I recently bought a new 2010 MDX tech. Get around 13 MPG for 50/50 city/highway (computed using trip computer and manual tank-filling method). Did a lot of checks and turns out while I get around 19-21 MPG on the highway I get only around 8 MPG in the city which is why I get such an awful average MPG.

In seems like there are only two options:

1. The 2010 MDX in fact gets MUCH lower city MPG then the Federal EPA tests suggest (at least given my route) and this is NORMAL.

2. My car has an issue/is a LEMON.

I am trying to figure out what is the case and would appreciate if anyone can let me know if they have faced such a low city mileage.

I have looked into detail in how the EPA conducts their MPG tests. Here is the link: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml. Their city tests do look somewhat better than my city driving conditions. For example, my morning commute is 2.5 miles. The total trip takes me around 12-14 minutes (including stoppage time) so the average speed is around 10.7-12.5 MPH.

The EPA city test runs a bit longer (around 11 miles) and has slightly less stops per mile. Their average speed is 21.2 mph. This would suggest I should get somewhat worse specs than the 16 MPG that the EPA city test though getting a 50% drop seems a bit too much.

- Does anyone get such a low MPG on their commute (I live in Cambridge)?

- Also appreciate any advice on what to do. Raised this with Acura Boston tech people and first they said I should wait till after the break-in period. The car now has 1000 miles on it and still just as bad MPG. When I pushed again, the tech person called saying that he test drove drove a 2000 MDX and got and MPG of 10.9. Not sure what to make of that since who knows what a 10 year old car will give.

But also not sure what to make of that response since it seems to suggest that the EPA city ratings are just off for any type of boston-type city driving???

I have now asked them to give me a similar 2010/11 MDX loaner to compare its MPG on my route & also to run extensive checks on my car. So far though feel am getting a bit of run-around and seems I need to excalate my complaint. Would appreciate any advice/experience on that as well.

- Also if anyone has any clues on why the city MPG is so low would appreciate that. My highway MPG is not so far from what the EPA ratings would suggest. The issue really shows up in city driving and the car seems to do particularly bad on routes with multiple stops. I also get the sense it moves faster than what one would expect from a stop situation after releasing the brake suggesting that the engine may be consuming too much fuel in idling state (although the RPM does seem to be at 750 as expected).

Help! Frustrated and Disappointed.

 

How many miles do you have? Sometimes, it will take a little time to break down the vehicle to get up to the normal MPG.

 

I have a 2010 and ave = 18. Freeway = approx 20. Wife only drives around town and still gets 16 to 18. I am not sure that I could average 8 unless I made numerous 100 yard trips flooring the accelerator and braking hard. I have approx 8K miles but I did not notice much difference from new.

 

I forgot to mention that there is no point in mentioning the EPA. They lie. How do I know? They are a government organization. It's hard to believe but you will get more truth from a New York salesman!

 

Like DB22 said, I would recommend driving another 1000 miles or so for the engine to complete the break in period.
During your first 1000 miles, did you follow the driving guidelines? Or were you excited to drive the new MDX at it peak speed/rpm?

Also, are you using premium gas? Do you always use the same gas station. Try different ones to see if you notice a difference (stranger things have happened).

Everytime you drive, reset the Fuel Economy A setting and check on the mpg. Gen 1 MDX had the instant MPG reading and my 2008 does not have it (not sure about the 2010)

Have another driver drive the same route to see if the mpg is different. Driving another car, like you mentioned, is also a good way to isolate the issue.

Good luck.

 

the cold weather also hurts mpg... warming up the car

 

Thanks for all the suggestions:

- I followed all the guidelines for the first 1000m - normal/sensible driving, premium gas, have tried ddiff gas stations and two diff drivers have driven it. Reset the trip computer each time (It automatically gives MPG) Still the same problem. My concern is that MDX may just give very bad MPG for short start-stop type trips. In that sense EPA ratings are just not informative.

- Acura boston is now going to do a full check and also give me a loaner - hopefully it will be the same so can do the MPG check on it for the same route/driver.

 

Anytime you move 4550# from a standstill your mpg is going to take a hit, especially if you have a lead foot. Stop-and-go driving effects mpg, as does cold weather, hilly terrain, gas with ethanol, humidity, tire pressures, atmospheric pressure, and driving style. The numbers you are getting are normal for your MDX.

