Poor gas mileage - 2012 V6 Accord

[LTC8K6]

It's actually a 4 or 3 cylinder at highway cruise if you keep your foot out of it...and slow down a bit...

 

[Vetterin]

I have to agree with the others. If you can.....try driving one tank full of gas with the AC off as much as possible, slow (or normal) starts and hwy driving of 65 mph max (55-60 would be even better) and I'll guarantee you will see a jump of at least 5 mpg!
Also go to fuelly.com and see what others with your car are actually getting.

 

[Schfifty Five]

You're not serious are you? You have the A/C on all the time even if it's cold out? And you run the A/C and heat at the same time by turning the temp selector up?

100% serious. I have never really messed with the A/C settings much. If it's hot outside, A/C is on and I put the temp on cold and will adjust the fan speed accordingly (higher at first to cool it down, then slow down the fan speed when it's cooled down the inside). If it's cold outside, the only thing I do is raise the temperature up.

What is the appropriate way to do it? I mean don't just post something like what you did and not at least suggest an alternative.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I have to agree with the others. If you can.....try driving one tank full of gas with the AC off as much as possible, slow (or normal) starts and hwy driving of 65 mph max (55-60 would be even better) and I'll guarantee you will see a jump of at least 5 mpg!
Also go to fuelly.com and see what others with your car are actually getting.

cool, thanks for the link.

 

[Schfifty Five]

First, don't use premium in your car, just a waste of money. If you've got bucket loads of spare cash, go ahead and use premium, but you won't see any difference in mileage or performance from your car.


Second, drive hard and/or fast and you pay for it. Simple as that. No way around it.


Third, turn off your A/C when you can. The A/C just sucks gas, so keeping it on all the time is just emptying your tank faster. You'll never achieve the EPA numbers if you keep your A/C on all the time. But, if you value your comfort over your gas mileage, keep it on. Having grown up in the South, we used A/C a lot, like y'all in TX. Was almost a blessing when winter hit and we could finally turn off the A/C for a few months.....mileage went up noticeably.

Yeah I think I will adjust the settings on my A/C. It's cooled down a lot here in TX.

How does the air temp change if A/C is on off? I can still adjust the temp up/down with A/C on off, but what is actually making it cool or heat up?

edit: I know that using A/C more = more fuel usage. But does keeping A/C on at the lowest fan speed setting still use up a lot of fuel? Most of the time I will keep A/C on and the fan speed at lowest speed.

 

[BUTCH1]

With a 6 cylinder and your driving habits, 20 mpg sounds right.

This, 271HP is a stout V6, my old school V6 (pushrod) does 24MPG with the air off, but it only makes 200HP..

 

[Naeeldar]

The accord gets crap town mileage, that's the big issue. I've got an 08 v6 and the reality is you can make extremely good gas mileage on highway (shuts down a few cyldiners) and attrocious gas mileage locally. With your lead foot that you describe, you're probably staying out of ECO mode which kills mileage.

Anyway it's not a good gas mileage car. Should of went 4banger if that mattered. I personally average 20mpg as well.

 

[Knavish]

Yeah I think I will adjust the settings on my A/C. It's cooled down a lot here in TX.

How does the air temp change if A/C is on off? I can still adjust the temp up/down with A/C on off, but what is actually making it cool or heat up?

edit: I know that using A/C more = more fuel usage. But does keeping A/C on at the lowest fan speed setting still use up a lot of fuel? Most of the time I will keep A/C on and the fan speed at lowest speed.

With the A/C off and the temp adjustment all the way cold, you basically get outside are coming into the cabin. The heat comes from a miniature radiator in the dashboard that engine coolant circulates through. If you have A/C on and you increase the heat, your are blowing cold A/C air over the warm (or hot) radiator to heat it up. If the A/C is off, then you are just blowing outside air over the mini-radiator.

 

[SandEagle]

Hi all,

I bought a brand new 2012 V6 Accord.....

you had me at this :wub: smart cookie. :thumbsup:

 

[Schfifty Five]

With the A/C off and the temp adjustment all the way cold, you basically get outside are coming into the cabin. The heat comes from a miniature radiator in the dashboard that engine coolant circulates through. If you have A/C on and you increase the heat, your are blowing cold A/C air over the warm (or hot) radiator to heat it up. If the A/C is off, then you are just blowing outside air over the mini-radiator.

I see. What if I have recirculate on and A/C off. What is cooling the air that is being recirculated in the cabin?

 

[Schfifty Five]

you had me at this :wub: smart cookie. :thumbsup:

SE 4 Prez!

 

[KentState]

That seems really bad. Even my CTS-V gets 22 highway cruising at 75mph with AC on. For comparison, our 2004 V6 Altima averages around 28mpg highway with AC at 75mph and it's only a 4 speed auto.

 

[KIAman]

Uhh, no, that MPG is pretty bad. My bimmer is I6 makes 255hp and I drive it like it's stolen with a mix of 25/75 city/hwy miles and I get 25mpg combined. On long trips, I typically get 30+ per fill up.

Something is definately wrong with that low of a milage in such a modern car with more than a 4 speed transmission.

Some things to consider
1. Friction (bearings, pullies, brakes, transmission, tire, tire pressure)
2. Weight (did you gain 100+ lbs?)
3. Engine management stuff (check your codes, check your filters)
4. Driving habits? I only WOT about 2 times a day, do you drive more aggresively lately?

 

[NutBucket]

I'd be pretty upset if that's the mileage I got from an Accord, any Accord. Hell I get better mileage in our turbo Subarus and that's with the extra drag of AWD.

