WhySoAsian

I tend to use my sportshifter a lot more than just putting it in drive. It gives me a little bit more feel for manual than just regular AT but the downside seems like i'm wasting more gas?

I hardly ever gun it and I get about 14-15 mpg. I shift around 2.5 rpm or at 2 and rarely at 3.5, at most. Any tips on how to get better gas mileage? Because when i put it in drive, it seems like i get better gas mileage.

tones160

lol are you really 15 with an 08 TL? wow...SS shift will definitely give u less gas mileage just because you need to rev your rpm high enough to get a good gear shift. That's my own opinion. I can't drive my car in ss shift unless i rev it up high enough to switch gear. I believe ss shift is meant for when ur rpm is above 3k

WhySoAsian

Yes lol I am really 15 and have one. haha now past that, I shift around the same time the AT computer does but i'm not sure what else is causing the drop in mpg. I haven't paid close attention to the AT part because i hardly ever drive in it

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Damn you have a good job for a kid or you have really nice parents lol

Have you done tests to prove you waste more gas? I just read you hardly drive in auto mode so have you compared them yet?

I wouldn't doubt manual mode would drink more gas, though.

07tl-s6spd

iTrader: (1)

^this

WhySoAsian

Lol i have the best parents! So thankful for it too!
I've noticed that i got around 15-19 mpg if i do light throttle in SS.
I resetted the mpg calculator today and put it auto and for the first 5 minutes of driving i got around 16-22 mpg. I'll drive it around in auto a little bit more tomorrow and see what happens.


and I'm surprised that you guys keep questioning me about my age lmao. I <3 my parents

Acura_Dude

I agree with the rest of the posters, and yes it's always glad to see how appreciative our younger members are for the things their parents do. I'm sure you'll have your TL for a long time.

LaCostaRacer

^you might save a little gas starting out in #2 and not gear #1 possibly. The TL offers this mode mostly for snow but you can try it. At a stop simply go into #2 instead of the usual #1.

I personally would just leave it in D if you're so worried about MPG. My hunch is the TL will do the 1-2 shift much quicker in D than it would in SS mode. What does the MID calculate as your average MPH?

pjillta

is it a lot of city driving? sitting in idle too long ( traffic) that can hurt it as well.

Steve 21

I know I always drive in SS mode for some reason. When I do drive in D i tend to get about 19mpg and SS get about 17mpg so mine is still pretty close. (This is mostly for city driving, highway driving i get about 30 but thats in D mode.) I usually tend to change gears in the 2k-3k range. 15mpg sounds a bit rough though, may be other reasons also like your air filter and all. Just do a few different trial runs with D and SS mode. Make sure you are driving similar during both trials as that can effect a lot.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

i'm constantly driving in SS mode (should have gotten a 6mt ) anyway...i never get as low as 15mpg...i'm always right around 24-26mpg and i do a mix of city/highway spirited driving.

15mpg...something seems off.

when is the last time you changed your cabin filter, air filter, what kind of gas do you use? how many miles can you go before you need to fill up? what kind of driving do you do? city?

WhySoAsian

Geez right now I get about 13 and 14 mpg but that's gunning it in first gear lol. MPH right now is like 14mph? I put it in drive and the MPG goes up! Should I use it in 2nd gear only? and does driving in SS all the time damage the gears?

I have around 62,xxx miles and it's an 08 -_-. First owner wasn't the best to the car. Mostly highway driving that caused it to go up. It's city driving ONLY and i usually don't gun it, only when I'm feeling super good. I shift every 2k or at most 3k. Wth!

I'm about to need an oil change. MID says 20% left, The summer tires i have right now are around 29 PSI each (kind of deflated i know), I fill with 91! PREMIUM ONLY I just changed that cabin and air filter not to long ago maybe like 3 months.
I'm going to give my car a wash, inflate the tire, detail and check on it this weekend. Hope I can get it all worked out -_-

LaCostaRacer

Wow- 14MPH? That is pretty darn low and means you are idling a lot. Traffic lights, drive thrus, warm up sessions all take a toll on this MPH reading. No wonder your mileage is so crappy- I'm actually surprised it's as high as it is.

The highway miles the previous owner put on this car were far easier on the drive train than a 14MPH MID reading is.

