Malibu Flyer

I'm just over my one year anniversary. I have 11,300 miles and a lifetime MPG of 28.7.

George Knighton

I suppose that it has something to do with the combination of fuel blends and the unusually warm and wet winter here, but my fuel economy seems to have inched forward.

hondamore

Anything close to Zero degrees (F) or below just kills the gas mileage in the Sport Hybrid. I'm lucky to get 24-25 mpg (city) when it gets really cold mostly because the car won't enter electric only mode because it is focused on heating the interior. That said, 25 mpg is outstanding for such a big car that does a great job of keeping me warm (hate to say it, but I LOVE the heated steering wheel).

TampaRLX-SH

Indeed the change to winter fuel has brought my mileage to 31mpg in mixed driving. That is a jump of 3mpg from summer fuel with same driving. And considering we have been over 80F for all but three days this fall and winter, I am still using full time AC. This is a noticeable seasonal fluctuation in mpgs from the RL which only varied 1mpg average seasonal change with 19mpg average summer and 20mpg average in winter - same driving routes.

neuronbob

I had a unique opportunity to observe what the change to Midwest winter fuel does to my Sport Hybrid, without cold weather. It turns out that my mileage the last few tanks in November was 23 or so.

So, it turns out that the fuel blend used in the Midwest, or at least in my part of it, anyway, is harmful to fuel economy. I just filled up tonight, after a week that was colder, and returned 22 mpg. I can't even get 300 miles out of a tank, same as last winter.

Meh, it is what it is. Maybe for the next Sport Hybrid Honda can figure out fuel mapping to optimize fuel economy for winter fuel.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I'm with George on this. My mpg has pulled back a little but I am still getting consistent 28.5-29.4 mpg per tank and my overall has dropped to 29.4 lifetime. It has been extraordinarily warm thus far so now that it is getting back into the 30's and we are on winter gas we will see what happens.

George Knighton

If you were with me, you'd have been getting over 32 mpg for the last few tanks, and afraid to report it.

oops.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

You bastard! Just kidding. I think your roads are generally smoother, have less elevation changes and more stop and go traffic which likely helps your mpg. We have the opposite in general up here in the sticks of New York.

hondamore

I need to recant some of my post from December 30th stating that the cold weather was resulting in my Sport Hybrid mileage dropping to 24-25 mpg. My "usual" driving pattern is predominantly short trips of 5 miles or less and it was this driving pattern which resulted in my poor mileage in colder weather.

This past week, however, I've been out running errands all over town and my trips have been much longer than usual. Alas, despite temperatures between zero and 10 degrees F, my mileage at this weeks fill up was over 30 mpg for entirely city driving.

My conclusion is that the frigid temperature is MOST detrimental to my mileage on short trips, but once the engine can get up to temperature and the cabin interior is nice and toasty on longer trips, the Sport Hybrid returns to normal function and returns very close to it's normal summer mileage. In fact on my longest errand, my mileage was a very impressive 33 mpg (all city driving).

Just thought I would share today's mileage results as they were contradictory to my earlier post.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

My trip yesterday to Boston and back was such that I drove 429 miles for the day, however all but 9 miles was with the ICE on all the time. As a result of it being 7 degrees when I departed and it topped out at 26 degrees, the heat was on non-stop. My mpg for the trip was 29.3. Normally for a trip in warm weather I would expect 31-32 mpg. My local mpg are dropping to the mid 20's with the cold weather too. I don't really care because the car is too much fun to drive.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

It is 20 degrees tonight and I just completed a 27.1 mile trip with 12.7 miles in EV mode while producing 33.8 mpg (with the heat on and the seat warmers too). That is the best cold weather mpg yet.

sooththetruth

It just seems that something is wrong with Neuron Bob's car....or his right foot.

neuronbob

LOL

Is everybody else babying their car? I sure don't think so. Maybe it's time for me to head back to the dealer.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Full disclosure: I was probably light on the throttle as I was on a phone call the whole way (hands free of course), and did not do anything special at all. I find that I get better mileage on rolling hills rather than 100% flat roads as the car can glide more in EV mode down hills and just about anytime you are not on the gas, providing you are driving below 58 mph. Bob I don't think there is anything wrong with your car. I think it is very sensitive to the roads you drive on, and your driving technique. As soon as I drive more aggressively, my mpg drops to the mid 20's in the cold weather. The current tank shows the following data: 155 miles driven, 393 miles remaining, 28.1 mpg. I did add about 1 extra gallon after the cut off on the last fill up.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Correction: 363 miles remaining. Sorry.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

Well in -9 degree cold I managed 31.8 mpg over 55 miles with the heat blasting and the seat warmers on. No sport mode, and driving normally (no jackrabbit starts).

George Knighton

This last tank?

32.7 mpg.

