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2013 MDX - very poor MPG

37K views 39 replies 32 participants last post by  p07r0457 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I purchased a new 2013 MDX (Technology) 2 weeks ago, and noticed very poor MPG driving in the city (didn't have a chance to do much highway driving yet). I'm getting 11-12 MPG, according to the trip computer. Very disappointing. I had 2006 MDX before, I was getting around 17 MPG on that one, having a similar usage patterns. Is there any kind of tune up that can be done to fix this? Filling up with premium gas (93)

thanks!
 
#3 ·
How much start and stop are you doing? I just turned over 3k miles on my '13 MDX I got in Feb this year. If you drive a lot of start-and-go and dont' have a lot of consistent lower-speed mileage, the MPG's drop. But I've not seen down in the 11-12 range, but again I don't live in the middle of a city. I will say that the mpg's are getting better now that I'm breaking it in. I can get consistent 19-20 mpg's in driving with some stop 'n go and some 30-40 mph road driving, and can easily get 21-22 on the highway if I don't speed too much.

One thing to check - make sure the tire pressures are 35 or above - that seems to help. Also, don't rely on the trip computer. Do a manual calculation to see what the real mpg is. I've found some cases that the trip computer is a lot lower than my calculated mpg's.... Over the 3k miles, according to the trip B calculated mpg's, I'm averaging 18.4 for the life of the vehicle...

andy
 
#5 ·
As a comparison, my wife's TL SH-AWD has the same motor and drivetrain (although likely geared differently). She can get, in the same driving conditions as my MDX, about 3-4 mpg higher in each scenario. I figure the physics has a lot to do with that. But suffice it to say, the 3.7 L v6 and the full-time AWD is not the friend of the fuel-economy-minded person. Just look at the RDX - aside from the motor change, they moved from the SH-AWD to the CR-V-esque AWD system in order to save fuel. Even the Pilot, with an AWD system that isn't used except in slippage conditions, gets higher MPG than the MDX, which is the same size.

Another factor - how much do you really drive "spiritedly"? I know when I drive my wife's TL, the MPG's aren't nearly as good, since I tend to drive in a more enjoyable way than she does. That car does like to move! :cool: Anyway, you can milk good mpg's out of the MDX, but it only goes so far due to the drivetrain and physics.

andy
 
#6 ·
Are you resetting trip A at each fillup? If this has never been reset it could be averaging the use before you took possession. New vehicles are idled a lot or only used on very short trips during delivery and test drives. I reset both my A and B trips when I picked up the MDX and then have trip A programmed to reset automatically at each refueling. So my Trip A is used for each tank and trip B is lifetime average.
 
#7 ·
I have always been able to meet the city MPG of any vehicle I have ever owned.

What is your experience with this?
 
#9 ·
I have a 2009 MDX and since the engine has broken in I get way better gas mileage. the simple tricks to saving on fuel are: keep the tire pressure at 35psi - anndysinnh's suggestion, change your air filter regularly and keep up with the oil changes.
 
#10 ·
it depends on driving habit. i can easily do 23 mpg on highway. i actually have a thread in mpg forum where i posted w/ pictures that i can do 30 mpg.
 
#11 ·
I'm pretty much getting quoted MPG after 5k miles on my 2013 Advanced. When I first bought it I was getting 11mpg around town and was freaked out. Right now I'm averaging 16.3 mpg around town and recently did a couple of long freeway trips where I got 22mpg.
 
#16 ·
Correction

Driving habits are key. I have a 2005 with 138K miles and average 18-19 combined. Recently towed a 3,000 trailer 400 highway miles and averaged 21 mpg (to my surprise).
After reviewing my records, I misquoted my previously reported MPG. I averaged 21 MPG towing an empty 6' x 12' enclosed Cargo Trailer (UHaul). That dropped to 16 MPG on the return trip with the trailer fully loaded. That was on flat terrain with the tranny on D4 with cruise. About half the trip at 60 mph, but that crept up to 65 as the anticipating of getting home increased. :)
 
#15 ·
The most effective way to increase your fuel economy (measured in miles per gallon) is to move to Canada. The US gallon is only 4/5 the size of the Imperial gallon...

