Honda City gas mileage is really bad!

Post by **semperfiguy** » May 23, 2011, 8:04 pm

I bought a new Honda City w/automatic transmission last July, and the gas mileage has been horrible. I use gasahol 91 and around town I get only 8.5 kilometers per litre. On the highway I get 15.5, which is not so bad, but I don't understand the disparity in the two figures. According to the Honda website the car should get around 12 k/litre in town. I know that many of you out there have similar cars. Are you also getting the same gas mileage figures? Any suggestions on how to improve the mileage in city driving. When I take it in for my 10,000 K service I will ask about it, but I'm sure that all I will get is that typical blank stare and a line of BS.

Post by **RLTrader** » May 23, 2011, 9:12 pm

Sorry, but all that litre and kilo is greek to me. But I think that comes out to around 20 miles per gal. which does not sound as bad. I have the Jazz with I guess same engine 1.5 But dam if I know what I am getting. Checked when first got, but can't remember what it was getting, but seemed ok, and now, except for price of a litre, seems about the same.

I would ask at Honda.

Post by **kopkei** » May 23, 2011, 9:23 pm

my aveo 1400 cc less power than the city uses 7-7,5L /100km ,i always take E20, i think you can use surely also with the city , maybe worth a try, start comparing after your second full tank E20....i think for a car this size it is normal , if you want to get less , you will have to go with models like honda brio , or nissan march ,they claim using 5l/100km,and the figures given by the manufacturers are mostly made at an average speed of 60 or 90km/hours
do not forget when you have auto gear , uses always more than manual....

Post by **kevh** » May 24, 2011, 12:49 am

The reason the car does so bad, it that its a 1.4 auto, they are all poor on fuel around town, and thats why they are so much more efficient on the open roads, less gear changing.

As far as i was aware everyone in the west knows not to but a automatic with a small engine, its more of a thai thing as it is considered a higher status buy.

Nothing you can do to improve the mileage except to buy a manual next time. the manual toyota vios that i bought more than doubles those figures.

Post by **Stantheman** » May 24, 2011, 6:06 am

Semper, one thing you must remember that with Alcohol based fuel you use the worse milage you will get. So if you use anything with Ethanol you will get more "power" but less mileage. Ufortuneately most gas in Thailand is Alcohol based.

Post by **jimboLV** » May 24, 2011, 6:47 am

Semper, 15.5 kpL converts to 36.5 mpg which ain't too shabby. 7.5 kpl converts to 17.6 mpg which still isn't bad. I too have a Honda City automatic, use gasohol 91, and get about the same on long trips. I've never checked the mileage around the city as it is meaningless, depending on how you are driving. Stop and go driving wreaks havoc on gas mileage. When you are stopped, you are getting zero mpg and when you start to accelerate you're using gas at a horrendous rate. Remember every time you hit the brake you are "wasting" fuel.

i generally would expect fuel efficiency to be about half for short trips around town. Having a "lead foot" can cut your mileage down drastically. One tip I have picked up over the years is to imagine an eggshell between your foot and the accelerator and the object is to not break the egg. So go easy, no jackrabbit starts. Also when you see ahead that you're going to stop, take your foot off the gas and coast to a stop rather than braking. Drives some drivers behind you nuts and I have been honked at occasionally, but screw them.

Post by **trubrit** » May 24, 2011, 6:53 am

I noticed with my new Toyota Pre-Runner pick up, that in town consumption was considerably more than on long runs. Now I know this is fairly normal with all vehicles but it really was drinking it . The Toyota "expert" told me this is because of the air con working harder at slow speeds to cool the cab, and if I reduced , or should I say , increased the temperature setting it would help . Haven't really put that theory to the test yet but will report back when I do .

