accord v6 fuel mileage

I started a post a few months about the 2001 v6 mileage...not sure if this
is a re:to the same post.I was getting 15.5 miles per gallon in the
city,during the winter.Since then that has increased to exactly what you
said...18 mpg's.A little better,but would be nice if it were in the 20's of
course.I read in the pamphlet that you should get 21mpg.I am referring to
the "pretty"large fold out flyer you get at the dealers.
On the highway I get close to 31 mpg.

 

31 highway winter or summer? snow tires/chains? Based on this mileage
it looks like your car is in good shape and running well.

I have a 2005 Accord v6. I tend to get an average of about 24-27
in mixed city/highway driving (probably more highway miles). I have
the nav unit and it has a page that shows the instantaneous mpg.
On a level highway at constant speed I often see 35-45 mpg at 60-75
mph. In the city I see 0 when stopped; to 10-15 when accelerating.
I'm fairly gentle on the pedal and try to coast (at least not
accelerate) when approaching red lights.

15 seems a bit low for city but it could be reasonable depending
on rolling resistance (snow / slush) and how aggressively you
accelerate. They designed the engine to accelerate the car fairly
aggressively if one steps firmly on the pedal. Of course the
engine consumes lots of gas to do this.

You could try taking a test drive in a nav equipped accord and look
at the instantaneous mpg page.

 

that 31 is highway,in the summer.
the 15 city during winter is what scares me.Oh well,gotta pay for comfort I
guess.

 

The winter problem is even more of an issue with cars that get much better
economy normally. My wife's car is a '02 Prius (hybrid) and she gets 50 mpg
around town in three seasons and low/mid forties in the winter. It has a
real-time mpg display, and I decided to see what would happen if we turned
the heater up full and opened the windows in town one winter day. I was
amazed to see the 5 minute average drop to 25 mpg! I guess the heat has to
come from burning fuel one way or another.

Mike

 

The winter problem is even more of an issue with cars that get much

I would be very surprised if the engine comsumed more or less fuel
based on the amount of heat being directed to the passenger compartment.
There is so much excess heat being produced all the time.

Has anyone else noticed this?

The only way I can imagine an increase in fuel comsumption due to
heating the cabin is if the engine got so cold it went into "enrichen
the mixture" (equiv to choke) mode. In that case you would feel very
little heat from the vents because the engine was so cold.

(wild speculation) It also could be possible that fan motor used more
power, but 5 mpg?

 

I was always curious as to why they advertise mileage in "highway and city
driving"and not "winter and summer."

 

I don't actually know, but I'm not sure that is true any more. (It isn't for
the Toyota hybrid system, which restarts the engine based on system
temperatures.) I suspect engine downsizing and increases in efficiency have
meant less waste heat. Cold mpg has always been the pits, even in the old
days, and maybe excessive heater use cools the engine enough to impact fuel
economy. That's pure speculation on my part, though.

Mike