shabahat89

Hello All,
I'm a brand new member of this forum. Want your expert opinion to resolve bad fuel economy issue of my car.
I bought 2011 Honda civic SE approx. 3-4 months back from a dealer. It has only 58000 Kms on it. The fuel economy I'm getting is really bad, I do full tank every time I see amber light comes on fuel display. It takes approx. 41 litres to full the tank and I'm getting only 340-350 kms out of it in city, which is like only 8 Kms/litre. I read many reviews on internet and almost everyone is getting at least 450 Kms in a full tank and even more. I take good care of my car and drive very carefully but no improvements. I took it to Honda as well to inspect but they say there is nothing wrong with the car, no engine light etc... tires are brand new and properly inflated, air filters are fine. Only thing they noticed is little bit of carbon on spark plug and for that they suggested me to do a long highway run. Does a long highway run can really help in improving fuel economy of car?
I don't know what to do and what to check, can anyone please help me out in figuring out what's wrong with my car. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

jordan1794

Step 1.
Record your mileage accurately, and precisely using your receipts and trip odometer.

Step 2. Come back in 2 weeks an tell us the results.

I assume you have the Si.
20 mpg in the city is honestly what I'd expect from an Si, especially if there is a lot of stop and go.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

wot the engine a few times, should clean the carbon.

the city portion is what makes it hard to get mileage.

shabahat89

Thanks Jordan. As you said I record how many liters I filled on the basis of receipt. Every time I go to gas station I fill approx. 41 or 42 liters depending on how early I go there when amber light shows up. At the same time I set my trip meter to 0 and when doing next fill up trip meter always show results between 340-350 km. This includes total city driving .Also I have SE model (special edition for 2011) which is 1.8 liter engine.

shabahat89

Thanks Sdadoji. I'll try that but does carbon effect fuel economy?

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

what are you maintenance records? tune-up of the car does wonders.

brags

use a strong concentrated fuel injector cleaner in the tank.

shabahat89

Thanks Brags, should I use it once in a while or on every re-fill?

shabahat89

@Sdaidoji - I bought this car recently from dealer, he changed the oil at the time of purchase. Since then I haven't change oil, car still shows oil life as 50% remaining so I'm planning to change it after 2000kms approx.
Regarding tuneup, Honda dealer to whom I showed the car to inspect he didn't mention anything. Can I ask them to do it now and are there any standards?

ezone

This. You need accurate and real figures to work with.
Keep a log, write odometer reading and #liters EVERY time. Then calculate. Or keep track on that fuelly website or something, but you gotta be accurate and religious about it..


It's a 2011 with only 36,000 miles. It doesn't need a tune up. (If it really needed a tune up at this young mileage, that would mean there's something else drastically wrong with it that needs addressed.)


I'm figuring (googled) that's about 19 miles per gallon (USA here).

If the tires are aired up and the brakes aren't dragging, the poor fuel economy is entirely due to your driving situation i.e. all stop and go traffic, weather, etc..



I can make my car get that kind of mileage if I try real hard. I got close to that in the winter. They are most likely correct. They cannot change YOUR driving habits.

What kind of tires are they? Brand? Other names on them?

A dirty air filter will not cause a loss of fuel economy.


No it cannot change your normal fuel consumption. HOWEVER, highway economy figures are normally higher than city, therefore a highway trip will boost your economy numbers for that tank of fuel.

Once you return to a whole tank of fuel burned in city driving your numbers will be exactly as before.


If you have a LOT of time, fill the tank full (write down the odometer and liters) get on the highway and go steady 90 KMH for several hours, no stopping --- until it's time to get fuel. Get off the highway and get a full tank of fuel. Write down odometer and liters. NOW calculate economy.

Yeah, 90 KMH. NO faster. I don't care if traffic is gonna run you over.
NO stop and go.

Steady 80 KMH would give you even better economy figures than 90.


If it is not causing misfire, then no. You have no codes, so no.

Pulling a plug and "reading" it is usually only good for telling what the running conditions were at the moment the engine was shut off. If the shop just drove it 100 meters to get in the shop and the engine was not warmed up, that would be why the plugs had carbon on them when they inspected them.

