Fuel Economy Rating

[lcovelli]

The fuel economy rating given to Civic Gx's is painfully low. (24/36)
I consider myself a moderate driver, drive with the AC on and a good 75 mph on the highways and I get 44 mpg.
City driving is more like 32 mpg.
Regardless, I have normalized my data across many variables and keep getting the same +/- 2.2 mpg.

I most certainly think that other GX drivers get equivocal MPG and I wonder where and why there is this disconnect.

Thanks,
Luigi

[kuykendallc]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

I quit checking, but I know in town I very rarely get much higher than 30. I average about 190 miles per tank and normally take 6.2 gallons to fill up.

[DavidP]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

I have gotten 39-41 miles/gge on the highway. Have averaged 33.65 mp/gge over 9145 miles driven since July 2009 purchase. My miles driven have been roughly 70% city, 30% highway.

[Green GX]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

Over approximately the last 2.5 years I've averaged 38.2 mpg in my '07.

My driving is 5% stop & go, 95% highway. When I'm on the freeway, (the freeways I drive on generally flow well,) the mileage can go higher . On long trips on the weekend I've averaged 44-46 mpg.

I rarely use the A/C and turn the engine off at the 2 minute + red lights in Santa Clarita, CA. By turning it off I save gas and I don't have to sit there and vibrate to the rough low idle that this car has.

Bill

[Alaska GX]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

We do not have filling stations up here, I fill at home and not keep track of gge. What I do have is my real cost for fuel. I installed separate meters on the gas and electric.

My fuel cost over 34,240 miles averages $.041 per mile........no one is beating that cost.

[CNGfamily]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

gas meter... sounds like you have what you'd need to convert to equivalent gas gallons... but I agree with you that what really counts is your LOW number of cents per mile

... I installed separate meters on the gas and electric.

My fuel cost over 34,240 miles averages $.041 per mile........no one is beating that cost.

[edo]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

I get excellent (40-44 mpg) milage in the CA Central Valley, 65-70 mph typical speed. '09 GX

[skierrob]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

How are you all determining accurate MPG given that each fill is variable based on temperature, expansion during fueling, etc? BTW.. I assume I have a 6.5 gallon tank for all purposes as I've never been able to put more in than that even when completely empty.

My normal formula of fill up, drive a while, fill up again and do the math doesn't work when you get up to an extra GGE in the tank if you fill up when 3/4 full vs. filling when totally empty. Even when you fill up empty to empty, different pumps (or even the SAME pump) give a different amount of fuel on a different day.

[freedml]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

It's not possible for normal people to be at all accurate on GX mileage.

[Curtis]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

Studies that I've read have placed the GX's operating cost at $.04 per mile, about half that of the gasoline version. We can all smile as we pass the gas stations knowing that we are saving money, as well as resources.

[Dinubadave]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

I'm new to the CNG world; I bought three 98 Civics at a recent auction. My daughter has one in Irvine at UCI (loves it) and the other two are here with me just south of Fresno. I came to the same conclusion; I'm averaging about 20 miles to a dollar's worth of fuel. I did drive one home from the north part of Sacremento (I went 247 miles) and it took $9.48 to fill it up, which beats my average but that was all highway. With the variations in filling one of these plus the variation in price of fuel, to truly compare 'mileage' with gas vehicles, I believe you need to go by cost. For example, if I can maintain the 'roughly' 5 cents per mile, and gas does get up to $4 a gallon, I would be getting the equivalent of 80 miles per gallon (of gas).

[Lakewood90712]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

Studies that I've read have placed the GX's operating cost at $.04 per mile, about half that of the gasoline version. We can all smile as we pass the gas stations knowing that we are saving money, as well as resources.

This kind of shows how OLD I be. Back around 1970 or so, Gasoline was about 60 cents a gallon and Volkswagen had a commercial with the driver shouting ' Two Pennies A Mile"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684937sSN1E

4 cents a mile for fuel ,40 years later in a car with about double the power and weight is a very good deal.

[jkresse]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

Our '05 GX has about 43K miles on it. I always divide the GGE on the pump (at least I assume that's GGE on the pump!) into the miles and I can say with a fair degree of accuracy that our overall MPG is right around 32. A lot of city driving, some freeway (74 MPH on the freeway).

[cngacrossusa]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

Wow . . . Alaska GX has average cost per mile (CPM) of $0.04 (four pennies) which I'm guessing is just fuel cost (including compression electricity, etc), but doesn't include Fuelmaker compressor itself. That's still excellent.

Now what REALLY matters using the Murphy motto (pixx on Hybrids) is what's OVERALL LIFETIME cost per mile of vehicle - - let's call it Lifetime Cost Per Mile (LTCPM)?? I've calculated into future what is cost of owning $7,500 used 2001 Honda Civic GX and used Fuelmaker (including head rebuilds) and works out as follows: fuel cost alone for NG & compression is about 4 cents a mile, while cost of car AND Fuelmaker compressor itself (including a future head rebuild) is also around 4 cents a mile (assuming 300,000 potential miles on GX). That's only 8 cents a mile TOTAL to own and fuel the GX and amortize Fuelmaker cost. Since dedicated Civic GX will have little repairs, and insurance isn't that bad, this car is likely HALF the overall lifetime cost per mile of a Toyota Prius (new, used, or whatever). That's the real answer BigOil and car makers with "throw away car building mentality" do NOT want to deal with.

Step 1: Build more public cng refueling infrastructure (or low cost VRA's at home), Step 2: Build 10% or more dedicated and bi-fuel (cng/gasoline) of all vehicles sold and within a few short years, USA will begin the "weaning from teat" of imported crude oil . . . . it's that simple. CNG All Across the USA !!

[freedml]

Re: Fuel Economy Rating

There are lots of variables when you calculate these things.

First, the 'fuelmaker', depending on model and how much you pay for it, may be worth a lot at the 'end of life.'

Then there are possible major Honda repairs --both my 2001 and 2002 needed a CVT at 100k miles to the tune of $3k, but were just barely covered under the extended warranty, and which has now run out on the earlier models. My 2002 needed a fuel sender which was covered under the 15/150 California warranty, but that would have been $2500 had it happened out of warranty. Also had injectors replaced under the 15/150 at something like $600 each. So, the older GXs are not necessarily very economical unless you live in California.