[tstruna30]

I purchased a used 2008 CR-V EX-L 4WD back in October. So far I love the car a lot, but the gas mileage, not so much...

When I purchased the car, the dash read 17.5 mpg. And the previous owner did a fair share of city driving, so I figured it would get bumped up after driving it a while.
Currently, I do about 50/50 city highway, with the occasional 120-mile highway trip at least once a month.

After 3000 miles put on by me, and driving it daily, the current dash reading is 18.5mpg.
I am not thrilled about this, as I have seen people averaging in the low 20's.
Everything (that I am aware of) is solid on the vehicle and the conditions should provide for optimal mpg's. (good tire pressure, no roof rack, etc.)
The vehicle currently has 96,000 miles on it.

I am wondering why my mpg is so low, and how I can improve.
I feel like I am always filling up, and I am spending a lot of money on gas.

While all this info is based off the dash reading, I plan to actually start recording and monitoring the real mpg here to see an accurate reading (I will update it when I have my calculations).

Also, fair warning, I tend to be a pretty aggressive driver...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Carbuff2]

Your driving style may be the culprit. (Don't worry, self-admittance is the first step towards the cure!)

My wife (who is not an aggressive driver by any means) gets about 10% less MPG than I do when I drive her minivan.


++++++++++

See what type of gas mileage you get on those 120 mile trips:

1. Fill up on the way out of your town. Note miles.

2. Do the trip...and fill up again before stopping for the day. Note miles again, and gas used.

Divide miles travel;led by gallons used. Report back here.

+++++++++

If you are in the USA, remember: Summer Gasoline is coming (which provides 6 - 9 % better MPG). Where are you?

 

[NorCalCR-V]

You never told us if you reset the dash (if that’s how you choose to monitor your mpg).. if you didn’t, then you’re driving is competing against their average and depending on how many miles they put on their car it will take a lot of mileage under your ownership to make that average any better.. if you haven’t reset it, do it and then drive it to monitor YOUR average mpg..

FWIW I own a 2009 and I’m averaging 24.2 doing about 60/40 hwy/city driving

 

[Tigris99]

STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DASH. It is not fully accurate as it simple averages the fuel mileage of the entire amount of driving.

If you drive hard or spend a lot of time idling you will sacrifice large amounts of fuel mileage quickly.

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[crveee]

Two things that can affect your gas mileage:

1. Check your air filter, replace if dirty.

2. Your fuel injectors may be dirty. Using cheap gas without good cleaning additives usually leads to this.

 

[kloker]

I just recently got my '07, and, being retired now, don't do all that much driving, so I've only gotten a glimpse so far. But I think I am getting a consistent 20-22 around town, and I am a leadfoot. But, it's all in what you compare it to, too. My F250 gets 10 mpg, so I am very happy with the car. Very. See what you come up with by just hand recording your fuel costs and mileage. I suspect it's probably better than what the dash is showing. Let us know.

 

[wlong01]

A lot of things can affect MPG. Winter weather, temperature, dirty air filter, etc. One thing I've been told is if MPG takes a sudden drop have the valve lash checked. Mine has dropped from around 22 to around 18.5. Car goes in for service in the next month so I'll have the valve checked and adjusted if needed. Valves have never been adjusted in 133,000 miles. Hopefully they're not too far out of spec.

 

[bbxlr8]

A lot of things can affect MPG. Winter weather, temperature, dirty air filter, etc. One thing I've been told is if MPG takes a sudden drop have the valve lash checked. Mine has dropped from around 22 to around 18.5. Car goes in for service in the next month so I'll have the valve checked and adjusted if needed. Valves have never been adjusted in 133,000 miles. Hopefully they're not too far out of spec.

All this - filter, valve lash & fuel system health.

Plus: something to consider, these tanks are not that big and in general mileage is not that great. Will exagerate this by buying gas more frequently. Really, it's not that bad and the actual amount in tank when light goes on is significant. Measure it...

 

[spotpup]

Have you looked to see that you do not have a rear brake caliper hanging up? I had a similar issue with our 08 CRV where the MPG's dropped slowly and the car just seemed to get sluggish over time. Turned out that I had one of my rear caliper pistons freeze up which was putting drag on the drivetrain. Replaced the rear caliper, pads and rotors on both sides, changed the brake fluid and it is back to getting 24 around town and 28-29 on the highway.

I have never had the valves adjusted and we are a bit over 187K. 2008 EXL AWD

 

[tstruna30]

UPDATE:

I took a 1,800-mile trip and calculated my MPG. It was almost all highway driving and some mountain and backroad driving. My MPG for that trip was 21.5 MPG.
Sound about right to you guys?

