DrinaR

Hi everyone, let me start off by saying that I know absolutely nothing about cars and car terminology so I'm sincerely sorry if anything I say or ask just sounds ridiculous to anyone here.

Anyways I bought a new 2015 auto Acura ILX about 4 or 5 months ago. It's currently at 2600 km so it's still pretty damn new. Up until this point, the car ran like a beaut. It was pretty damn good on gas and I'd be doing 60 - 100 at 1 & a half rpm or even lower. For some reason... now even on the highway and at pretty constant speeds, the RPM won't really go down past 2. Even when I take my foot off the gas like sometimes it will go down to around 1.7 or so but usually it stays at 2 or higher. I'm very conscious about how much gas I'm wasting so I don't like driving like that and everything just "feels" different to me. I don't think the car should be doing that but then again I can't even tell if this is a real concern to be worried about or if I'm just freaking out for no good reason.
The car feels a lot more sluggish than before like it feels as if it takes so much longer even just to get to 60 now. The car likes to hang out around 40 unless I really give it some more gas.

Am I being overly cautious/weird and is this normal or should I actually be worried?
The car has paddle shifters and one of my friends was messing around with them one day but I highly doubt that did anything because the car was only in accessroy mode then.
Any ideas on what this could be? Should I take the car to Acura (they tell me I have a year of free service there but I don't really trust them..) Any suggestions or help would be appreciated, thanks!!

weather

^^ I have a 2014 ILX (automatic) with the 2.0L engine and at 100 km/h, your RPM will be higher than 2000. This is partly due to the fact that it has a 5 speed automatic but even the 6 speed manual tends to rev high....There is nothing wrong with that and you will find that despite this, the fuel consumption is quite acceptable.

The 2016 models will be much lower in their revving range since they have an 8 speed DCT transmission.

Rest assured that your ILX is performing as it should, and that higher rev is sweet sounding and makes the car ready to go Enjoy and hope this helps...

DrinaR

I am wondering why did it not use to be like this before though? I could honestly do 100 suuuper easily at 1.5 ish once it got going but now I'll be going for a while and still it doesn't want to move down below 2 even at like 75 or 80 and it's like any little extra gas that I give it makes the RPM needle shoot up pretty noticabley. And yes I have the same engine is mine as yours. Just feels very different than it did before. Only maintenance I know of that I have coming up I believe is an oil change in 350 ish km, I don't know if that makes a difference to this kind of stuff or not but yeah.
I have free service at the Acura dealership I bought the car from so I'm wondering is it worth it to take it in and ask them if anythings up or are they just going to laugh and look at me like I'm an idiot lol..

aomechmarine

Oil change is coming due soon. That will make a difference. I have the 2.4liter, but when the oil is new and/or better i can drive at lower RPM and the car will not sputter or struggle to not turn off (manual transmission). If the oil is getting old or also if I use regular semi-synthetic, then it can not hold gear as well at low RPM.

Basically - you will notice when your oil change is coming due, your MPG goes down(slightly, a lot would be a concern).

If your dealership offers free oil change take it as soon as your service minder comes on. If MPG is a concern for you, then as soon as the dealership no longer offers free oil change/service, switch to full synthetic. Your car uses 0w-20. to keep it simple, I would simply suggest purchasing these oils and then finding a mechanic to change the oil for you really cheap. I have one that charges me $10, but I found 2 others that charge $15 as a backup. I personally don't like dealing with the dirty oil, and possible spillage.Either one is readily available at Walmart (around me for $26.70 US), or your average auto parts place. Buy the oil and the best filter you can, or go get a genuine Honda filter for like $7 from a dealer. You may also find a quick oil change place, but they will generally charge around $90 for a full synthetic oil change, whereas if you buy the oil and filter and find a cheap mechanic, you can pay around $50. Plus a lot of oils are always doing rebates, freebies, and promotions.

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aomechmarine

Also - is that a typo? 2600 km is still pretty new, and your car is still using break in oil. Although you are supposed to change your oil at least once a year, you are also suppose to leave in the break in oil until an oil change is actually due. I would definitely ask the Acura mechanics at the deaership about it, have them do the first oil change, make a note of it in your service manual, that way you are covered under warranty either way.

accord1999

That shouldn't physically be possible though; in 5th gear with 205/55R16 tires, the engine RPM must be at ~2200 rpm in order for the ILX to be at 100 kph.

At 1500 rpm, the highest speed you can possibly be at is 68 kph.

DrinaR

Oh that was no typo, it is at 2600 km. And as I was driving to work today I noticed I did exagerate a little in saying it doesn't go below 2 on the RPM at 75-80, because it does. It's once I get to 90 or higher that it will definitely stay above. I was at 2 & a half just cruising at a steady speed at 110 on the highway (I'm living in Canada BTW). It's just frustrating that I used to do almost the same speed at 1 & a half instead of 2 & a half cause I know that's eating more gas.

DrinaR

Oh no trust me it was definitely possible because that's exactly what I was doing. It was the best feeling ever there's a long road I used to take coming home from school super long and just straight and I'd easily do 100 KPH at 1500 RPM or maybe a little bit higher but never got to 2000 or over after the first initial little pull to get it to 100, and that was maybe like a month ago

aomechmarine

Ok, your engine is still breaking in then. Therefore you will have fluctuation in your MPG. After your first oil change, THEN you will see what your general average MPG will be.