 

i think it is normal as well,

my 2010 mdx is at 1800 miles now and my combine mpg is around 13.5 ... 85city/15 freeway ...

i took my x for a long trip half a year ago when it is at 1000 miles ... and 100% freeway still only gives me 18mpg.

i guess it takes some time for the engine.

 

Thanks appreciate the comments. some more info that may be helful for ithers geting a low MPG

I did get a loaner car from acura. It was exactly the same (2010 tech; with 9K miles on it though) and interestingly gave me better mpg on the same exact route (so for e.g. instead of 8 MPG in my mdx, the loaner gave be around 10.5)

that does suggest that there may be a natural improvement over time

however one very different thing i noticed about the loaner is that at a stop/light, the minute i take my foot of the gas it would drop rpm and gen slow down quite rapidly (as is normal) and the car would not move forward much. However with my MDX even when I come to a complete stop, the MDX still seems to take a few secs extra in revving down (and in fact keeps moving several feet on a flat road after a dead stop i.e. even if I press the brakes fully and then let go). This seems like a small distance but on a route with lots of stops this can make a big difference

i tried asking the local acura guys whether there was a way to adjust the settings to have a normal/rapid slow down when one takes ones foot of the gas but they didn;t seem to know how to do so or whether this was even possible.

do any others notice this with your Acura? (FYI - on a flat surface when I do a deadstop and then let go of the brake my MDX moves forward about 20 + feet easily and only after that comes to a slower crawl)

 

I have a 2010 MDX/TECH with 7500 miles. I too was disappointed at the crappy gas mileage I was getting. Before I had a 2002 MDX that got relatively good mpg in the city but of course has a much less powerful engine. Unfortunately I think it just comes down to this. Drive it very conservatively. I notice that when my wife drives it it gets considerably better numbers. Sucks cause you want to drive it hard sometimes but hey the car weighs as much as a tank, its got AWD, and has a 300HP engine. Bad bad and bad for city driving.

 

When your engine is warmed up and the car is at standstill, what is your engine RPM?

From what you said, your idle rpm needs to be double checked.

 

We were also taken back by the poor fuel economy in our 09, getting about 16-17 mpg on average. (To be fair though, our old 05 Nissan Murano had similar fuel economy.)

Honestly, fuel economy is the only negative attribute of the MDX. (sidenote: we purchased our MDX new in November 09 and have 24k on the odo, so it's fairly well broken in.)

 

Don't fret AIK. We just got a 2010 MDX Tech/Ent and our MPG experience is not that different from yours. We have 3500 miles on the car and we're still getting 15-18 MPG with mixed city, hwy. Much depends on how much hwy driving you do and if you set the car on cruise control on the hwy. Considering we also have a fully broken in 2006 RL SH AWD with a slightly smaller engine (and it is a slightly lighter car), our experience there has been 16-19 in mixed city hwy driving. It's the AWD system that kills our fuel efficiency in city driving for both the RL and MDX. We also have a RWD 4.3 liter V8 Lexus and that has better fuel efficiency than the RL and MDX in city driving so you see why I am saying the AWD is what kills us.

But given the blizzard we just had here in NJ and seeing FWD cars spin their wheels, I would not give up our SH AWD.

 

Acura advertises their cars are for people who LOVE to drive. [Read fast and sporty] Why did you buy a 300 hp four wheel drive car that weighs 4600 lbs? You want high mpg? Trade it for a Honda.

Of the 3 X's I have owned none ever saw 18mpg average. My Chevy 3500 HVY Duty 4WD 9,680 lb. utility pickup gets 11.4 mpg average. My 2009 MDX is at 13.5 on high test Sunoco fuel with 10,825 on the odometer.

 

Thanks for the responses.

- The RPM eventually drops to around 700 when fully warmed up and idling but it doesn't do so immediately. That seems to be the issue. However. not sure if this is also normal. Compared to the loaner MDX I got, it didn;t seem obvious that my MDX was consistently running at a higher RPM but definitely the "feel" of the gas pedal was much "lighter" in the loaner and when it came to a stop, it didn't lurch as forward when letting go of the brake as mine does. The only issue is that the local Acura dealers don;t really have a good sense of how to adjust idling settings. The next steps are apparently now to do test drives with an Acura person in the car and compare. A bit frustrating that the local dealers can;t run more sophisticated tests than just "lets sit in the car and drive".



