well, my wife broke her arm so we had to trade her 08 fit sport for my mom's 05 Element because the Element is an auto. she's been driving it a few days and we had to fill up. 200 miles with 11 gallons of gas!! i know it's no fit, but 18mpg? all she does is highway for about 15 miles one way to work and back. is that right? the element has about 85k on it. anything that i could check for a tune up etc? all regular maintenance work has been performed by the dealer.. and all the lights on the dash that are out make me sad. got the PRNDL on the shifter to come back on last night. i dunno. i love it, but that mileage seems HORRID! i average the same in my companies chevy cargo van with a V8.

 

Slightly lower than average but not unrealistic.

Automatic 4WD '97-01 CR-Vs average about 21mpg and automatic 4WD '02-06 CR-Vs average about 23-24mpg. The Element is 115lbs heavier, has slightly larger running gear, and the aerodynamics of a refrigerator.

 

yeah.. but hers is 2wd.

 

Tell your wife to stop hot-rodding it

 

My mom has an 06 ex-p which is the awd with the 5 speed. The best we have been able to get out of it is 23.5 mpg None the less it's still an awesome car!

 

yeah.. she can't wait to get her fit back tomorrow. whatever tires my parents bought for this thing are terrible in the snow.

 

Sounds reasonable. My 2nd gen CRV gets about 20 around town. 21-22 mixed driving, and 24-25 on longs trips with no stopping. To get any bettter mileage I have drive like I have an egg under my foot.

 

doesnt matter if it is 2wd or 4wd for normal driving... rear wheels are never engauged unless the front slip.

I average 24mpg in my 08 crv normal around town. I was getting 28-30 on the highway. that really sucks for the element.

 

True about the 4WD not being engaged thing, but the drive shaft that goes to the back is still there and spinning, and needs some power to move.

Not sure about VA, but up here they switch to a winter blend of gasoline which will give you a very noticeable decrease in mileage.

But 18mpg sounds about right for a shoe box. I've seen that before on mine. Mine's an 08 with the 5 speed manual, but an engine is an engine.

 

Come on guys....

Aerodynamics....that element is a mini ups truck going down the highway....

It's fighting a lot of air...hence the low mpg....

 

Being a box is part of the problem. 160 HP trying to move this 3,600lb box is the other. If they had slapped the TSX i4 or even better the V6 in there, it'd be a different story.

 

It absolutely does matter. Whether the system is transferring torque or not, all of the additional weight and the rotational mass and drag of the 4WD drivetrain is still there. Dragging around additional weight is never a good thing for fuel economy.

 

i like this post....
LOL!

anyway.. drift element:

 

We bought our E new - 05 EX AWD auto. Whether my wife or I drives it, city, highway, ac on/off, etc. it gets a solid 19-20mpg, period. It has never deviated more than maybe 2mpg from this on a tank, even when on a solid road trip at 70-80mph.

 

huh. ok. it may have something to do with my wife being a NASA instructor. she's just happy to have her Fit back.

i haven't noticed my gas mileage decrease with the "winter" gas..