abhisheks77

Hi,


I got 2015 RDX (AWD with Technology pack) 2 months back. Till now, it was always city drive only that means, hardly over 50 speed. I have using premium gas always. Recently only I started noticing low mpg. To calculate it exactly, I filled 14 gallon and it ran 208 miles on it. It makes 14.8 mpg, which is not encouraging.
Did anybody else noticed low mpg ? Is it normal for new car ? Though it is AWD, but it should not be so low.
Do I need to take it long drive to break in motor ?


Regards

RDX10

How much mileage do you currently have on your RDX? It can and usually does take around 5-10k miles to achieve maximal fuel economy and sometimes even more depending on the vehicle. I suggest you do NOT take it on the highway because for the engine break in period (under 2k miles) you want to drive the engine at varying rpms whereas on the highway it would stay at one rpm range.

abhisheks77

Currently it is 748 miles in 2 months.
I didn't knew this. One of my friend was suggesting me to take it on long drive, but not to exceed 70 mph, to break engine. Inside city, I went over 50 only few times. May be he was wrong, not a expert by any mean.

RDX10

Yes, you want to try and vary your rpms as much as possible, nothing wrong with going over 70, you just want to vary rpms as much as possible to help seat the seals and all that good stuff in the engine. You can go on the highway, just much better not to.

At ~750k miles, you are not even close to completing the break in period. Give it at least another 1000k miles to have improvement and it will get better every 1000k miles or so till around 5-10k miles and sometimes a little more.

Kaputnik

Make sure to fill your tank, reset your trip odometer mileage, then note your mileage again and the amount of gas required at the next refill. You should repeat this over the next few months - you should see mileage increase as your engine is broken in.

If it does not improve, you may consider taking the car in for inspection. I can't get mileage that low in my gas sucking turbo RDX unless I really try hard.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

What's your average MPH?? If anything less than 25 mph... you won't even get to the EPA estimate for city miles. More stop and go, more idling = crappy MPGs.

CoachRick

Can't agree with all this 'break-in' chatter. Yes, the engine will benefit from being run at various RPM; but it certainly doesn't hurt to take a typical highway trip. You can vary the engine speed while ON the highway...Duh. Naturally, driving non-stop cross-country at exactly 60mph isn't likely the best way to break in an engine. Many, many mechanics/techs would say run through the RPM range freely; avoiding redline of course; but not lugging the engine by never exceeding 3000(or some other arbitrary)RPM within the normal range. Jack-rabbit starts aren't helpful either, nor would climbing mountain ranges fully loaded.

There is little chance a sub-15mpg average is going to improve to 20-22mpg because the engine is 'broken in'. I've owned nearly 30 new vehicles and have never had a new engine perform so far below the projected average mileage numbers. Yes, a 10% improvement over the early few thousand miles; but nothing like jumping 5+mpg average...ever.

Under any sort of normal conditions, an average mpg under 20 should mean a trip to the dealer...forthwith, if not sooner.

abhisheks77

I will do as suggested. With this discussion, it seems I should expect not more that more than 20 mpg in AWD in city, even after 2k-3k ?
Do I need to be concerned about anything before first service or it is 'ok' to be on 14.8/15 mpg as of now ?

loulinjai

A lot of factors impact fuel mileage. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. Recently with a lot more A/C use my fuel consumption has increased 5-10%.

My personal preference for setting piston seals is flooring the throttle at 2-3k rpm in manual gear selector so the tranny doesn't downshift on it's own, then go full throttle at 1-2k rpm and 3-4rpm throughout your drive. Eventually bring up the rpm's in increments until redline once you're at 2k miles/3k km's. "I believe" I set my seals right when I first got my 04 tsx and now with 290k km on the clock it still gets advertised fuel consumption and burns about 1/5 of a qt of oil in between 10k km oil change intervals.

abhisheks77

And should I always run it in gear 'D' and not in 'S' until next few thousand ? Which is helpful for break-in ?

loulinjai

Honestly, I bet 90%+ percentage of don't follow any specific break in procedures. Most people just get in and drive just like they would any other day. A lot of enthusiasts have their own preference on how to break in cars.

Honda manufacturers cars and engines very well, they're ready to drive right off the lot without special consideration. If you're only worried about fuel consumption, it should improve after a couple thousand miles.

The only big no-no in my books is don't hit redline when engine oil has not warmed up yet, regardless of mileage.

abhisheks77

Yes, that make sense.
Usually what mpg you get inside city and on freeway (considering AWD), which I should consider, is normal ?
I am near LA, so never see hills or snow.

RDX10

DUH......obviously you can, but DUH you are not as likely to and nor will you hit lower rpm ranges either, so DUH. Was that necessary?

Puma Jim

So what is proper breakin? I pick my 2016 up tomorrow and have a 650 mile trip next month. Is that a concern?
Nevermind I just did a search and see that it is 600 miles. Thanks

CoachRick

Simply stating that being on the "highway" doesn't preclude the proper break-in of a new vehicle. You vary your speed, take a few breaks, hit a few on-off ramps and Bob's your uncle.

RDX10

Oh come on, I always have to try and frisk other forum members a little but all good

andysinnh

I've broken in more than a few cars over my 40+ years of driving - and breaking in an RDX is a whole lot different than my first new car - a 79 Olds Cutlass. Back then, there was a very specific set of guidelines for the first 100 miles, next 400 miles, etc. Engineering has come a long way since then, and most new cars are able to be run without a lot of special care right off the showroom floor. In the case of my MDX in '13, I took a 400 mile trip within the first week of having it, and there was quite a bit of highway speed driving without varying the speed. AFter 20K miles, it still didn't use a drop of oil. So while I wouldn't challenge another car to 1/4 mile stoplight runs just yet, I wouldn't worry about taking a highway trip, or similar usage. Just keep an eye on the oil level to make sure it's not using some during the first 1k miles and enjoy it.

It's actually more important to properly break in the brakes than it is the motor/driveline. Avoid really hard stops as best you can and frequent city driving for the first couple hundred miles and your brakes will seat in better...

andy

RDX10

Good point on the brakes! I never even thought about that.

abhisheks77

Andy, how much mpg you are getting on your RDX ? Just curious, how much should I consider as normal, at 800 miles.

andysinnh

My '15 AWD just turned over 3000 miles, and my trip/mpg B figures (never reset) show an ave mpg of 23.5 mpg overall. Even in my first tank, with driving typically on rural roads with 30mph speed average I got like 22-23 mpg's. Right now my tank with about 140 miles on it has zero highway miles but all the rest being 30-40 mph, with stops/go, and sitting idling while waiting for my wife a few times, is still showing 23.5 mpg's.

Net-net - unless you're doing ALL stop-and-go driving, I can't see the mpg's being under 20 at any point. Now, it could be your displayed mpg is wrong - and the real tell-tale will be figuring mpg the old fashioned way at fillup. But even for me, the calculated vs display figures have been almost identical.

The MPG's you're seeing are more similar to my '13 MDX that I had, which had trouble ever getting out of the teens for mpg's...

andy

abhisheks77

Wow. You are getting decent one. May be, I will take it out of city and then will see, how it is going.