Honda Odyssey Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

'05 Odyssey poor gas mileage issue

Jump to Latest
1 - 20 of 38 Posts
M

Merickson

· Registered
Joined
·
2 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I bought an "05 Odyssey last October with the EX package. It has the "ECO" feature 5 speed automatic and is rated for 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway. After 10,000 miles (almost all highway) the best mpg I have gotten was 22 mpg. I have had the vehicle checked by the dealer and everything is working correctly. However, one of the service personel recommended that I record the gas mileage and stated that I was not the only one with this problem.

Since the "ECO" feature is new and there was no track record with it, does anyone know of more current data regarding gas mileage ratings? Also, is Honda addressing this issue in anyway?My family loves the van, but we bought it over the Toyota because of the supposed mpg and are very unhappy with our results to date.
 
#4 ·
Dear Merickson,

The first thread listed under the '05 Ody forum talks about putting your gas mileage into this tool. If you open that thread, you can go to the third post and click on the spreadsheet that has been made so you can see how you are doing compared to everyone else. There have been people on this site who said that their dealer (or service dept.) stated that the gas mileage doesn't get better until 10K or 15K miles. I only have about 2700 miles on mine, but I'm getting about 16 mpg in the city and 23-24 mpg on the highway without the ECO engine. (My mileage is estimated at 19/25 according to the EPA.)

Best of luck to you.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Thank you for the note and I am aware of the link for recording gas mileage at http://65.27.2.141/submission_form.asp. However, am really looking for more specific information as to if anything is being done to address this issue by Honda.

Regarding the EX vs. EX-L reply, mine is the EX-L. The "ECO" or Variable Cylinder Management is only on the EX-L or Touring models and that is why Honda claims the mileage will be 20/28. This was a new feature that came out w/ the '05 models and as such has no real track record to date.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I could post too about my 11.4mpg Odyssey but I decided to sell it for a Bonneville that I am sure will get much better mileage. I was very disappointed with the fuel mileage our van got.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#8 ·
Merickson,

I haven't heard of anything being done by Honda on this issue. I've heard of people complaining of bad gas mileage and being laughed at by their service departments...that's about it. Part of the reason the gas mileage thread is being kept is so that people at Honda who are paying attention can see it and hopefully do something about the gas mileage problems.

I sure hope your mileage improves. Good luck to you.
 
#9 ·
There's also a couple of interesting posts regarding MPG test data from Consumer Reports. Basically it indicates that the MPG they experienced almost across the board for all vehicles were that:

City driving - actual fuel economy is MUCH WORSE than EPA estimate.

Highway driving - actual fuel economy is equal or slightly better than EPA estimate.

There are a lot of theories for why some vans are coming in lower than expected. (Storm, where are ya man?) Could be transmission glitches, touchy electronic throttle, or we're all overestimating how level the road is/how little AC we're using/etc.

I'm in the "touchy electronic throttle" camp. Driving the same level (known to be level because it runs alongside a river for several miles) road with or without cruise control the ECO light is a lot less steady when I'm holding speed manually. Also it's easy to forget that with the climate control on "Auto" your AC is running constantly, which will also suffer fuel economy.

Also, bear in mind that EPA ratings may not consider a fully-loaded vehicle. Probably some nominal load that's going to be less than what most of us are driving around with. (after all, if we hardly drove around with any cargo, we'd be driving tiny sedans)

--> Andy
 
#10 ·
I wouldn't expect much from the ECO feature as the EPA is only 1 mpg more than my 04. You sure won't be able to measure this in real world driving. The Odyssey is a heavy vehickle with a large engine and that computes to low mpg in start/stop and hilly driving. It takes a lot of gas to get it moving and lift it up steep hills. I just made a 3000 mile run through Florida and back to NE Ohio. I checked mpg in all the different terrains running just about all 75mph interstates. It got 21 through the mountains of W.Va. and NC. Through the flatter areas of SC and GA it ran about 24 and got 27 on the flatlands of Florida. My wife gets 19 driving around here which is mostly 35 mph and more of a rural type community. If I was driving in the city I would probably take Cabs as it would be cheaper.......
 