For example, you can cruise down the highway going 70mph and tacking 2500 (probably lower but this is a conservative estimate). In one minute the car went over a mile in distance for just 2500 engine revolutions. That compares to sitting at a light for say 3 minutes at 700 RPMs and going NOWHERE. I would much rather have a car with 50K highway miles than another car with a 14MPH MID reading and 30K miles because there are lot less cycles on the motor and the transmission/brakes haven't had all the start/stop cycles too.

I don't think tire pressure is going to do much for you- you need to change your driving habits to see a noticeable gain.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

^70mph is exactly 2k rpm for me

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

When I had my automatic TL the sport shifters were the biggest joke in the world. I actually found it annoying to use them im really surprised that people actually use those regularly. And for what its worth they do not even remotely give you the sense of driving a manual lol. Just put the thing is drive and let the automatic shift.
As for fuel economy im sure constantly using the paddles will give you lower fuel economy, but it also mainly depends on how and where you drive your car.

I live in far suburban areas and have a 6mt Type S. I average 25mpg regularly with no highway so its pretty obvious you do more of city type driving. The automatics dont do as well on fuel, but shouldnt be that bad unless your all city.

James

WhySoAsian

Guys, I wanted a 6MT type S but parents didn't want to get me one. :/ but it's ALL city driving. I'll change my habits and stop accelerating so fast in first gear. Probably will end up going to second or just drive.
I fill up at empty with $45 w/ premium gas. I don't know let see what happens over the weekend

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

You seem very low on your tire pressure. Car calls for 32 PSI, and I run 34 PSI with N2. The worse I have gotten so far is just under 26 mpg and the best is just under 31 mpg. I drive mostly highway though, but 14 is just horrible. I get better than that on our 03 Pathfinder and that truck is a gas hog.

I recommend you drive in FULL auto for a couple weeks and get a true idea of your mileage. Do not use the trip computer. Number of miles / gallons of gas. Do that a couple fill ups. Then repeat it with in SS mode. I think you are using a lot of gas because you are shifting at higher RPMs than the car would.

Congrats on the car - BTW. I am not against a young kid getting a nice car provided they work for it.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I only use mine to slow down. I hate how our cars decelerate.

WhySoAsian

Thanks man! I love the TL. also I get 15mpg average driving SS and I swear i shift around 2 maybe 3 at most in first gear. I'll drive in Auto from now on.
I'll only drive in SS....when i want to do a little bit of a "spirited" driving

I need to get my oil changed soon. A1 message just popped up yesterday :/ blahh. Do you guys think the honda dealer can do this?

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

They can. You can also learn how to do it yourself. Every guy should learn how to change their own oil.

WhySoAsian

Lmao, I know how to change it, I'm just to lazy

DarkVtec

I've been trying to use the SS and I also had a decrease.. I shifted it in the lower rps though aroud 2-3k and my mpg dropped. I just keep it in D unless im playin around.

ParaSurfer1979

I have 35psi in my tires and at 70mph I get 34mpg which shocked me but im glad. One othe thing I'd do to give you better mpg is go with Hondas new 0w-20 oil. It's full synthetic or use another brands. I use hondas because my oil changes are paid for when i purchased my car last year. Don't worry much babout the age comments. back when i was 17 in 97' my mom bought me a 98 Prelude Type SH and I'd get the same thing from my friends. My parents rewarded good report cards/gpa's in that way because they could afford to give their kids better than what the had in the housing projects. Welcome to to the board...

tenacious tl

iTrader: (1)

I believe the Type S recommends 35 psi for the front tires and 32 psi for the rear tires.

LaCostaRacer

If the OP really only has a 14MPH average MID speed, it won't really matter what he does because his mileage will suck. Tire pressure won't help much because he is stopped more than moving.

Also there is no way $45 dollars fills an empty TL tank with regular grade fuel let alone premium- the TL has a 17 gallon tank. A quick check of Kansas city prices for premium shows $3.35 gal for premium- $45/3.35 = 13.43 gallons of gas. If you're not filling the car each time, the MPG calculations are going to be flawed too.

You could try turning off the engine during idling- that might get you a couple MPG improvement. This would also increase the MPH since the MID doesn't register stopped times and the gas mileage will improve because no motor is running. This would be a poor-man's hybrid using manual stop/start techniques which is one of the reasons how hybrids can have such high city MPG estimates. I did an experiment a couple years ago and I got a whopping 1.5 MPG improvement but my average MPH is 26. The OP might see a 3MPG gain possibly doing this but it's a pain and hell on the starter.

