My TL seems to guzzle gas. I'm at a quarter of a tank and only done 212 miles. Acceleration has been light enough that the car has never gone over 3500 RPM. I also set the cruise on long stretches of road in town. Also includes a 80 miles trip on the interstate. All cruise.

Is this normal? Advice?

 

When you are only checking the fuel gauge how do you know the quatity of fuel used to go the 212 miles?
Better drive the car, fill it up then do the math.
You do realize that when the distance to empty is zero, there's about 3 gallons remaining in the tank.

 

i know when i do all highway i am about 200ish miles maybe a little more and and half tank. i dont know if there is a lot of variation between cars, but what does your MID tell you, that you are getting as mpg?

have you checked your tire pressure? how many miles are on your car?

 

It's actually not that hard. I know the odometer when the tank was full, and I subtract it from the current miles = 212. Simple.

 

I haven't looked at the MID. Brand new tires. Just bought it two days ago. '07 CPO with 32k.

 

If it's so simple how many gallons did you use to divide into the 212 miles to determine that the mileage is poor?
Just the mileage, sorry but that is rediculous. That's like saying I ususally use a 1/2 tank a week now I'm using 3/4.
If you're looking at just the mileage and not doing a calculation, my suggestion is to keep driving until you run out then of gas, look at the mileage and divide by 17.09.

 

I'm looking at the projected range. According to Fuel Economy.gov, you should get 325 miles per tank. That equates to 19 MPG. Unless the last quarter of a tank is magical, I'll probably dry out the tank at 265 = 15.5. Their range numbers are assuming you're doing pure in town driving. 40% of this tank has been on the interstate doing 78 with the cruise on. Short of a Jeep, every car I've ever driven has gotten the max MPG's on the interstate with cruise on.

 

Seems like your getting really good gas milage? I am about 150 miles on half a tank.. but i drove a lot of city driving yesterday. This morning I got about 30MPGs heading to work. Stuck it at 60mph .. not bad.. considering this a V6.

 

i agree with turbonut, that the best way to find out if your mpg has dropped is to do the calculation. however, if your driving pattern and style has not changed and you are getting less miles for a full tank, then that could be an indication that something is wrong.

are your new tires super sticky grip tires? if so that will definitely cause a decrease in gas mileage

 

1) Fill the fuel tank,
2) Immediately reset the MID MPG display to "0" at the gas station before putting the fuel hose back on the hanger,
3) Drive the car until the fuel gauge is close to "E,"
4) Check the MPG and average speed readings on the MID, and
5) Repeat a couple of times without resetting the MID MPG to minimize effect of fluctuating factors-- that'll tell you the car's average MPG over several tanks of fuel.
You may also want to keep a written record to confirm the accuracy of the MID-- it should be accurate within about 1 MPG.
Ignore the "remaining range" readout on the MID-- that changes depending on the car's speed immediate speed, etc.

The MPG below an average speed of 25 mph is not good-- 18-20 MPG.
The MPG above 35 mph is pretty good for a 250+ HP V6-- 26-35 MPG.

Welcome to AZ.

 

There have been soooooo many threads on this over the past month.

 

+1.

OP, the best way to calculate your gas mileage is to do what Turbonut said.

 

i'm with turbonut

total milage driven/total gallons put into tank.

02 cl-s here and I average about 25mpg mixed with 2/3 city and 1/3 highway

 

I honestly didn't bother reading it at first because it's one of 100 FE threads. As others have said, this is waaaay wrong. Do as turbonut said. Actually, the MID is extremely accurate, so much so that I don't bother doing calculations anymore. If it knows injector pulsewidth and mileage, it's accurate to within a few tenths of a mpg.

 

Mine is dead on as well.

 

My 07 TL-S avg around 290 miles per gallon while driving freeway/city around Bay Area...

I keep my 4 wheels with Nitro at 35 PSI...

I've notice don't go over 2,500 RPM, and not above 80 MPH

I manage to get the best fuel economy when driving extensive hours at aroun 75 MPH whenever I go to LA...

 

OP got owned.

 

I take it you mean per tank.

 

Sorry, but not to belabor the point, problem is, how many gallons to get to the 290? Filled before the low fuel light is on, filled when the low fuel light illuminates, filled at zero miles until empty, filled after driving after zero miles until empty. Each situation will yield a vastly different MPG.

 

Yes, per tank...

I always fill my tank full... and let it run till almost empty, like 1 or 2 gallons left...

Same as above...

 

Then considering your driving habits, the fuel mileage isn't too good. If 1 gallon remaining after a 290 mile drive, you're only seeing 18 MPG, and if 2 gallons remained, that would yield only 19 MPG. Guess I can't let it die.

