Just thought I'd provide the info below for those of you who are interested in this kind of stuff. FYI, my E is an EX MT, we used cruise control for the majority of the time and drove at the posted speed limits. Our route was from Vancouver, BC through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah down to Las Vegas then north through Nevada to Reno and Northern California, over to the coast, up to Lincoln City, OR, over to the I5 and home to Vancouver.

I've converted the US gallons to litres for us Canadians (trusting my Mac's Unit Converter):) and used Visa's currency exchange rate.

Total mileage: 3,063 miles (4,929 kms)
Total fuel consumed: 101.172 gallons (415.427 litres) - Total of 9 full tanks with just over 1/2 of a tank remaining now.
Average price per gallon (litre): US$3.21/gallon (C$0.96/litre) - Cheaper than home!
Average fuel economy: 28.48 mpg (8.279 L/100km) - Note: Honda Canada's posted fuel economy for an EX MT = 8.7 highway
Best economy: 30.80 mpg (7.636 L/100km) - Achieved on our last day of driving from Coos Bay, OR to Olympia, WA (cooler temperatures and lower driving speed)
Worst economy: 26.69 mpg (8.812 L/100km) - Achieved during hot temperatures and higher driving speeds in Utah/Nevada

Overall, I've always achieved good fuel economy in the E, better than the posted ratings. It loves driving on the highway and hills are never a problem.

Thanks for posting - I notice you have the 2WD MT...I always find that I've gotten better fuel economy than advertised for most cars that I've owned, and I've always owned with manual transmissions.

I wonder if most of the ATs find the same results. I also wonder how much of a hit (in practice) the Element's AWD takes on gas mileage.

Of course the driver has alot to do with fuel economy...

I too kept an eye on my fuel consumption. Usually I am not too exact, but I wanted to get a clear feel for how this little tractor holds up when put to the test...

The E is adequately powered. First, it is a little tractor. I have just completed my first 'extensive' road trip to the Meet in Las Vegas last weekend. I had 4 peoples in the car, fully gased up, a 200 lbs cooler and luggage for the weekend. I guess the gross weight at approx. 5,000 lbs.
Traffic was terrible, it took me 2+ hours to climb out of the L.A. basin and then I cruised at 75 mph (cruise control) into Las Vegas. There we did some strip cruising, Red Rock Canyon convoying and on Sunday morning we started to head back to Los Angeles fighting into a heavy head wind.
For most of the way the E stayed in 5th gear and when it had to down shift it did so after more tourqueing than I had expected. Counter to earlier claims the transmission DID NOT kick straight into 3rd but into 4th gear and again kept it there for a considerable time, before kicking into 3rd. The E's 'little' 4 performed beyond what I had hoped for based on the readings and some of the posts here. For the entire trip I averaged just under 24 mpg on 89 octane gas and considering all factors I thought this to be rather satisfactory... I am more inclined than ever to leave the drive line alone and operate it just as Honda had designed it. It works well and satisfactory for my needs and expectations, - why mess with it...

Nice data collection, Triple G! I wanted to be that precise but quickly started forgetting to take notes on our mileage per fill up, etc. I can't believe the great MPG you got during the trip. I don't think I've ever gotten over 23, and probably average below 20 since I mostly drive in the city.

Like you, we seemed to be driving through heavy winds the whole way to and back from Vegas. Going through the Rockies on the way home probably didn't help mileage either (the E's engine doesn't like big hills). My average speed was between 75-80 mph.

I did add up our fuel costs for the whole trip from Chicago to Vegas and back:

Total miles driven (approx): 4100
Fuel costs: $560.18 (not that much more than two plane tix)

The most we got out of a tank was 310 miles before we were driving on fumes and the fuel indicator was at it's lowest point. My wife and I felt like Kramer and the Saab dealer on that Seinfeld episode when they tried to see how far they could go on a tank of gas. We probably shouldn't have tried it in the middle of Nowhere, NM.

Well the 2003 MT kicked my 2005 AT's rearend! We took the same route down (starting closer to I-90 in Washington than Triple G), and a different route back (than you did). But anyway ...

I haven't filled the last tank yet but here are my numbers otherwise:

Total mileage: 2623 miles plus whatever was left at the end ... another hundred or so
Total fuel consumed: 114 gallons
Average price per gallon: US$3.18/gallon
Average fuel economy: 22.88mpg
Best economy: 26.03mpg that's the highest I've gotten since owning the car
Worst economy: 20.27mpg
Most miles on a tank: 324.2 and filled with 13.32 gallons
Cost: $363.04

I've been told that we *may* have been travelling somewhat over the posted limit, but did use cruise control most of the way. Someday I might keep track of who's driving along with the fillups but I'm not sure much good would come of that! There were 11 fillups including the starting one.

Lucky!

Dont have the total figures but my average for the trip was about 21mpg, The worst by far was coming back from vegas in the desert with the crappy tune I had to use while there 18.5 mpg. After I got into Utah I retuned it to CO standards and gave the computer a little more freedom of choice for the tune and picked up the mileage to about 25. Not too awful bad for a 300HP Element I guess.

Lucky!

Dont have the total figures but my average for the trip was about 21mpg, The worst by far was coming back from vegas in the desert with the crappy tune I had to use while there 18.5 mpg. After I got into Utah I retuned it to CO standards and gave the computer a little more freedom of choice for the tune and picked up the mileage to about 25. Not too awful bad for a 300HP Element I guess.
Damn, I'm jealous. Mine only gets like 22mpg.

Not too awful bad for a 300HP Element I guess.

Okay, now you're just bragging!! :cry: :D

Okay, now you're just bragging!! :cry: :D

I don't think so... 'Ghandi' can tune his machine so it will deliver exactly as he desires for the event. He can program conservative with fuel economy and earlier shift points, stay off the boost, and get good or better mileage than our stock Es do. When he wants to blow out a Civic he can simply pull in a proven template and have the E now set for max performance and the hell with fuel economy.
Make no mistake, not even 'Ghandi' gets 25 mpg while making 300 hp...