Mike_TX

Sorry of this is a dupe, but ZI didn't find a thread on it.

My RDX is only a week old, but I'm consistently getting 21.7-22mpg in town. Haven't gone on the highway with it yet, although we're going out of state in April. Just wondering how the VCM does mileage-wise in prolonged highway driving ... since I'm getting more than the EPA rating in town, I'm hoping for close to 30mpg on flat interstates.

What's been your experience?

hawkeye62

Congratulations on your new ride. Yeah, there is a thread about gas mileage somewhere. But I think most folks get 22-23 MPG for suburban driving and 28-30 MPG on the highway depending on speed.

Regards, Jim

weather

I agree with what Jim said above...I am getting about 9.5L/100km in the city and about 7.5L/100km on the highway. Convert that into mpg, that works out to be about 25 mpg and about 31 mpg respectively. Keeping in mind the one thing, I live in a small town with very little stop and go traffic so I can manage to cruise around town without being stopped in busy traffic which is why I think there is very little variation in my mileage.

I just wanted to add this point before I get accused of fudging my numbers *lol*

Dorsey

Mike - congrats on the new ride. You don't say if you have AWD or FWD. I have a FWD base with ~7500 miles. Pure city is ~22.5 mpg and the one long trip we took was ~31.5 mostly interstate. Figures are from the dash meter. I use mid-gradr gas that can have up to 10% ethanol.

Mike_TX

Thanks for the replies and the congrats.

The answers are what I was hoping to hear, since my previous SUV experience (Lexus RX300 and MDX) wasn't exactly spectacular. The fact that the RDX offers some elbow and cargo room along with good mileage ratings - and without resorting to a 4-cyl) was one of its big selling points to me.

Btw - mine is a FWD Tech, in Graphite/Parchment.

CoachRick

Well done, my neighbor to the north . I had to make an airport run last night as that nasty front was moving in. Not a great night for gas mileage as the vehicle was constantly going in and out of VCM mode and even downshifting in the strong winds!

From what I can gather after almost 6k miles is the overall average of 22-23mpg allows for some spirited driving but is balanced by our lovely toll and highway system here in the capital. I would imagine stop-and-go traffic won't help any and that's one reason we live in the 'burbs. It's easy to average over 28mpg on the highway; but you need to watch the instantaneous readout to find the sweetspot for you. Anything above 75mph is rough on the mileage(relatively) but you can feather between 70-75 and get over 30 right zippy.

Mike_TX

Yep, I'm learning fast that the RDX reacts more to wind than my TL. It's blowing like crazy again today, and it rocks me around, so I'm sure mpg would suffer in winds - especially a head wind!

I'm going to AZ in April and I'll be interested in seeing how it does on the road.

Micapeak

Bought 2013 RDX Tech AWD two weeks ago. Got 18mpg mixed driving first two weeks. Took road trip Spokane to Seattle yesterday at 65-70mph and only got a disappointing 22mpg with a 10-15mph head wind most of the way. Is there something wrong with my RDX? Based on this thread I should have gotten 27mpg. Time to trade it in?

powerflow

Bought a 2013 RDX Tech AWD a few weeks ago as well. MID says 27mpg on my highway drive to work today. Premium fuel, reset the avg mpg/trip calc once up to 60+ in clear traffic. Should get slightly better if I set cruise.

Mike_TX

A headwind will undoubtedly bring your mileage down, but I agree that's pretty punk. I'm at almost 1,000 miles on my FWD RDX now, and I'm getting 22 in town with almost no freeway driving. On a recent tank with some freeway running I got 27, so I figure 30 in steady highway driving should be easy.

Question - Did you reset the display before hitting the highway? If not, what you are seeing is the cumulative mileage from the time you got the vehicle. So that highway trip is averaged in with all your city driving, and of course that will bring down the overall average.

Micapeak

Bought 2013 RDX Tech AWD two weeks ago. Got 18mpg mixed driving first two weeks. Took road trip Spokane to Seattle yesterday at 65-70mph and only got a disappointing 22mpg with a 10-15mph head wind most of the way. Is there something wrong with my RDX? Based on this thread I should have gotten 27mpg. Time to trade it in?

Yes reset mpg meter before trip and bought premium gas. How do you tell when cylinder deactivation is working? Maybe mine isnt?

Mike_TX

Well, you really can't. You can get a clue by watching the instantaneous mileage display, which will peg to the right when the car is using the least gasoline. Sometimes that's because of VCM and sometimes it's just a slight downhill grade.

Either way, on level ground and at a steady speed, you should see the display showing max mileage at times.

I think I'd be inclined to talk to the dealer about your mileage. The dealer can attach his computer and see it operate as it's driven. Some of it may be your driving style, but it still seems low. I don't drive like grandma and mine is sitting on 22.3 right now with all in-town use - zero freeway or highway miles. On the highway I know it will do 28-30 with no sweat.

weather

Many factors goes into the fuel mileage of a vehicle so even though you say you did only highway at 65-70 mph, its almost impossible to do a comparison of other owner's mileage. Type of terrain....was it flat or hilly? Did you cruise control or were you able to feather the pedal? Were you light or heavy (weight wise), type of asphalt...etc.

As to your comment about trading....you do realize that the amount of money you would lose on a trade will be FAR superior than the 3-4mpg you would try and achieve.

