2005 Honda Civic LX gas mileage

Ah, but I wasn't attempting to do anything more than a back of the envelope
calculation. You're being a jack.

This is fact that you

Oh get all upset. I don't save such tasteless crap, sent in frustration by
someone who can't defend his position. Others can believe me or not.

You're pathological.

 

OK. Back to the gas mileage problem I'm having. Here is the list of mpg
for each fillup by date.

9/13 - 38.7
9/17 - 36.6
9/23 - 39.3
9/25 - 37.1
10/1 - 34.7
10/5 - 35.5
10/8 - 33.0
10/14 - 35.2
10/18 - 33.3
10/23 - 34.0
10/31 - 32.2
11/07 - 31.5

3,600 total miles

My driving is mostly highway, 60 mph, slow starts and stops.etc. The
mpg should be higher.

 

Do you live north or south in the U.S.? Did you check your tire pressure?

 

This may have been mentioned already, but if the weather has been getting
increasingly cooler where you are, that will decrease your mileage. Also,
once it is broken in (after about 5000 miles), your mileage should improve,
although likely not until next spring if you are in a winter climate.

 

im not seeing a problem, especially if its got an A/T. youre getting an
average 35mpg... what kind of mileage are you expecting? a solid 40mpg,
regardless? on an engine that isnt broken in? in the middle of fall,
going into winter?

take it back to the dealer, and thats what theyre going to tell you.
then when you leave, theyre going to laugh at you.

 

I also wonder about the fill up method. I buy most of my gas at one
station, but sometimes I have to use a different pump. Some cut off earlier
than others and it can be half gallon to 1 1/2 gallons too soon. I always
go past the first and second automatic cut offs, slowly.

 

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Why would you do that? Your new car came with an owner's manual that
says you shouldn't. If you want the best results, you need to follow the
Maker's instructions.

'Curly'

 

Different pump cutoffs would balance out over time.
If you clicked off a gallon too soon, the mileage would show too high for
that tank, but the next tank, when you replaced that missing gallon, would
be much lower. Those two would average out.

Instead of tracking just the mileage on a tank, track the gallons put in
for each fill. Over a period of time, you can look at the mileage across
multiple fillups, making the automatic cutoff immaterial.

You could put in one gallon, or "five dollars worth" on each visit, and
over time, you could still get an accurate mpg rating.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/Honda_Mileage.htm

 

First of all, it's NOT a new car, it's not even a Honda. However I've owned
3 Honda, among other cars. I've filled them up all the same way, other wise
you cannot get an accurate mileage calculation.

The Maker's instructions are for maker's benefit, not necessarily for the
consumers. For what it's worth, I never spill a drop.

Tell me, Curly, why did you send me private email to bitch at me? If you
want to lecture me, do it in the group. Then I can respond in a manner that
won't make me look some sort of wild man when I tell you to go teach your
grandma to suck eggs.

I'll be 65 by the end of the month and I don't need lectures from someone
who calls himself "Curly Q. Links" and is probably 1/3rd my age or less.

 

I threw your data into Excel.
It works out to an average 35 mpg, 65 miles/day.
Roughly, the greater the number of days between fillups, the worse your
mileage. You don't tell us how many gallons each fillup was, so it's
difficult to infer this, but periods when you go longer between fillups
may indicate less highway driving (and less miles), therefore more
short, low-mileage trips.
Your two lowest mileage days were both Mondays; unless you work
weekends, your weekend driving may be affecting your overall mileage.

--Gene

 

----------------------
My gas station gives me a receipt with the VOLUME of fuel printed right
on it. I can fill my tank half-full and be way more accurate than
somebody who goes by 'tankfull' divided by mileage. Tankfull isn't a
measurement of any credibility. ie: my cousin got a big dent in his
'tank' now his gas mileage is crappy.
---------------------

-------------------
I didn't say you spilled anything, but Honda says you can mess up the
EGR system by filling the canister full of liquid fuel. Aside from that
you're breaking some FIRE CODE rules, and you could spill a lot of fuel
down the municipal sewers or parkade on a hot day. That's why
manufacturers are required to tell you not to overfill. ++++++++++ Any
firefighters like to help with this point ???
-------------------

 

Good job, Gene. It would be interesting to see the number of miles related
to each fill up. I've kept an Excel spreadsheet on my last 3 cars,
including 2 Hondas. I don't believe in the "evening out" theory from the
two anal retentive OCD victims.