The long road you are talking about is most likely somewhat downhill, has some kind of angle or curve to it, or also just very, very smoothly paved. You also were most likely driving in a straight steady flow, not having to accelerate or decelerate. You are kind of overreacting a little. One sweet road is not comparable to everyday driving.

What is your average MPG? Check it on your I-MID and also check your average speed. If you are coming from a Civic, you will notice you waste more gas. Since I drive a lot of city, i get less then 30 MPG generally. but I've also gotten 36+mpg average on a long trip. I've also gotten 43mpg on certain stretches of road. Yes, we don't have the same motor, but the MPG is very similar/ about the same. YMMV

DrinaR

Okay I will check the avg MPG next time I get in the car. Yesterday was a messed up day though I drove in between cities and wasted ALMOST HALF A TANK OF GAS in one freaking day that did not seem regular at all to me. I mean I don't know the exact distance between the cities but I left City 1 after work and drove to city 2 in rush hour traffick and that took me about an hour. Then I drove to City 3 from City 2 and that took me half an hour. Is an hour and a half ish an appropriate amount of time to have wasted almost half a tank of gas in? I'm asking because I genuinely don't know. I mean I know there are other factors that come into play but yeah...

Also here is a REALLY strange thing that has been happening to me at higher speeds, especially on the highway. Sometimes when I'm on the highway going about 100 or so all of a sudden I'll start feeling a lot of heat radiating on my foot near where the pedals are. As in it feels as if I've put the heat settings on. I tend to drive with the heat on a lot because I get cold super easily but the heat has DEFINITELY not been on when this happens. And it happens on many occassions, almost regularly at this point. Yesterday as I was driving it wasn't only that but the entire inside of the car just started boiling at one point as if I had the heat on, not only at my feet. I had to put the AC on and I NEVER use AC. And interestingly enough today as I was driving to work in the morning and after using the AC yesterday, my car does the opposite and I start to feel cold air near my feet by the pedals and it is noticably cooler in the car. Any thoughts on this?...

Today driving to work my low fuel light came on yet my car would be doing 60 at 2000 RPM at some points..... Very frustrating but yes I will definitely be taking it in now because it really doesn't feel right to me.

DrinaR

this is what was happening this morning when I started it in my driveway too. Needle shot up and basically stayed there until after I started driving at which point the idle was regular at the next stop light I got to

DrinaR

Guy in the above vid commented that he had his ignition coils changed and that fixed his problem. Idk if that has anything to do with mine but yeah

Aman

I guess we'll start with the easiest solution: Next time you drive, press the button that has a swoopy arrow going through a car.

Constant accelerating and braking and having A/C on are two of the first factors that
What was your previous car? An SUV or something with a bigger engine?

4 cylinder cars are typically geared lower. No amount of stressing will bring your highway RPM down.

Constant accelerating and braking, and having A/C on are two of the first factors that come into discussion on affecting fuel economy. So yes, it is possible. Bear in mind, the fuel gauge (and even the onboard display) aren't very accurate ways of measuring fuel economy.

The most accurate way is to record your mileage starting from your last fill-up, then recording how much fuel it takes to fill it back up the next time you're at the pump. Now you have miles (MPG) and gallons (litres). So you can calculate fuel economy that way.


Not sure if I missed it - did you say whether that super long road is on a slight incline or not?

DrinaR

Previous car was a used 2006 Pontiac Pursuit also a 4 cyl but a turbo. I thought that car was a POS when it came to how it handled the road hense buying a brand new one.

Also I never use my AC I only did one time for the first time yesterday because it was getting super hot inside of my vehicle and I was not sure why because it was not even very sunny out and when I rolled the windows down there seemed to be even more heat starting to come from near the pedal area so I rolled them back up and put the AC on for maybe 15 mins.

The road I was talking about was not on an incline I don't believe. That road was just one example but I can remember other times where I have been driving on roads at much higher speeds at much less RPM which was one of the 1st main reasons for my concerns as I can both feel and see the difference in the car now when I drive in comparisson with before

aomechmarine

My car also has higher rougher sounding revs right when it starts. Seems normal to me. Goes away after a minute. It can be improved/ eased with using the best oil and filter possible. From what i understand startup is one of the times the motor is most stressed. because its coming from a cold start, the oils is not flowing yet. Certain filters have reservoirs (and bla bla bla tech jargon) to ease this engine stress.

The engine heat/ car interior heat thing, my car also does this. Basically it may be seen as a production flaw, maybe? The car heater flows heat created by the engine into the cabin when you turn on the heater. If you leave the car in the heater settings, then when you drive, EVEN IF you have the heat OFF, the car apparently still has something open where the heat is still creeping in. The work around to this is simply turning the air conditioner settings on to the coldest, then turn it off (unless you actually want it on, of course).

*Although I'll try the pushing the button someone else mentioned, maybe it will help ease the heat creeping in?

DrinaR

Yeah I tried it this weekend when it got too hot in there I would put the AC on then turn it off and then cooler air would start coming out. I don't know why it does this but at least I know how to get around it now. I also tried pressing the button with the "swooshy" arrow through it as someone mentioned, that may have helped a tiny bit but it didn't seem to actually do that much I didn't think. I still keep it on most of the time now though when I'm driving at high speeds