Don't kill me. :-)

31,000 miles.

fsmith

I think George secretly drives not just light-footed, but actually barefoot.

getakey

Weight Savings

RLX-Sport Hybrid

I have not ever seen his mpg for a tank. 31+ mpg yes.

fsmith

He's British and he converted his car's systems. He's reading 32.7 kilometers per imperial gallon. (i know, silly, but I'm jealous of his mileage.)

neuronbob

So an interesting datapoint:

The tank I just completed yesterday was a record high for me in this car: 28.4 mpg. Fuel light came on at 375 miles, and I ultimately filled up 13.7 gallons at 390.4 miles.

On this particular tank, I had far more local freeway driving outside of rush hour than usual, every day, so fewer accelerations and more time steadily at 75 mph. Using the electric motors was not much of a factor in this tank, other than on city streets.

The change locally to summer blend likely has some role, too. I also hit 15k miles a couple of days ago, so I suppose the engine is finally fully broken in. (Side note: good thing I asked for 12k/year in my lease. If current trend continues, I'll be turning in this car well below max mileage.)

rick sambora

iTrader: (1)

7k on car. This has been since i have had the car(demo car with 4k on it). Bought car in VA and drove it to chicago. On that ~800 mile trip got an average of 28. Since then it has been 30+ average on every fill up.

George Knighton

I think that's awesome for a car this big, with this much HP.

Your mileage was through the winter, too. It's probably going to go up, now.

George Knighton

We've talked about this before, but let me remind everyone that my daily commute takes me over ideal situations where I can set the LKAS and radar cruise to 55 mph on a long country drive.

Then I had some urban driving that takes advantage of the electrics.

Then I'm on the way home on that country road again.

Kind of an ideal combination to maximize fuel economy even though I protest again that I do not baby the car. I'll often go into Sport Mode and pass 45 mph cars on those country roads.

RLX-Sport Hybrid

My last fill up this morning was 446 miles on 14.1 gallons or 31.6mpg. That was NOT in ideal conditions as there was a lot of stop an go, toll booth racing back to speed not to get killed by everyone trying to merge down from 12 lanes to 3 in 200 yards, and some cruising at approximately 75-80 mph traffic permitting. After spending time with the family this weekend one of them had a new TLX-V6 and of course the cars came up in conversation. The other driver wanted a test drive, so off we went. He was all smiles and then said "how can I get back into my TLX and not think it is a piece of crap?" I told him he should wait for one to come off lease in a year a pick one up then as the new RLX-SH is out of his price range.

rick sambora

iTrader: (1)

I usually get to 420-430 miles before fill up and even though the computer calculated range is still at 45 miles I go ahead and get the fill up anyway. Usually end up putting in 13 gallons. I still remember 18 gallon fill ups in my 13 TL SHAWD at 4.80 a gallon...how can anyone hate on this car.....

RLX-Sport Hybrid

If my memory serves me, I think my old TL got around 18-20 mpg in everyday mixed driving, where I typically see around 29-30 mpg now with a bigger, heavier more powerful car to boot. That is not insignificant. I still say that 1st gear in the Blackbird is fun when in sport mode, but it is 2nd and 3rd gears that I enjoy the most, even if it is just for a few seconds. That roll-on torque is a kick!

Malibu Flyer

I currently have around 17,000 miles on my Sport Hybrid. My average has held pretty steady at 28.6 mpg. My freeway trips usually come in between 31-32 mpg and around town 27-28 mpg. My daily commute is around 30 miles round trip with a mix of City and secondary highway with a speed limit of 45 mpg, moderate to heavy traffic and a dozen traffic lights in 10 miles ranges 28-32 mpg. In short, I am getting pretty close to the EPA numbers. I also have ideal weather conditions...rarely below 55 degrees or higher than 80, year round. I imagine that helps my mileage some also. All things considered I am very pleased with the gas mileage for a heavy 4 dr. sedan.

As has been repeated many times here, as good as the mileage is the real attraction of this car is it's performance and handling. Pretty remarkable for a car of its size and heft. After all it is a "performance hybrid".

neuronbob

I'm still the odd man out, it appears, despite my attempts to baby this car somewhat lately . Ah well, I'm used to it. That 28.4 mpg was only the second time I've had a complete tank within the EPA range.

ptbarnett

We just returned from a trip to Florida that was about 700 miles each way. At speeds of 65-80 mph (I-20 in east Texas has posted limit of 75), we got 31.1 mph, on average.

The reduction for higher speeds is measurable, but not huge. Last year, we drove 90 mph through the 130 bypass around Austin (the posted limit is 85), and the mph was about 29. That was at 5K miles... we will be making the same trip later this year, and I'll measure it again by resetting the trip B odometer at the start.

Otherwise, most of my driving is in the city, for short distances. I worked at home until I retired at the end of 2015, and all the stores and restaurants we frequent are within a couple of miles. So, our lifetime average mph at 12,700 miles is only 26.3 mph.

