Best Gas Mileage Ever for a '98

[Reverie]

I have a '98 with 4wd and an automatic. Yesterday I had to make a 600 mile round trip and decided to make it a mileage run, seeing what I could squeeze out of the CR-V at highway speeds. I filled up at the start of the day, to the point I could see fuel in the filler neck. I cruised about 8 miles to the Interstate and then settled in for the trip. I never ran the cruise control but would occasionally run the A/C. For the most part I avoided stop and go traffic but did keep up with the other cars around me. I didn't attempt any great speed but did touch 70 a few times. I ran around 62 mph most of the time, as measured by my GPS. I made three stops for fuel, not because I needed to but so I could see what was happening (besides I needed to stretch my legs). First stop my mileage was 29.1 mpg. That was astounding. The second fill up had some city traffic but I still got 28.9 mpg. The run home was amazing. I got 31.1 mpg! That was really without doing anything exceptional, just driving easy and keeping mileage in my game plan the whole way. I felt like I could have improved it somewhat if I hadn't driven into some foothills, emptied all the junk that rides along with me and not run the A/C at all. Has anyone else experienced this or am I just really lucky?

Reverie

[tsmithvt]

Your not "really lucky" but you did do very well. :D

[2006 honda crv se]

the thing people forget when they buy a new crv is that you probably not see the milage you will get on the gen 1 crv. I own two crv:s 97 and 06 the vtec in the 06 really does suck down the gas. The power is there but MPG is not

[2RedV's]

Our 99 outdoes the 04 all the time in fuel mileage. The 99 has a smaller engine but the 04 has the advantage of newer technology to offset the bigger engine with more power. Still, I can routinely achieve 25+mpg in mostly rural, 55-60mph driving.

[jsw2233]

I think it's sad to see the older gen be more efficient than new ones. With gas prices nowadays (and keep going up) I think it's time for Honda and others to re-prioritize their design to be more fuel efficient. Useful cars like CRV for average user like me simply can't make too much use of 200+hp but can certainly appreciate more mpg. (No offence, but I don't understand why other keep asking for V6 option, if you want power or performance, I think you bought the wrong car. May be a Cayanne instead?)

[noahrexion]

Reverie,

I really want to try and make a fuel-run myself. The best I've done in mine is about 29. This was loaded up and going 70-80, no a/c in my 5speed 00' RT4wd.

Just for fun I'd like to see what a nice flat 100+ mile trip would net at 55-65mph. I am sure I could touch what you did.

[ccMarie]

i have a road trip planned for the coming weekend. one way is around 450 miles. i usually have really strong winds (head or side) for about 150 miles around Cheyenne WY.

i have a 02, so i will post how i do, too. both ways...

[catsailr]

I bought my 08 CRV in Nashville about a month ago. The dealer filled the tank, I drove around the city some, and then came home. About 190 miles all together. I filled up and go 27.8 MPG on the first tank. I have averaged 23.4 MPG on the first 2300 miles, some of it pulling my trailer with 2 4-wheelers.
I am well pleased with the mileage.

[TX444]

Was your 1st gen V 4 or 2wd? Mine is 4wd and i've never been over 25 mpg. With the B20 being a slug, things like that make a difference. I also noticed that my mpg got better after 100k miles.

[X-Brawn]

I bought my 08 CRV in Nashville about a month ago. The dealer filled the tank, I drove around the city some, and then came home. About 190 miles all together. I filled up and go 27.8 MPG on the first tank. I have averaged 23.4 MPG on the first 2300 miles, some of it pulling my trailer with 2 4-wheelers.
I am well pleased with the mileage.

When my previous vehicle (a 2007 Honda Ridgeline) was getting 15 to 16.5 MPG on average anything like what I'm getting is a BIG improvement.

I drive mainly "rural" roads on average of 50 to 65 MPH on a daily basis with some freeway driving up to 75 MPH for short distances.

I got on the most recent mixed tank (of the above driving) of 24.76MPG. Not bad at all for me!

