well, so far i've filled my E up twice since i got it, & i haven't been doing a lot of driving. it's just been around town, & i've taken the back seats out - so haven't had any weight in to speak of.

1st time calculation = 17.54 mpg

2nd time calculation = 16.37 mpg

i was a little dismayed to see that the 2nd calculation (w/seats out, & even warmer weather) was lower than the 1st, which to me is kind of pitiful.

i've heard there's a "break-in" period - that mpg will go up. do you know if this actually happens? has anyone gotten as poor mpg as i have?

i'm taking a trip up north tomorrow, & most will be highway miles. don't know if i can expect 5 mpg better during that trip though, especially since i'll be loaded down somewhat. also, 5 mpg over 16.37 isn't exactly something that makes me very happy...

oh well.

stab it a few times then change the oil, and your good to go.make sure the tires have plenty of air. the valve springs just need to heat cycle a few times, the oil has shavings,grindings,dirt, break in normal cylinder & piston ring material that needs to be gotten out of there.so a oil & filter change is all thats realy needed.

stab it a few times then change the oil, and your good to go.make sure the tires have plenty of air. the valve springs just need to heat cycle a few times, the oil has shavings,grindings,dirt, break in normal cylinder & piston ring material that needs to be gotten out of there.so a oil & filter change is all thats realy needed.

My owner's manual was pretty stern on NOT "stabbing it a few times" and not change the oil till the first scheduled change. From what I've learned through a life of driving, the rest of what you said is about half truth and the rest "I want it NOW!" attitude.

Bottom line is that you spent a fair amount of money for your Honda and it's worth a little patience to have a sweet ride for a long time to come - or you can just go for it and turn the poor thing in on trade in a couple years before the engine is a wreck. Who needs piston rings anyway?

There is definitely a break in period for a Honda.
Follow the advise in the manual, and have a search on here...

Have patience grasshopper, it does get better...

stab it a few times then change the oil, and your good to go.make sure the tires have plenty of air. the valve springs just need to heat cycle a few times, the oil has shavings,grindings,dirt, break in normal cylinder & piston ring material that needs to be gotten out of there.so a oil & filter change is all thats realy needed.Um, no. I know automotive engineers, and trust me, they're smarter than you and I. If they say in the Owners' Manual to drive gently for the first 700 miles/1100 km and leave the original engine oil in the engine until the first scheduled oil change, then you should drive gently for the first 700 miles/1100 km and leave the original engine oil in the engine until the first scheduled oil change.

And yes, the mileage will go up after awhile.

was wondering about that oil change thing.

guess i don't really tend to read the manuals - i mean, only for reference when i'm trying to figure out something (& wouldn't really think it would talk about poor gas mileage).

thanks for clearing that up, & i sure hope it gets better.

around town driving I am seeing about 19.5 in my 2010. my 2005 would regularly get 22 in the same driving conditions. I chalk it up to a difference in the manual vs auto.
I did do mostly highway miles on the last tank so am looking forward to seeing what mileage that generates.
still better than the vehicle inbetween my two E's.

let me know!

Here's the mpg breakdown in my 2wd EX 2010 after I started keeping track because the first few tankfuls went unrecorded.

MPG:25, 22, 21.8. 22.8, 22.5, 23.5, 21.4, 25.6, 24.3, 24.8

This is mostly aggressive up to speed city driving with just a tiny bit of highway here and there. The one tank I drove like miss Daisy super slow and easy was actually my lowest at 21.4 mpg.

Try keeping track using Fuelly... You can see what my current MPG are (in my signature) and I've had this thing since first full tank... Use that... I don't doubt folks MPGs on this site but then again, they're not keeping track of it as efficiently as the Fuelly folks... I like there site because you don't have to do a full fill up and it doesn't take away from the result...

Try it, you'll like it Nico1et...! Just click on the Fuelly logo in my sig and sign up (it's free)... I know that there's a "break-in" period for every motor out there... From gas to electrical... They all need to get the initial kinks out and get used to their new set up...

LBD

Hey nico1et...sorry to hear about those numbers...that does suck.
When I purchased my new Element from a out of town dealer, I drove 80+ miles to get home and I checked the gas mileage...and I was got like 20mpg.
I thought something was wrong and I almost called the dealer. I have received 2 oil changes since and I am getting an average of 26mpg highway and 20mpg city. I hope yours get better too.