In comparison, after nearly 100K miles over 10 years in my 2005 RL, the lifetime average mph was 20.6.

ptbarnett

Unfortunately, I substituted "mph" for "mpg" consistently, throughout my entire posting. I didn't realize it until the edit window expired. But, I'm sure you can figure out where to correct it, or you can read the quoted posting above....

Ugpo

I just went over 11K Km with my SH and I hover between 24-25 (mpg so my US neighbours don't have to Google a conversion calculator) with 100% city driving. Because I live on the West coast in a very hilly (mountainous?) area I am not disappointed in the mileage I get. My 2010 TL only got 15 so I attribute it to terrain rather than a short fall of the vehicle. I do however have a question regarding the battery. Is it possible that the energy retention in the fuel cell can be that different between RLX's and if so would that not also have a noticeable affect on mileage? Thoughts?

Malibu Flyer

The lithium batteries (the hybrid batteries) are impacted by temperature. They are less efficient in cold weather. Also, the ICE will run exclusively (no electric motors) until the engine warms up (indicated by the blue light which is what serves as a temperature gauge in the sport hybrid).

I am in Southern California which is about as ideal weather wise as you can get. My overall mileage for the 18,000 miles I have is 29 mpg. Above all the biggest impact on mileage is your driving style but cold weather does have a negative impact on your gas mileage.

neuronbob

Ugpo, your fuel economy is similar to mine. The batteries are indeed affected by a number of factors. For me, temperature is a major factor. My car is stored outside and the weather here is cold seven months of the year, with overnight temps in the 20's to the 40's during that time. First drive of the day is almost always dependent on the ICE recharging the battery. This car would REALLY benefit from a plug-in option to keep the battery optimally charged during prolonged parking such as at night.

As for the ICE, your hilly commute in urban conditions is an additional factor. This ICE is simply not that efficient in urban conditions, particularly with repeated acceleration such as that expected in stop-go traffic or on hills. Combine that with early discharge of the battery and you lose some of the benefit of the electric motors.

Driving style is also a factor. Jackrabbit starts are bad, highway travel above 75 mph is bad. I tend not to do either in this car anymore.

Last, fuel blend plays a huge role around here. The particular writer blend of fuel used here in Cleveland causes a HUGE hit on mileage in this car during the winter.

TampaRLX-SH

I see a similar pattern for different reasons. My SH sits 3-4 days on average between drives. Typically when I park in my garage, the battery is about half full. After sitting those days, the battery drains to about 1/4, right about where the ICE is normally triggered. So each drive initially starts with recharge mode.

Oh really!???

Indeed. I get better mileage on summer grade fuel with A/C added to the electric draw than I do on winter grade fuel with no A/C or heat used.

That said, my mileage has pegged right at the EPA ratings for the car. I have yet to do a long distance highway drive to see if cruising mpg averages over 32mpg, I would be very understanding is my avg mpg were lower with my driving habits,,,,mostly short hops and days sitting in between.

George Knighton

Somebody reset my lifetime B meter so I thought I'd stop keeping track of this.

But with about 8500 miles on the B meter again, I decided to average, based on where I think I remember the meter was when somebody reset it.

At the rate I'm going, the lifetime average is probably going to rise from 31.2 to 31.3 mpg.

Ugpo

Yes right battery, not fuel cell, thanks for the correction and the variables (I had fuel cell on the brain from a discussion just previously regarding the merits of the Clarity lease program in California from a few years ago). I also recall that when I went to get the car the dealer had to replace the Lithium battery as it wouldn't hold charge which makes me also wonder if there isn't a variance in battery performance from RLX-RLX. Yes the jack rabbit starts are a killer but I love surprising people with it....such a sleeper. Also Bob, in my area a plug-in option would have made it a true hybrid in the gov't's eyes as they only acknowledge for the benefit programs (HOV lanes and specified parking and of course rebates) so yes I think you are right about that.

hondamore

Filled up today and achieved 29.1 mpg for the tank. This is up substantially from the 24-25 mpg I was getting during the winter but short of my best tank average of 31.

My driving style is similar to what TampaRLX had mentioned, lots of short trips, which precludes me from achieving better OVERALL mileage although I routinely get 35+ mpg on longer trips within the city. I also only have around 2700 miles on my Sport Hybrid, so it's still getting "broken in".

Just FYI.

neuronbob

I hit 34 mpg this week on several individual freeway trips from home into downtown Cleveland, including bursts to 75 mph. My home is at 1100 feet and dowtown is 800 feet, and all but 1 mile of that trip is hghway.

The uphill trip home is 28-30 mpg.

It's about as good as it gets for me. The ICE appears to be in good working order and is fully broken in with over 16k miles now.

Any city driving at all kills the fuel economy still even when using battery power. I'm typically as little as 10 mpg on short trips, more commonly 20-22 mpg.

Just documenting more data points and I'm proud of 34 mpg. I'm pushing having the hybrid/battery system looked at during my upcoming oil change. Otherwise totally satisfied with the car.