 

On my 700 mile trip home from MN to MI, after purchasing vehicle....I reset MID after filling up and it is accurate. I did the calculations to support out of habit and averaged 29-31 MPG HWY. I have to make better use of 6th gear, as I'm not used to it.

I have noticed that this TL does not do as well when mixed with city/aggressive driving.

I need to mellow out on the gas pedal and do a true cruise fuel mileage run through a couple tanks, since most of my work commute is HWY. I'll report back.

 

Exhaust and PCD's helped. I stopped having to mash the pedal to hear the engine and enjoy it... now it sounds awesome when I lightly accelerate. But even driving conservatively, pre and post PCD, there was an improvement of gas mileage when I got rid of those cats. I was never able to get above 35 mpg on a cruise, but I was able to get 41 on the MID on a nice mostly flat road doing about 50 after the XLR8 base and PCD.

 

I average around 300miles = 12.5gallons of gas.

 

dont accept 35 psi as what the tire actually needs for proper inflation
Many aftermarket low profile tires-40-45 series as example- need 40-42psi

look at the tires listed max cold pressure at max WEIGHT
determine ACTUAL car weight on each tire- subtract percentage of weight below max from pressure--so if there is 80% max weight, subtract 20% air pressure
as example my tires say 50 cold max- -20% =10psi= 40psi
then play with it as needed-
42 was the final number that gets even temps across the tire, as measured with infrared temp guage after a freeway run and fun roads fun.
thats when its perfect~

a few psi can equal a few mpg
New tires- as asked before--sticky??
most anything is stickier than stock tires,, unless you bought 80kmile tires... that are like rocks

 

also ck the basics- air filter is clean--if a few years old replace it
Seems to be more bad stuff in the air daily,,construction dust kills filters

good time to replace the cabin air filter too

alignment is another mileage killer= if the car is trying to split itself in half,, or collapse in on itself

 

I agree with you on the alignment and inflation but a dirty air filter will have no effect on mpg.

I recently got the car fixed after having the front toe off by nearly 4 degrees. You can actually tell that the car coasts farther when you let off the gas. Haven't taken it on a good highway cruise yet but I have a feeling I picked up a few mpg since mine was extremely off.

Different tires can be very different. In the same size, my old BFG G-force Sports needed 42psi for best wear and performance.

With my NT05s, 32-33psi is the best for both wear and performance. If it goes higher than 37psi, traction takes a major dip.

 

I own a 2004 Acura TL - Base automatic.
Driving from my house to a rental house in Gatlinburg TN. I used just over 11.26 gallons of gas and drove 561.25 miles. This equates to 49.85 mpg. Most of the drive was highway averaging 73mph with AC auto running. These cars get excellent fuel mileage if you can keep you foot out of it and keep it well maintained.
I do know that oil, Tire Pressure, Alignment, Fuel type and weight all are factors in fuel mileage. I made sure that the days leading up to the trip I cleaned the car inside and out removing any uneccessary junk, mounted new tires, and had the car alignment done. I also had the oil changed, new fuel filter, and new air filter put in.

Also one of the things I did on the highway was draft behind an eighteen wheeler any chance i got to help take some drag off the car. Considering a good portion of this drive was done on I-81 this wasn't a problem. now i am not talking about nascar bump drafting but close enough to feel a difference in the car.
(And for you guys that dont believe that this will work please look up the Mythbusters Episode that answered this very guestion. Now the gains werent huge but following an 18 wheeler did reduce drag and allow to pick up about 2-3 mpg.) so all in all if you take care of your car and dont mash the go petal it is very easy to get 600 miles on a tank of gas.

I will be driving to Holden beach in a few weeks and will try to document the trip with pictures and really test my MPG. This trip is only 435.67 miles but I should be able to see similar results. Once again I will be doing a pre trip inspection and making any necessary repairs and adjustments.

It will be interesting to see what difference there is now since I have added a few modifications and changed the tire size & wheel diameter added an AEM V2 air intake, and removed the weather tech sunroof visor. I am hoping to have the new exhaust and window tint installed before the trip. Then the only mod left is Body kit , lowering and diving into the motor a little. After that just some interior upgrades and add-ons.

This actually brings up a very good question:

How many of you guys do a pre long trip routine that consists of the general maintence, cleaning, and repair?

 

Not trying to be confrontational here, but I find ~50 mpg to be a stretch. My car is immaculately maintained. I commute every day 50 miles each way. I've tested a few different MPH to determine best MPG. 64-65 on cruise control gets me 32 mpg every day like clockwork.

Even if drafting got you 5, even 8 mpg increase, you're still almost 10 away from 50mpg.

