There is no doubt that the TLX can score high MPG on long highway drives where the average speed is high.

However, Acura has never really addressed city MPG. The cars simply suck in the city which masks the exceptional performance on the highway.

Perhaps this will be addressed when new CAFF laws are imposed in 2017.

 

You seem to take the same trips I do. Don't bother with ECON on your everyday commute. Put it in Normal or Sport and enjoy the drive. I leave mine in Sport and I don't see any meaningful consistent difference among the 3 in my daily 60 mile round-trip drive in stop and go and some 70 mph traffic. I average about 30 mph or so in my weekly work drive and probably get around 27-29 mpg.

On long distance drives I usually leave it in ECON mode, but I doubt that makes much difference on high speed drives. On my next road trip I'll probably leave it in Sport mode. The sweet spot for great mileage on long road trips is probably by keeping it around 65 mph, but on Texas highways, you may get shot driving that slowly. Once you start driving around 75-80 mph, mileage starts dropping appreciably. "Unfortunately" most of where I drive around Texas are going to have posted speeds of 70-75 mph, so going 65 even in the right lane could get you run over. lol.

 

I regularly get 21-27 MPG in the city. The only time I've ever gotten lower (19 MPG) was driving aggressively in Sport+. It isn't great in stop and go traffic, but that's a rare situation for me. The only way to improve that is to offer a hybrid model. Hybrids excel in that situation.

 

Averaging 85-90 mph, I've gotten about 30MPG on the highway, so it's not terrible .

 

I'm wondering if that's Imperial gallons, 5/4 (roughly) as big as the U.S. gallon. This might be a Canadian car. My b.i.l. gives me impressive mileage numbers for his Equinox until I remember he still calcs his mileage in Imperial gallons even though fuel is sold in liters (litres).

My highest in a 4-cyl. was 40 mpg but reliably get 37 to 39 on long hauls in Sport mode. Econ mode is downright frustrating in hilly country and my wife uses Normal "just because".

 

US car, I posted pics. I have been getting 30-32 lately in some pretty heavy traffic mixed driving. Weekends are more 38-44 mpg. I do drive like an old man 2k rpm and lower lol.

 

Excellent mileage! Me, I drive it like it needs to be driven (or so it "tells" me) so 39 for me is plenty satisfying. No econo runs for me. And I'm "old" and should know better.

 

My default mode is Normal, and I get about 25 MPG in town if I don't get trapped sitting in traffic. If I need to scoot, or for occasional fun, I got to Sport mode and enjoy it for a while. For interstate driving on cruise control I go to Economy mode, don't need pickup out there, and I get 40 MPG on cruise control at 70 MPH.

I have a V6 Tech 2015, and I love it.

 

Driving style is more important than Mode when it comes to fuel efficiency, but the two are linked by how aggressive you are on the throttle. Or in over words, drive in Econ Mode + little throttle pressure equals better fuel efficiency. Drive aggressively in Econ, not so much.

 

I can take a short drive and see 16 to 20.

 

The truth of your perception is in the average speed. Post that cause, I suspect you are heavy on the highway speeds.

 

This is also very true.

 

Just picked up a CPO '15 TLX V6 Advance (FWD) with ~7k miles. Replaced a 2008 TSX 6MT. That car was awesome on the twisty roads but in Austin traffic was much less fun. Replaced clutch at 62k miles and was not happy to do so but it was toast. City fuel economy on the 2.4L I4 was not great - 21 or 22 at best. We'll see how the V6 does, but not expecting great things.

 

I got better mileage in Eco but it was definitely the jerkiest of modes.

 

Update: I would switch the IDS to Sport mode when I needed a little extra zip, and didn't notice any drop in city mileage. I finally just changed my default mode to Sport, and I'm very happy this way. Many posts in this topic influenced me, thanks to the posters! I switch to Econ mode when on long interstate stretches, such as my recent trip to Florida when I got at least 40 MPG on the interstate. I still love my TLX!

 

Personal opinion regardless of make, we have a few cars with ZF8's & one had a 7DCT. Econ is useful for steady state cruising at over 2K RPM on the interstate & not much else. I drive all the automatics in Sport most of the time & still get good mileage for the type of car I am driving. 60-70 mph on the highway I go to Comfort & over 70mph Econ.

"Spirited" gets Sport+ & Traction OFF. I never take off the stability system on the street.

 

Left foot braking is a technique used in auto racing, but it's not something for the street. Someone I know who drove like that needed a brake job once a year. Fortunately, her husband was a mechanic.

 

Was forced to drive on the FDR during rush hour last week. Eco mode, and brake hold were the only things that kept me sane. I'm a tad impatient, and in heavy traffic, using eco keeps my impatient driving less herky/jerky from the constant braking/accelerating. At all other times, its Sport for me for both the throttle response, and the heavier steering weight.

 

Are you simply trolling or do you really drive an automatic with 2 feet? I mean, that would be something ... I just imagine a brain fart of braking and accelerating at the same time!!! What you read sometimes in the internet is incredible!!!

wait... did you also say 4 liters? I didn't know that Acura had those. How does it save gas? Using a VCM?

EDIT: After reading the whole thread I see that some people actually drive an autom with both feet. This is something that I find very hard to process, It was a NO-NO in my book, but apparently I was wrong. It looks like some 'normal' people do that these days

 

I have become a Sport Mode convert. As I have posted elsewhere, highway fuel economy is the same, and city is virtually the same, although I have yet to drive the car in winter. The main issue for me is that the transmission seems to be set up for Sport and avoids the occasional clunky 2-1 downshifts I was getting in Eco or Normal. I don't generally drive any differently, but can accelerate more quickly if necessary, have a little more fun, and just enjoy the smooth shifting tranny.

 

We're taking a short weekend-getaway trip this weekend - will try running sport mode!

 

How did it work out?`

 

We did 300 miles (mostly highway traveling between 70 and 80) and averaged 34.1 MPG according to the trip computer. Frankly - not a real good test as highway cruising is likely identical regardless of the IDS mode. That said - it was a nice trip and reminded me of why I enjoy the car - quiet and rides great and the ELS is wonderful.

 

I drive in ECO mode until my car reaches operating temp. Then I change to SPORT. That's usually for less than 5 min.

 

I have come to a similar approach recently. Start in Eco to warm up and smooth out the upshifts. Then switch to normal for a few minutes, then to Sport. Drove 80 km of city driving today just a few degrees over freezing and the car behaved beautifully. I ran more errands thatn I really intended to just to enjoy the car and the tunes.