Hey guys, what kind of gas mileage are you getting on your RLs?

 

I get 27 on the highway.

 

been many threads on this
I get 19 combined with commute being about half freeway half city
I've never gotten above 25 on trips with 70+ driving
my instant reads about 25 at 70mph and goes down as I speed up to about 20mpg at 80mph

 

The RL can get very impressive mileage. Keep in mind it is a heavy AWD sedan and will show it's weight in city driving and heavy foot driving. But with some finesse, you can get decent mileage.

In pure city driving I get 18mpg.
Mixed 50/50 driving I get 23-23.5mpg.
Pure highway, for the full tank with cruise on 70 mph I got 29mpg.

I notice an avg 1mpg improvement in summer (with AC always on). I assume that is due to summer fuel grades. Or maybe in winter with AC off and windows down is a drop of 1mpg due to drag? Moot.

Keep in mind 09 RLs have the 3.7L engine, more torque a little more HP and slightly lower mpg.

Fuel wise I have found the best mileage with Shell and BP (most expensive in my market) and worst with Hess (cheapest in my market). I only use 93 Premium (no 91 in my area). I believe all now have up to 10% ethanol.

Of course local gas mixtures, climate, and even road surfaces can vary mileage even if all RLs were equipped, weighted and driven exactly the same.

YMMV.

 

Tampa - I'm in Calif, premium is 91. Wonder if that explains the difference. Using cruise control at 70mph hits exactly 25mpg for me on very flat highway.

 

Remarkably consistent 18 - 19 around town and almost always right at 28 for pure highway driving although I did hit 30 for an extended time (probablyhad a tailwind) a few months ago. Never got 31 for other than short periods though.

LL

 

From what I understand, anything over 91 octane offers no benefit to the engine or performance...and is simply burned off.

Since I have not found 91 at my local stations, I only use 93. My cross state trip which yielded 29mpg was run on my OEM Michelins at 36PSI front and 34 PSI rear.

I would suspect most of the difference might have been the sum of tires, tire pressure, road surfaces, humidity, and cargo weight. Unless a side by side controlled comparison could be made, it is not unrealistic to have such variances.

 

Many, many, many threads on this.

I had 16-17 mpg in city/mixed driving but I liked the loud pedal because of my exhaust. On pure freeway trips, I had 24-26 mpg. I was reasonably satisfied with the mileage.

 

Do I detect a little sensitivity?

Perhaps 13mpg on the CTS-V is diluting the torque thrill as premium gas is again vaulting $3 / gallon?

 

23 mixed city/highway
29 highway

 

Those are not bad numbers. I am considering an RL. I do mostly city driving, 2 miles commute to work and a few trips here and there so I figure I'll probably get 16-18.

 

Yep, close to 29 on hwy with cruise set to 70

About 20 around town

 

18 mpg: city driving mixed with sprints on the hwy, it's either 30 or 80.

 

14mpg combined in New York w/intake, 12 without.

80+ on highway = 23mpg

 

LOL! You are a bad, bad, bad man.

And I'm getting 15 mpg now that the engine is broken in at 7k miles.
The V's biggest gas problem is not mileage, it's the itty bitty gas tank. It needs another gallon, STAT! It has 18 gallons, while the RL has 19.4 gallons. As a consequence, I have to refill after 240-250 miles. Then again, the V is not a car you buy for gas efficiency, LOL!

 

I cannot wait to see the repercussions from you if / when I move to another brand.....

But that itty bitty gas tank is part of the CTS-V 'efficiency' strategy. A larger fuel tank means more weight...less efficiency. And by burning off fuel faster, it gets lighter....making it more fuel efficient!

 

25.8 Highway/City

 

im thinking if we fill our tanks half way, it might increase mileage due to weight. what do you guys think? 10 gallons is plenty to get around. so basically, 85 pounds lighter.

 

23.5 mixed city/hwy. Thrilled for an AWD!!!

 

Too true my friend.

Kudos to you guys getting 20+ mph in mixed hwy/city driving, I was never able to pull that off in my RL.

 

Some of us have control over our right foot.

 

13mpg city....

 

My mileage averages are down, and I think it's the "winter gas" we get. Anyway, I'm getting 19.1-19.6 mpg on the tank, and I fill up when the idiot light tells me to. On the freeway, locked in at 70mph, I typically average 30mpg; at 80mph it's 24mpg -- both on the flats.

 

driving 70mph on cruise...it's a crazy idea but it just might work. I'll try that sometime.

 

My MPG averages went down too. I do not want to blame it on my new 18" wheels/tires combo (the new set is only ONE pound heavier than stock), yet i do not really know what else could be the reason. I hope, i really hope it is the 'winter' gas.

ON my stock 17" wheels/tires....i was getting 20-22MPG around town ALL the time without molesting the gas pedal. On the freeeway, i was easily getting 25-26MPG with speeds 70-85mph (no cruise control). I went all the way to 28-29mpg a few times.

With my new 18" wheel/tire set ... i have them on the car for 2 months now.
Around town - 18-19MPG at best.
Freeway - 20-23MPG at best. (no cruise control).
With cruise control (@70mph)...i can get 25mpg or a bit better.

Ideas?

 

new tires might have rolling resistance, for example if you took the touring MXM4's off and replaced them with something performancy.

 

I did replace the stock MXM4's with better, more performance oriented tires - Continental ContiExtreme DWS. I am not an expert on tires and rolling resistance force but i did not expect a more aggressive tire to cause such drop in MPG (2MPG +).

 

Performance tires are made for better grip. Softer rubber compounds make them 'stickier' and as a result create greater friction. Further, they tend to wear faster.

The OEM MXM4s are have harder compounds and tend to be louder, and perform less (as far a grip) but Honda favors these Michelins due to typically longer wear (for modest drivers) and less rolling resistance, producing better mileage / efficiency.

Finding the right balance may differ from what the manufacturer is targeting and what individual drivers favor.

 

With tire pressure at 33 front and 31 rear I get around 20-22 mpg with 50/50 city/highway driving during the summer. The mileage drops during the winter by about a mile/gallon. On a recent long trip to NC I got about 27 mpg pure highway driving.

 

I never did better than 17 MPG combined in suburban NJ. It was one of the main reasons I got rid of the RL after my lease was up, because a modern sedan with a V6 shouldn't be drinking Premium that heavily.

 

unless you floor it off the line everytime, with normal driving it should get around 19-20mpg....

 

Today I show 17.5 mpg for my crappy stop and go commute.

24 mpg driving to NY to visit my brother.

 

How long was your commute?