Getting the engine warmed up and driving normally will burn the carbon deposits off, for most of us it happens every time we drive further than 2 miles.



Google and read all about 'hypermiling'. Learn it, live it, love it.

Burn top tier gas. http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html
Avoid ethanol if possible.






SO here's what I'd like to know next:

How long is your average commute? Kms? Time?

What's the weather like up there?
Do you let it run and get it all warmed up before driving?

What kind of tires are on it? LRR, or not? Brand? Other names on them? Winter tires?



Does the engine actually have 0W20 oil in it?

brags

the one I use is very strong but also very safe to clean carbon its
(BG 44k) BG says its good to last up to 30.000 USA miles or 50.000kms Canadian kms before the next cleaning. really is great stuff..!

ezone

Regarding fuel injector cleaners, they should not be necessary if your fuel quality is good. Read the 'whys' about using top tier gas on their website I linked.

shabahat89

SO here's what I'd like to know next:

How long is your average commute? Kms? Time? On an average I drive around 20kms per day only. I go to work every morning which is 6kms each side.

What's the weather like up there? I live in Atlantic Canada, so far weather is good but it's started getting bad now.

Do you let it run and get it all warmed up before driving?I usually leave it start for a minute or two.

What kind of tires are on it? LRR, or not? Brand? Other names on them? Winter tires? My car have brand new goodyear all season tires. 205 55 R16



Does the engine actually have 0W20 oil in it? I'm not sure about it because I never did any oil change since I bought it.

shabahat89

@Jordan - regarding my driving habits, I think I drive very carefully. Never do rash driving but the city where I live have tons of stops and lights. Also it's a hilly areas, so up hills and down hills

shabahat89

Thanks Brags, I'll try that

shabahat89

My apologies, the message below was for ezone.

"@Jordan - regarding my driving habits, I think I drive very carefully. Never do rash driving but the city where I live have tons of stops and lights. Also it's a hilly areas, so up hills and down hills"

ezone

6km = about 4 miles, that engine is barely getting warmed up I bet. It is spending a lot of time in cold mode, so it's running rich. That kills economy.

Just so you know, my daily commute is only 5.6 miles each way (9km) and when it is cold out, my engine does not reach full operating temperature in that distance. It's considered a short trip in my book.
(My maintenance minder tells me 15% @ about 4800 miles for an oil change like this too.(7724km))

Some days I can bitch about my gas mileage, other times I can't. I always know why I get the mileage I do though.


Cold weather kills fuel economy.

Don't. Any time the engine is running and you aren't moving, your economy numbers are falling.

If you want to let it sit run, you are going to pay a penalty in fuel.


I have remote start on mine, let it run 10 minutes on some real cold mornings and it really hurts my mileage.
Most of the time I slap it into gear and start moving the very moment the engine is running on its own.

Assurance, all season?

For best economy, next time get the 'Fuel Max' style (if you want to stick with Goodbeers), which is their Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) tire designed for fuel economy. (Might not be all that good in the snow but it's an all season tire.)



My car came with Firestone Fuel Fighter tires, they weren't great in snow but got me some real good mileage numbers.....and I am now running some 18" wheels with wiiiide lo pro tires...They killed my mileage something like 10-20%.
When it's time, I'd get 0W20 oil. The cap may say 5w20 but it's perfectly safe to run 0W20 in that engine (per Honda).
Heavier oil will cost you some gas mileage.




This is not going to net you economy numbers that sound good, no matter what.

The car is probably giving you the best it can deliver given the conditions you put it in. The rest is up to you.


HTH

shabahat89

Thanks Ezone! I think you are correct and I also see if there is any difference after oil change.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

take the car for a 20-30 mile drive. get a scan gauge or similar bluetooth scan reader that connects in the OBDII port from amazon or similar and have it measure the consumption while you do this longer drive. see the consumption then.

that should tell you what the car can actually do when heated up.

ezone, i missed the mileage of the car, thanks.

shabahat89

Yes, I'm planning to do that sometime soon. Thanks!