Post by **noosard** » May 24, 2011, 7:41 am

Had an old civic and only used the aircon for braking as wasn't that cold but it helped alot slowing the car gors to show how much energy is used in the aircon
Jimbo is right in how he drines to conserve fuel, manuals are a lot better though

Post by **grozza** » May 24, 2011, 7:50 am

Stop and go driving wreaks havoc on gas mileage. When you are stopped, you are getting zero mpg and when you start to accelerate you're using gas at a horrendous rate. Remember every time you hit the brake you are "wasting" fuel.

thats right jimbo,im sure they get these figues from just driving around there circuit with out the traffic.

Post by **douglas** » May 24, 2011, 10:13 am

Hi,
Got a Toyota Soluna Vios automatic. 1500cc eng. Am happy with the fuel consuption on this, around town and on country roads. It has a overdrive , which i always use, on all gears. Slows accel. down, but look at the speed the Thais drive when the light go to green. Checked the rev counter when on open roads yesterday, disengaged the o/d and the revs increased by 600rpm. Fron 2100rpm to 2700rpm. this was when i was doing about 90k. I got a auto because i have a problem with my left hand and arm, and a auto is a godsend. Never had one back home, listened to to many people that said, you need a big engine for a auto., wish i had ignored the warnings and got a auto. then. Far easier for me to drive.
Cheers Doug.

Post by **parrot** » May 24, 2011, 10:47 am

I realize it's not fair to compare apples and oranges, but over 40,000km of about 60/40 city/highway driving, I'm getting 32.6mpg in a 2008 3.0 liter diesel Toyota truck. 900kilometers on a tank of diesel.
20mpg for a small car is horrible, IMO, city or not.
I've had occasional tinges of guilt driving an empty bedded pick up truck.......but not anymore.

Post by **RLTrader** » June 23, 2011, 1:21 pm

After seeing this post I decided to check what I was getting with a 5 year old Jazz 1.5 VTEC.

Did only city driving, unless one calls going to the NgeeSoon pass the airport as highway. Most of the miles were taking the kid a couple of K to school and picking up.

After one tank of Shell 91 gasahol am getting 26.43 Miles per Gallon, which I guess is not great for a small car, but is better than the cars/truck I sold before coming here.

Post by **stoneman** » June 24, 2011, 7:25 pm

RLTrader wrote:After seeing this post I decided to check what I was getting with a 5 year old Jazz 1.5 VTEC.

Did only city driving, unless one calls going to the NgeeSoon pass the airport as highway. Most of the miles were taking the kid a couple of K to school and picking up.

After one tank of Shell 91 gasahol am getting 26.43 Miles per Gallon, which I guess is not great for a small car, but is better than the cars/truck I sold before coming here.

None of this really makes sense to me...I have a 3 year old Isuzu 3.0 liter automatic pickup...Just turned over 90,000 kms...I have logged every tank of diesel I have bought since we drove it away from the dealership..I am averaging 31.9 miles per gallon over the 90,000 kms...

Why should I be getting better mileage that a small Honda with half the engine....

Stoneman

Post by **semperfiguy** » June 24, 2011, 7:42 pm

Makes no sense to me either. I am the OP for this thread, and I am still getting only 19.9 mpg in my little automatic Honda City...in town driving. I have been using gasohol 91, E10, and someone advised that I try the E20 gasohol, but I haven't done so as yet. Does anyone else have any experience with the E10 versus E20?

Post by **Stantheman** » June 25, 2011, 1:22 am

E10 will give you better gas mileage then E20 as it has more gasoline and less alcohol

