fuel consumption on a 2000 Civic

Reading all of these posts about fuel consumption has me wondering about
mine. I calculate my consumption on Km/L. It seems the easiest here in
Canada. You fill up, check your tripometer, divide it by the Liters on
the pump and bingo, you've got your mileage.

I was only averaging about 12.25 a couple of months ago and then took it
in for a tuneup. Since then I'm in the 13.25 range. I do mostly highway
and tried keeping the speed down to about 110 Km/Hr, thinking that might
help, but I was surprised to find that it didn't seem to make much
difference. I'm now wondering what the best speed to cruise at on the
highway is.

My vehicle is a four cylinder civic, automatic with a/c if that helps.

tia

Peter H

 

= about 68 mph

That's a great question. I too have wondered whether in fact speeds quite a bit
lower than the legal highway speed are actually the most efficient for my 1991
Honda Civic, 1.5 liter (non-VTEC), manual transmission, no A/C

I suspect the optimal speed for my Honda is somewhere between 35 mph and 55 mph.
(Sorry, can't narrow it down much more.) This is based on my mileage for long
highway trips where I drive pretty much a steady 65-70 mph or so and the mileage
I get, vs. driving a lot at 40 mph on back country (but well-paved) roads where
I live.

Conversion: 35 to 55 mph = 56 to 89 km/hr

I get over 40 miles/gallon nine months of the year, but I don't feel like doing
the conversions.

 

Caroline wrote:

| I get over 40 miles/gallon nine months of the year, but I don't feel
| like doing the conversions.

Google is your friend:
http://www.google.com/search?q=40mpg%3D%3Fkpl

(similarly, for the Peter H,

| I was only averaging about 12.25 a couple of months ago and then took it
| in for a tuneup. Since then I'm in the 13.25 range. I do mostly highway

http://www.google.com/search?q=12.25kpl%3D%3Fmpg
http://www.google.com/search?q=13.25kpl%3D%3Fmpg

)

Note that this is US gallons. A good way to compare US/Canadian fuel
mileages/"kilometerages"