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Ok, so I went to Costco to fill up 87 gas on my 2005 Coupe EX.
I used about 6.4 gallons of gas (half a tank-ish) and I recorded that I drove around 135 miles. That comes out to 21.1 MPG! I think this is horrible. Please help me solve this solution.

My mods: AEM v2 intake, 2 1/4 exhaust piping (stock muffler), dropped 2 inches, and I have a subwoofer/amp installed. hahaha

This has been going on ever since I bought the car. I've been getting really bad gas mileage.

Here are some factors that you might consider when replying to this:
-I'm semi-alright at stick (manual)
-Sometimes I rev up to like 4.5k on 1st gear (probably like 10 times in one week)
-I only drive to school and work which is city driving only. I know I know it's constant stop-and-gas, but shouldn't I at least get around 26 mpg for that?
-I live on a hill, but I don't even drive 20% of the tank on the hill.

hmm..i might be forgetting some other factors, but this 21 mpg is killing me! I bought a non-SI civic because I wanted the excellent mpg! What in the world!? I never even race with my car!

Oh man...if you guys could help a brotha out, it would be really nice! Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this cry for help haha

 
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thats pretty bad gas mileage, my ex gets 38 on the hwy and 30 in town, my lx gets 33 in town and 41 on hwy.... id say just keep ur foot out of it, keep a log, and dont go on half a tank of gas for accurae gas mileage its not gonna happen, run it as low as u feel comfortable, then fill up, ull get a better feeling for gas mileage

 
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Alright...I'll drain my tank this week and get a good measure of mpg.
Thanks for the advice.

 
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make sure u have a full tank at start, so u can gauge it, also try an d go to the same gas station, so u know ur getting the same "full tank" as all pumps are different

 
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Yeah...On a fresh tank now starting today.

 
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Yeah...On a fresh tank now starting today.

 
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good, good luck, keep us updated

 
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i normally get 20mpg in the city.

 
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Will do



you don't find anything wrong with that? we have 4 cylinders hahaha
you're probably pushing 200+ horses!!!



I understand gas is a huge staple and commodity to our lives, but DAMN!
In California, each gallon pounds my wallet for around 3.88. Thanks for the support greeen01civic4d! gearbox...we need to own a gas station

 
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stop buying crappy gas it makes a difference.

 
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shell vpower ftw

 
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If by crappy gas you mean octane, then there is no positive difference (although putting in V-Power every so often isn't a bad idea to clean things up). If you mean put Shell (or other quality brands) in vs. random brands then it will over the long haul make a difference, but tank to tank there shouldn't be a noticable difference. Personally I use Shell whenever possible, always 87 octane.

I have never gotten worse than 27 MPG in any situation. I think I have gotten worse than 30 MPG about 3 times in 42,XXX miles. I average around 34-35MPG overall with a best ever of 42MPG.

I drive a 2005 EX Sedan Special Edition with a 5MT. Basically it is the heaviest 7th Gen ever made outside of the same model with an auto. Theoretically my mileage should be the worst possible in a manual 7th Gen.

Maybe 10% of my driving is on highways, the rest is on curvy backroads, generally 35MPH zones, which means travelling between 45-50. When accelerating I usually rev to 4-6k and generally travel between 2.5-4k. On occasion I will drive like a bit of an *** and redline and travel in low gear at above 5k rpm. Even on tanks when I do that fairly often my mileage isn't greatly affected.

I've found that I actually get slightly better around town mileage when I give it a decent bit of revs ~ 3.5-4.5k, rather than keeping it really low. Obviously this isn't the case on highways and other contant speed manouvers.

General rules for keeping up mileage are keeping your tires pumped up at/near the max, clean your filters (esp if you have high mileage), change your oil on time, etc. Don't forget the A/C vs. windows down rules. I forget exactly, but its something like 40MPH, where above its better on gas to use A/C, and below its better to roll the windows.

 
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Interesting mad_ox1...I'll clean my air filter this weekend then. But I have a question...Is there any way I can go to a mechanic or Honda dealership to see if there's a problem with my engine? Isn't it kind of weird getting 21 mpg!?

 
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I'm sure the dealer would be happy to take some of your $$ for a tune-up or whatever. They should find what is wrong (if anything) faster than anyone.

21MPG is unbelievable to me in anything other than on a track, but maybe I just underestimate what stop and go driving really does as I rarely see that in my car.

I'd say there's no reason other than $$ (which the bad mileage is costing you already) not to take it to a dealer to have them tune/check it out. If nothing major was wrong you'd prob make up the cost of the tune-up/service in a few months of fill-ups assuming your mileage improved.

