Darmc96

My wife had mine for 3 days and 70-ish miles of her 5 miles to day care, 7 miles to work, 2 miles to the store, 2 miles home, starting and stopping the car over and over and the trip computer said 14.5mpg. that type of commute is going to log you at the low end of the city range for this rig for sure.

af145

That's still not 13... and it dropped further to 11.8 after one more refuel. The standard sticker says 14-20 for most drivers in the city. How many total miles do you have? Maybe my engine is not yet "broken into"?

Just curious: is CX-7 behaving the same way?

buxtons

I dont know but that sure doesnt seem right. I could be wrong as it does happen from time to time, but I think you may have a problem mechanically or even in the computer that does the mpg.

Darmc96

Oh yah. Our CX-7 lifetime is averaging 16.1 MPG. On tanks when my wife was not doing any weekend driving and driving in just that around town pattern, we have seen as low as mid 12's.....

Keep in mind, my wife isn't going short distances stop and go like you are, which would make matters even worse. She is at least able to move faster than 10 MPH while she is doing those short commutes. Massive stop and go will kill any car's mileage. My wife's old Mazda 6 averaged 20 MPG which was under the city mileage stated by EPA (though under the old system). It was a non turbo 4 cyl... I honestly don't think it is THAT out of line, and it may get better as you do break it in. My MPG increased a bit as things got broken in. I am still only at 6000 miles....

af145

I called the dealership. The mechanic was very friendly and suggested two things.

1. Change the gas station -- they may be watering down the gas. He said that an average U.S. gas station has a gallon of water per 17 gallons of fuel. The guys I'm using just might be worse than average. He said I won't feel that extra water in the car's performance, but the mileage would decrease.

2. Bring the car for a checkup. It would be free under warranty -- I checked. However, he was really doubtful that there was any problem with it, like a leak.

Now I'm debating whether to check it before or after a 300-mile trip we are planning in a week...

Madison3

After two years and 29000+ miles, my mileage has remained constant at 20 miles per gallon, or 0.05 gallons per mile. This is based on 60 percent suburban, 30 percent city, 10 percent highway.

Love my RDX!

Crag

own an 07 with 47k on the clock, mostly hwy...mpg aveerage is 22mpg....

TheWrench116

iTrader: (1)

any of you have mods????

Sailfast

09 Base second tank 21 mpg 50/50 hwy city. Pretty pleased so far

ucsmfu

http://cgi.ebay.ca/SAVE-GAS-FITS-Acu...1%7C240%3A1318

does this help ??

JGard

Since the last oil change, I'm seeing about 17.5mpg, probably more city than highway, though. I have the CPE intake as the only "mod" and about 15k miles on the car total.

Still loving the car, though, but the fuel mileage has definitely dropped lately...I was used to seeing more like 19-20mpg average...but I also may be driving fewer highway miles than before.

wspy

With only short trip island city driving, i'm seeing 16.1mpg without stomping on it allot.
Otherwise it would be giving me about 13mpg!!

ucsmfu

my last tank I'm getting about 450km, city driving, just don't turbo it much and it's all good, hopefully i'll be able to get close to 500km after i install intake and atlp catback :P

vrflyer

Mine's finally dropped off from around 21mpg and settled to 19.5mpg (all city driving) after couple oil changes and I'm at almost 20K on the ODO.

Samdog-1

Well, it helps the seller buy gas for his cars.

Rexorg

At 9,500 now on the odometer I am getting around 25-26 at 55-60 mph. Above that it's 22.1 at the best. City driving seems to be around 18-19 tops.

shendley

I have had my 2007 RDX for 2 years and have 21k miles on it. Mileage around town is 18-19mpg and on highway is 22mpg average. I think that it would do better on the highway, but the interstate between AZ and CA is 70-75mph and the 4 cylinder turbo gets a little thirsty at those speeds. At 65mph it would probably do better than 22mpg. Also, the RDX has been entirely trouble free for the 2 years, great car, fun to drive.

MILBO

We debated this allot on the Element forum I am a member of. I have found that where you live/how you drive can GREATLY affect your mileage. Now that I can see mileage averages...I get very good mileage on the weekends when I have a relaxing drive on the highway (21 or so mpg), however my mileage suffers greatly Monday through Friday(14.5 to 17mpg) due to the short trips back & forth to work and the hills.

STEEP

I drive fast, that's why in the city I have 11.5 MPG
At highways usually I have 22 MPG

christiefromchicago

Resurrecting this thread to say that I've had my 2008 RDX for a little over a year and I've been getting 11.5-12 mpg. Bought it used, and I'm at about 17,000 miles. I do almost all local driving - to & from school and kids' activities - and am a pretty conservative driver. I would have expected to get better mileage than that! I do the calculating by hand, and have tried different gas stations...all with about the same result.

