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Honda Pilot Real World MPG

1183 messages,  Last post on Jan 04, 2013 at 7:12 AM

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What is this discussion about? Honda Pilot, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), SUV

Messages Page 113 of 119

#1114 of 1183 horrible mpg by gby

Dec 24, 2011 (1:51 pm)

I had a 2008 acura mdx and loved it despite the bad gas mileage which was 12-15 in the city and 19-25.7 on the highway . Also, you had to use premium, But the power of the engine made the premium worth while. My wife and I decided to buy a touring honda pilot 4x4 and we thought the extra room and the 1 mpg would be the next move. And if all has proven correct I would do better than the mdx. Well, wrong .We have been getting 7.9 -12.5 in the city average with an extremely light foot on the accelerator and cars blowing the horn yelling move it or step on the gas ( nyc with very little traffic on weekends) and the best on the highway has been 22.2 coasting downhills (lol). Brought the truck in and did a bunch of tests and was told everything is fine and not to expect more then 11 mpg on average in new york city. We feel as we been ripped off . At least the acura mdx had a little muscle in its veins and handled like on rails which made it fun to drive and worth the gas mileage. Its just not exceptable to be put into this situation by honda and just except it thinking you've got one of the most fuel efficient suv's in its class. The kicker is the thinking that honda cares by having a cylinder cutoff to improve your mileage. The mdx had none of this ,only guts and much nicer looks and still got you better fuel economy.
 
 Unfortunately, the vehicle is 1 year old with 6,000 miles and as much as I would like to dump it I can't because money is hard to come by in these hard times. Only honda is laughing all the way to the bank.
 
Disgusted!!!!

#1115 of 1183 Re: horrible mpg [gby] by kipk

Dec 25, 2011 (5:21 am)

Replying to: gby (Dec 24, 2011 1:51 pm)
Yep, bad mileage can ruin a persons day for sure.
 
Go back a few dozen pages and you will see that some folks get reasonable mileage and others do not.
 
I've posted mileages that many folks just refuse to believe, but others have posted even better. I've been driving for over 50 years, so am familiar with correctly calculating fuel mileage at the pump. For instance, I consistantly get 10mpg on our old 78 Chevy G20 van. The AWD '09 Ridgeline consistantly gives 18-20 in the same type "LOCAL" driving. My wifes '03 CR-V resulted in 22 mpg and her '09 Rav-4 does 23 with her driving and 25 with me driving.
 
At 60 mph the Ridgeline consistantly delivers 25-28 MPG depending on terrain and driving conditions. At 70 it drops to 20 mpg if using the AC.
 
At 60 the wifes Rav4 delivers 35 mpg on a good day, and at 70 it drops to
30 if using the air. She gets 2-3 mpg less under similar conditions.
 
Here is an interesting experiment. In our '03 4WD Pilot with 4 People aboard we took a trip to Myrtle Beach SC from Atlanta. It was raining, the AC was on the whole time, and the speed was 10 mph over the posted speed limits, So that would be 80mph on the express way. Fuel mileage was 18+ mpg.
 
On the return trip, I ran the posted speed limit, and a maximum of 60 on the expressway. It was not raining and AC was used very little. 27 mpg!
 
I don't know what kind of speeds you run or how you are loaded . But the newer Pilots are a lot bigger than the earlier Pilots and MDX models.
 
You may already be aware of this. If you have Climate control the AC compressor runs constantly unless you turn off the AC button.
 
Chances are good that you don't want to hear about the ways to improve mileage, so I won't bother.
 
Good luck!
 
Kip

#1116 of 1183 Re: horrible mpg [kipk] by gby

Dec 25, 2011 (8:55 am)

Replying to: kipk (Dec 25, 2011 5:21 am)
I appreciate all of the knowledge you have given me , But I think that the real issues are with the posted mileage expectations on the sticker of the cars at the dealerships. Many people are led to believe that they will get these numbers and trust the agency that comes up with these results. Why don't they list real world mileage based on your city and let people know the hard truth of real world mileage. We own three vehicles , 2011 Pilot, a 2010 scion xb and a 2009 honda accord v6. My uncle has a 2011 toyota avalon which I drive in the same manner as all of my others cars and come up constantly with an average 20.1 in the city and 32.5 on the highway. The accord v6 gives me in the same conditions 16.5 mpg in the city and 26 on the highway. The accord has only 9750 miles on it tires inflated to 34 cold psi with no ac on and 1 driver. I rented a lexus suv in florida and achieved an average mpg of 26.5 mpg and drove it at 75 to 80 . This only leads me to believe that toyota has really worked on there technology and honda has not ,still offering things like 5 speed trannys instead of stepping up to the plate. Honda has been losing ground over the years .They seem to be living on there past reputation of reliability to long and must realize there are new sheriffs in town. By the way the scion gets us about 18 around town and a whopping 35 on the highway with a 4 speed auto tranny.
 
  The bottom line is the auto industry has to be more honest with mpg figures and not hipe mileage numbers under controlled conditions....
 
thanks again ....

#1117 of 1183 Re: horrible mpg [gby] by steve_ HOST

Dec 25, 2011 (9:35 am)

Replying to: gby (Dec 25, 2011 8:55 am)
The EPA lets people plug their own mpg numbers in at fueleconomy.gov so a potential owner could go there and compare notes (the EPA numbers are listed right next to real world numbers).
 
The numbers for a few vehicles I checked seem higher than the EPA ratings. Mabye that's one of those self-selecting factors and simply indicates that people who really care about their mpg also know how to drive economically?
 