Like LunchBoxDriver wrote: Try Fuelly.
One on the nice features is that you can search by vehicle.
There is a definite Bell Curve in looking at data for Elements, but the mode is 22/23 if memory serves.
22 is where I am on my current daily driver so it is no big deal.
But, 22 beats the heck out of my Jeep that’s 12.2 on Fuelly.

ok then we got that going good ,why dont you cut open your oil filter after the 1 st oil change & look at all the debris in it.while your at it check out the oil bypass valve that opens very easly to let un filtered oil in to you bearings.then drain your 1st time oil in a clean pan then go into the sun to see all the pretty sparkelys !!!!there so pretty I wish my paint looked that sparkley !!! stop kidding your self about the honda book. think about it would you want to buy something that said to go home and change the oil ?????? and yes I am probly the stupidest honda owener on the planet, kaint speel &change oil befor it's time.

well, i'm a female & i really do not touch my vehicles (not that i'm rich & can afford to have anyone else do it...which is completely the opposite). so i won't be checking anything (re. oil) - & i'm not supposed to have to change my oil for quite a while...?? normally i put on very few miles, except in the summer, so i'll be putting on more in a short while....

LBD: i'm signing up over there right now.

there's not supposed to be that much difference between 2wd + 4wd, as far as mpg, from what i was told. [any comments on that?] should the 4wd cause the mpg to go down if it's not normally engaged?

p.s. due to the fact that i was almost on the highway the whole time (or similar driving), my mpg this time turned out to be 22.8.

I am almost to 1500 miles on my new 2010 and I average around 17.4 with mostly city or short drives. The one time that I drove up the coast 30 miles and up 15 miles into the mountains and back, then the rest was city, i got much better mileage on just over a half tank fill up...so very little city driving and it was about 20.62mpg and that was not driving my usual conservative style that gets me 17.3 in the city. I was ecstatic after the lousy mileage I hav gotten at the first two months.

I was so upset when one tank was in the 16s that I got a scangauge and just got done with the calibration. I had a manual 03 before that averaged in the 20s in city driving so I hope that it is right that after a few thousands I get back to that but my mechanic told me not to hold my breath. I kinda think the city driving is a mileage killer here in Los Angeles.

yeah, the city driving thing really does seem to suck. let me tell you, i was not happy when i got a little over 16...

lbd: I'm signing up over there right now. cool!!! got the invite...!

there's not supposed to be that much difference between 2wd + 4wd, as far as mpg, from what i was told. [any comments on that?] should the 4wd cause the mpg to go down if it's not normally engaged? correct... the 4wd will only go "on" when there is front wheel slippage to compensate... Our "4wd" is not always "on" (it's simple physics) so we basically consider our es as 2wds with a 4wd "advantage"...

p.s. Due to the fact that i was almost on the highway the whole time (or similar driving), my mpg this time turned out to be 22.8. about time right...? the highway is where we always get better mpgs... Always use the cruise control (when applicable) and you'll get even better mpgs...

yeah, the city driving thing really does seem to suck. Let me tell you, i was not happy when i got a little over 16... yup...! Sucks like an egg...!

Hope this helps...!

LBD

yep, thanks.

just hope i never see 16 mpg again!

Okay, I think I am all set up on the mileage thing too(Fuelly)-grabbed my receipts with the tripometer numbers on each one and filled it out and off we go. Gotta admit it is up a bit since I have been staring at the scangauge, but we will see when i get to the pump....think maybe 19 but i must admit to going as far as drifting thru stopsigns to keep my forward momentum even to try to get every inch out of the gas.

i can already tell mine's gonna be down from when i was on the highway. & the price of gas keeps going up. gonna be an expensive summer, but oh well.

i can already tell mine's gonna be down from when i was on the highway. & the price of gas keeps going up. gonna be an expensive summer, but oh well.

Hey! My old truck was lucky to get 13mpg and that's when it was over $4. I traded it in on my E and was happy to see 16-17mpg at first, then watched it shoot up to 20-22mpg after about 3,000 miles on the speedometer. I'm telling you, after 10-13mpg, 20-22 around town feels real nice.

i would be happy to get 20-22 around town...

i have quite a ways to go before 3,000 miles - maybe by fall.

i'll keep hoping.

Me too, this mornings commute-15.9mpg in the rain. You should check out that scangauge, very revealing.

what scangauge? (something else at that site maybe?)

also..dumb question...where's the odometer? (on the same thing as the trip meter? - weird cuz it's always been obvious on other vehicles)

The odometer is in the same place as the trip meter. Press and release the button next to the tripmeter and you'll go from trip A to trip B to Odometer (total miles traveled since birth). Hold the button down in either A or B and you'll reset that particular tripmeter.
se

yep i knew about resetting the trip meter etc., but i just hadn't gone thru to trip meter 2, etc.... seems a strange place for the odometer. maybe that's the honda way.

