[banswee]

1. OHIO to PA;
speed on highway was 73MPH (with cruise control)
gas fill-up thru BP with NO ADDITIVE
= got an average of 28.9


2. PA to OHIO
speed on highway was 75MPH (with cruise control)
gas fill-up thru (I believe) giant but with 10% ethanol-- only available in the area
= got an average of 26.1 :huh:

the drive was like 7-7 1/2 hrs.

do you guys/moms have experienced a drop in MPG with the same load, driving style, etc?

thanks

 

[moxie]

Which way was the wind blowing and at what speed? The 10% Ethanol blend was part of the difference. The higher speed is part of the difference. Based on what you wrote, things were not the same.

 

[f2000sa]

Contrary to common sense, it looks like you can get high mileage with higher speed (around 75 mph, instead of 60MPH). Anyone has similar experience?

 

[moxie]

Contrary to common sense, it looks like you can get high mileage with higher speed (around 75 mph, instead of 60MPH). Anyone has similar experience?

I just completed a round trip from Chicago to Louisville, down to Louisville clear dry roads, doing speed limit plus 5, all interstates, one slowdown for a construction zone. Mileage was 24.8mpg.

The trip home was rain from Louisville to past Indianapolis, so at best doing the speed limit or five under, and then in Chicago was stuck on the expressways for an hour and a half for what should have been a 35 minute trip. A lot of fathers were late for there parties on fathers day. Mileage was 24.1 mpg.

The slower trip did have worse MPG but it could have been the wind the difference is so small. The only thing the same about the trip was the load and tire pressure.

My (poor) recollection is that I don't see an improvement in MPG until around 50MPH or less and do not remember that much difference between 60 and 75.

Both fills were 10% Ethanol blends. The first fill was Shell, the second was BP.

Banswee, the more I think about it, the ethanol blend alone might have caused the majority of your difference in MPG that you experienced in your trip to PA.

 

[bmwzimmer]

Elevation is a big contributing factor as well. Not sure what it is between the two cities but would guess Ohio has a higher elevation than PA according to your mpg.

 

[banswee]

Contrary to common sense, it looks like you can get high mileage with higher speed (around 75 mph, instead of 60MPH). Anyone has similar experience?

I only saw this scenario on the MPG meter BUT not on the average MPG...

 

[banswee]

Elevation is a big contributing factor as well. Not sure what it is between the two cities but would guess Ohio has a higher elevation than PA according to your mpg.

ACtually, PA is hilly NOT here in Cleveland-- this is why I'm asking a possible cause. :frown:


PS. the van was barely break(ed)-in when we left Cleveland (like 670 miles on the odo)-- which also contradicts the beliefs that once you hit past 1000 miles the MPG will get better-- which is not the case

 

[IndepndntGeorge]

My data sample

I've logged almost 3,000 miles on my month old LX.

Here's what I've observed:

City/highway mix - 21 mpg

Highway only at 65 mph - 31 mpg

Highway only at 75 mph - 28 mpg

Highway only at 80 mph (IN & KY) - 26 mpg

Driving with cruise on hurts mileage IMO as you get taken out of ECO mode more often to keep the speed constant. Losing speed slightly on the slight inclines keeps you in ECO mode and helps mileage.

 

[Severian]

I put the first 160 miles on our new EX-L last night driving from Gainesville, GA to Chattanooga, TN via Atlanta. I managed 28.1 MPG doing 70 MPH through mostly rainy weather with gusting winds.

I was pretty impressed, but then I am used to an AWD Mazda CX-9.

 

[gutzmom]

ORIGINAL: Driving with cruise on hurts mileage IMO as you get taken out of ECO mode more often to keep the speed constant. Losing speed slightly on the slight inclines keeps you in ECO mode and helps mileage.
~~~~~~~
I experimented with this today and found that to be true also. Cruise control definitely went in and out of ECO quite a bit.

We are about to hit 500 miles on our new EX-L and only getting 16 in town (short trips only). I realize it is the break in period but how long does that last? When should we expect to see an improvement in mpg?

 

[banswee]

ORIGINAL: Driving with cruise on hurts mileage IMO as you get taken out of ECO mode more often to keep the speed constant. Losing speed slightly on the slight inclines keeps you in ECO mode and helps mileage.
~~~~~~~
I experimented with this today and found that to be true also. Cruise control definitely went in and out of ECO quite a bit.