- Some of the other posts mention getting low RPM as normal and/or statements like "why buy an MDX if u'r worried about low MPG". That is not the point. Of course one will get low MPG on a car like this. The issue is that one should get close to the MPG that is officially given for this car. After all that is what one bases ones buying decision on. For the 2010 MDX the rated MPG is 16 for city driving. I am getting 8! I can't imagine such a large drop simply being attributed to "you bought an MDX". Sure driving conditions may differ but not that much (unless one just is idling all the time which I am not).

- I think the honest answer is that either 1. there are potential issues with the MDX (or at least some models) esp when it comes to start-stop conditions. The EPA city tests simply don't pick this up and car manufacturers prob only care about the EPA test conditions rather more realistic "big city" driving. Or 2. Some of the MDXs out there are in fact lemons. I am tending more towards 2. As I keep mentioning, i DID get a loaner and drive the same exact route and got 30% or so better MPG. How is that possible if it's simply a "this is how MDXs are" issue?

- My advice to people who are getting just as bad city MPG is to raise this with Acura. If there is a real problem, it would be good to have people contact Acura so they know this is an issue that needs to be looked into. What I find amazing is that in most posts I had seen previously people claimed average 18 MPG or higher. It's only in response to an explicit post saying one is getting 8 that one sees similar responses. So either the 8 MPG in city guys are a real minority or for some reason they don't typically post on these fora. Either is a problem.

- Btw if anyone out there has this problem and has successfully addressed it, would be great to hear from them as well.

 

Just in case, how are you calculating your gas mileage?

 

My old GMC Envoy with a 4.2 inline 6 gave me around 16 combined. If I used the CC on the highway and stuck to the speed limit, I got as high as 23-25 mpg as long as it was flat terrain. The MDX is giving me a combined 18, higher on the highway, but not quite 23-25. Of course mine hasn't even reached 300 miles yet, so this will only improve. Still, I can't really complain about the mileage so far.

 

That's to the original poster of course>>>

 

you can see my original post on this but basically I have used both manual (fill/refill tank) and the onboard computer to do MPG checks. Both come out quite similar.

 

Glad the MDX is doing better for you. Do you have a sense of how much you are getting on the city part? Also is your city driving fairly start-stop as it say would be in Boston?

 

I have 2010 honda pilot 4wd with 11,000 miles. during 11,000 miles, overall avg mpg is 20.1. best was 21.3 mpg. 99 % highway. I don't drive local. So I don't know the city mpg.

VCM doesn't help.. but yea. I am happy with 20-21 mpg on my pilot. I make sure I have 32- 34 psi for the tires.

 

I don't like the idea VCM, I find it to be a poor gimmick

 

Thanks. Will try not to fret but 8 MPG does seems pretty weird.

My average of 50-50 city(boston)- Hwy is 13- would been happier to get 15-18.
a couple of questions:
- Do you ever get as low as 8 MPG in city driving. Just trying to see whether in a normal start-stop boston-like city setting are others getting 8 MPG.
- Did you see any significant difference in MPG over time? Several people mention that but still not sure whether that really happens (and why?)

do agree with u that really value the AWD and can see why that would affect MPG. the question is just if a 50% drop in MPG (MDX rated at 16 for city, I get 8) is sensible or not given I drive fairly normally though though have somewhat more start-stops than the city EPA tests have.

 

yes. vcm suck. well I didn't buy pilot for mileage. pilot is more roomy, 3rd row seat, and VTM-4 system. it did well in major snow storm.

I always beat EPA estimate. but with the Honda engine, it is very hard to achieve 22 mpg.

If you want better mpg, I will check the following.
check battery voltage. 12.6 - 12.8 v is good.
tire pressure. 32-34 psi.
check the alignment.
use top tier gas. I always use chevron.
long trip of 40 miles or more. I warm up my car well. according to manual, honda engine are more efficent when the car is fully warmed up.

I follow those kind of procedure. My 2006 camry V6 is now 203,845 miles. 0 major problem. avg mpg is 30-33. car running like new.
so I expect some from Honda too.

 

This is for you AIK: we had just filled the gas tank last Friday and my Trip A in the computer resets everytime we tank up. We then drove in stop and go traffic uphill and downhill in the Fort Lee, Palisades Park NJ area. And after let's say 8 or 9 miles of this stuff, my Trip A read 8 MPG !!! But after a few more days of driving including a short hwy drive home to Essex County and mostly flat level city roads, we are now creeping up to 13 mpg.