Could there be something wrong with the car that would affect the mpg this way?

mav238

This is definitely a seasoned discussion. If you are driving just short distances, stop and go all the time, your fuel economy is not going to be the greatest. Turbocharging is not necessarily equated to fuel economy, I don't think the RDX is tuned to be a economy vehicle, but more of a performance oriented vehicle. Thus the 2.3L turbo engine, although apparently a relatively small engine, is tuned to be peppy, turbo spooling at very low rpms. Driving conservatively does not make the RDX become a corolla fuel sipping vehicle. It is well known that stop and go traffic is the worst for fuel economy, especially when you stop the engine, and then restart again, many times a day. Think of it this way, can you expect a porsche to give anything more than 10-13 mpg while driving in town only? It is a performance vehicle, and unless it has the fuel saving feature of some engines like in the Honda V6, which shuts off some cylinders to save fuel, you will not get the economy of a corolla or civic, which is tuned specifically to save fuel.

JMHO

acura1972

im getting 20mpg so far but it's been only 3 weeks since i had my vehicle... 80% highway, 20% city... im actually happy with this... [i currently live downtown - subway or walk when i need to move within downtown, hence why i have more highway driving]


eventually, when i move to the burbs, i expect around 7kms/liter (16mpg) in my stop and go city + highway driving to the burbs -- prolly 50/50 mix... realistic?

just to make you guys feel better, my dad (who lives in southeast asia) gets 6km/liter (14mpg) in his 2009 toyota camry in 100% city driving (a 10km drive sometimes take 1-1.5 hrs depending on traffic)... so the rdx is "reasonable" in this regard...

markmass

My fuel economy has dropped to ~17.5 mpg since I've started driving in the city almost exclusively (Silicon Valley). That's with virtually no highway miles.

I was up at 20 mpg before.

RMR

Our '07 RDX Tech has 30,700 miles and for the past 8,500 miles we have been averaging about 17.1mpg. Though the majority of of the time the RDX is driven in heavy Chicago traffic into the downtown Loop for work from Northside Chicago.

sublime1

I've had my '07 RDX Tech for 2 weeks and I'm avg ~ 17mpg with a lot of the highway miles in stop and go. I've heard and read the reflash will up your mpg up to 20 in the city.

xsupenn

resurrecting this thread as i read that the 2010 canadian models are 8% more fuel efficient and per my computations have a rating of 20.3 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. (11.7liters/100kms and 8.7/100kms respectively). this used to be 12.5/100kms and 9.3l/100kms - an 8% improvement. in the US the mileage is 17/22 mpg on city/hwy. quite a discrepancy (20-25% more)

i have a 2010 model, just wondering if the US also has that 8% fuel efficiency improvement that is advertised in canada (maybe the canadian models are already reflashed? - eg see Previous post @17mpg but potentially increasing to 20mpg)?

im currently averaging 17mpg in my 2010 awd on 100% suburban driving. i guess this is normal considering ive only driven slightly over 800 miles?

thanks for your insights

greyghost04

My 2010 just hit 6k miles. I never reset the 'B' mileage from day one and it just turned 19mpg. Now keep in mind tha would include the low mileage from the engine break-in time.

Let's say we average about 20mpg. What do you expect? This is a bigger vehicle than a car. It's blazingly fast if you ask it to be. Do you think it's going to get 27mpg? No way. If you owned a SUV before the RDX you probably think the mileage is great. If you coming from a Corolla, you think it sucks. I wonder what the mileage is in a MDX? I'd bet 2-3 less than us. I'm happy whenever a tank of gas ends up around 20mpg (I have my computer reset at every tank refill). This isn't a Prius and I knew that when I bought it. It's a fast CUV with incredible sports car handling.

mrgold35

I've notice if I drive the RDX with the RPMs not exceeding about 2300-2500 I can get around 19.5-20.5 mpg in city driving (areas where the speed limits are under 45 mph). Anything above 2500 rpms and the turbo starts to spool up and mileage drops. I still keep up with traffic and I usually get up to the posted speed limited without slowing traffic behind me.

One added benefit is when I drive without using the turbo in the city, I use the brake less. Sometimes a quick tap to downshift is enough to slow me down. When I drive “normal”, my mileage is about 17-18 mpgs.

phoward_15

I'm coming up on the my RDX's 2nd anniversary this month. I can't believe she's growing up so quickly! I have about 24,000 miles on the car and I'm averaging about 20mpg. I would say that's 65% city and 35% highway. When it's highway it's usually trips over 2 hours. I have seen 21-22mpg on long highway trips but that's about it. I've been really happy with the mileage. I didn't buy the car because of the "gas savings" it was going to give me...I bought it because I loved it!