Like green01 said, its really hard to guage your mileage when you only fill a small part of the tank. I rarely fill before its close to, if not lighting the gas light.

People will say you don't want to go that low because crap accumulates in your tank and you'll suck it up if you go really low. I'd counter by saying if you always go to empty it has no chance to accumulate. Plus, this isn't 1956, modern gas is far more stable and resists breaking down into sludge much better.

Also when you are low on gas you are low on weight so the car should get better mileage (not by much, but every little bit helps). Not sure about gas, but water is 8 pounds per gallon, so assuming its close, a full tank is about 104lbs (13gal x 8lbs). Driving around with 3 gallons (1 gal or so above where the gas light should come on) puts you 80 lbs below the weight of a full tank. That's like losing half a person's weight.

 
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Some quick math on fuel cost savings. Say you increase your MPG to 27. We'll assume you use 10 gallons per fill-up to make math easy.

That's 270 miles per fill-up.

Currently you are getting 210 miles per fill-up.

The average American drives around 10,000 miles per year i believe.

At 270 miles per tank that is 37 fill-ups per year.

At 210 miles per tank that is 47 fill-ups per year.

So a difference of 10 fill-ups at 10 gallons per = 100 gallons per year saved.

You quoted gas in your area at $3.88/gal, so you would save almost $400 each year in gas if you got to 27MPG. I think it would definately be worth it to get it looked at by a dealer or mechanic as well as thinking about how you can adjust your driving to help as well.

Even if you only improve by 1MPG you'll save like $75 a year.

 
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Ive consistently gotten 280-300mi/tank since my car was brand new. It usually comes up to be about 24 or 25/mpg. My gf's dad that works for Honda said thats the actual average. The 38mpg is under conditions that no car is lucky enough to ever see.

 
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yeah 24 sounds normal. the high mileages only come into play on freeway miles. heck i get 40+ all the time if i only do highway driving around 65 mph.

 
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Well, I didn't think I was the only one seeing good mileage. I can't remember the last time I've gotten something other than 34 or 35MPG.

How many of you have autos?

 
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i do i do!

 
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Hmm...so you are saying getting 23-25 is normal!? That's pretty bad hahaha

Well, I just started my delivery-boy job today. I drove around 60 miles. The meter is really weird, it was showing that i used about a quarter of the tank, but it jumps sporadically so I can't gauge on how much is actually left in my tank. I'll drain the damn tank until it's showing the gas light haha.

I'm thinking about buying that lubecontrol stuff (lubecontrol.com) and see if I get any increase. Do any of you guys use that stuff? What do you guys recommend buying for a manual civic? Need details! hahaha

thanks again guys
i'll keep you guys informed!

 
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i been using lc20 in oil and fp plus in gas almost 3 yrs. mileage went up from 38 to 42 on the highway. and engine sounds and runs better. if the gas gauge moves up and down too much, you prolly have a bad sending unit.

 
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How should I go about checking that 'sending unit' out?

 
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what is the mileage on your car? have you replaced the spark plugs?

 
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currently, i'm at about 48,xxx

nope, should i replace the spark plugs?
what brand should i go with and what level?
recommend any sites?
thanks

 
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well the sending unit is under the back seat, in the tank i believe. you just replace it, theres nothing to check if the gas gauge isnt working. mine would never be accurate and alot of times i would have the light come on with 5 gallons left lol. it should not ever get higher than what it was before.

 
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dude, i got 36 mpg last week, around town

 
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mine gauge goes up and down with my driving style. ie low gas if your floor it, high if you granny drive it. my light comes on at 2 gallons left. i range between 24-28 all city driving. you should not have to replace your spark plugs at 50k miles. more like 80k. but if you WANT to, go for denso iridium. very good, small increase in power as well as mpg. also about $80ish. keep us informed!

btw i have an auto too.

 
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I can tell you right now your revving it up to hear the intake/exhaust... soon as I added it on my sol...mpg went bye bye

 
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alright guys...HORRIBLE continues!!!!!
i didn't drain the tank like i said i would, but since i deliver pizza for the time being...i had to refill.
i put in about 10 gallons and have only driven about 205 miles!!!

that means i'm getting about 20 miles per gallon for the city!!!! I examined by driving style and I would say it's pretty crazy, but i mean 20 mpg?

Things I'm going to do this weekend:
clean my filter, buy new spark plugs, and get lubecontrol.

we'll see how things look up. this 20 mpg is just horrific!

 
Rep Power: 225

Im tryin a new intake w/filter and plugs this week to see if it improves or not. Since Ive always gotten the same mileage I dont think its a problem with my car, but maybe theres a way to squeek a lil more outta the tank.