09 Civic EX poor fuel mileage

warren duncan · 09-04-2009

I purchased a new 06 Honda Civic LX and have been getting great gas mileage 34 in town and 38 on the highway. I have just purchased a used 09 Civic EX with 7500 miles and I am getting 29 in town and 33 on the highway. Both cars have nitrogen in the tires and on a 400 mile trip, both cars together the 09 got much lower mileage. I am trying to figure out why. The fuel trims on both cars are the same. The 09 transmission seems to have different shift points and drives slightly different, but the Honda dealer says the transmissions are the same. Does anyone have any suggestions, I want to get better mileage. Does any one have any improvements that have worked for them?

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mkaresh · 09-08-2009

Maybe the alignment? Even if the car isn't pulling in one direction, the alignment could be off.

I assume you're measuring the amount of gas at the fill-up and dividing by miles driven. The gas gauge isn't a good way to estimate fuel economy.

You can see what other people are reporting here:

Real-world Honda Civic gas mileage

oxxy · 09-16-2009

Any one have any idea why my 2005 lx auto coupe with 55k miles is getting average 22 mpg? The highest i've ever gotten on a tank was 24 mpg, and the lowest was 17 mpg. I've been looking around the internet and it seems like mileage this low is unheard of. Even though 95% of my driving is around town, the car is rated at 29 city. Whats strange to me is that the way I drive seems to have no effect. I've done a tank on the highway, done a tank taking the car to red line every time I accelerate, and done a tank driving as cautiously as possible, and I always calculate around 22 mpg. Thoughts?

gearbox · 09-16-2009

i usually get around 25 mpg with normal city driving. i think thats pretty average. i got 15mpg once too after hard driving. and ive also got 34mpg after really soft driving. also depends on things like altitude (hi altitude has less oxygen, more mpg), temp (summer always gets more mpg), and driving style. im pretty sure the 01-05 civics are only rated 26mpg in the city and thats with the old epa standards. with the new standards, its closer to 22-24 mpg. city driving is so variable tho that you cant really use that to say you have bad mileage. only constant highway driving is a good indicator. try some lubecontrol.com products for gas and oil and im sure you will gain a few more mpgs.

mkaresh · 09-17-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by oxxy

Any one have any idea why my 2005 lx auto coupe with 55k miles is getting average 22 mpg? The highest i've ever gotten on a tank was 24 mpg, and the lowest was 17 mpg. I've been looking around the internet and it seems like mileage this low is unheard of. Even though 95% of my driving is around town, the car is rated at 29 city. Whats strange to me is that the way I drive seems to have no effect. I've done a tank on the highway, done a tank taking the car to red line every time I accelerate, and done a tank driving as cautiously as possible, and I always calculate around 22 mpg. Thoughts?

The number of stops per mile should have a big impact. The EPA city test replicates city driving somewhat, but not stop-and-go in-traffic driving.

gearbox · 09-17-2009

yeah, 85% of gas is used in geting the vehicle up to speed from a stop. so more acceleration = worse mpg. this is why highway mileage is usually way more since theres no stop and go, just cruise.

reiner k · 09-25-2009

Don't drive with a cold engine for a short distance, it'll consume more gas......

also on the highway don't open your window. most people wanna save gas from not using ac in the highway, but open window in the highway means you put more pressure (the car getting heavier from the wind that come inside)to your car especially if you drive pretty fast......