suprised at MPG

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OtisBlkR1

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Those that have followed my threads about the Milan and The Honda know by now that my 2006 Silverado is tucked back into the garage and the 07 Accord is my new Daily Driver and My wifes driving the Milan.. With that said i want to talk MPG and my disapointment. When i was D.D. my truck 14MPG was a high average with 13 being normal in mixed conditions.. I was ever so excited to get my hands on this Accord thinking i would be averaging low 30's on the highway and probably 25-27MPG mixed driving... i was sorely mistaken.

Im on my 3rd tank of gas and doing my math.. This kinda stinks.. Im averaging 21.xx almost 22 MPG with 60-70% at 55mph highway and around 30% in town 30-45mph zones (just a few stops/lights with my regular daily drive to work..

Im truly disapointed, so i go check multiple sites tonight to find out what Estimated MPG is suppose to be on this car,Yep with the 6cyln and the auto transmission its.. 18 city/26 highway is what im reading. I had no idea the MPG were this rotten when i purchased this car for my wife back in 09. ive been babying the pedal staying under 3,000 almost always trying to maximize mpg.. there's no question in my post, im just venting.. I never woulda associated a honda with such poor miliage..

On the flip side this is a VERY sporty car.. to look at it (as i have for years) as my wifes daily driver, i never associated this car with being sporty. I was wrong. I took it out and drove it before that first fill up and she's got some real "gitty-up".. this car rails too, she can take a corner without much thought.. its a bit cheater car in my opinion.. youd never guess it was fast and could handle from a passing glance.. of course im never going to drive it hard. Its my new daily driver (for now).

I like it but honestly dont need it. I may have to consider trading it in on a 4 cyln. im going to ponder this.
 
There's something wrong with your car or your driving.

We've averaged 20-22 for "around town" driving and routinely get 32-34 on highway trips. My personal best was three back-to-back tanks of 37 mpg several years ago.

Ours is a 2003 V6 for what it's worth. If you'd like I can send you a link to my fuel tracking.

They were rated 22/30 originally. Personally I don't put much weight in the EPA and their "retroactive" grading system for mileage, but that's another topic.
 
I do between 30-34 mpg on my V6(3.5 J35) Accord at 65-70mph, but thats 90% highway. Its also very dependent on how I drive having an Ultraguage connected to obd port has changed my driving style for the dramatically for the better. I get low to mid 20's around town.
 
Originally Posted By: cchase
There's something wrong with your car or your driving.

We've averaged 20-22 for "around town" driving and routinely get 32-34 on highway trips. My personal best was three back-to-back tanks of 37 mpg several years ago.

Ours is a 2003 V6 for what it's worth. If you'd like I can send you a link to my fuel tracking.

They were rated 22/30 originally. Personally I don't put much weight in the EPA and their "retroactive" grading system for mileage, but that's another topic.


I cant imagine what ? multiple sites state this car is suppose to be getting 18 city 26 highway with 21 mixed. and with my mild driving habbits im getting close to 22 mixed (letting the car warm up a bit, it is winter)

Ive found nothing online stating this car should be getting anything better than 26 mpg.

Its the 3.0 6 cyln with auto transmission (think its a 5 speed) and 17 factory rims with what i call "low profile" tires.. they seem pretty sporty to me.

My driving.. trust me, i keep my foot out of it trying to keep my shifts below 3,000 and i run 60mph or less in the 55mph zones.. i pretty much never run more than 5mph over. there may be 6 lights and 3 stop signs on my route to work, approximately 5 miles on a 55mph strip and 4 miles in town (ish) that has 30-45 mph zones..

The car to my knowledge runs completely normall.. the only oddity that ive observed since i started driving in a few weeks ago is in the Idle, the RPM guage does not move at all while idling but you can feel the motor, well what i would call "loping" its been like that forever. years, maybee i should ask Honda about that.

this car is not a hybrid fyi.. or a flexfuel..
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: cchase
We've averaged 20-22 for "around town" driving and routinely get 32-34 on highway trips. My personal best was three back-to-back tanks of 37 mpg several years ago.



your numbers lighn up almost perfect with the 07 2.4ltr engines estimated MPG.

what im getting lines up almost perfectly with what they say im suppose to be getting..

I dont think anythings wrong with this car, i just think its a gas guzzler of a Accord.. just like the review says "disapointing gas miliage" its still leaps better than driving my truck daily.. but as i mentioned before.. i may consider trading in for a 4 cyl.
 
The window sticker for our 2003 3.0L V6 with 5-speed automatic transmission was 21/30. At some point, (2008 maybe?) the EPA changed their testing protocols. They then created some kind of formula to retroactively come up with numbers for cars that were graded under the "old" system that are supposed to replicate the "new" system. The trouble there is the numbers are ridiculous in some cases. Here's the page you can bring up to compare the "old" and "new". http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorCompareSideBySidePopUp.jsp?column=1&id=18657

I still think there's something up with your car, if it isn't driving habits.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/honda/accord/2003/gas v6 Another place to browse around to look at what various people are getting. People with many fill-ups tend to show the best trending, and often they spend more time filling out the city/highway comparison.

I suppose it is what it is, I'm just sharing personal experience, the window sticker EPA fuel economy, and what I've observed on fuelly.
 
When you drive in stop and go traffic, pay attention to what your speed is each time you first touch the brake, weather it be breaking for a full stop, or just to slow to prevent you from getting too close to the vehicle in front of you.

If you are going fast when you first touch the brake you are going to convert a lot of energy that you spent getting the vehicle moving into brake heat.