[GoGreen]

I just put my first 1000 miles on my new CR-V.
(I am LOVING this car, by the way). :)

I drive 45 minutes to work everyday on rural roads and some freeway.
Average speed is 45-65.

I am consistently getting around 25-26 mpg.

I'm very pleased with this.
My previous vehicle was a Dodge Caravan getting 19 mpg.

Unfortunately, with gas prices going so high ($3.85/gal in my neck of the woods) it feels like I'm not not any further ahead at the pump, but I know it could be worse.

[V2V]

I own the family hand-me-down 2000 CRV, 135,000 miles LX 2WD. I have been catching up on all the inspections and little items that need to be replaced. As part of my upgrades I have been keeping track of the gas mileage. I have checked the following items and this is the results. New Fram air filter, tires inflated to max sidewall pressure, and use of the cruise control when it is save (minimal traffic). Based on the past 1200 miles I have averaged 25.1 mpg. Most of this has been interstate and traveling at 10mph over the limit (70, 75, or 80 ) The mileage did drop down at 80, of course the best single tank mileage was traveling at the speed limit 60.

[ErrorS]

I'm shocked at how well my 97' does. At 150k miles on a trip to St. Louis from Indiana, I got close to 30MPG.. give or take 4mpg.

I have a question though, my speedo is off by a good amount, does this mean my odometer or tripmeter is? maybe it's saying I'm doing more miles than I really am.

It's significiant, tested on radar, at 55 the speedo shows 59, at 60 the speedo shows 65, at 70 the speedo shows 74mph+. air pressure on the tires aren't off.

[illegal]

everyone saying that the later gens getting worse mileage compared to the gen 1 also needs to remember the weight difference between the vehicles makes a big difference as well as just the vtec engagement. My wifes 93 civic beater, vtec ex got consistently 38 mpg.

[JLWCRV]

My 97 crv get 22mpg no matter what I've done. I'm trying to find a way to increase. all ready have cold air intake, new struts and tires.

[harold]

I have only owned my 2006 M/T V for a few mths. now and have averaged 33.33 miles per US gal.. :DI am very happy with my V. I never travel over the speed limit and don't hurry getting to it! Hal

[yommii]

I just got a 2000 CR-V (145K miles). The average mileage i got on it (city) within the first 2 weeks was 21mpg but it suddenly dropped to 18mpg. Pretty poor compared to what i get on my '94 Accord.
I however noticed this smell - foul smell - i get when my speed crosses 70mph. Any idea what it is? could it be responsible for the poor mileage?

[Danno]

I'm shocked at how well my 97' does. At 150k miles on a trip to St. Louis from Indiana, I got close to 30MPG.. give or take 4mpg.

I have a question though, my speedo is off by a good amount, does this mean my odometer or tripmeter is? maybe it's saying I'm doing more miles than I really am.

It's significiant, tested on radar, at 55 the speedo shows 59, at 60 the speedo shows 65, at 70 the speedo shows 74mph+. air pressure on the tires aren't off.

Like you said, your odometer would be off, telling you that you did more miles that you really did. For example, it sounds like your speedo is reading about 5.4-7.7% off (Holy Moly that's wayyyyy off)

So when you fill up and it says you went 300 miles you REALLY traveled (6%ish) less and went 282. so if you put 10 gallons into it you didn't get 30mpg, you got 28....

also, if you put 100,000 miles on it you really only put 94,000 (that's one oil change too many, lol)

[slimjim43]

I just got a 2000 CR-V (145K miles). The average mileage i got on it (city) within the first 2 weeks was 21mpg but it suddenly dropped to 18mpg. Pretty poor compared to what i get on my '94 Accord.
I however noticed this smell - foul smell - i get when my speed crosses 70mph. Any idea what it is? could it be responsible for the poor mileage?

Your catalytic converter could be bad, causing the foul smell. A bad O2 sensor can also cause bad mileage.

[yommii]

Thanks slimjim43, I would surely take a look at them both.