Then again, my driving style is conducive to exceeding EPA estimates.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[LTC8K6]

My HEMI will get 22mpg at a 70mph steady cruise on 4 cylinders. And that's in a big old Grand Cherokee with full time 4wd.

 

[Naeeldar]

My HEMI will get 22mpg at a 70mph steady cruise on 4 cylinders. And that's in a big old Grand Cherokee with full time 4wd.

Honestly Japanese imports just don't have many great 6cylinders. The accord is an obvious one with horrible gas mileage while the 4 banger gets great mileage.

Look at the Nissan 370z, real word it gets worse gas mileage then the current Ford Mustang GT V8.

Just the way things are. Honestly I'm not happy with my gas mileage, especially since I'm adding a weekend car soon like a Mustang (which gets better mileage!), but the cost per year is so little when compared to other things. ANd before anybody asks I do about average in miles about 15k a year. It's just the increase is nominal when I look at my expenditures else where.

 

[onza]

I drive an Acura TL - 91+ oct gas required (high compression engine)

That said, City driving yields me 20-21 mpg, and HWY - always yields me over 28+mpg.

My driving habits are aggressive. My guess is your average speed is very stop and go causing fuel consumption. Do you accelerate, how do you de-celerate?

 

[A5]

You're not serious are you? You have the A/C on all the time even if it's cold out? And you run the A/C and heat at the same time by turning the temp selector up?

It can still be humid when it isn't cold enough to run the heater yet. A/C dehumidifies, too.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I drive an Acura TL - 91+ oct gas required (high compression engine)

That said, City driving yields me 20-21 mpg, and HWY - always yields me over 28+mpg.

My driving habits are aggressive. My guess is your average speed is very stop and go causing fuel consumption. Do you accelerate, how do you de-celerate?

I don't stomp on the accelerator when the light turns green, but I know I probably accelerate a bit faster than most people. When decelerating, I try my best to see traffic lights ahead of me so I can just let off on the gas pedal rather than riding my brake or pressing on it hard at the last second.

 

[Ketchup]

I don't know about TX, but here in SC ethanol-free gas has been popping up all over the place. I noticed around a 7 MPG increase when I switched over.

 

[phucheneh]

I see. What if I have recirculate on and A/C off. What is cooling the air that is being recirculated in the cabin?

I understand the AC thing, as my windows fog easily in the humid-ass weather we have here without it (at any temperature).

Like I said, though, for actual cooling of the cabin, I either set it to max or turn it off. Usually I just leave the fan on low and hit the AC button to turn it off. If it's cool outside, set it to fresh air, if it's hot, set it to recirc. If the interior warms up...hit the button again.

I don't mind managing it like that; some do. Also, as I said above, remember than when the mode knob is turned to defrost, it's probably running the AC compressor, even if the button isn't lit up. My current Mazda and my last car (Nissan) both did it.

Personally, I don't think speed should be that big of an issue. Most newer cars are slippery enough that they still manage pretty decent mileage at 80mph; especially with a bigger engine that doesn't have to work very hard. A buddy of mine has a 335i and turns around 35mpg at that speed (DI turbo I6 making 300+ hp). Makes my four-banger/five-speed sad. =(

Your description of your driving habits seems pretty decent to me. A little extra briskness in accelerating is usually balanced out by driving 'smart;' stuff like looking ahead and trying to coast efficiently through lights (and other possible obstacles) rather than holding steady on the gas, then slamming the brakes...well, it means you drive better than 95% of the city I live in.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I experimented with using low grade (87 octane) vs premium (93) and found no differences. I believe my manual says 87 or higher so I'm usually just buying regular. Tire pressure should be fine.

It very well could be my driving habits.

What about A/C usage? Is there an ideal setting that will help increase gas mileage? I usually keep A/C on, recirculate on, and control the temp/speed depending on how hot / cold the weather is.

Turn off AC if you are not using it. My fiancee keeps it on all the time regardless of the weather...I just want to yell sometimes.

Ok so you posted mixed average...what's your pure highway average? Based on your "driving habits" - is that flooring it? WOT merging or just passing people? Lots of stop and go in the city?

I'd say it's normal...the sticker estimates aren't for performance enthusiasts.

 

[phucheneh]

Turn off AC if you are not using it. My fiancee keeps it on all the time regardless of the weather...I just want to yell sometimes.

Ok so you posted mixed average...what's your pure highway average? Based on your "driving habits" - is that flooring it? WOT merging or just passing people? Lots of stop and go in the city?

I'd say it's normal...the sticker estimates aren't for performance enthusiasts.

I always get sticker mileage or better, though. I don't drive like some boy-racer wannabe, but I'm certainly more on the throttle than most.

I really do think it usually balances out between being a little harder on the throttle and having more intelligent driving habits. Higher cornering speeds and coasting (or engine braking, depending on the situation) to stops rather than holding the gas and then braking last-minute are the biggest helpers, I think.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I always get sticker mileage or better, though. I don't drive like some boy-racer wannabe, but I'm certainly more on the throttle than most.

I really do think it usually balances out between being a little harder on the throttle and having more intelligent driving habits. Higher cornering speeds and coasting (or engine braking, depending on the situation) to stops rather than holding the gas and then braking last-minute are the biggest helpers, I think.

Stick to Quake dood.

 

[yottabit]

Highway speed is probably 50% of it, and the other 50% is probably driving more "city" conditions than you realize

Speed is by far the largest factor for highway mileage.