Over the first 6K km on my 2013 my worst tank was 20.68 mpg (Imperial) and my best was 26.48. My overall average is 24.07. I drive almost 90% highway but some of that is in stop and go traffic. This is still 4-5 mpg better than my old Durango overall.
 
#17 ·
I have a pre-owned 12 that has about 14,000 on it. So, already broken in when I got it. I'm averaging 12.8 city, lots of stop and go, and lots of hills where I live. Have yet to really take it out on highway, but we're planning on driving it up the coast in a few weeks. It drives like a tank, so I'm not really surprised at the crap mileage. Disappointed, but not really surprised. I've used 76 and Chevron gas, I'm going to try Shell for a couple of weeks and see if it's any different. Also to see if it changes the nasty sulphur smell we get going up hills.
 
#18 ·
Driving/Braking patterns and habits are the key. Just drove 425 freeway miles averaging 70mph. My 2012MDX did 22.5 miles per gallon... Also very important do not go by the trip computer. Do it manually. Fill her up, zero the counter and calculate on your next fill up manually.... :)
 
#19 ·
My 2011 mdxs burns much less gas than our old V8 Jeep
and even less than my older V6 4 Runner.
I ran "a car" app for the first few months to calculate all the
data just to know.. Now if it's empty I fill it up end of story. .
I try not to even look at the receipt or total. ... like we have an alternative other than selling it and buying a scooter.
Fill it up and enjoy the ride...
If one is so concerned with gas consumption may be the mdx is not right for them, performance and luxury does not come cheap you have to pay for it.
 
#21 ·
Fill it up and enjoy the ride...
If one is so concerned with gas consumption may be the mdx is not right for them, performance and luxury does not come cheap you have to pay for it.
I stopped tracking the mileage for that very reason. When it's at 1/4tank, I fill it. Did I do 500km or 800 on that tank? What difference does it make - I drive the way I drive and I am fortunate enough to make enough to own and operate the vehicles I have.

If you want fuel economy, you don't buy a full size SUV, let alone one that eats premium (I enjoy a 0.09$/l surcharge for premium). :)

Enjoy the ride!
 
#22 ·
If you want fuel economy, you don't buy a full size SUV, let alone one that eats premium (I enjoy a 0.09$/l surcharge for premium). :)

Enjoy the ride![/QUOTE]

where is that at? here is 15 cent surcharge for premium.
I've noticed every since that software update for the torque converter, my gas has gone for the worst...
Especially the last 2 tanks....one was about 400kms to a tank, and the last was 425kms to a tank, the avg was saying 17liters/100km.
even in the summer, it struggles to get close to 500 a tank...same driving conditions always, to work and home etc....
I consistently mention it to the dealer....they said oh really...never heard of that...but the last time the service guy did say, he's hearing a lot more now...has a lot of people called into Acura Canada or Acura USA headoffice?
I'm just wondering if its possible to get the old software back into the car...
 
#23 ·
If you want fuel economy, you don't buy a full size SUV, let alone one that eats premium (I enjoy a 0.09$/l surcharge for premium). :)

Enjoy the ride!
where is that at? here is 15 cent surcharge for premium.
here in the Montreal area it's typically +10¢/L for premium; on Thursdays Ultramar stations have a "3¢ off/L for premium" special so the extra is only 7¢/L. (For those of you in the US, premium costs about $5.35 USD / US gallon here)

we try to fill up on Thursdays as much as possible but lately it's averaging nearly a tank / week which works out to almost $100 at our gas prices. Ouch. we knew going in that the MDX was going to burn more fuel than our old Camry but it's almost double which is really disappointing. Typical reading is 15+L/100km and I'm not pushing the truck that hard.

We can afford it but it's kind of a psychological barrier to be pumping $100/week into a gas tank for not a whole lot of mileage. Maybe stings worse because one of the alternates I was thinking about was a Tesla Model S with optional 3rd row seat. Would have cost a LOT more up front but we'd be saving a LOT every month in fuel, especially since Quebec has super high gas prices (close to the highest in North America) and super low electricity prices (close to the lowest)
 
#24 ·
Out of curiousity, how does your mileage compare to the Camry in relation to the ratings? That's usually how I compare vehicles because they're being used in a similar situation. For example:

Our '12 MDX replaced an '11 Sienna Ltd that was rated 18/24 and we averaged about 22mpg. The MDX is rated 16/21 and we average around 19. Similar economy based on the ratings.

