25ck5nah2

I don't know if my ek should be at the right mpg but for some reason, I only get like around 28-30 mpg on this car. Its a sohc non vtec. Everytime I fill up the gas tank, the highest mileage that I can get altogether is only 270 miles! 9.8 gallons = 260-270 miles?! Is there something wrong with my car?

Ya Digg

Not bad...most likely its a lot better, but you cant empty out the tank completely.

25ck5nah2

So its normal? I checked up online and they say it should be 34 mpg on regular roads and 38 mpg on highways. Hmmm....

Warhawk

Have you done routine maintenance? Change the spark plugs lately? Change the 02 sensor lately? Your tires aired properly? check the basics first!

Ya Digg

^^ Do that and tire pressure too. Still you arent using all the gas in the tank or the car would die. unless that is what you are doing. : )

Warhawk

Ya, calculating your MPG based on your tank size can be extremely innacurate. What I do is I fill the gas tank up all the way and then i reset my odometer or trip or whatever its called. The next time i get gas I do this (Miles driven) / (However many gallons I just put in) = MPG I usually get around 33ish mpg in my 00 auto sedan and I got a heavy foot too lol.

HitF8

how many miles are on your car?? that could have something to do with it to if the miles are high

25ck5nah2

Yea I always reset my odometer everytime I fill up my gas tank. I put 93 octane and for some reason I only got 240 miles altogether! Well the light hasnt come on yet, but thats where im at now.

To HitF8: My miles on this car is 102175 miles so far.

How much psi should i have in Si wheels (1999-2000)?

25ck5nah2

I purchased this car last year, and I only change the oil on it. I am the 2nd owner by the way.

Warhawk

Any particular reason you are running 93 octane? I usually keep my si wheels around 34 psi. I don't know if thats right or not tho...

Ya Digg

around 35 psi is fine. How do you drive, that will affect it a lot.

Edit: Also do you let the heat warmup every morning before driving because that can bring it down some.

cruizinmax

iTrader: (2)

My ek gets about the same. I have about 130k on it. When I first got it I could get about 36-37 mpg on the hwy. Now I'm down to about 32 on the hwy.

xmb63

I just got my civic back on the road and have been getting on it. curious to see what kinda mpg i get when I fill her up.

pumafeet10

don't put anything but 87 octane, your car will get worse gas mileage using it since its not set up to run it, as in factory timing and what not are meant for 87, and thats to get best economy.

As was stated before make sure it has a good tune up...plugs, cap, rotor, wires, oil change with 5w30 or 0w30 synthetic oil. Using that will increase oli life and reduce friction, which will help with your mileage.

Do not let your car warm up in the morning or really ever, it puts more strain on an engine then getting in an driving off. Keep rpms below 2500 and you should be shifting there or about 2k. Accel briskly to that point and you will get better mileage.

Personally as someone who gets 60mpg in my civic i would reccomend puting your tires at whatever the max side wall says. Your tires will last longer, and give you less rolling resistance so you can get better mileage when you are coasting i.e. you will be able to coast alot further, always helpful for better mileage.

hope that helps

ifIexplode

Your tank is 11.9 gallons BTW.
Not 9.8.

Unseen Racer

270? is that on highway, road or both?
cuz on my 96 ex i get about 237 on both with a full tank. i usually fill up before it hit the red mark but yea. im not sure if that good or not.

trustdestruction

This post makes me wonder something because you mentioned the light...

Are you going by the amount of gallons the pump say when you fill up? Or are you going by when the gas light (i assume that's what you're talking about?) comes on and you know how much fuel is left when the gas light comes on?

B serious

iTrader: (1)

this question always comes around this time of year.

1.) It's cold. It takes the car longer to warm up. It will use more gas as it warms up.
2.) Have you ever gotten 34MPG? I don't know that the estimate for around town driving is that high.
3.) Do you make a lot of short trips? Short trips means that the car has to warm up for every driving cycle. The more time the car spends in warm up mode..the more gas it will use. If you make a lot of short trips...it spends more of it's time warming up than a car that sees one long trip.
4.) Do you let the car idle to warm up in the morning or whenever you drive it? Idling = 0MPG.


A lot of your MPG variations will depend on driving habits. 28-30mpg around town is normal. I'm sure you could get it a little higher with things like spark plug and wire changes, air filter changes, etc.

Driving habits. Look into those. Some you can change..some you can't.

Example of things you can change:
-Don't let the car warm up when you drive it. You get in, wait a few seconds (up to around 1 min in extremely cold conditions...no 30 degrees F is not extreme cold) and drive off. It's in the manual.

-Pick up your dry cleaning, groceries, and other stuff on the way home from work instead of making those into individual trips.

Example of things you can not change:

-Distance away from destinations. Sometimes you only work 5 miles away. I'd suggest riding a bike if you can. But since your car has little time to run in warmed up and efficient mode between shut off and start ups....you're not going to get the best mileage. Short trips are never good for mileage.

-Traffic. Although you may be able to time or plan your trip to avoid traffic.

-Weather conditions. Cold weather = worse mileage.

-Road conditions. Hills = worse mileage. Although, you may be able to plan a better route.

You don't need 93 octane. Your car will probably run better and more efficiently on 87 octane. Octane is the fuel's resistance to burning. It doesn't have anything DIRECTLY to do with energy stored inside the fuel. If your car doesn't need 93...you're not going to benefit from it. You may actually stand to hurt your mileage. Unburned gas = unused energy being thrown out the exhaust pipe. Use 87.

This is how you measure gas mileage....not sure if you're just estimating the amount of gallons used or if you're actually measuring it.

1.) Fill up to full.
2.) Set Trip meter to 0.
3.) Drive as you normally would
4.) Go back to the SAME station and the SAME pump. This is important. There are variations in pump shut offs.
5.) Divide the number of miles on your trip meter by the amount of gallons you just filled up.

miles/gallons = MPG.