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Hi, I've got a question about my new civic. It seems to really drink gas quickly.
I've calculated the miles per gallon and the best i've ever done is 30 mpg and
the worst is 26 mpg. The motor has only 6000kms on it.

Will the millage improve after the first oil change (8000kms)? Or is there something wrong with the car?
It's apparently rated 38 highway and 34 city. I've not gotten even close to that.

Thanks!

 
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I have a 2002 EX Coupe...I get right around 31 mpg, and it's rated at 31/38. It was a little different the first few thousand miles, but it evened out after that. I've gotten up to about 36 mpg when I've done long highway trips. It really depends on your driving style - I'm not a "2 fast 2 furious" kinda driver" just pretty average (for MA anyways, hehehe). Hope that helps! :-) Oh also, I get better mileage when the HVAC system is on and the windows or up...but that could just be me.

 
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The oil that comes with your car is thicker for properly breaking your engine in. When you change your oil for the first time, your mileage will increase dramatically. If you chose to use synthetic for your car, your first oil change should be the one to start at and keep maintaining it from there. TMRakip is right about mileages getting better as time goes by. As soon as that break in oil is out of your engine completely (for sure after the second change), you should see better mileage as I have. My civic lx was able to get close to 40mpg on long road trips. can expect a little over 300 miles per 10 gallons for regular city driving.

 
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Don't complain. My 2k2 auto only gets 22mpg average, with normal driving.

 
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i just got my oil changed and i could tell a difference. i was getting about 28-31, but now im getting like 33-35. and im not the most conservative driver

 
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You are Canadian, and the canadian MPG figures you are referring to a(34, 38) are beased on imperial gallons, not u.s gallons. There is a huge difference. An imperial gallon is 5.4 litres whereas a US gallon is 3.78 litres. recalculate with the imperial gallon and you'll find your fuel consumption figures will be about where they should be.

 
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yea i'm kinda pissed about the gas milege also out of a full tank of gas (13 gallons) i only get 300 miles if that.... BTW i have an 01

 
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If you have the AC on that will lower your gas mileage. Also if the windows are open that will increase drag and make the engine work harder and lower your mileage, too.

TMRakip, what's HVAC?

 
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HVAC = Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning - It's actually a term for home stuff, but it applies. Yeah there is a bit of reduced mileage from AC but not as noticeable as with all the windows down. You can't win, hehe

 
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i believe those ratings are under optimal conditions.. (aka not real world driving). those ratings are probably taken with an EX. stock everything, fresh oil, ac off, not constaltny accelerating / stopping, and on rollers, in a controlled climate.

 
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I have a 03 ex and most of my driving is in town but usually if im not push the enngine to hard then i will get anywhere from 36-38 but if i push it ill get about 34-35

 
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I thuoght you were supposed to switch over to synthedic until after your break in period...

 
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CoupeStylz:

The car is a 13.2 gallon tank or 50 liters.

50/3.78=13.2 gallons
50/5.4=9.2 gallons imp.

Fuel Capacity (L) 50
Fuel Consumption*, City/HWY (L/100km) - M.T. 7.5. / 5.7

i'm getting over 8.6 liters burned for 100kms travelled.

Anyway, I didn't know about the thicker oil for the breakin period. We'll see what happens after the car gets it changed at 8000kms. We're at 6000kms now.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 
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Yes.. after your first oil change as stated

 
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26 mpg is pretty damn good in my book.

 
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I have the same problem. i have 4100 miles on my 03 ex 5-speed. I get around 280-300 per fill up. It is ok i guess. I am going to wait till 5000 miles on my car to change oil to Castrol Synthetic.

Thanks for the read, nice to know i am not the only one with this problem.

 
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Should be interesting to see what happens when the oil is changed in both our cars.

I used to drive a diesel jetta, so low milage really became apparent with this car.

If i could get 600 kms on a tank i'd be plenty happy.

What octain are you running maxsin?

I'm using 89 at the moment. Car seems to run smoother that with 87.

 
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I'm gonna chime in with my stats. Right now, I got 31-33 mpg city driving in my 02 EX 5spd (no engine mods). I always drive with my windows down (so no AC) and radio on. However, I drive my car very gas consciously. I shift at about 2500-3000 most of the time, but I do give into the 6500 rpm shifts pretty often. When I first got my car, I did notice that I was getting very low gas mileage 26-28. But, after I drove it for a while and my skill with a stick increased, I jumped up. I don't know if it was because of the oil change, but that could be it. Just keep driving for a while and it should plane out. I'm also assuming that you don't drive like a madman, cuz that would probably affect your gas mileage. =P

 
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WEll, after the first oil change, the mileage hasn't improved. I must say, this car is not good on gas.

Winter driving up here in Montreal=22mpg. Which in my books is terrible.