Having the odometer on the bottom of the speedo gauge seems pretty ordinary to me.

Odometer information begins on page 64 of the 2010 owner's manual.

Scangauge thread (http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24708)

never had it combined w/the trip meter before.. i mean, when one is visible, the other is not (which seems odd to me, since i'm more interested in seeing the trip meter & that's what was showing when i left the dealership - never even have looked at the odometer part of it since then).

what scangauge? (something else at that site maybe?)

also..dumb question...where's the odometer? (on the same thing as the trip meter? - weird cuz it's always been obvious on other vehicles)

Someone out here was talking about their scangauge. It is an external unit that plugs into the plug where they perform smog checks under the dashboard. It has a small display head that can tell you a bunch of different info on your car but mainly your current mpg, your average mpg and for the trip, your mph, rpm, gas per hour used...just a bunch of info if you want it. It resets its trip every time you leave the car for a few minutes. It has a current number, a daily number and a number since last tank fill up.

You can watch the current mpg and adjust your driving somewhat. I was able to get my average from 17.3 to over 19 mpg on this tank but i am being obsessively consciences. Between several short drives yesterday and the rain/traffic today it dropped below 19 though.

To see the difference, this morning I was below 16 on the way to work but on the way home, no traffic-same drive over 22 mpg. It may be a touch up hill to work but barely at all, that is mainly just traffic. Both ways i was doing everything possible to save gas. It is about half city-lots of stop signs and lights, and half freeway.

Search google or amazon for scangauge 2, I think I paid $159. with free shipping. A useful toy.:oops:

interesting! (doubt i'll spend the $, cuz i'm broke now till forever after this purchase, but still a cool thing just the same)

never had it combined w/the trip meter before.. i mean, when one is visible, the other is not (which seems odd to me, since i'm more interested in seeing the trip meter & that's what was showing when i left the dealership - never even have looked at the odometer part of it since then).It's a thing car companies have been doing since the late '90s when digital odometers became a thing. Dodge does it, Ford does it, GM does it, Honda does it, and others probably do too, but I only know one person who owns a Toyota and I didn't pay much attention to the odometer the one time I rode in it.

wasn't like that in my 2003 taurus (which was a crummy car anyway).

I got 26.6 mpg out of my first tank! :) Maybe the dealership sent me on my way with a tank of magical gasoline?

Of course, it was mostly highway driving with cruise on, and I have deeply ingrained hypermiling habits (a lot easier to do in my old Accord, I'm beginning to realize). Also I live in a warm, flat state :)

i think the highway miles help a lot.... i'm getting better mileage when i travel out of town, but in town my mileage still remains pretty poor.

There are a lot more parts other than the engine that can benefit from going thru a few heat cycles and "breakin".

Consider tires, brakes, transmission, transaxle, bearings, and any moving parts in engine asessories. I could argue taking it easy on these other parts for a few hundred miles is just as important as "breaking in" the engine.

In the past (way past), I always changed out my new engine oil early, but don't anymore. Sure the oil filter collects a lot of junk, but I figure that's it's job. If I were going to change out any fluids early, the trans fluid would be near the top of the list....and I don't plan to change that out for a good while.

I can't say if Honda does it but because of the slippery nature of modern engine oils some manufacturers put a break-in oil in for the factory fill. In these cases it is important to leave that oil in as long as the manufacturer tells you to to ensure a complete break in of the engine. BTW I got 24.2 on my first full tank in mixed driving. 22.6 for the second tank with more in town stuff and half mixed commute. It's about the same as the last auto trans Subaru I owned so I am not unhappy.

Changed the 'break-in" oil at 1800 miles, wished I had changed it sooner. Extremely dirty for that many miles and had plenty of solid pieces in the bottom of the pan, but nothing noticeably shiny.

The Honda break-in oil is Exxon Mobil dino w/ extra moly, so I just replaced it with another high moly dino - Chevron Supreme. Sure felt good to change out the crud.

MPG so far: 21.0 lowest, 27.8 highest.

Changed the 'break-in" oil at 1800 miles, wished I had changed it sooner. Extremely dirty for that many miles and had plenty of solid pieces in the bottom of the pan, but nothing noticeably shiny.

The Honda break-in oil is Exxon Mobil dino w/ extra moly, so I just replaced it with another high moly dino - Chevron Supreme. Sure felt good to change out the crud.

