Tha

I recently purchased a 2019 Acura RDX A-Spec, and the fuel economy is horrible! While I am 100% driving in the city, 17.8L/100KM (13.21MPG) is insane for a 2.0L 4 cylinder. I have only driven the vehicle in comfort, been cautious of my behaviour, and used 91 gas.

How are all your experiences with the fuel economy? At this point I am concerned that something is wrong with my vehicle.

anoop

Can you say more about what you mean by city driving? In suburban driving (lots of lights but moving at 30-50 mph between lights), I get about 20 mpg. How much do you get on the highway at 65-70 mph? Your type of mpg would be normal if you're driving with lots of lights and averaging 20 mph between lights (i.e. heavily congested traffic). Do you run with AIS (auto idle stop) enabled? That may add 1 mpg.

russianDude

I get 25-26 mpg on highway

RDX10

If your driving involves a lot of stop and go heavy traffic then what you're seeing is pretty normal unfortunately. However if that is a lot of suburban or even some highway then I would say something isn't quite right.

knakane

My lifetime MPG average from Oct '18 through current is 21.67

CSV of fuel data HERE

ELIN

An oil change might help but for 100% city driving, 13 mpg is not far off.

You don't get Acuras for fuel economy! Have you considered a hybrid or EV?

Baldeagle

Nothing wrong. Normal for SH-AWD is 3-4 mpg less than EPA. And if you are on boost regularly, it will be worse.

RDX10

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing this! Yours is an A-Spec as well?

supafamous

2019 A-Spec AWD here - I'm 90-95% city driving with a lot of short trips (<5km) and get around 16L/100km. On the highway I can just manage to get under 10L/100km doing about 120kph.

leomio2.0

If you don't need the "oomph" of the 2.0T, I'd dump it and go with the CR-V hybrid. Very nice car. I test drove one and the dealer wouldn't budge from sticker (initially wanted ADM) and wouldn't match CarMax on my trade-in on my RDX. It's quite nice just putting around town, but I'd probably hate myself after a while with how anemic the power is. If you don't mind, it might be something to consider. You could easily double your gas mileage.

quikj

This has been my experience with my '23 A-Spec Advance. I get ~14.5 mpg in city stop and go traffic. I can stretch it to just over 16 mpg with a very light foot in Comfort and Auto Stop/Start engaged.

anoop

The seats in the CR-V are pretty bad.

RDX10

It's posts like these that really make me question if I want an RDX. I personally am IN LOVE with the exterior and interior styling of the 3G RDX but that surpringly terrible city fuel economy given the weight is very concerning to me. I completely recognize that SH-AWD is "always on" but damn that is some seriously disappointing mileage. That 2G Q5 with 23MPG+ city (personally experienced this and better when I had one as a loaner while the Q7 was in for maintenance) is starting to look more appealing.

ELIN

For your consideration…

RDX10

I'm not sure what I'm looking at friend. What vehicle is this from?

anoop

If it’s an RDX I have to ask if all the trips were downhill.

supafamous

With a 100kph tailwind.

RDX10

Lmao or off a cliff for that matter

Fixed that for you haha

ELIN

It’s an X3 xDrive30i. Pricing is not far off from A-Spec/Advance!

ELIN

Here's a recent trip (I haven't seen fuel econ this good since my tiny '97 Sentra). I just barely passed a quarter tank of gas on this trip!

In trips to NYC, I average about 22-23 mpg. The 4-cylinder has either matched or exceeded EPA estimates and this is quite common w/BMW!

leomio2.0

I actually recently checked my CID for the MPG and my gas mileage actually went up to a whopping 22.7MPG! I was actually quite excited. This is doing about 70% highway. I wonder if we can get it up past 23 ... prior to this, the car was always hovering in the 20.x-21.x range.

Slowing down certainly has helped. I used to be a chronic 75-80MPH driver. Now I'm usually at 65-70MPH.

Legend2TL

Nice!, that's good analysis there!

Something seems off with your RDX, Car & Driver got 26MPG (same as the EPA) with their testing. I'd suggest getting it checked out by a Acura dealer.

https://www.caranddriver.com/acura/rdx

Quote:

Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG

ELIN

Car and Driver's route averaged 75-mph on a highway so of course 26 mpg is achievable. Note that 100% city driving is not addressed in the review nor does C&D have a route for it.

The OP's concern is with city driving. Although it's on the lower side, I didn't disbelieve it because I have prior experience being well south of the EPA city estimate with my prior MDX and TLX.

Only experience w/multiple brands tells you if EPA estimates are achievable. I'd hate to be an Acura owner all my life and not know the grass is definitely greener on the "other side" for fuel economy!

leomio2.0

Acura was my first dip into the "premium" car market, and it only reinforced my preconceived notion that these cars aren't "worth it." The only reason I did was for the engine.

The TLX-S definitely tickles my fancy in many ways, but it's a complete dud in the performance department, at least for what I'm looking for in my next car. The M3 has always been a "bucket list" car for me ever since High School. I still don't particularly like the front end, but the performance of the thing is unmatched. Plus, if it's a rattling shitbox of a car like Acura makes, I'll just go back to buying exclusively non-premium cars (unless I can find one with deep discounts).

Then again, even those are getting way too expensive. A CR-V Hybrid Touring is $40k!

ELIN

Most hybrids are commanding ADM so it's probably way more than $40k!

RDX10

Those are great numbers man wow! But after 2 horrible experiences with X5's in the passed I've sworn off BMW for life. I know they're not the same company today as they were when I had mine 10 years ago but burnt twice and that was enough for me.

