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Car Forum / Honda Cars / April 2006Honda Civic 2004 - Fuel guzzler?
Hi, I have been given a Honda Civic, 2004 1.6 SE VTEC as company use vehicle. However, I feel the fuel use on this car is well over what I expected. It is a unleaded petrol vehicle. I usually put about £40 of fuel in. Around 43 Litres. Out of that I get 280miles by avergaing 75mph on the motorway and 320 miles if I travel everywhere on the motorway at about 60mph. Question is - is this normal? The trip computer reads that the car is doing 42mpg but I reckon it is more like 28-30mpg... Also the fule indicator always seems to be a few notches below where it was everytime I get in the car, although there is no fule leak under the car... What are your experineces, thoughts, idea's... -- Thanks, Andy Mak How many miles are on this car? What is its maintenance history? For starters, when were the plugs last replaced, and were the ones recommended in the Honda owner's manual used? Is the air pressure in the tires checked regularly? > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Thanks, > Andy Mak > How many miles are on this car? 36,500 miles - almost ready for its next service. > What is its maintenance history? The car has a perfect maintenance history as it is a company car and it all gets paid for by the company. > For starters, when were the plugs last replaced That would have been the last service at 25,000 miles > and were the ones recommended in the Honda owner's manual used? i'd hope so the garage i had my service at was a Honda garage. > Is the air pressure in the tires checked regularly? I had four new tyres put on just over a month ago. It made no change. :( sorry - but the company looks after the car... >> How many miles are on this car? > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > The car has a perfect maintenance history as it is a > company car and it all gets paid for by the company. Just a suggestion: It's only perfect if they're using OEM parts. >> For starters, when were the plugs last replaced > > That would have been the last service at 25,000 miles If the plugs used are not the ones recommended in the manual, this could hurt mileage. Bosch plugs, for one, have a bad reputation on Honda cars. NGK plugs is one of the brand names many Honda models' owner's manuals. >> and were the ones recommended in the Honda owner's manual >> used? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > I had four new tyres put on just over a month ago. It made > no change. Doesn't matter if they're new or not. Air pressure needs to be checked at least once a month, after the car has sit several hours. Air pressure //will// go down, especially as the seasons change. > :( sorry - but the company looks after the car... Then is there really anything you can do? >>> How many miles are on this car? >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> The car has a perfect maintenance history as it is a >> company car and it all gets paid for by the company. >Just a suggestion: It's only perfect if they're using OEM >parts. >>> For starters, when were the plugs last replaced >> >> That would have been the last service at 25,000 miles >If the plugs used are not the ones recommended in the >manual, this could hurt mileage. Bosch plugs, for one, have >a bad reputation on Honda cars. Do have any actual evidence to support that? I've used bosch plugs in a half dozen hondas without any problems. It really doesn't take much to make a spark plug that works and is reliable. You really have to try hard to f.ck that up, like champions with their english threads. >NGK plugs is one of the brand names many Honda models' >owner's manuals. >>> and were the ones recommended in the Honda owner's manual >>> used? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> I had four new tyres put on just over a month ago. It made >> no change. >Doesn't matter if they're new or not. Air pressure needs to >be checked at least once a month, after the car has sit >several hours. Air pressure //will// go down, especially as >the seasons change. >> :( sorry - but the company looks after the car... >Then is there really anything you can do? "AZ Nomad" <aznomad@PmunOgeBOX.com> wrote E >>If the plugs used are not the ones recommended in the >>manual, this could hurt mileage. Bosch plugs, for one, >>have >>a bad reputation on Honda cars. > Do have any actual evidence to support that? Anecdotal reports here. Also, I think I tried non-Honda recommended plugs at some point. My mileage has been much better with my 91 Civic in the last few years. Are (the typically recommended) NGKs so much more expensive than Bosch's? > I've used bosch plugs in a half dozen hondas without any > problems. Your own anecdotal evidence is noted, though I don't think it's anymore scientific than the next guy's. Maybe less so, because you don't indicate whether you've compared fuel mileage rigorously. > It really doesn't take much to make a spark plug that > works and is reliable. And is fuel economical? If it didn't take that much, I suspect we wouldn't have so much variety in manufacturers. I am not interested in debating. If you're a guy, you won. But I stand by my position. > Hi, > > I have been given a Honda Civic, 2004 1.6 SE VTEC as company use > vehicle. Only way you could afford it. You'd be on LPG if it was yours. Be happy. Could be lots worse. > However, I feel the fuel use on this car is well over what I > expected. It is a unleaded petrol vehicle. > > I usually put about £40 of fuel in. SEVENTY dollars US! Gasp! Gag! Choke! For a HONDA! > Around 43 Litres. Eleven gallons US. That's over SIX DOLLARS per gallon! Eeee-gad. Shee-it. In high-tax Canada, I'm paying $3.17 US per US gallon for 91 RON. A complete fillup from totally dry for me is $36.15 US for 50 liters. Really really, you need to have a word with Tony Blair. Really. Jesus. SIX bucks for a gallon of gas? sh.t. Really. And you have cameras watching you scratch your a.ses in public. And you can't