PearlyWhite07

Averaging about 19, but I try not to push it TOO often

BigHatch

mileage schmilage....

i like to enjoy driving it...

xsupenn

17mpg vs 20 mpg is still quite a diff no?

i agree 27mpg is definitely UNrealistic, but that's what it was rated by the "authorities" in Canada (talk about truthful advertising, and yet the FDA keeps "harrasing" drug co's for false advertising LOL). at least in the US it is more "realistic" at 17/22mpg - hence i was wondering if honda/acura advertised this 8% more fuel efficient in the US for the 2010 model.

anyhow, i guess you had your way of breaking in your engine (via low mileage) but in my case, i broke it in via highway driving but varying my rpm's (yes, thankfully it was a clear road lest i look like a dufus doing so LOL)- first 200 miles was highway driven. no redlining of course. to each his own on that front. besides i dont think there is really a "break in" on city roads only these days as per the owners manual - just following certain things like no full throttle, hard starts/stops, no redlining.

the 17mpg im referring to is 100% suburban driving that i get these days (not my highway mpg during "break in" - averaged 22mpg during that time). hence realistically, i am within the US specs, and i just wonder if we got an 8% boost in the US on fuel efficiency (which the CAnadians got). just curious, nothing else.

thanks for your insights guys.

xsupenn

ok this makes sense. thanks mrgold!

xsupenn

good point too! that's why we all got the RDX. let er rip then!

Techgirl

I've had my RDX for a little over a month. So far, my average lifetime mileage is 22.4 mpg. My best single tank mileage is 23.3. My worst is 21.9. I drive mostly highway. I usually run around 75MPH.

elcheapo

dont worry about your mileage - looks within the norm. on your question, personally i think the Canadians have been duped by mktg/misinformation. True, i read in their website that the gear programming btwn 4/5th have been changed hence the fuel economy (+ whatever % in 2010 model), but 27mpg in highway? I dont even know if any Canadians have experienced that or really believe that mpg in their driving. besides, we get the ipad much earlier and cheaper than them. haha

jkuras

I feel like I need to chime in here ... even though this has been discussed to death ...

So I've had my 2010 AWD RDX for 3 months now. Fuel econ was a bit of concern before I took the plunge, simply because there are so many widely varying reports out there. I've read people claiming anywhere from 12 mpg city to 30 mpg hwy. I think all these reports are true.

After 3 months driving the car in all kinds of conditions, I say the biggest factor affecting the fuel econ is going to be your own personal driving habits and routines. 17/22 is a pretty good estimate, but the mileage can vary a great deal either way. I'd say overall I'm getting more like 16/24.

If the weather is sub-freezing and I make short trips, not giving the engine much time to warm up, with lots of stop lights (meaning lots of dead starts requiring turbo to get up to speed), I'm going to get horrible mileage (13 mpg at my lowest). I think stop lights are the biggest killer for mileage in this car (and probably most cars) ... as opposed to stop-and-go traffic, where I'm typically just taking my foot on and off the brake and occasionally giving a little gas (minus turbo). So people living/working in cities with lots of lights I think are going to have it the worst.

If I am cruising the highway at a pedestrian 55 mph, not abusing the turbo, I get fantastic mileage (27 mpg at my highest, over a 20+ mile stretch). At ~65 mph I get about 24 mpg.

Even at higher speeds and abusing the turbo, I have not seen it dip below 21 on the highway. I managed to average ~85 mph during one 20 mile stretch and got 22 according to the MID.

One time on a 25 mile empty stretch of country backroad, I managed to cruise at 45 mph and got 30+ mpg. I couldn't believe it myself -- almost wanted to take a picture! This was a rare situation as I had very little traffic and stops to deal with, and was really trying to conserve to see how high I could get the econ.

All these numbers come from my MID, but I do the math when I fill up and the numbers are usually within 1 mpg. I didn't take any 'instant readings' for the above; I always put a good number of miles (20+) on it after trip reset before looking at the MID to get a more accurate estimate.

I guess what all this boils down to is ... take all mileage reports with a grain of salt. 17/22 is a decent ballpark estimate for the AWD RDX. If 20 mpg overall scares you, maybe you should shop for something else. But you're not going to know the mileage for sure until you drive the car yourself (same as any other car).

mrgold35

+1

RkFast

You know what ended my concerns about the mileage? When I saw what the "gold standard" of CUVs, the Subaru Outback, manages only slightly better. In fact, compared to most other small SUVs, the RDX is a bit on the back end of the average, but still in line with what similar vehicles manage.

calcio22

With summer gas now in the tanks again, I'm back up to about 20mpg with 75% city and 25% highway.