If you are going slow when you first touch the brake you will be converting less of that energy into brake heat.

And the energy is a function of velocity squared.

As an example, if vehicle A is going 40 MPH when it brakes for a red light, and vehicle B is going 20 MPH when it brakes for a red light, vehicle A will be converting 4 times the amount of energy into brake heat.

And besides going down a hill, that energy comes from fuel burned to get the vehicle moving.

So one of the questions to ask your self each time you touch the brake is could you have been going slower when you first touch that brake.

Often if you leave a longer following distance, you can see that the intersection ahead is going to require slowing down, and you can get off the gas far enough from the intersection to be going slower when you first use the brake.

It is kind of a test of your Zen (or patience).

Drive it like you stole it, or like you got to get there five minutes ago, and you can kill your gas millage.

Turn on the easy listing channel, and go for maximum following distance and minimum speed when you first touch the brake, and you MPG's should go up unless there is something really wrong with the vehicle.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: cchase
The window sticker for our 2003 3.0L V6 with 5-speed automatic transmission was 21/30. At some point, (2008 maybe?) the EPA changed their testing protocols. They then created some kind of formula to retroactively come up with numbers for cars that were graded under the "old" system that are supposed to replicate the "new" system. The trouble there is the numbers are ridiculous in some cases. Here's the page you can bring up to compare the "old" and "new". http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorCompareSideBySidePopUp.jsp?column=1&id=18657

I still think there's something up with your car, if it isn't driving habits.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/honda/accord/2003/gas v6 Another place to browse around to look at what various people are getting. People with many fill-ups tend to show the best trending, and often they spend more time filling out the city/highway comparison.

I suppose it is what it is, I'm just sharing personal experience, the window sticker EPA fuel economy, and what I've observed on fuelly.


No, i deffinately appreciate your opinion.. did i mention this things got 250HP ? its one very meaty 6 banger.. I know i read somewhere about them stepping up the performace on the Honda 6 cyln.. and it being in regards to the model year ive got.. may need to do some digging..

(for fun) i will say this, my last fast car was a 94 Mustage GT 5.0 5 sp I also had a ZEX nitrouse tank it the back spraying around 75HP.. but im getting off topic, honest to god id give this Honda and my last mustang fairly even odds on a dragrace.. (without using the bottle) mustang had a little muscle but the accord is lighter and the steering is deffinately tighter in the Accord.. Bone stock on a autocross track id lean towards the accord (just my off the hip opinion) after owning both..

I think this cars fine,im just going to have to keep my foot out of it if i plan to keep it.
 
Originally Posted By: yesthatsteve
Does that model year have the same EGR port problems that earlier Honda V6 engines have? If so, look at cleaning that port.


I dunno, but now that you mention it im going to have a closer look at it.
 
That sounds about right for a V6? I don't think being a Honda magically makes get better gas mileage.

For what it's worth, that's what I get in my car which is not a Honda. I might be able to do 24-25 mpg with mostly highway if I kept the speed at or below 70. But I'm sure tired emissions parts doesn't help the cause. Driving back and forth to and from school 2 miles each way with a lot of sitting in traffic gets me around 16 mpg with 93 octane.
 
The 03-07 Accord V6 are around 250hp on 93 octane, and the 6-speed manual around almost 260hp. They are underrated as the Accord was tested on 87 octane with the Automatic version. The 6-speeds got a different intake manifold and some other tweaks.

Stock, with the non-sporty Michellin Primacy tires they do a 5.9 0-60. With my autocross tires, some bolt-ons, and a driver mod
smile.gif
probably at mid-5s for 0-60. I got my quartermile down to 13.9s hehe

Onto topic, here is my MPGs http://www.fuelly.com/driver/randomhero/accord
 
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
Im truly disapointed, so i go check multiple sites tonight to find out what Estimated MPG is suppose to be on this car,Yep with the 6cyln and the auto transmission its.. 18 city/26 highway is what im reading.

Don't feel bad. It's about par for the course. My 530i is rated 18/27, and it's a manual and it does not have 250 hp. Our C300 is rated at 18/25, but that one has AWD which kills fuel economy.

Still, with majority of low speed hwy driving, you should be getting closer to the 26 MPG figure.
 
I'm sure OP knows how to drive. Most of my ever rotating fleet gets within 5% of EPA highway, driving on back country roads. If a car is wildly off the EPA estimate, it's not my driving habits, and something is up.

IMO the manufacturers are getting better at optimizing for (cheating) the test and getting good ratings that they can then advertise. Read about the Equinox 32 MPG drama for example.

Maybe since OP's car was used there's just something up? Something that caused its original owner to sell it? I had a buick century 3.1 that delivered dreadful mileage (24.5 MPG) no matter what. My WAG is something falsely triggered the knock sensor a lot and it pulled timing and efficiency. This car got the same mileage in my hands as a huge, heavy silhouette minivan with a 3.4 engine from the same engine family and similar transmission, albeit different final drive.
 
Honda has been putting a lot of complex logic into their ECU, sometimes the high octane helps the mpg. Maybe a combustion cleaner like SI-1 can be a solution too.
 
I rent mid/full sized cars every week. From Malibu's to Camry's to Corolla's to Fusion's to Altima's.

There is one constant, regardless of engine size or "stated" MPG. They all get 24MPG with me driving, in real world conditions.

There are a few notable exceptions. The Prius and Camry Hybrids. And a Volvo S60 (that I hypermiled) .

The only difference I see is that some cars respond to hypermiling better than others.
 
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