 

you know that gas has a seasonal fluctuation of calorific value don't
you? this translates to lower mpg's as calorific value drops for the
winter. add to that the fact that the current ethanol formulations
reduce calorific value still further and suddenly you think the car's
not working right. reality is, the gasoline market's not working right.

 

Intake 'whoosh'? I had the exact opposite experience, couple decades ago,
when I used to work as a gas attendant. I went to open the gas cap, the
owner of the vehicle is standing right beside me. As soon as I open the
tank, the remaining fuel burst's out and totally drenches me in gas. The
owner smirks, and says, "oops, I should have warned you about that".

Pars

 

There should be some that are below reality, and some that are above
reality. Eventually, the average of the miscalculated averages should be
close to true.

If you divide the number of miles by the number of gallons that you put in,
and that number of gallons is low, because the pump clicked off too early,
then the mpg that you think you got that time should be higher than it
really is.

Occasionally, you can fill the tank the rest of the way, and get a low
calculation, but I don't know how you would consistently get a low
calculation, and never get a high calculation.

If someone is measuring "miles between fillups", where the gallons used on
those fillups isn't observed, or "days between fillups", then there is very
little connection with reality.



Tracking the number of gallons that you put in each time, whether a
"fillup" or not, and tracking the mileage, should give correct results.

 

yup... you want LOW mileage? try going from LA to laughlin over the
mountain passes in a 1.6l civic CX 5spd with the A/C cranked. i was in
2rd and floored going up most of the hills, and hitting 100 on the flats
in 4th/5th, but only when someone was in front to "lead the way"

that got me an all time record breaking low 24mpg.

 

My all time low was also around 24mpg. Going flat-out from Montreal to
Boston along the i93. I did about 450km before having to gas up, doing
160km/hr up the hills/mountains and about 190km/hr on the straight or
downhill. When going up, it was common for the Pick-ups to hog the left
lane, so I had to pass them on the right (In 3rd gear and since we were both
doing about 160km/hr, they were also probably going flat-out).

I made it to Boston from Montreal in less then 3hrs. It was thee nicest
drive I've ever had, since it was in October and the leaves were turning and
there was next to no traffic (until I got into Boston...what nightmare).

Pars
98 Civic Hatch

 

OK. It's been a while since I lasted posted to this thread. I think I
may have found something but, it does'nt make any sense.

I last reported on 11/7 that I drove 307 miles on 9.7 gallons = 31.5
mpg. I noticed that the tank was very full - a tiny bit of gas spilled
out. I guess you would say I topped it off, which everyone says you
should not do. Then, I fill up the car on 11/14, 480 miles and 11
gallons = 43.6 mpg. This time I did not top it off.

On 11/21, 395 miles it stopped filling at 11.7 gallons so, I decided to
top it off but what happened next was very strange. It did not click
again till about 12.5 gallons. I thought this was strange as it
normally clicks off after 1/10th of a gallon added. I turned on the gas
pump again and it went up to 13.7 or 14.? or something - sorry I
didn't mark it down. The manual says 13.2 gallons is the tank capacity
so when I went over it I thought something was strange about this gas
pump.

Today, 12/1, 496 miles on 11 gallons. Thinking back to my last fill up,
I thought I would top it off and it did what it's supposed to do, click
off at each 1/10th of a gallon. I kept adding gas, I had to start and
stop at each 1/10th of a gallon added, and go it up to 12 gallons. No
gas came out so, I probably could have topped off more but, I stopped.
496 miles at 12 gallons is 41.3 miles to the gallon.

Your probably thinking I must have been doing more highway driving when
I get the better gas mileage but I'm not. I drive about 15 (13 highway,
2 city) miles each way to work each day. If I need to go to the grocery
store or department store, they are only a mile away. On Friday and
Monday each week I drive 25 miles each way, mostly highway, to pick up
and drop off my children at school (they live with me each weekend). My
house is only a mile from any highway entrance. So, as you can see, I
drive mostly highway each week.

I'm going to keep topping off my tank, checking for when it first
clicked off and how much extra gas I pumped in before I stopped, and of
course the gas mileage.

Roland