Yup still 15-16 mpg with mostly city driving. My 09 Pilot EXL FWD is getting similar numbers on it's 3.5 liter engine so not sure how folks are getting 20+ driving mostly city unless it's being driven like a Prius where you're getting up to speed super slow. I'm not complaining though since I knew I was buying a V6 4000 lb car.

 

Must be those jackrabbit starts!

 

You don't indicate what your average MPH shown on the MID is and that will tell the story for why your MPG sucks. You'll get 15-16MPG in a Pilot or TL if your average MPH is <20 MPH. It has nothing to do with jack rabbit starts and everything to do with amount of idle time you have which greatly impacts the MPH value on the MID. You're getting 0 miles per gallon sitting at a traffic light or idling in a drive thru at In&Out. You'll also be averaging 0 MPH while stopped too which quickly lowers the MID value. It's this idle time and creeping stop and go traffic which make hybrids and electric vehicles shine in comparison since the gas motor is not consuming fuel.

If you drive both the Pilot and TL the same way, you should get a little better MPG with the TL because of weight and aerodynamics, but it will still suck compared to others on this forum who have a better MPH value on MID.

Hopefully the below picture will show how MID/MPH impacts MPG. The column on far right has my notes on MID reading and the 3rd column from right is actual MPG. You can see how accurate the MID estimates MPG as well. In short, if you have a MID reading of 25MPH or below, you'll likely get 17-18MPG with a 3.2 - 3.5L motor. If you have a MID reading > 30MPH, you should realize 20 MPG or higher. The MPG will continue to climb until your MPH gets upwards of 70MPH. Notice how consistent my car is when the MID has a 25 MPH reading: pretty much always 18 MPG +/- .5. 25/26 MPH is my normal reading and I get about 18-19 MPG driving aggressively in the city. Highway is a different story with high 20's or low 30's now that I have some different tires.

[IMG][/IMG]

 

My weekly city driving consists of stop and go traffic within a 2-3 mile radius taking my kids to school and work with a 19 mph avg so probably why 15 mpg lol! I love the car though and it's been our weekend car as well since getting it.

 

Lacostaracer thanks for the useful chart provided.

 

So my local honda dealership changes my oil and they made mistake using 0w-20 since the first change and i think it's giving me better mpg. So i have been using 0w-20 since. Don't know if that helps or not.

 

I got the 2013 acura tl sh awd with the 3.7 instead of the 3.5 and in my opinion the gas milage is ok but not great but I guess thats the price you pay for having a heavier car with a big engine like mine 3.7 with 9000 miles on it.

 

Hi LaCostaRacer, thanks for the input.
I was joking about the jackrabbit starts - that's the first thing "auto writers" always mention when you see articles on how to improve your fuel economy in the newspaper, lol. Auto writers is a good topic for another day. Just to be clear, your chart refers to a fwd TL, right?


I agree with your comments. If you watch the computer's display just after you get gas and as you pull out and drive a block or so, the MID will tell you your fuel usage rate is very high. e.g. 25L/100 km here in Canada - our displays use metric. It will then drop down to something like 9-11 L per 100 km.
I'm inferring that you are comparing your calculated usage mpg versus the mid. It is tricky to get a good calculation after a fillup because you don't necessarily fill to the same level every time. It's easy to add a half a liter or so after the auto shutoff, and that will change the "manually calculated" mpg in the decimal place. At this point, I am almost ready to believe the car's calculation is more accurate than mine!

 

^ yep the chart covers a 3.2 FWD TL so my numbers will be a little better than yours might be with a 3.5. The chart should show a correlation between MPH and MPG- especially when the MPH is low. Your car will trend similarly with MPH but the actual MPG will likely be a little lower- 1 MPG difference is my guess based on a 3G Type S .vs. 3G base. I also own a 3.5 Pilot AWD and it takes a 4MPG hit in City and a 9 MPG hit on highway but trends very similar to my TL.

People knock the start/stop technology in newer cars but it really works. I did an experiment a few years ago and tried emulating start/stop by turning off the motor at lights. I gained 1.5 MPG in my normal commute doing that and perhaps your commute would yield a bigger gain than I did (larger motor , longer stops?). You might want to try that trick and see what happens.

The other thing you might be able to do is change your commute to/from work. I use to take the beach route to work and that cost m2 2 MPG with added stops compared to the taking the freeway to work pattern I do know.

 

Perhaps you should consider purchasing the '15 TLX 4cyl. model. With the amount of miles you'll be putting on, the difference in the monthly payment will equal itself out once you factor in the $ you spend on gas for the 6cyl TL.


I have a '10 TL with SH-AWD and recently drove the 4cyl TLX for a few days (rental from dealership) and was impressed, especially with its MPG.