Called Honda. They say nothing is wrong with the car, because the maintenance light hasn't come on.

22 miles per gallon (87 octane) is suv numbers to me. Is this normal?

2003 sedan with 5 speed.
11000kms on clock.

 
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I just got 31 mpg with have I/H/E and like have it was spirited driving

 
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Well At first my gas milage was not the best but, I have almost 10.000 And I have changed my oil once. Last time I checked off 9 gallon I got 35 For the city. And That was when my tire were not propery inflated. I would guess maybe 40ish on the highway depending on how fast I was going! Cruse Control helps to.

 
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Is this in town puttering around or highway?
I've found the City rating is bullshit, my car gets about 26 in town if thats all I do, but if all I do is Highway with the cruise control I'm hitting more like 39 or 40.
If you're doing combined (1/2 and 1/2) and coming up with 22, I'd say something is definately messed up and I'd have them check through the system. Have them run diagnostics and see if the car is running really rich... because you shouldn't be using that much gas.

 
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i got up to 450miles per tank ... normally only up to 400miles per tank .... the lowest one i got so far is 350miles (all freeway and local drive)

and evertime i fill up a gas my tank is getting bigger????? last friday i filled up the gas for 13.975gals ?????? watz up with that???

 
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don't change to Castrol....Castrol really sux in my opinion get either Mobil 1, Royal Purple, Amsoil or Redline. Castrol dosen't offer synthetic or normal convential oil in 5w-20 or 0w-20...and that's what is recommended car.

 
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I get consistent 32-34 mpg. The most I got was 38 when I was going to Las Vegas. I filled up today and I got 27 mpg on my last tank. I guess it was because I redlined my engine like 4 times and I did a lot of city driving. I have no mods btw. Factors like tire pressure, how fast you drive, how deep you step on the gas, the stuff you carry, road conditions, how heavy you are, and whether you take a dump before you drive will affect your fuel economy.

 
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I just got a new record--30mpg! Keep in mind this is with 98% highway miles. Normal city driving usually gets me 24mpg now. Don't know what's wrong.

 
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My experience is just like dalaw. I average 32-34 normally with high 30s on longer freeway trips. Last time I checked, I got 30, but it was probably due to more idling and warming the car in the wintertime.

If you guys are don't have some weird mods that suck gas, you should be getting in the 30s.

Only things under the hood is a K&N drop-in filter, Denso Iridiums and I use 89 or 92 octane. I tried 87 and it runs like sh*t and wastes more gas.

 
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I normally get 26-28 mpg in the city (using the revised calculations), and I have a 2003 Civic Si (Canadian) w/ auto trans, and I usually average 35 mpg on the highway.

I found, however, that when I filled with 87 octane (regular), overall mileage decreased significantly, even when my drving habits were unaltered.

I fill up now with 91 octane (premium), and use STP fuel injector cleaner every third fill up or so. It tends to help maintain good gas mileage.

I recently returned from Salt Lake City, UT., and got around 38 mpg, which is the best I've noticed since I got the vehicle.

 
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I'll just chime in with my 2 cents. I've been pleased with my '02 EX Coupe 5 speed; particularly on the highway. The window sticker on my car said 32 city/37 highway. I do try and keep the tires inflated properly and the oil changed. I've got about 15k miles on the car and use Mobile1 5-30 Synthetic oil. Other than upgrading to a nicer tire the car is mechanically stock. I always write down my mileage on my gas receipts so I've got a pretty good idea what my mileage really is. In town I get 32-34 mpg depending on how much stop and go I see. Even in the worst cases I don't think my mileage has ever been below 30 or 31 (don't recall exactly). On the highway the car has been great. I always drive on cruise control and don't stop unless I have to (just ask my wife ). I drive the speed limit plus 4 which usually means 79 around here and I get anywhere from 38-40 mpg. Maybe I'm just lucky; I don't know. In October I took a vacation and drove 2900 miles. I've figured and re-figured the gas mileage from that trip because it was so good (and that was not the easiest piece of highway driving a car has ever seen). Sorry to hear from the folks who aren't fairing so well. I will say that my Civic seems to be a bit finicky about letting me top the tank off every time so there are the odd occasions when I have gotten a really high # or a really low # and have just decided that those numbers were erroneous.

 
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I drove to upstate NY to buy a bumper from a member on this site, a couple days ago. The trip was round about 300 miles, and I got up there on a full tank with some tick marks to spare. So I'm guessing My car is doing good on highway mileage, and I was cruising at 75mph most of the way.

Of course I have no engine mods (or any other mods that supposedly give you hp gain), because I bought my car for its main purpose of economy. I only gassed up when I got into his town, and also halfway home; $5 worth of gas each time. Aside from the weather, the ride was really fun.