own guns. What a nutty country. Gladstone must be turning in his grave. Time for a revolution, my friend. Oh, wait, no guns....hmmm.... The only other country that taxes gas more than you is Hong Kong. Did they do that when Cowperthwaite ran that joint? > Out of that I > get 280miles by avergaing 75mph on the motorway and 320 miles if I > travel everywhere on the motorway at about 60mph. > > Question is - is this normal? The trip computer reads that the car is > doing 42mpg but I reckon it is more like 28-30mpg... Note to readers: "Domestos" is using Imperial gallons, which are about 20% larger than US gallons. > Also the fule > indicator always seems to be a few notches below where it was > everytime I get in the car, although there is no fule leak under the > car... Yeah, that's normal. Has to do with electrical damping of the signal from the fuel level sender. > What are your experineces, thoughts, idea's... > > -- > Thanks, > Andy Mak Add a space character to the "--", as in "-- ". Your sig is not compliant as currently constructed.  SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ > > However, I feel the fuel use on this car is well over what I > > expected. It is a unleaded petrol vehicle. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > The only other country that taxes gas more than you is Hong Kong. Did they > do that when Cowperthwaite ran that joint? uhmmm NO! God damn gas (regular not premium) is about 2US$ / liter (premium 2.15$/liter) so it is roughly 8 US bucks for a gallon thanks to our lousy leaders here in Turkey..And get this..more than %75 of that is tax! and get this too...more than %50 of new car prices is tax.. that is for cars with 1.6 liter or smaller engines...don't even think about getting a car with freaking 2 or 3 liter engine! Plus, if you own your car say for 5 years, the property tax you have to pay for your freaking car for 5 years exceeds your cars value after 5 years, of course that is for cars with 1.6 liter or smaller engine..I still remember 7 years that I lived in the US ...good old days.. ahmet turkey >> Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> >> I usually put about £40 of fuel in. Pah. The Accord has a 65 litre tank. 14.3 Imperial gallons. 17 US gallons. £60 to fill with 98RON. Oh she prefers the higher octane stuff. ;) > SEVENTY dollars US! Gasp! Gag! Choke! For a HONDA! > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > scratch your a.ses in public. And you can't own guns. What a nutty > country. My wife comes from North America, same s**t, different place.... :p > Gladstone must be turning in his grave. Time for a revolution, my friend. > Oh, wait, no guns....hmmm.... [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Note to readers: "Domestos" is using Imperial gallons, which are about 20% > larger than US gallons. And of better quality. ;) SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Thanks, > Andy Mak Does your car lack a knock sensor? My 97 Civic HX didn't have one and it had terrible milage until I fixed the factory timing. Fixing it boosted the average from 20MPG to 36MPG and it fixed a major loss of power, nearly a stall, every time the car attempted lean-burn mode. A little turn of the distributor made a hated car into a loved car. Of course no dealership would look at the car because there was no computer error code. I had to fix it myself. Honda dealerships seem to trust the computer WAY too much when in fact it only indicates complete failures. >>Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > trust the computer WAY too much when in fact it only indicates complete > failures. how can the computer give an error in this situation? the sensor in the distributor was telling it the timing was right! you're absolutely correct that the dealer should have fixed the problem, and that some are too reliant on codes, but even so, no code can be triggered if a sensor has not failed and is deemed to be giving correct readings. great diagnosis on your part though. good one for the archives. > Does your car lack a knock sensor? My 97 Civic HX didn't have one and > it had terrible milage until I fixed the factory timing. Fixing it > boosted the average from 20MPG to 36MPG and it fixed a major loss of That's a huge difference: 80% more miles! > power, nearly a stall, every time the car attempted lean-burn mode. A Wow, your car had some seriously out-of-whack timing. That can't be factory timing, can it? Were you putting in 87 octane gas? Those cars need a higher grade, out of the factory. But even on 87, it shouldn't behave that badly. Just some pinging here and there. Are you or were you the original owner? If not, you can't say it was at a /factory/ setting, right? It sounds like your HX was set up for way, way aggressively advanced timing for the use of high octane fuel. >Hi, >I have been given a Honda Civic, 2004 1.6 SE VTEC as company use vehicle. >However, I feel the fuel use on this car is well over what I expected. It is >a unleaded petrol vehicle. >I usually put about £40 of fuel in. Around 43 Litres. Out of that I get >280miles by avergaing 75mph on the motorway and 320 miles if I travel >everywhere on the motorway at about 60mph. >Question is - is this normal? The trip computer reads that the car is doing >42mpg but I reckon it is more like 28-30mpg... Also the fule indicator >always seems to be a few notches below where it was everytime I get in the >car, although there is no fule leak under the car... >What are your experineces, thoughts, idea's... What is your driving style? Do you do jackrabbit starts? Do you brake much while on the highway? Do you coast to traffic lights or race all the way till you stop? Have you tried spending a week driving calmly to see what effect your driving may have on your fuel economy? > Hi, > > I have been given a Honda Civic, 2004 1.6 SE VTEC as company use vehicle. > However, I feel the fuel use on this car is well over what I expected. It is > a unleaded petrol vehicle. What new cars use /leaded/ fuel? Maybe you mean you are using regular grade as opposed to premium? They are all unleaded though. > I usually put about £40 of fuel in. Around 43 Litres. Out of that I get > 280miles by avergaing 75mph on the motorway and 320 miles if I travel What do you mean "out of that"? Do you know how to calculate fuel economy? You start with a full tank. When filling, insert the nozzle all the way in. When it clicks, squeeze one more time without pulling it out, then remove when it clicks again. Then you reset the trip meter. Then you drive around until you partially empty the tank. Then you refill it in exactly the same way: two clicks. Now you can figure out the fuel consumption relative to the distance driven. E.g. hdivide the liters by 1/100 of the distance. E.g. 43 liters by 5.148 (514.8 km) is 8.35 liters per 100 km. For miles to the gallon, just divide the miles by the gallons. :) In this way, you are measuring quite exactly how much fuel was consumed out of the tank by driving that distance, instead of "reckoning". You can extend the measurement over more than one filling. Just keep driving without resetting the trip meter and keep buying gas (without necessarily filling all the way). Then when you want to measure, top it up all the way to the top. Now add up the fuel volume from all the receipts and calculate that against the total trip distance. I do that from time to time when I'm calculating fuel economy, get caught with a near empty tank and the prices are high. :) All that matters is that you go from full tank to full tank (no net change in tank level), know how much you put in to maintain that same level, and how far you went. > everywhere on the motorway at about 60mph. That's about 8.3 liters/100 km. A bit on the high side. I'd expected to be under 7 for all highway driving. > Question is - is this normal? The trip computer reads that the car is doing > 42mpg but I reckon it is more like 28-30mpg... Well, when you decide to stop "reckoning", give the above method a try. Also the fule indicator > always seems to be a few notches below where it was everytime I get in the > car, although there is no fule leak under the car... The fuel indicator will vary with the incline of the car, and the forces of acceleration. In my 98 Civic, if I go around a long right turn, the needle drops, as it does if I park on an incline to the left. If I face uphill, it drops. If I face downhill it rises. The measurement depends on the configuration of the float in the gas tank. If you had been driving on level pavement and then park on a slight incline, in any direction, the needle may not be where you remembered it when you return to the car. I average 40 MPG with 2004 SI Domestos wrote: > Hi, > > I have been given a Honda Civic, 2004 1.6 SE VTEC as company use vehicle. > However, I feel the fuel use on this car is well over what I expected. It > is > a unleaded petrol vehicle. What new cars use /leaded/ fuel? Maybe you mean you are using regular grade as opposed to premium? They are all unleaded though. > I usually put about £40 of fuel in. Around 43 Litres. Out of that I get > 280miles by avergaing 75mph on the motorway and 320 miles if I travel What do you mean "out of that"? Do you know how to calculate fuel economy? You start with a full tank. When filling, insert the nozzle all the way in. When it clicks, squeeze one more time without pulling it out, then remove when it clicks again. Then you reset the trip meter. Then you drive around until you partially empty the tank. Then you refill it in exactly the same way: two clicks. Now you can figure out the fuel consumption relative to the distance driven. E.g. hdivide the liters by 1/100 of the distance. E.g. 43 liters by 5.148 (514.8 km) is 8.35 liters per 100 km. For miles to the gallon, just divide the miles by the gallons. :) In this way, you are measuring quite exactly how much fuel was consumed out of the tank by driving that distance, instead of "reckoning". You can extend the measurement over more than one filling. Just keep driving without resetting the trip meter and keep buying gas (without necessarily filling all the way). Then when you want to measure, top it up all the way to the top. Now add up the fuel volume from all the receipts and calculate that against the total trip distance. I do that from time to time when I'm calculating fuel economy, get caught with a near empty tank and the prices are high. :) All that matters is that you go from full tank to full tank (no net change in tank level), know how much you put in to maintain that same level, and how far you went. > everywhere on the motorway at about 60mph. That's about 8.3 liters/100 km. A bit on the high side. I'd expected to be under 7 for all highway driving. > Question is - is this normal? The trip computer reads that the car is > doing > 42mpg but I reckon it is more like 28-30mpg... Well, when you decide to stop "reckoning", give the above method a try. Also the fule indicator > always seems to be a few notches below where it was everytime I get in the > car, although there is no fule leak under the car... The fuel indicator will vary with the incline of the car, and the forces of acceleration. In my 98 Civic, if I go around a long right turn, the needle drops, as it does if I park on an incline to the left. If I face uphill, it drops. If I face downhill it rises. The measurement depends on the configuration of the float in the gas tank. If you had been driving on level pavement and then park on a slight incline, in any direction, the needle may not be where you remembered it when you return to the car. With my 2004 SI I got 399 miles on 40 litres the last time I checked, this was mostly hwy driving > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Thanks, > Andy Mak > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > What are your experineces, thoughts, idea's... Have you checked your tyre pressures? SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com |
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