MPG so far: 21.0 lowest, 27.8 highest.

.:shock:.:shock:.:shock:. All I can say is WOWWWWWW...!!! .:shock:.:shock:.:shock:.

Care to post some pics of this above average E...?

LBD

My mileage was 21 or so until about 4500 miles. My 4800 OCI still showed significant gasoline in that oil change. At 7000 there was no more gas in the oil. Without alcohol in the gas, I get 24 to 25 freeway. I have gotten as high as 28.4 mpg.... and with lots of alcohol in the fuel: 16.1 disappointing mpg. For sure, pushing beyond 74 mph really impacts the overall mpg.

.:shock:.:shock:.:shock:. All I can say is WOWWWWWW...!!! .:shock:.:shock:.:shock:.

Care to post some pics of this above average E...?

LBD

Here you go...

Awesome 2010E...!!!

Did the body-side molding come standard...? http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/41.gif Your E looks great...! http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/113.gif

May she provide you with many years of service and enjoyment...

:eoc:
.L-B-D.
-http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/111.gif-

i was wondering about the same things. and i came across this is it feasable? i have 350 miles atm. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

should i do the 9000 miles like they say for first oil change(15% oil life) change it early ?

and what type of gas does everyone run?

i was wondering about the same things. and i came across this is it feasable? i have 350 miles atm. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

should i do the 9000 miles like they say for first oil change(15% oil life) change it early ?

and what type of gas does everyone run?

WOW RacerC2K...! :shock: Just read through that entire article and the people I would ask on this forum are ApriliaGuy, RamblerDan, MikeQBF, Dom.Five, Chief, SlimerDogs, and Generation "X" Dad... Those are the guys that I know (off the top of my head) that are "mechanically inclined"... I'm curious too... Hopefully the Mods will chip-in on this and hopefully shed some light on this...

Good looking out buddy...!

:eoc:
.L-B-D.

i was wondering about the same things. and i came across this is it feasable? i have 350 miles atm. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

should i do the 9000 miles like they say for first oil change(15% oil life) change it early ?

and what type of gas does everyone run?
I'm sure the guy in the article has had some wonderful results, but where is the data, and long term results? Without these, he can say anything he wants.
I'll put it to you simply...Honda Engineers make some of the best engines in the world - they make race cars after all - and are very good at using the most up to date techniques and methods...they've developed a good many of theses themselves! So I'm quite sure that they have figured out the optimal means of getting the best mileage/performance/power ot of the family sedan's engine...so I think it's best to follow their recommendations...
(just becasue someone says they've found a better way to make it go, doesn't mean it's the better way to make the Honda engine go better...)

Wait until the recommended mileage is up, before doing the first oil change, and the E takes regular unleaded gas...
There are threads for both these subjects, and I'm don't think we all want to start this debate again....let's just follow what the owner's manual recommends...

Awesome 2010E...!!!

Did the body-side molding come standard...? http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/41.gif Your E looks great...! http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/113.gif

May she provide you with many years of service and enjoyment...

:eoc:
.L-B-D.
-http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/111.gif-

Thanks. Those are OEM side moldings that I installed, along with the mud flaps, roof rack, and rear air deflector. I also replaced the stock horn with 2 old GM "A" and "F" horns out of a '79 Bonneville from the junk yard. I added a relay and connected the stock switch to it. Sure gets attention now from inconsiderate lane changers and when honking to other E-owners. ;-)

I'm sure the guy in the article has had some wonderful results, but where is the data, and long term results? Without these, he can say anything he wants.
I'll put it to you simply...Honda Engineers make some of the best engines in the world - they make race cars after all - and are very good at using the most up to date techniques and methods...they've developed a good many of theses themselves! So I'm quite sure that they have figured out the optimal means of getting the best mileage/performance/power ot of the family sedan's engine...so I think it's best to follow their recommendations...
(just becasue someone says they've found a better way to make it go, doesn't mean it's the better way to make the Honda engine go better...)

Wait until the recommended mileage is up, before doing the first oil change, and the E takes regular unleaded gas...
There are threads for both these subjects, and I'm don't think we all want to start this debate again....let's just follow what the owner's manual recommends...
All good points...!

Thanks. Those are OEM side moldings that I installed, along with the mud flaps, roof rack, and rear air deflector. I also replaced the stock horn with 2 old GM "A" and "F" horns out of a '79 Bonneville from the junk yard. I added a relay and connected the stock switch to it. Sure gets attention now from inconsiderate lane changers and when honking to other E-owners. ;-)
Love to see their faces...! LOL!!!

LBD