#11 ·
There are so many variables with fuel mileage that it would be tough to prove that something is wrong with the vehicle. We only have about 2500 on ours and have ranged from 21 to 26 on highway. If a driver,"like me" likes the feel of the peppy V6 be prepared for the low mileage. It seems that using cruise control helps on the open road. We live in a pretty flat area so that probably helps our numbers a bit.
 
#13 ·
I wonder how the EPA's estimates are more accurate for the gen2 Ody that the Gen3 one.

I would like to know exactly how the EPA got its 28mpg(down hill with a strong tailwind).

I know part of the reason everyone is not getting good economy is because there driving too fast.
Maybe the EPA uses old men from the VFW hall to test drive. :)
 
#14 ·
IIRC, Consumer Reports got a city of 12-13mpg and a highway of 30 mpg with an EX. I can't remember for sure, and there's too many different fuel economy threads to figure out where I posted to before. :D

--> Andy
 
#15 ·
ledebuhr1 said:
I wonder how the EPA's estimates are more accurate for the gen2 Ody that the Gen3 one.

I would like to know exactly how the EPA got its 28mpg(down hill with a strong tailwind).

I know part of the reason everyone is not getting good economy is because there driving too fast.
Maybe the EPA uses old men from the VFW hall to test drive. :)
Click to expand...
Actually, Gen 2, especially the latter half (02-04) is notorious for sh*tty milage. It's not surprising that the 05 is below EPA estimates. It's a well know EPA test, and I think the manufacturers have gotten good at taking the test.

It's like the bumper test a few years back. They first tested against walls, so the bumpers were designed to be good against a wall, but performed poorly on the pole test. Then when the manufacturers knew that the pole would hit the middle of the bumper, the reinforced the middle of the bumper only. It was only after the test were done in offset crashes that these "fixes" were really exposed.

All the new cars "learn" your driving style. It would be interesting to see how the settings for the vans that were used in the EPA test would perform. I expect they would feel sluggish compared to your Ody.

I think years ago, EPA was an average, so you could expect to do a little better or worse. Now I think EPA means the MAXIMUM milage you would ever attain driving under the best of conditions.
 
#16 ·
Merickson said:
I bought an "05 Odyssey last October with the EX package. It has the "ECO" feature 5 speed automatic and is rated for 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway. After 10,000 miles (almost all highway) the best mpg I have gotten was 22 mpg. I have had the vehicle checked by the dealer and everything is working correctly. However, one of the service personel recommended that I record the gas mileage and stated that I was not the only one with this problem.

Since the "ECO" feature is new and there was no track record with it, does anyone know of more current data regarding gas mileage ratings? Also, is Honda addressing this issue in anyway?My family loves the van, but we bought it over the Toyota because of the supposed mpg and are very unhappy with our results to date.
Click to expand...
Some facts on fuel consumption:

1. The EPA figures are accurate if you drive the same way as the test. The test has VERY specific sequence of events, including start-up, idling, acceleration rates, braking rates. It's also run with the A/C OFF. Running A/C, running over 60 MPH, accelerating harder than EPA standards, starting with engine temps lower than the standards, etc will all result in increased consumption. Look at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml for details of the test procedures. An abbreviated quote is:
>>>
City: Represents urban driving, in which a vehicle is started with the engine cold and driven in stop-and-go rush hour traffic. The driving cycle for the test includes idling, and the vehicle averages about 20 mph.

Highway: Represents a mixture of rural and Interstate highway driving with a warmed-up engine, typical of longer trips in free-flowing traffic. Average test speed is about 48 mph and includes no intermediate stops or idling.
<<<<
2. The EPA highway program has a relatively low peak speed, much less than the typical suburban/inter-city speeds experienced. According to the chart, they have max speed between 55 and 60 MPH in their ‘highway’ test. There have been talks about increasing that (by increasing load on the rollers to reflect the higher loads from air drag), but so far it’s just been talk.
3. We're driving bricks. Streamlined somewhat, but there is BIG frontal area in the van form factor. Also, the Cx is nothing to write home about. This will make air drag a BIG issue that becomes HUGE with increasing speed. You’ll lose a higher percentage of fuel economy with increase in speed in a van than in a typical car due to the ratio of air drag to road drag.
4. VCM will be deactivating the rear cylinders only at light engine loads. If you're driving in hilly terrain at 70+ MPH, it won’t be active much, if at all. Coupled with A/C use with defrost, or having the A/C left in ‘full auto’ will contribute to it being less active.
5. A number of areas US are using "oxygenated" fuels, the use of which results in increased consumption. The ECU is programmed to keep a specific O2 level in the exhaust gases; oxygenated fuel gets the ECU to run more fuel through the injectors.
 
