Stick with REGULAR UNLEADED

talked with my dealer about this, short of the extra $ for it, it will do nothing in the way of harming the motor, that according to him is a fact? -- so I have been putting 91 in and it runs 'peppier' and the shifts are smoother from 2-3 and 3-4, fwiw...and I get about .5-1.0 L/100K better mileage, like now, it's 6.1-6.5L/100K (36MPG US)mixed driving, used to get 7.0-7.5L/100K with 87(32 MPG US) - as I say, it seems to drive much tighter and smoother with 91...:)

[Tom1222]

Usually there is very little gain if you use higher octane gas unless your car is tuned for it. Now you wont hurt your engine if you use 93 Octane in an 87 Octane tuned car. Actually experimenting sometimes helps in determining what works best for you. My Grand Cherokee with 4.7l V-8 runs actually better with 89 Octane gas than with 87 Octane gas from the same station. By better I mean there is about a 1.5 mpg increase in mileage. Which isn't bad in a car that has been getting about 12mpg city and about 15 mpg Highway. I then swapped to 91 Octane gas and there was no difference whatsoever. The Si only gets 93 Octane gas and it's been running great on Marathon Gas with STP additives. Filled it up today for $2.65 a Gallon for Premium. They sell it for the same price as Midgrade on Sundays and Wednesdays.