Micapeak

I was kidding about trading it in. I love the RDX and it did much better highway MPG on the return trip with no headwinds. I think strong headwinds caused the cylinder deactivation to shut off and that system is where the really good highway mpg number come from. I've seen other threads say mpg drop off a lot over 70mph. So my 70mph plus 15mph headwind would see mpg number similar to going 85mph average. Add in the crossing of a major mountain pass over compact snow and ice and 22-23mpg is about right.
On the half of the return trip with no headwinds and no mountain pass or snow, I averaged 28.5mpg which is higher than EPA estimates so I am pleased. The bottom line is that cylinder deactivation is what gets the RDX great highway mpg numbers and that it can't save much gas on hills, in headwinds, or at high speeds.
THX

Mike_TX

Ah, you didn't tell us that the first time. That makes a lot of difference.

CoachRick

Over the years of driving E-W along I-20 from South Carolina to Texas, I'm on the lookout for weather fronts moving through during our travel times. Sometimes, waiting a few hours or even a day can make a huge difference in the comfort and fuel efficiency of a 500-1200 mile trip. Not saying anyone should stay in Mississippi for an extra day to avoid a cold front ; but a little flexibility in scheduling can make a big difference. I've not yet made the 530-mile Austin to Madison, MS trip in the RDX, but I've already experienced the incessant tranny shifting and VCM 'dance' on shorter trips in central Texas. There's a LOT to be said for not driving into a front if you can avoid it. It can be like driving in the mountains withOUT the mountain!

It would be interesting to catch a cold-front TAILwind on one of these trips...seldom seems to work that way; but getting over 30mpg would be fun!(It's the little things, ya know.)

GRDX

Yup, that's why I have never complained when I only get about 11 to 14 MPG with my RDX. I know it is me and the stop and go traffic that is the cause.

ipribadi

Yeah, over a flat surface, neutral winds, my RDX FWD would get 30 mpg going 65mph. VCM drops off around 75mph, so keeping it around 70mph is best with an average around 29mpg.

Tho VCM gains the most over highway cruising, I feel that it's not that much useful for out of town and long road trips.

Why? Because over here in TX, typical out of town traffic flow is over 75mph, so unless you're okay taking the right lane cruising slightly slower than traffic at 70mph, you end up doing 75-85mph with no VCM most of the time.

Mike_TX

So ... running at "Texas speeds" (75 or so) and limited or no VCM, what mileage do you see?

I'll be finding out for myself in a few weeks on a longish road trip, but I'd like to know what to expect.

CoachRick

You guys are braver than I am...I'll stick to the posted speed limits most times, maybe 5 over. We've got the 80mph toll road here in Austin; but I haven't checked the mileage at that rate for any distance. Then again, I'd be tickled to run the speed limit from here to Dallas...hasn't happened on any trip since we moved here in '08. It's like there's a rule requiring construction and gridlock somewhere along that route.

ipribadi

Howdy from Austin, TX too.
Well perhaps that's just me, but with the speed limit at 70mph, the left lane flow of traffic is about 75-80mph which I tend to follow, I guess this also depends on which highway it is.

Anyway, I haven't done much traveling over those speeds but if I recall on the real time gauge the mpg was at the mid 25mpg tick mark, could actually be 26mpg as the tic marks are not as precise.

Mike_TX

I'm with you,Coach - I will fudge it maybe 5mph, but it's too painful to pay those tickets for anything faster.

Of course, we have the 80mph stretch from just west of Odessa to near El Paso, which I take a couple times a year, and the toll road down in the Austin-San Antonio area that's 80 or 85. Guess people run 90 or more on both of those.

strykme

GRDX,

Same here, driving around NYC, I guess we should just call it parking lot mpg, not the city..

mauricerdx

Hello
2013 rdx with 60 K , in the city i got 11.8- 12.1 MPG rate in the highway 13.0-13.2 MPG rate
i feel its too much on the gas but no change in the preformence ?
thank you.

mauricerdx

Hi evrey one
it happend with me more than 3 times when it raining for more than 3-4 hours and with verey humid weather
i got the system strarting warring light on and when it clear and sunny the light disappears ?
any idea
thank you

2013rdxbase

CO to NY roadtrip, Summer 2016
CO to CA roadtrip, Spring 2017
~ 28-30 mpg

"City" driving around Denver, year round, through all seasons
~ 19-21 mpg

if i could describe my driving style it would be by quoting my kiddo:

"...mom, i want to live..."

colt427

I didn't know that.
I was wondering why I was getting 22.4 at best MPG highway miles on a couple of 1200 round trips.75-79 MPH.

bmllr8

I literally LOL'd.

jcross1231

Just posting some general information on how wind has an impact in case it's helpful to anyone. This is limited to a single trip last weekend:

Trip to Des Moines driving 80 mph the entire way with a 35 mph tailwind: 32.4 mpg
Return trip with 35 mph headwind (just our luck): 20.6 mpg

There's 16 miles of 65 mph driving mixed in there, along with the fact that the wind was a crosswind for 70 miles of each drive.

Normal mileage averaged over many trips is around 28.5 mpg. There's some variation due to quality of the gasoline. For some reason, Kansas gas has higher energy content than Missouri or Iowa gas does.

mauricerdx

after a phone call with expert preson he recomand to unplug the battery for 30 min to reset the computer
i unpluged the battery for 30 min and i got a clear MPG screen , went to test it in the city diriving
i got about 17.0 in the first hour
than starts count down till i got stock on 11.9 - 12.1 even after highway diriving ?

YeuEmMaiMai

the last RDX I drove retuned 24 city and 30 highway... very respectable numbers but then again, I do not have a lead foot.

Tech

Stock 2017 RDX. The last few weekends with temperatures around 27C = 80F over more than 2 hours on the highway...

A steady 6.6l/100 km = 35.6 MPG US = 42.8 MPG IMP at a true 100 km/hr = 62.1 MPH.