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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!
 
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...
 
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)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
Well with cargo carrier and 79 mph, your MPG's are going to suck all day long, what do you expect?
 
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.
 
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.
 
"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.
 
That is absurdly low.. For me to get that mileage on my 2007 (5 speed vs your 6th speedo) I would need to be in grid lock traffic averaging 15-20mph.
 
Your car needs a tuneup and to be examined by a professional mechanic. Do you have any warning lights visible in the dash? Do they all come on when switch the car on but before you start the engine?

You COULD have a warning from the car about a problem but if the CEl light doesn't come on b/c the bulb is burned out or disconnected, you'd never know.

On my "other" car i turn the key to "on" but don't turn the key to start. Check the owner's manual to see what lights should be on.

On my MDX with push button start, I press the big red button on the dash while I don't have my foot on the brake. The car will turn on but the engine will not try to start.

A professional mechanic can do tests like compression, leak down tests, and get their computer to chat with your car and look for errors.

My '14 gets 20+ mpg city and 27.5 mpg on the highway.

We have a delivery truck at work that weighs 10,000 lbs and gets better than 10 mpg.

If your dealer thinks this is normal then maybe you need to visit a different Acura dealer. Maybe you are talking to a low person in the organization that doesn't know what they are talking about or doesn't care. You need to find someone who cares and knows something.

Alternatively go find an independent mechanic that knows something about Hondas. I'd start with the dealer so you can document this car as a lemon if they won't help you.
 
Out of curiosity, for those of you that have over 100k miles on your MDX, have you noticed a marked drop off in MPG? My driving habits have not changed at all, yet I've lost about 3-4 MPG for city driving and similar for highway since hitting around the 80-90k mark. I have a 2011 MDX. I've had all the scheduled maintenance done on time and keep up with my oil changes and stuff. Tires are kept at 35 PSI year round. Is this just something that happens with a Honda/Acura with lots of miles on it? I've never kept a car past 70k prior to this, and I hope to drive this one into the ground... although I'd prefer to get better MPG than driving a tractor trailer. :)

Thanks,
Jeff in Houston
 
Out of curiosity, for those of you that have over 100k miles on your MDX, have you noticed a marked drop off in MPG? My driving habits have not changed at all, yet I've lost about 3-4 MPG for city driving and similar for highway since hitting around the 80-90k mark. I have a 2011 MDX. I've had all the scheduled maintenance done on time and keep up with my oil changes and stuff. Tires are kept at 35 PSI year round. Is this just something that happens with a Honda/Acura with lots of miles on it? I've never kept a car past 70k prior to this, and I hope to drive this one into the ground... although I'd prefer to get better MPG than driving a tractor trailer. :)

Thanks,
Jeff in Houston
I have 108K on my 11 MDX and I'm scheduled for my 105K service pretty soon. I've noticed an improvement to normal mpgs, acceleration, and faster start ups when I did my 105K service on my TSX and RDX a few years ago. I decided to change out my spark plugs on my MDX at 75K since that seems to help keep my mpgs consistent compared to slowly dropping off when I waited with my TSX and RDX.

I also:
- change my 6AT fluid every 30K (dealership just does a 1X drain/refill for about $100)
- use a K/N drop in filter,
- use Mobil 1 syn oil,
- always gas up at Sam's or Costco in/out of town,
- balance/rotate or cross rotate every oil change,
- alignment 2X a year (lifetime with firestone)
- use Conti DWS 06 ultra high performance tires set around 35-37 psi,
- do about 50%-70% hwy driving mostly.

I've tried BG 44K fuel system Cleaners and Cleanboost Maxx just to see if that made a difference. Didn't see any before/after improvement in my TSX, RDX or MDX with almost 400,000 miles between them. I think sticking to good gas and routine maint seems to work just as good.

My MDX mpgs can still get as low as 13-15 mpgs in 100% city driving; but, I can make up for it and get between 20-23 mph on the hwy at 75-85 mph (depending on hills and winds).
 
Out of curiosity, for those of you that have over 100k miles on your MDX, have you noticed a marked drop off in MPG? My driving habits have not changed at all, yet I've lost about 3-4 MPG for city driving and similar for highway since hitting around the 80-90k mark. I have a 2011 MDX. I've had all the scheduled maintenance done on time and keep up with my oil changes and stuff. Tires are kept at 35 PSI year round. Is this just something that happens with a Honda/Acura with lots of miles on it? I've never kept a car past 70k prior to this, and I hope to drive this one into the ground... although I'd prefer to get better MPG than driving a tractor trailer. :)

Thanks,
Jeff in Houston

I cant speak for my used MDX since I bought it with 72K (Now 103K) but in that time I haven´t seen a shift in MPG variance... BUT My TL-S now has 225K and I can safely say it has only gotten better MPGs, I can consistently get +30MPGs in Hwy and +25mpgs in the City.

Now do I think the MDX will get better? Nope.. Physics and Performance takes a big toll and the MDX is a HEAVY, Sport oriented SUV that wasn´t build to get the best MPGs, The AWD System acts very aggressively all the time so I wish it could get better mpgs? but I cant really blame the car that has "Sport" in the AWD System Name for giving me crappy MPGs. Basically I knew what I was getting into when I bought it.
 
Have had a 2001 mdx, a 2009 mdx and a 2010 mdx advance.. Seems to be a common problem with 2010 Mdx and later - they may have used a different injector design and mapping to improve power and unfortunate side effect is they seem to make things worse.. I've noticed that a can of Techron seems to help, recently tried a product called liqui moly from Germany - available at Autozone - seems to work great and I've noticed a 6-7 mpg jump!



It's the fuel system cleaner product

Used on a full tank of gas

Drive hard once in a while to clear out the injectors - good luck, let others know if it helps!

https://www.amazon.com/Liqui-Moly-2030-Pro-Line-Cleaner/dp/B01BIQWYYY
 
An “Italian Tuneup” is a thing. I recommend it. Basically it involves a little redline, from time to time. Don’t abuse your vehicles, but it’s healthy to stretch their legs, from time to time.

As for the additives and concoctions: they’re mostly snake oil. There are a few (like Techron) that have some legit science behind them, but they’re not necessary if you take care of your vehicle — which includes using good gas from reputable stations. If you stick with quality top-tier gas, extra Techron is unnecessary.
 
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