And doesn't everyone carry a browser enabled smartphone or tablet with them now when they go to the dealer so they can crosscheck claims made on the Monroney sticker or those made by the salesperson?

#1118 of 1183 Re: horrible mpg [gby] by okani

Dec 25, 2011 (1:10 pm)

Replying to: gby (Dec 24, 2011 1:51 pm)
NYC again, I also live in NYC - mpg indicated by manufacturer never work in NYC Driving in NYC you won't get City MPG, take a look on fueleconomy dot gov what do they mean under City MPG, it is a different story - we have 10 times more stops & go's, my mechanic told me that he gets 8mpg in Brooklyn on his BMW 5series. You have to drive outside the city limits to see your cars real world MPG. Suburbs in NJ will give you City MPG and I-95 in Florida will get you Highway MPG. This is Brooklyn, Brooklyn - NY It takes 30 seconds for you to walk one block, now imagine your car driving that distance to stop on a red light and then go again + traffic. Go upstate, poconos, etc and see your mileage. I also blamed my car first, now I see what is it that makes my mpg horrible.

#1119 of 1183 Re: horrible mpg [okani] by kipk

Dec 26, 2011 (4:24 am)

Replying to: okani (Dec 25, 2011 1:10 pm)
Well said!
 
Here are/is a couple of other examples of what conditions can do to mileage.
 
A store we frequent is about 2 1/2 miles from the house. On a cold day the Pilot/Ridgeline get about 12-13 mpg going to the store. The return trip is more in the 18-19 mpg range.
 
Leaving work, instantly involves a steep long hill. At the top is a traffic light that seems to have it out for me. Generally speaking the gauge will show we got about 8 mpg for that first 1.5 miles. If required to sit there for the entire length of the light the gauge wil drop to around 6 mpg, before we get moving again. If I manage to catch the rest of the lights green the entire trip home will net around 17 mpg. If I catch all red lights, the mpg will be more in the 13-14 mpg range. If I don't have to stop for any of the lights, the mileage will be more like 18-19 mpg.
 
Point is, that the constant stop and go destroys mileage.
Kip

#1120 of 1183 Re: horrible mpg [kipk] by blaster8

Dec 26, 2011 (10:28 am)

Replying to: kipk (Dec 26, 2011 4:24 am)
I wish it were just the stop and go that killed the mpg. Even highway driving stinks. I found that the ONLY way to get decent mileage is to use the cruise control. If you have to use the brake for anything then you'll have to touch the accelerator and just touching it kills the mpg's.
I hate this car and will advise all who I know to beware of buying it before they take into account the terrible mpg's.
Good luck with yours.
Sincerely,
Jon
aka Can't Wait Until My Lease Is Up!

#1121 of 1183 80k Mileage Update by odie6l

Dec 28, 2011 (5:29 pm)

"The Beast" (2006 EX-OR) finally rolled 80k over Christmas weekend. I've been keeping a running log with each fill-up since I got him in July '06. I've been pretty much steady on mileage with him. Average Highway is 22MPG, and average City driving is 16MPG. The absolute worse mileage I have ever gotten with him was 9MPG and the best was 27MPG. In a mixed driving I have averaged 19-20MPG. I am looking come spring to putting him out to pasture and looking at something a little on the higher MPG range, but wanted to post an update on here.
 
Odie

#1122 of 1183 Re: 80k Mileage Update [odie6l] by okani

Dec 28, 2011 (7:37 pm)

Replying to: odie6l (Dec 28, 2011 5:29 pm)
What about steady driving? When I'm on Belt Pkwy from Brooklyn to Long Island - speed is never steady in any line, my speed varies from 40 to 70 mph during my 27 miles commute, but when I'm trying hard - I'm trying to average 55 mph, it is very hard because all of a sudden you notice that there is no one around you and cars from the back catch up with you in 3-5 mins, the is psychological effect of being with crowd - you drive in a same way everyone is driving just to stay with the crowd. Just try steady speed, ignore others and you'll see improvement but become one of those annoying drivers that don't drive fast and take THE ENTIRE LINE Now, I understand them - they're thrifty drivers who saves on gas unlike others. As for the City MPG - big cities are not those cities where that MPG was based on. NYC - is definitely a City described on your car's mpg indicator, neither any other big city, it is rather towns in suburbia. Keep that in mind as well. My mpg went 28% after I started driving steadily ignoring other drivers + driving under 60mph. Other techniques involve over-inflating your tires, once again summer timer - mpg is better than in a winter time (you can google for it to learn why), winds, hills, etc. Just remember one thing - the best car is the paid off car. Replacing car that will give you better mpg doesn't make sense to me as of know because annually i'm losing $600 versus newer car with better mpg (20-25% improvements) but I have to lose $12K to trade-in my car and buy a new one. That 12K brakes into 20 years with $600 a year loses. Doesn't cut as of now.

#1123 of 1183 Re: 80k Mileage Update [okani] by odie6l

Dec 28, 2011 (8:43 pm)

Replying to: okani (Dec 28, 2011 7:37 pm)
When I say 9mpg... there was no way any City was involved. I got my 9mpg on a drive in and around Rausch Creek and this is the only time I'm around the sub 13mpg range whenever we go up there. I grew up with driving around Philadelphia but now I'm out near Hershey / Harrisburg. Most of my drives involve moderate highways and alot of back windy twisty hilly roads.
 
Odie

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