Averaged 27.0 mpg on 700 mile trip to and from DC this week. Ran 70 - 75 mph on I-85 and I-95. Limited town driving (used Metro subway for trips from Alexandria and DC). Two people and trunk full of luggage. Beats the heck out my 02 RL's gas mileage which usually got about 21.5 mpg in similar highway driving. My 06 RL gets better highway mileage than our 06 RX 400h hybrid. Ran premium (93 octane) 100% time in both RLs.

It is nice to reduce one's carbon footprint while still having a powerful car with all wheel drive! I attribute the better road gas mileage to the five speed transmission's much higher overdrive aspect and improved aerodynamics (frontal design and undercar airflow tricks). Any other former 1st generation RL owners with similar experiences about how much better their 2nd gen is on gas mileage?

 

I am pretty impressed with the RLs balance of performance, economy and ULEV2 impact for a heavy sedan.

As often as the RL gets hammered by competitors with faster acceleration, more torques, etc, I rarely see those competitors offerering the same balance of performance/economy/emmissions. But the market is very competitive and those numbers are closer than I would ever notice in my day to day driving.

But again, this is what Honda excels at, striking balance. It is also what it is mostly criticized for, being conservative.

 

Highway mileage in the RL is phenomenal for a car this size, for me around 27-29 mpg on point-to-point freeway trips. I don't spare the leather either. Around town it's pretty dismal--15-16 or so in stop-and-go driving on surface streets.

Overall fuel economy at 6,000 on the clock has been 20.5 mpg. That's with Chevron Supreme 91 octane and the occasional tank of 89 mid-grade. Same mileage, same acceleration with the cheaper stuff. (I already got flamed thoroughly on another thread for skimping on fuel, so save your keystrokes.)

 

Just one of my observation, during highway driving, if you keep the car between 70-75, you will get the most milage, with this speed, the rpm will be just a tad above 2000. Drive it slower than that speed or with a much lower rpm and the milage suffers.

 

Apparently, the car is geared to cruise at 70-75 then, huh?

My first car (1985 Totota Corolla GT-S Twin-Cam 16 AE86) going 70mph revved at 4,000RPM. People asked why I was hanging-out in 3rd gear on the highway.

 

I got 28-29 average on a 500 mile round trip to Virginia Beach. At one time, the MID stated I was averging 30.1 MPG. I was doing 70-80 MPH. Best I have ever seen since owning my RL. I wished I could get this in the city driving...which for me, I'm averging 17-18 MPG.