The Q5 loaner loaner I had a couple years ago had unbelievable fuel economy. I drove it extremely hard for like 3 hours and the fuel gauge only went down half a tick! That's the type of fuel economy I expected the RDX to provide. But unfortunately doesn't look like that's ever happening.

Jmar55

FWIW, I just got back from a 2000 mile trip - I averaged 26 mpg on the interstate going 65 to 80 mph with heavy AC use burning premium.

RDX10

The RDX highway fuel economy is very acceptable IMO. The 10At, lack of SH-AWD activation, and probably lack of boost at those speeds all lends to fuel efficiency. It's the stop and go with boost activation city stuff that hurts.

HotRodW

I don't understand how Acura has fallen so far behind in efficiency. They simply aren't very competitive. Comparing the CX90 Turbo S's numbers to the MDX Type S's just leaves me scratching my head because I do not believe Mazda has has better engineers. Well, I didn't believe it. Now I'm not so sure. It doesn't matter at this point because Acura is focusing their efforts on the transition to electric power and will make little to no effort to make their ICE's more efficient.

Texasrdx21

13.21 mpg? What conditions is that in? FWD or SHawd?

Mine is a 21' RDX Aspec SHawd with 19k miles on it. Gas mileage has improved significantly after 18K miles on the clock.
The worst I ever got was 14.5mpg in -10 degrees with deep snow. Otherwise most city driving is 17-20mpg. Just took a 1,100 mile road trip and averaged 27.2mpg, going 73mph in the summer heat (93-97 degrees outside). I use regular gas, tires inflated to 38psi (cold) and have the cruise on at 73mph. I use sport mode too. A clean engine air filter is key.

Texasrdx21

Pretty similar here. I just did 1,100 R/T journey and averaged 27.2 - 27.7 mpg for the leg out and back. Super hot temps in the middle of the day (90"s) and AC on 69-70 (All windows tinted with ceramic, most noticeable improvement was doing the windshield - as that reduced the cabin heat a lot), 73mph on cruise in sport mode with regular gas. Tire pressure at 38psi, slick paint with ceramic coating and a new engine air filter. Mileage gets better after 15-17K on the clock.

It's a turbo - more time spent in "turbo spool up land", the more petrol it will consume.

Legend2TL

Not of course since the EPA average speed for it's highway mileage is only ~48MPH for it's highway test whereas C&D averaged 75MPH which is significantly higher and less fuel efficient due to probably higher engine revs, and higher rolling and aerodynamic frictions. So that tends to show the RDX is fairly conservative with it's EPA highway rating.


As for the OP, there are so many factors (speed, driving style, environmental, elevation change, engine conditions, tire pressure, traffic,.......) that affect gas mileage (city and/or highway). EPA get alot of grief (some deserved some not) for their ratings but they do a good job creating the standards and running the tests. Some media do their tests which are not necessary standards just how they drove the vehicle and the total mileage. Whereas Car & Driver got the EPA highway mileage while testing a RDX , they could only obtain 20MPG observed with their driving (I presume it was mixed) when they tested a 2022 BMW X3 M40i which is even lower than EPA city driving. Bottom line, YMMV

https://www.caranddriver.com/acura/rdx
https://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/x3
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15388892/the-truth-about-epa-city-highway-mpg-estimates/

quikj

I think everyone's definition of "city" driving is a bit different as well. I'm in Los Angeles with mostly stop and start traffic with frequent short trips.

I can see myself getting significantly better gas mileage in a city like Tampa that's more of a collection of suburbs.

Good to hear that mileage improves after awhile though. I only have 1k on mine so far.

MTB

Mostly highway driving here with my 2019 RDX A-Spec SH-AWD. Wife can get up to 26-28 mpg because she drives between 55-65. I confirmed that driving under 65 can get around 26+ mpg on the highway WITH ACC activated. I average 22-24 mpg on the highway typically between 70-80 mph WITH ACC activated (typically 24 mpg with this feature activated). City driving or driving anywhere I do not use ACC I have seen it get 18 mpg. Never experienced below 18 mpg for the average though. SoCal driving environment, so you have flats, dips and uphill mixed. ACC is always activated in heavy traffic for me, so that also helps with fuel economy.

RDX10

It's the SH-AWD. That system is super parasitic on the fuel economy. It's constantly moving power back and forth and side to side. Willing to bet the Mazda system (even in AWD) is probably RWD most of the time until slip is detected. Acura should have went sport hybrid on all their trims instead of the mechanical SH-AWD. More power, better fuel economy, and better off power handling. Win-win-win.

ELIN

So let me get this straight: you're comparing real world fuel econ vs EPA estimates b/w an RDX (4-cylinder mas market car) vs an X3 M40i (6 cylinder enthusiast car)?

Aren't you better off waiting until the RDX Type S comes out to compare it against the M40i (then it's apples to apples...or maybe not if current RDX vs xDrive30i real world fuel econ is any indication)?

Legend2TL

It was comparing what gas mileage Car & Driver got with their test cars versus EPA estimates for respective cars.

ELIN

Very interesting how you picked on the M40i instead of the 30i.

Anyway, I'll be very keen on the RDX Type S real-world fuel econ reports when it shows up. Based on the delta b/w the TLX and the TLX Type S combined fuel econ of 3 mpg, I expect the RDX Type S combined fuel econ to be in the 19-20 mpg range.

Legend2TL

Actually both are in the Car & Driver link I posted, for the 30i C&D got

ELIN

I'm surprised you would go there since plenty of 30i owners (including myself) have blown away that 22 mpg number from C&D.
What do you think RDX owners in this thread care more about, what C&D got or real ownership experience?

Here are my numbers from mixed driving (19 trips, 111 miles). If the sample size is too small, I can give an update at the end of the month!