#17 ·
Merickson, how many miles on the 05? What kind of mileage do you get around town? Tires properly inflated? Many of us feel that trying to be too gentle with acceleration can actually result in worse mileage. These vans are big and heavy. 22 MPG sounds pretty good to me. No one ever gets the top rated mileage because we all drive in the real world and have to keep up with traffic. The EPA drives 55MPH on these hwy tests. When was the last time you went 55?
 
#18 ·
Re: Re: '05 Odyssey poor gas mileage issue

dgipalo said:
Some facts on fuel consumption:

1. The EPA figures are accurate if you drive the same way as the test. The test has VERY specific sequence of events, including start-up, idling, acceleration rates, braking rates. It's also run with the A/C OFF. Running A/C, running over 60 MPH, accelerating harder than EPA standards, starting with engine temps lower than the standards, etc will all result in increased consumption. Look at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml for details of the test procedures. An abbreviated quote is:
>>>
City: Represents urban driving, in which a vehicle is started with the engine cold and driven in stop-and-go rush hour traffic. The driving cycle for the test includes idling, and the vehicle averages about 20 mph.

Highway: Represents a mixture of rural and Interstate highway driving with a warmed-up engine, typical of longer trips in free-flowing traffic. Average test speed is about 48 mph and includes no intermediate stops or idling.
<<<<
2. The EPA highway program has a relatively low peak speed, much less than the typical suburban/inter-city speeds experienced. According to the chart, they have max speed between 55 and 60 MPH in their ‘highway’ test. There have been talks about increasing that (by increasing load on the rollers to reflect the higher loads from air drag), but so far it’s just been talk.
3. We're driving bricks. Streamlined somewhat, but there is BIG frontal area in the van form factor. Also, the Cx is nothing to write home about. This will make air drag a BIG issue that becomes HUGE with increasing speed. You’ll lose a higher percentage of fuel economy with increase in speed in a van than in a typical car due to the ratio of air drag to road drag.
4. VCM will be deactivating the rear cylinders only at light engine loads. If you're driving in hilly terrain at 70+ MPH, it won’t be active much, if at all. Coupled with A/C use with defrost, or having the A/C left in ‘full auto’ will contribute to it being less active.
5. A number of areas US are using "oxygenated" fuels, the use of which results in increased consumption. The ECU is programmed to keep a specific O2 level in the exhaust gases; oxygenated fuel gets the ECU to run more fuel through the injectors.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I mean by the manufacturers are good at doing the test and maximizing the numbers for the test, not for real life situations (despite what the EPA says the test is supposed to simulate).

Number 5 is particularly interesting since I assume most states that oxygenate fuel are doing it to reduce polution. BUT I just don't get how burning more fuel (if that is the result) would lead to less polution. Seems like the opposite would happen, and you wind up burning more polluting gasses.
 
#19 ·
It's because alcohol packs less energy per gallon than gasoline. When you replace a portion of gas with alcohol, you lose mpg. But the alcohol makes the gasoline burn cleaner.

--> Andy
 
#20 ·
In all of the years I have been driving..many new cars..some used, I have never had a car that did not get or exceed what the window sticker said it would produce.

Until October of 03.....:mad:

And....9mpg??????????? That is sick..We parked next to a hummer at church the other day.....All I could do was laugh...knowing that guy was getting better mpg than I:stupid:
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
1 - 20 of 38 Posts
About this Discussion
37 Replies
20 Participants
Last post:
MysticalGoldOdy
Honda Odyssey Forum
posts
1.1M
members
432K
Since
2000
Odyclub community is the #1 forum to discuss all things Honda Odyssey: minivans, safety, service maintenance, mods, and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
2005 - 2010 Odyssey 2011 - 2017 Odyssey 1999 - 2004 Odyssey 2018+ Odyssey Problems and Concerns