gas mileage computer

[Perry]

Greetings and happy New year to fellow Ridgeline owners. It has been sometime since I posted something.
I am sure this was discussed and i apolagize if i am repetative however
my question is why didnt honda utilize a onboard computer that tells you
how many miles to empty along with your miles per gallon consumption.

I have the navi and I can figure it out manually if i had to. This was a key feature I would of loved to have on the Ridgeline....

Just wondering and perhaps if there is a patch or something they can add to the original computer.

any feedback would be greatly appreciatted.

kind regards

Perry

[damillersr]

The rumor I heard is that Honda did not want the low mileage well known. I bought mine in November 06 and get about 18 or 19 in mixed use driving, 13 when towing my double trailered jet ski's.
Derek

[Perry]

Very interesting on the gas mileage. I was hoping I would get more responses on this topic.
Perhaps Honda may have a patch to this I should call and see where I get with them.

thx

[DopplerDon]

I have had my RL since 3/05. I get 17 overall during mixed driving. I do take some hwy only trips and consistently get 21mpg in travelling (mainly thru I76 in PA) big hills... Not bad in my book. I have owned 4WD pickup trucks since 1991. The RL is by far the best.

I also heard the 'rumor' about the reason the mpg is not included in nav. Many have complained about mileage, but compared to others it is very good mileage.

This reminds me of a story from a friend of mine (a Cadillac mechanic). Back in the 80's when digital dashboards started appearing, Cadillac's had fuel gauges that were linear and tracking fuel levels very accurately.

Cadillac had received numerous complaints for poor gas mileage. They had found nothing wrong, but discovered that the complaints were based on the fact that the fuel gauges dropped from "full" very quickly (due to the accuracy). As a fix, they reprogrammed the dash so the gauge would respond more slowly when at full giving the appearance that it remained full for a longer time. Guess what??? The complaints went away!!! There was no changes made to improve mileage, it was a perception issue...Just imagine what this had cost GM overall (see where I am going??).

It is issues like this that are deciding factors for the implimentation of features, sure you may not complain, but look at RL boards overall. There are many that complain about the mileage, largely because people are comparing the mileage to dissimilar autos. Compare apples to apples and I am sure that you will find the mileage you get from your RL is acceptable.

[Perry]

I have noticed this on many GM vehicle along with other manufactures when filling up it takes longer for the needle to drop to 1/8 . After the 1/8 mark it drops rapidly quicker. Marketing perceprion i have learned something new.

I cant complain on the gas mileage too much . keep in mind its a heavy truck. Beats driving a Ford 150 on gas.

My question would be if Honda can provide that mileage to empty by a simple patch programming. Perhaps its system board has it on but requires it to become enabled.

[nbaggio10]

i have had my rtx for 3 days now and had less than 100 miles on it when i took a road trip on the highway. i got 21 mpg. i couldn't be happier with it! 21 mpg in a truck is great. thinking about getting a cover for the bed. heard that helps with the milage too.

[killerv]

nbaggio10 wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
i have had my rtx for 3 days now and had less than 100 miles on it when i took a road trip on the highway. i got 21 mpg. i couldn't be happier with it! 21 mpg in a truck is great. thinking about getting a cover for the bed. heard that helps with the milage too.


Your lucky, the best I've ever gotten out of a tank in my RTX was 383 miles, I got that one time when I ran 93 octane going to Orlando with the cruise set on 75 and no a/c on. I average 17 mpg, only about 15 around town.

[Perry]

on a good day with highway driving included i can maybe do 270 miles to the tank can that ever be right . if the tank is 18 gallons I am doing only 15 miles to the gallon . I am not even towing anything.

that sucks

[killerv]

Perry wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
on a good day with highway driving included i can maybe do 270 miles to the tank can that ever be right . if the tank is 18 gallons I am doing only 15 miles to the gallon . I am not even towing anything.

that sucks


I thought it was a 22 gallon tank.

[Webwader]

damillersr wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
The rumor I heard is that Honda did not want the low mileage well known.
Well kept rumor. They post it on every Ridgeline sold. :roll:
After 34,000 miles, I am averaging 16.69 mpg. That doesn't sound so good until you know that 12,300 miles of that was towing a 3,500 lb trailer or a 3,250 lb boat (mostly trailer). On a 6,100 trip last year without the trailer, I averaged just over 23 mpg.

[killerv]

what's your secret webwader? If I could get that out of my ridgline, I'd drive it daily instead of my gas saver.

[Webwader]

killerv wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")what's your secret webwader? If I could get that out of my ridgline, I'd drive it daily instead of my gas saver.
Maybe that is the secret. I don't have a daily commute in heavy traffic. I don't tow over 65 mph and stay within 5 mph over the limit when not towing. Stop and go driving in the RL is really hard on mpg and so is speed.

[nbaggio10]

i just filled my tank up after a little over a week of in town driving. i averaged 17 mpg, which for a big truck that is great. and that was using 10% ethonal blend. if i would use just regular gas i would be able to squeese more out of it. but e10 is 10 cent cheaper where i live so thats why i run it.

[BillynDeb]

Hi everyone,
We got 22.5 MPG on a trip around the country on one tank. We average 17+ city and 20+ highway. We check every tank on every car we own. Kinda weird like that I guess.... Anyway, I commute 2 hours of open road twice a week. I try to increase milage by trying different things. It is like a game to me. I use my 96 civic for the drive. Slow accelerations, long coasts to a stop, and the closer to 55 mph the better. I was getting 37 mpg on the weeks I kept it near 55. That is nearly impossible to keep up the patience. As I sped up over the weeks my mpg steadily dropped off. Now I am running at 72 mph and getting 32 mpg. So, the trade off? For 17 mph faster I lose 5 mpg. That is 55 miles per tank. Or 1.7 gallons. Or $5.95 per week. Or $309 a year.
Bottom line: The wind resistance pushes exponentially harder after 50 mph. I would bet the Ridgeline is less aerodynamic than the civic and the savings would be much greater is I could stand going that slow all the time. I like to drive fast so I can get home sooner and spend hours crunching useless numbers and typing them online.

[Perry]

I bet you when it rains that will really throw your number crunching off.
You did say 2 hour commute wow.

Anyhow I stand corrected in my previous calculation. Easy to do when you live in Canada and try to figure out litres per 100km L/100km.

On my Ridgeline sorry my wifes Ridgeline I get between 14.5 to 16 mpg combined hwy/city.

Aside from the gas. The ridgeline has been very pratical in its function of half suv and half pickup, espescially when you have children.

I may have a different opinion in the summer when a barrel of oil hits $150.00.

cheers

perry

[BillynDeb]

Hey Perry,
Thanks for the reply!
I live in the desert and we don't get much rain. Will the rain decrease MPG/L due to the resistance of hitting millions of drops? Or increase MPG/L due to better combustion with moisture laden air? Or is it something else?
Heck, if it rains enough I won't have to go to work!
We love our Ridgeline for the same reasons as you. We have a tall teen that sits in back and his guitar and amps fit nicely in the trunk or under the tonneau cover.
Don't get me started on the oil subject. I'll save my version of global politics for another place.
Regards,
Bill