I would take the EPA rating with a pinch of salt. I was pretty disappointed in how my RL with SH AWD would gulp fuel when I had a short commute that needed me to go up two steep hills everyday. Felt like I was getting gas every four or five days despite a really short commute. But when I took the RL on an 800 mile roadtrip recently (98% hwy), I got 25+ mpg which is in line with ( or better than ??) EPA Hwy estimates for that SH AWD car. And I did floor it to overtake people now and then and I was not doing 60 mph for all 800 miles.

So I am sorry ( for you and me) to see 8 mpg on our MDX's for a stop n go city driving style. I'll just use my six year old V8 RWD Lexus for the daily commute (weather permitting) and the MDX will be the family hauler for road trips. We might take the MDX on a trip to VT for MLK weekend so I will report back on how our relatively new X does on a longer roadtrip with mostly highway driving.

Please keep us posted on what the dealer does for you on your mpg issue.

 

8mpg?

Are you sure your not looking at average miles per trip to the stores?

 

Hi Aik,
how about I trade my 2010 pilot ex-l awd for your mdx?? just playing...

I never been to boston... but I expect the city you live in have alot of traffic and cars...

I have an idea.. how about you drive your mdx around 2 am or something.. same route you usually drive.. and find out the city mpg...

 

lmao you shouldn't buy an MDX if you have fuel economy concerns. This car's fuel consumption is low ONLY in highway cruising. Due to its heavy weight for an average speed of 13mph i would estimate 10-12 mpg since the car is probably in gear 1 or 2.

 

Thanks for the tests - reassuring but depressing to see the same bad MPG for start and stop (although my route is totally flat - just have 9 stops in 2.5 miles).

Will keep you posted on what happens with the dealer. Please do let me know if you run any further tests as well. Also do you notice whether the car moves forward 20 ft plus even when u come to a full stop and then just release the foot brake - I am increasingly thinking that is the issue which is why start-stop MPG is bad

 

As I have said before the issue is not fuel economy - obviously it will be worse. The issue is why is it SO MUCH worse then what the city ratings are. As you say I can imagine dropping from a rated 16 MPG in city to say 10-12 but I am getting 8. And I HAVE driven a loaner on the same route and got close to 10/11.

 

That's a good idea - did drive it in lighter afternoon traffic but will try a late night trip as well

 

Why not, why shouldn't the guy be concerned if his vehicle is getting half the mpg most here would get?

 

Hi - I got 2009 MDX (base/used) just about couple months back with 17K on it.

My trip from home to work and back is about 8 miles (both ways) and yes it really stop and go with no more then 40miles at any point (I generally drive on south van dorn and duke streets). I wanted to test my mileage purely on this city drive (no. of stops and go) so last week filled up my tank on Sunday and for 5 days I only drove on this route. My computer shows about 11.8-12.2 MPG (is it too low)

Now last weekend I drove on I495 and 267W and the numbers went up to 22/23 (total of 70 miles drive)

So, does that mean miles really go down when you drive in city and that too stop and go and do my numbers look alright


Thanks

 

I have 2010 Advance with 9K. Trip B (rarely reset) = 18.1. Trip A (resets with fill up) = 18.2. H =70% C = 30%.
Remember, if you brake you just threw gas away.

 

LMAO - Some folks just think they are entitled to everything under the Sun but have no such entitlements to when brains were given out.

Very Interesting ...
But I do get 15.8 - 16 City MPG {50% plus / 50% premium} with my new '11 MDX per trip computer. I guess I need to drive real fast and sporty to be in the average gas class.
Also try some manual calcuations and when I got more than 1000 miles on her.

 

Just got 19.6 on my last tankful and I have never seen worse than 16.

 

I'm right on with some other previous posts, 13-14 city / 18-19 highway.

 

I recently traded in my 2009 MDX with 22k on it for a 2011 MDX Tech.
Although I've less than 400 miles on it, it seems to be showing 16mpg whereas by 2009 MDX was averaging 20 mpg. This is a huge difference. 2009 was rated as 15-20 mpg while 2011 is rated at 16-21 mpg. I'm not sure what's going on - I'll wait a while to see if it improves.

 

does the MDX take premium fuel? how much does a full tank cost?