Suggestions for increased MPG.

Just for comparison, I have never gotten particularly good mileage out of my 06. I get around 15 in mostly city (REAL CITY, Washington DC BS traffic!) with a small amount of beltway (hit or miss for traffic). On pure highway the best I have gotten is around 19. In the winter, these numbers drop an MPG or two.

Some of those who are claiming much higher mpgs are are probably using the trip computer rather than doing actual calcs. That said, some people do seem to honestly get well over 20 on the highway and around 18 mixed.

The 2009 and later vehicles seem to inherently do a bit better with the newest ones being the most efficient. Honda made a bunch of small changes in 2009 and improved the areodynamics a bit on the newest ridges.

Stop and go traffic will kill your mileage as will short trips.

If you are so inclined, you could try doing a pure highway run and refilling with the same technique at the same station and same pump. Keep it under 60 and on the flats / use the cruise control. If you can't get 20ish MPG in this scenario then you might have something wrong with your truck.

Ideas:
Turn off the AC (I believe the AC is always on in the Auto mode)
Get rid of the roof rack if you have one. (I see from you pic that you don't have one)
Get low rolling resistance tires that are the correct stock size
Align the truck
Get rid of a lift kit if you have one (Doesn't look like you have one)
Replace your O2 sensors.
Adjust your valves
Get rid of unneeded weight
Use the correct 5-20 or 0-20 engine oil
Make sure the plastic under engine / wheel well covers aren't flapping in the breeze

eurban said:

Ideas:
Turn off the AC (I believe the AC is always on in the Auto mode)
Get rid of the roof rack if you have one. (I see from you pic that you don't have one)
Get low rolling resistance tires that are the correct stock size
Align the truck
Get rid of a lift kit if you have one (Doesn't look like you have one)
Replace your O2 sensors.
Adjust your valves
Get rid of unneeded weight
Use the correct 5-20 or 0-20 engine oil
Make sure the plastic under engine / wheel well covers aren't flapping in the breeze

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Thank you for your suggestions!
No roof rack.
I'll look into tires when I'm ready to replace these!
Just got an alignment done within the last 3 months.
No lift.
I will look into the o2 sensors!
I will look into a valve adjustment!
I believe I used 5w20, I might have made a mistake when I made the post. I will double check when I am home.
I do have to replace the passenger front cover, it is broken.

eurban said:

PS:Make sure your KN isn't over oiled.

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This is a brand new K&N Filter, I'll assume it's correct. Didn't seem over oiled when I put it in.

flymo said:

1) switch to 0W20 Mobil 1.
2) do not use the cruise control, or try to maintain a steady speed. Instead, maintain a steady throttle level - let the speed drop off a bit on uphills, and run high a little going down. The goal is to avoid downshifting.
3) optimum highway goal speed is 68 where I drive - keeps you from downshifting as much compared to holding right at 65. Or you could drive way slower, but that's annoying.
4) check tire pressure often, and when your tires are cold.
5) lose the K&N - it's doing nothing for you.
6) change your cabin air filter - better airflow keeps you from having to turn the AC on as much.

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Thank you for your suggestions!
I often use cruise control on most highways.
I will be more consistent with my tire PSI in the mornings.
The next step after this K&N filter will be an aftermarket intake.
I just replaced the cabin air filter, definitely needed it!

haar said:

Unplug your battery to do a throttle logic reset. This will clear the old "habits" and let the truck learn your driving style. There are some threads if you search and I might have the wrong term. But that's the gist of it.

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I have never looked into this, I did however replace the battery shortly after I purchased the truck. I would assume replacing the battery would have cleared the throttle logic?

Ian Brantford said:

How long are the trips that you have used to compute highway efficiency? The reason for asking is that, if the engine isn't fully warmed up, you should expect no better than city mileage even when on the highway.

It can take up to 10 minutes on the road to be fully warmed up. Thus, only much longer trips should be considered "highway", where that warm-up time becomes insignificant.

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Most of my highway trips are easily 2-4 hours. I don't count anything less than 15 minutes as a highway as I take a "highway" to work but i'm only on it for 7-10 minutes.

feetdry said:

I found that going downhill consistently helps my mpg.

I've tracked mine now for over 175,000 miles. You can see Fuelly doesn't lie.

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I enjoy your sarcasm, the ride home is all downhill so that helps!

Mine is a 2012, 52K miles with the majority being a mix of about 75% highway 25% urban traffic. Lifetime average is 18.9 mpg, all hand calculated. For highway driving with no stop and go traffic, average is 20.5 with typical speeds of 75+ mph on Texas interstates. Best I have seen is 23 mpg on a few trips where I was on roads with lower speed limits (65 max).

Observations:
- My truck's computer display of average mpg is consistently too optimistic (4% higher than the real number). The more stop-and-go involved, the worse the computer accuracy gets. On long highway trips where speed is pretty consistent the computer will be very accurate, same as hand calculated.

- Check tire pressure, I try to keep mine around 35 psi. I still have the stock Michelins, they haven't worn much at all and still look pretty much brand new.

- I always drive with the tailgate up.

- Stop and go traffic and idling lower the mileage VERY quickly.

- For my truck at least, "babying" it and trying to drive soft for higher mileage does not work at all. Taking it easy results in a consistent 2 mpg penalty, have never figured out why. Driving it with spirit gives the best results, I have my foot in the VTEC just about every day.

- One thing I do which I had not noticed until a friend pointed it out, is that when I am approaching a red light or turn from a distance, I often use the D3 button to slow down. I am manual transmission guy and have spent most of my life driving stick shifts, and I guess habit led me to use D3 that way. I experimented several tanks, and surprisingly mileage is consistently 1-2 mpg worse if I do not use D3 that way.

- I use cruise occasionally, don't see much difference in mpg.

- Mileage is worse in cold weather

- Mileage is worse in very hot weather when the A/C is working hard

- I use premium gas because I like the extra 10 hp, experiments with lower octane show about a 1 mpg improvement from the higher octane. Doesn't make sense to use it $$ wise, but I drive my truck with spirit and figure it is a cheap performance boost. Works for me.

- Truck is all stock, no cold air intakes or anything. All maintenance done by the Honda dealer with the specified fluids and lubes.