Post by **jeffjhawk** » June 25, 2011, 6:06 am

I understand your concern and it's a puzzle. I just bought my wife a new 2011 Toyota Vios all dolled up - and she is getting very poor mileage for some reason. It's surprising because I have a 2008 U.S. Honda Civic with a 1.8 and it gets 28 mpg city minimum/32 mpg highway. When I come back to TH this fall I will drive it, calculate again and report, but I am suspicious that both Toyota and Honda have not transferred significant mileage economy technology to their Thai domestic models (due to lack of TH govt requirements). The U.S. mandates certain minimums and future mpg goal progress that drives advancements in each model year to keep up, and I assumed maybe incorrectly that they simply used the same expanded drive-train here. For such a tiny, apparently efficient car, it's a shame the reality. Again, in the USA, mpg stats are required to be posted on the window. Just another trade off for the LOS, but all in all, I love TH and it's part of the trade-off possibly. It's just a challenge to absorb these things 1 by 1. J

Post by **Aardvark** » June 25, 2011, 7:52 am

stoneman wrote:
RLTrader wrote:After seeing this post I decided to check what I was getting with a 5 year old Jazz 1.5 VTEC.

Did only city driving, unless one calls going to the NgeeSoon pass the airport as highway. Most of the miles were taking the kid a couple of K to school and picking up.

After one tank of Shell 91 gasahol am getting 26.43 Miles per Gallon, which I guess is not great for a small car, but is better than the cars/truck I sold before coming here.
None of this really makes sense to me...I have a 3 year old Isuzu 3.0 liter automatic pickup...Just turned over 90,000 kms...I have logged every tank of diesel I have bought since we drove it away from the dealership..I am averaging 31.9 miles per gallon over the 90,000 kms...

Why should I be getting better mileage that a small Honda with half the engine....

Stoneman

A Diesel Engine is more efficient than a Petrol Engine. Add a Turbo and you get even better performance and Economy !

Post by **semperfiguy** » June 25, 2011, 9:47 am

I am the OP and I own a:

•2010 Honda City VTi
•5 SP AUTOMATIC
•4D SEDAN, 1.5 Litre Engine

and my gas mileage continues to be only 11.76 litres per 100 kilometers in city driving and 6.45 litres per 100 kilometers in highway driving for an average of 9.11 which is absolutely horrible and no where near the figures quoted here in the following review online: http://www.carshowroom.com.au/newcars/r ... ar_Review/.

What amazes me is the way the reviews quote mileage figures. The average consumer only understands mpg or kpg, so when the reviews talk about litres per 100 kilometers...it just doesn't compute or register in our minds, so we have a tendency to just overlook it rather than get out our calculators and do the math. In my mind that's premeditated deceptive marketing!

I live in Thailand and use gasohol 91 (E10) fuel. That's an extra 98 Baht, or $3.22, per 100 kilometers of driving. Not good, but very typical of the misleading advertising of products manufactured in Thailand. Reminds me of some of the vitamin type supplements sold by multi-level marketing groups that claim to cure everything from toothache to erectile dysfunction!

Post by **jackspratt** » June 25, 2011, 10:20 am

semperfiguy wrote:I am the OP and I own a:

•2010 Honda City VTi
•5 SP AUTOMATIC
•4D SEDAN, 1.5 Litre Engine

and my gas mileage continues to be only 11.76 litres per 100 kilometers in city driving and 6.45 litres per 100 kilometers in highway driving for an average of 9.11 which is absolutely horrible and no where near the figures quoted here in the following review online: http://www.carshowroom.com.au/newcars/r ... ar_Review/.

What amazes me is the way the reviews quote mileage figures. The average consumer only understands mpg or kpg, so when the reviews talk about litres per 100 kilometers...it just doesn't compute or register in our minds, so we have a tendency to just overlook it rather than get out our calculators and do the math. In my mind that's premeditated deceptive marketing!

Given that the review you link to comes from Australia, where "miles" and "gallons" (is that an imperial gallon, or US gallon?) are measurements from the dim, dark past, it would be far more confusing to use kpg or mpg for just about anyone except old buggars like me.

Post by **parrot** » June 25, 2011, 11:38 am

All these years I've felt guilty driving a 3.0 Toyota, but don't feel that way anymore. 32mpg+ over 3 years of mixed driving. The only downside is it drives like a truck and sounds like one too.