The only difference I've noticed is the MDX will exceed the 21mpg hwy rating on long trips if kept in the 70-75mph range. The Sienna never went over the 24 figure. I think a lot of that was because we're in a hilly part of the country and the Sienna six-speed would downshift pretty much on every little hill on the highway and the MDX rarely comes out of 6th unless we're in the mountains.
 
#26 ·
Just to chime in.. I bought my 2011 mdx this last Friday. I picked it up in Caldwell Idaho, just outside Boise. I made the trip from Caldwell to Cedar City, Utah. Just over 600 miles and I found watched my MPG's the whole way. I filled up just as I set out and the first few hours of the drive I was getting 23.2 mpg's. That was mostly on flat roads. Once I started getting into hills and climbing elevation my mpg's had dropped down. By the time I got to Salt Lake City my mileage was down to 21.4. When I was in Salt lake I found a used but in very good condition OEM Acura roof top cargo carrier. I also refilled my tank in SLC and reset my mileage. I made the rest of the trip to Southern Utah and with that cargo carrier / wind sail my mileage was 17.2. Remember all of this was freeway driving with a little bit of city when I was in SLC.

Also, I tried to keep my speed around 79 mph throughout the trip.
 
#29 ·
2013 MDX 40K miles, getting around 11-13 mpg in city

Hi,

I recently purchased a 2013 MDX Tech with 40K miles and I'm currently also experiencing poor gas mileage. I went from getting about 13 mpg to now getting around the high 11s. I live in the city of Chicago with lots of stop and go. I recently changed my oil and air filters and my tire pressure is around 32. I'm wondering if resetting the CPU would do anything to improve gas mileage or not. I don't drive rough --- I go easy on the gas pedal.

I was thinking of contacting the dealership, but after I combed through the replies in this thread, I'm starting to think that the mileage is what it is given my driving situation.

Can anyone share their thoughts? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
#30 ·
That is close to what I get in my 11 MDX with 100% city stop/go traffic (about 13-15 mpg). The MDX is pulling a lot of weight from a stop with the 3.7L V-6 sh-awd. It might take +35% of the engine power just to get the big girl just to roll all that mass+awd at a stop light every block.

The MDX does so much better on a level hwy at 65-70 mph. I actually get better hwy mpgs in my MDX compared to my RDX with a 2.3L turbo engine. I would only be worried if my hwy mpgs were just as bad as my city mpgs. It could several other factors that might help/hurt like:
- just out of luck because of the stop/go traffic patterns. A lot of downshifting and/or hills will kill the MDX mpgs in the city or hwy.
- summer blend fuel -vs- winter blend fuel with more ethanol
- Using top tier fuel from someplace like Costco might help
- 32 PSI might be too low and adding more resistance if temp are below freezing. I usually set my PSI around 34-36 in winter (less chance of TPMS alarms in the morning)
- Maybe switching to 100% syn oil on next oil change, I use Mobil 1 full syn
- Driving technique, maybe too heavy on the gas at the lights
- Tires, winter tires might have more resistance compared to an all season, I have Conti DWS (also live in southwest)
- going with a lighter winter tire/rim combo, less mass to move off the line and better traction in snow/ice/cold = less hp used = improved mpgs
- very long shot, weak OEM battery and the alternator is working harder to recharge battery and power MDX (robbing some HP/mpgs). Just changed out my OEM MDX battery because the it wouldn't charge above 50% no matter how much I drove it (I could only charged above 50% using a battery charger).

I've noticed my MDX had slightly improved mpgs and shifted a little better when I did the 6AT reflash a few years ago. The 13 MDX should have already had the reflash applied to the 6AT.
 
#31 ·
"New" owner of a 2011 mdx tech package with 50k miles. Car is great and comfy but I'm getting around 11.2mpg with mixed driving. If I did all city then most likely it would be < 10mpg. I'm driving around 60% city and 40% highway plus I'm not accelerating hard at all or running towards red lights. Did I just buy a lemon? Bought it from a dealer and the carfax had it serviced regularly so I'm not sure if there's an engine issue or not. Somebody mentioned a bad valve cylinder and once they fixed that, it improved their fuel economy by a lot? How would I go about proving that to the dealership I bought it from? Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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