We are about to hit 500 miles on our new EX-L and only getting 16 in town (short trips only). I realize it is the break in period but how long does that last? When should we expect to see an improvement in mpg?

short trips? I don't think it will improve by a large margin...

 

[txn]

The Ody weighs ~4500 pound (empty) and 5500+ pounds when fully loaded.
It will take a lot of gas to move 4500+ lbs van from standstill.
So, short trip with lots of stop-and-go will cause mpg to dip easily into mid teens or even low teens.

In mixed 70% city, 30% highway, I got about 20 mpg.

Highway mpg is pretty good for such a heavy van.
On recent long road trip, I got between 24 and 26 mpg on a fully loaded van with always-on A/C.

 

[BigBoat]

1. OHIO to PA;
speed on highway was 73MPH (with cruise control)
gas fill-up thru BP with NO ADDITIVE
= got an average of 28.9


2. PA to OHIO
speed on highway was 75MPH (with cruise control)
gas fill-up thru (I believe) giant but with 10% ethanol-- only available in the area
= got an average of 26.1 :huh:

the drive was like 7-7 1/2 hrs.

do you guys/moms have experienced a drop in MPG with the same load, driving style, etc?

thanks

Before the topic deviates further from the original route conditions, Did you take either I-76 or I-78 to cross PA? I've done the cross-State PA trip a couple of times (I-76 East to West and West to East with non-Odyssey cars) and I've seen a similar behavior, so nothing to do with the car. I'm sure is the different gas and/or altitude/hills conditions.

 

[wktjr]

Southern Maine to Southern New Jersey.
Total Miles: 460
One driver with a weekend bag
Fuel with 10% ethanol
Speed was 70 to 75 depending using cruise pretty much the whole time.
Best shown MPG was 30.7 (with pictures to prove it)
Hand calculation at next fill up was .6 difference to the low side.
No complaints.

 

[11newody]

bought the EX on 7/1 (3 days ago)

went on a short trip (50) miles mostly highway, the highest I got at around 75 mph was 26.9 on the trip meter. haven't finished the first full tank yet.

 

[Frogger]

First 4k miles: < 22 mpg
Second 4k miles: > 25 mpg
Best tank: 25.9, worst 20.8

Driving style has not changed, mostly mixed rural highway. I did my worst on interstates, very odd, but I did have a full van then.

In my 2006 Ody, would go from 21.5-22.5 max spread no matter weight or roads.

 

[Fishy]

My commute to and from work is in the city, I get 14 mpg :frown:

 

[jwvdds02]

No luck

Driving around the city and local freeways I am getting 17-18mpg best. Good driving conditions, about 50% freeway, 50% city....I am using 87 octane.
I don't understand how everyone else is doing so well in MPG!

Do you have the original tires on it? 87 octane fuel?

Thanks!

2011 Touring

 

[Jesus_Freak]

Interesting data. Thanks to all for posting. Here is my recommendation to anyone attempting to make a decision based on mileage: get data! Because of all the obvious factors discussed here, the data will have typical variation. This typical variation makes it impossible to arrive at conclusions based on limited data sets. See "student t-test" on wiki for more background. You need many data points for the two variables of interest (additive versus no-additive, for example).

Here is an illustration: I drive an 07 ex-l on the same route and purchase fuel at the same Shell. See the data below. This is my base condition. Now, if I wanted to consider a new fuel supply, I would need to gather similar data at the new condition. I could then compare the averages using statistics to determine if there is a genuine difference with the new fuel. In my graph, the standard deviation (typical variation) is 2.3 MPG. If I only tried one data point with a new fuel supply, it would have to be nearly 7 MPG different than my normal average to be considered "different". The more data I have, the better I can detect a difference, whether it be for the better or worse.

Disclaimer: I am new here, so I apologize if my approach has already been discussed.

 

[Frogger]

First 4k miles: < 22 mpg
Second 4k miles: > 25 mpg
Best tank: 25.9, worst 20.8

Driving style has not changed, mostly mixed rural highway. I did my worst on interstates, very odd, but I did have a full van then.

In my 2006 Ody, would go from 21.5-22.5 max spread no matter weight or roads.

Just did my second tank of 93 gas (first was 3k miles ago), I experienced the same ~ +2mpg jump and it continues into further tanks, just like the first time. After 2k miles, it had steadily come back down. Basically running the same commutes all along, been consistently hot and dry. Starts at ~25.5, drops to ~23.7. I will continue to run a tank of 93 every 5th fillup or so until the van does not respond predictably to it. +7.5% gas mileage, +5% cost on the first tank only.