Now, I've SEEN 50mpg, but thats only when I hit the trip reset while I'm coasting down a big hill.

Most I ever got on a tank was 480+ miles last week of 95% highway miles, average 32 mpg on the tank (ok, math would say that's more like 34-35mpg, but I trust the MID).

Looking forward to more data from your upcoming trip! I'll need to get some advice from you about what I'm doing wrong.

 

You're not going to get 50mpg on level ground period.

What can easily happen is you have a slight decline, not enough to really notice but if you drive slow where wind drag is not killing you, all it takes is a very small decline to see 50mpg. There's a section of road that's about 26 miles long where my car reads >50 and you really can't tell it's slanted unless you stop and put the car in neutral.

 

Air Filter will have NOTHING to do with MPG, only performance.

Anyways, I never knew Alignment would help my MPG's, I don't think I've done one since I got my car (60k miles).

 

wow i didnt know that alignment had nething to do with gas mileage ... i should get mine checked out its been 15k miles since i got my last alignment

 

Alignment has to be pretty far off to make a measurable difference. My rear toe was off by 2 degrees and the front was off by 4 degrees. This is HUGE. All 4 tires were fighting each other when going straight down the road. It doesn't help that they're very sticky tires. That mpg was going away in the form of tire heat and wear.

 

At 70 mph, isn't about 99% of the fuel being burned to overcome air resistance? Cut the air resistance by 50%, engine does 50% less work, fuel economy doubles, no? That's how a person can ride a bike at 35 mph for hours behind a semi. Not that I'm advocating tailgating, but I think that's how those hypermiling guys do it.

 

I-81 in southwestern Virginia on into Tennessee is a hilly 4-lane superhighway which tends to carry quite a bit of traffic. I would have to see documented proof before I could accept a 500+ mile trip on any highway in the nation where a 3G TL managed nearly 50 MPG. He is right about drafting playing a role in reducing mileage, but if you don't maintain the correct distance when doing this, as in pretty close, your car will be affected by turbulence as air rushes in and swirls around to correct differences in atmospheric pressure caused by the passage of a large moving vehicle. I just don't see this happening on a highway.

 

Just got about 32 mpgs today on the freeway tailing in SF Bay Area going at 60mph. Granted it was about 85 yesterday, but I couldn't get past 32mpgs.. I'm coming from a Honda Insight first gen, which I use to get 87mpgs during my hypermilling peak period.. I think i know a thing or two about saving gas.

 

Getting into the high 30s is not uncommon for me when I set cruise to 60 or 65 on my business trips. MID photos here as proof for any naysayers and I have verified many times that my MID is accurate because it always matches my hand calculations (divide # of gallons at fill-up by miles driven from previous fill-up) pretty closely.

 

36mpg for 42 minutes is much more believable than 39 for 18 minutes. Like I said if I reset my MID at the top of the grapevine and basically don't touch the gas till I get to the bottom at which point it's still downhill and requires just a very, very light throttle, I can show 40+ miles of >50mpg. However, I can't claim my TL is a 50mpg car unless we count slight downhill slopes. If you get the same mpg on the same stretch of road going both ways, it's legit.

There was another stretch of road on my way to work where mileage dips to 25mpg at 60mph. It feels level. However on the way home it shoots up to 39mpg on the same stretch. Only explanation is it's on a slight incline.

 

Obviously inclines make a big difference. I forget about them because I live in the midwest where it is extremely flat. Most of my measurements are on road trips between Chicago and Indianapolis which is a very flat route. I usually drive the route with cruise set to 75mph and pretty consistently get 31-32 mpgs over the whole tank (calculated by hand). I can't say for sure if I get the same with cruise set at 60mph because I've never driven a whole tank at 60mph. The MID shots above were from having cruise set through a couple construction zones... and they were on flat terrain.

 

Actually an air filter does effect fuel mileage if it is dirty and clogged. Now i am not saying that changing the air filter will increase your gas mileage by a big number but if your air filter is dirty and clogged it can rob air flow and make the engine run inefficiently. Its common knowledge that if the car breathes better and exhales better it runs better.
In all the cars I have owned I have always done the two main mods (Air Intake and Exhaust). I have always noticed a change in performance of the car and in all but one car have noticed fuel mileage gains.
The only exception was the 2004 mustang cobra track car noticed a decrease in mileage. But when you are dealing with a car that has over 800 rwhp fuel mileage is the least of your worries.

On a second note:

I was wondering what would be the best way of documenting the trip. I was thinking about taking picture of the MID after trip and also taking a picture of fill up before trip and then fill up after trip. Would this provide enough information for recording purpose?