I also replaced my air filter, sparkplugs, and am trying to use some fuel system cleaner right now.

 

[Epona]

Hi there tstruna,

I have a 2007 EX-L 2 wheel drive with 121,000 miles and I get 27 to 28 mpg on the highway. When I filled up yesterday the range had 411 mpg but that is because of highway driving. I drive once a week out of town approximately 200 miles on the highway. I also use cruise control on the highway and stay at a steady clip. And I do not accelerate, I gently move about. I use regular gasoline and have all current maintenance up to date. I get about 19 to 20 mpg in the city. One of the things I am doing is changing my oil at 3,000 miles because my many years mechanic and vehicle wise part mechanic part engineer brother recommended it. So, I am not going by maintenance minder for the oil change.

Also, living in Texas it is also recommended that the oil be changed because of the intense heat.

 

[wlong01]

UPDATE:

I took a 1,800-mile trip and calculated my MPG. It was almost all highway driving and some mountain and backroad driving. My MPG for that trip was 21.5 MPG.
Sound about right to you guys?

I also replaced my air filter, sparkplugs, and am trying to use some fuel system cleaner right now.

Seems low. How many adults in the car? Was it loaded with baggage? How fast were you driving on the highway?
The sweet spot for decent MPG seems to be around 65. 70 and above seems to really decrease MPG.
Make sure you reset the trip odo before starting, then the MPG on the dash will be more accurate.

 

[Wildcat]

In my experience, gas mileage in my '09 seems to go down gradually the faster I go, but once I get above 80 MPH, it's like the mileage was reaching a tipping point and I would get worse mileage rather quickly. In Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, etc., the speed limit is 80, and most drivers are going 85-90 in my experience. I was lucky to get 21 MPG, and it could have been less--it might have even been 19 MPG. I will be taking the same I-90 route this year and I may actually keep a logbook of the fill-ups.

Yet the quality of gasoline made a big difference for me. I had two tankfuls on identical drives, on relatively flat Interstate highways (wasn't to the mountains yet). The difference in MPG between tankfuls was (I believe) over 6 MPG. One was the nearly the best mileage I ever had; the other was in comparison shockingly low. The "dinosaur gas" (Sinclair) always seemed to treat me well. The poorer mileage was after I filled up at a Cenex station.

Reset the trip odometer at each fill-up, and that MPG indicator will usually be within 1 MPG (either way) of being correct for that tankful. I found that to be true on the trips I'd taken where I calculated MPG with each fill-up.

 

[kloker]

For a fairly aggressive driver (I'm one too) I'd say that's a fair average for city driving, but on a long highway trip I would have expected more, unless you were running 90 mph. I won't know until I take a trip this summer how mine will do, but I'm expecting around 26+. Of course, here our rural highway speeds are 70-75+ so cruising is probably faster than where you are.

 

[crveee]

I have never had the valves adjusted and we are a bit over 187K. 2008 EXL AWD

You could be burning your valves if too tight. Valve adjustment should be done on these engines at or before 100k miles.

https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/tom-ray/valve-clearance-adjustments-necessary-service-or-dealership-scam

 

[Wildcat]

I adjusted the valves on my '09 and now it's noisy as heck. Can't stand the clattering. And the mileage hasn't changed one bit. Our other '09 is nice and quiet and actually has gotten better mileage. I've done valves before, so this isn't my first rodeo. I just hate to think if I adjust the other one, it's also going to make a racket.

 

[Tigris99]

If their noisy they are too loose. Have to loose a lot of clearance to risk burning valves. Almost sounds as if you didn't have the cams in the right place when you adjusted them. Or just set them too loose.

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[Wildcat]

I've done it plenty of times on other Honda engines. The '97 needed them on the loose side of the spec, so that one was a bit noisy when I was done. I did have a few valves "tapping" prior to my adjustment on the '09 and that is gone, but this is an overall sound similar to the '97 (and I did not adjust the '09 on the upper end of the spec).

 

[Tigris99]

Oh thought you were referring to gen 2 on up. Ya your right, gen 1 needed it like all those older engines otherwise you were adjusting them every few months.

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[crveee]

I've done it plenty of times on other Honda engines. The '97 needed them on the loose side of the spec, so that one was a bit noisy when I was done. I did have a few valves "tapping" prior to my adjustment on the '09 and that is gone, but this is an overall sound similar to the '97 (and I did not adjust the '09 on the upper end of the spec).

If you adjust them to the upper end of the spec window, they will be very noisy ( i have done this). Adjusting them to the middle of the spec window makes the perfect honda sewing machine sound.