WhySoAsian

Lol I figured it out. for some reason, driving in SS mode just gives everyone crappy mpg. I drove in D for 2 days, (a couple of times in SS but mostly D) and guessss what....I'm getting 18-19mpg now

I don't get it lol I shift around 2.5k and never higher wth! ha oh well, solution is "Drive in D and only in SS for super duper extra fun"

Also I don't fill on an empty tank but the light comes on and the needle is on E, is when i fill up with $45 and I promise i get full tank on it!

LaCostaRacer

So simply keeping the gear in D gives you an easy 2MPG gain? What does the MID read when you do that in terms of MPH and MPG?

I guess I would keep the car in D as the rule and not the exception if it makes that big of a difference being in D. Since the car shifts 1-2 for you (in SS when not at WOT), the inefficiencies of SS might be at higher speeds and that doesn't explain your claimed 14 MPH MID reading too well. I have found D to work amazingly well anyway- I just use SS on mountain roads mostly these days.

One other thing you can try is resetting the ECU possibly- do a search and see how this is done- about 15 minutes or less of effort. Another thing you can do is reset the MID during portions of your commute and see which legs of the commute are killing you MPG wise and consider changing your route possibly. The other way is to hack the navigation to show the instant MPG so you can see in real-time how things are going. I had the hack until I upgraded my Nav disk and it worked pretty well.

WhySoAsian

Yeah, kept it in D gained for me 3MPG!!!! and I think I'm getting 16mph right now.

Resetting the ECU? How can you do that?
Also I'm trying to find hacks for the Navi disk but can't even get a solution to that even for the simplest hack.
Anyone know how to do this????????

ParaSurfer1979

Unfortunatly there are very few hacks other than the sceen for 07-08's. The 04-06's get awesome hacks. Check them all out on YouTube.

LaCostaRacer

Well if you can't try searching, you'll see on the 2nd page of this forum (the 2 hyperlink with all the other page numbers included on the bottom) a thread called "Resetting the ECU Makes Me Happy". In post #7, you'll find your answer. It involves pressing the gas pedal for 30 seconds with your key in accessory #2 mode- check out the thread itself for more details.

Acura_Dude

Here's the link OP so you won't have to search.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...=resetting+ecu

pickler

pulse and glide. youtube it.

ParaSurfer1979

Also did anyone think that there could be different fuel mapping in sequential shift vs. Auto? If this is the case then this could be why there is less mpg's. IDK if this is the case I'm just hypothesizing .

tones160

lol 1 reason why i regret getting my car in AT.

WhySoAsian

Will defiantly do this tomorrow morning
Hope it works

Jaster

I do use SS mode for better gas mileage but it really is the only way to use SS mode for better gas mileage. I drive mountain roads every day to work and have an elevation change of 2,500 feet 4 times a day. Two times up and two times down. When traveling down is when I use the SS mode to help roller-coast my way on down for better mileage. When leaving it in D mode and coasting down the motor does not use any gas but it does slow down the car by choosing lower gears which causes me to use more throttle to make it through the flat areas or uphill sections where as using SS mode I am able to leave it in 5th gear and keep up speed which allows me to make it through a lot of flat sections or even uphill sections without ever having to use the throttle. If I were driving a manual I would be leaving the car in neutral the whole time for even a better roller-coaster effect.

This is the only way I know that SS mode can help with mileage.

.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

only for 2004-2006 TL, for 2007-2008 TL the car will not upshift 1-2 for you, it will bounce off rev limiter if you dont manually shift

burntrat

Man, I am also getting low miles, but I am only using D. I used to get like 16-20 MPG, then switched to premium then started to get like 14-15 MPG. It might be because I am driving a little bit more aggressive now that I feel more comfortable on the city road.

I paid around the same price as the OP to fill up my tank from low fuel light. I think it was like $46.xx for 13 gallons at $3.61.

I really need to increase my MPG because it makes me want to drive less and less.

Rock2534

I would just stop worrying about mpg, this is not the car for that. The only way to get decent mileage is to do all highway driving. The engine revs way to fast even in normal driving, and if you are gunning it like you say, you are eating up all of your gas right there. The only way to get good mileage in the city is to basically drive it like a granny, don't ever jam on the pedal, just rest your foot on it and let it take off shifting at 2500 rpm. If you are going to do that, you might as well get rid of it and get a prius. enjoy your car, don't worry about the mpg.

WhySoAsian

Hmm resetting the ECU didn't work? And yes you should always be worried about gas its getting high!