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Fuel Mileage

4K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  gnoblin 
#1 ·
Hi,recently purchased '07 Element EX. Love the vehicle,however,so far I am only getting 14mpg around town. only 33,000 miles and i don't drive it hard. Is this indicative of a problem, or is this the normal type of city fuel mileage? By the way, it's auto trans w/awd.
 
#3 ·
Rollin,

I have the exact same year/trim/drivetrain as you and I typically get about 18-21 mpg in the city. Definitely check all the fluids and do all the basic maintenance if it hasn't been done yet. I largely doubt an oil change and new air filter won't get you another 5 mpg, but it doesn't hurt. All of that plus checking the tire pressures could get you close though. I have noticed that my mileage dropped about 2-3 mpg (from 21-18) recently, which might be due to the winter gas, or that my cat was stolen and now the CEL is on and i need to replace the oxygen sensor.

I'd check those out first, then let us know how it looks.

good luck!
 
#4 ·
Tire Size Matters

I was able to consistently achieve 20-25 mpg average for every tank of fuel for the first 55,000 miles with my 2006 EX 2WD automatic. I then changed tires from the stock Goodyear Wranglers to a slightly oversize set of Michelin LTX tires. Wonderful ride, feel, quiet new tires - but immediately terrible fuel economy - 20% reduction over 10,000 of use. Tire Size Matters for an element.
 
#8 ·
alignment can be off as well. change fluids too
 
#10 ·
In response to Edward's question, the replacement tire size is 225/70-16. I'd be interested in the math on the odometer adjustment comment.
The distance your car travels per tire revolution is a function of tire diameter (C=Pi x D).

Therefore, your speedometer and odometer will be off by the amount you changed your tire diameter.

For example, if you went from a 27 inch tire to a 28.5 inch tire, that would be:

28.5 inch - 27 inch = 1.5 inch.

1.5 inch ÷ 27 inch = .056 x 100% = 5.6% increase in tire diameter.


So when your speedometer reads 50mph, you are actually going 50mph x 1.056 = 52.8mph.

Similarly, when your odometer says you have gone 1 mile, you have actually gone 1.056 miles.

And when you calculate a gas mileage of 20mpg, you have actually achieved 20mpg x 1.056 = 21.1 mpg.

I don't know what the stock Element tire diameter is, but you could easily substitute it above to figure out your actual mpg with the larger tires.

sm
 
#12 ·
According to my figures, stock diameter for DX, EX, and LX trim (P215/70R16) is 707.4 mm / 27.85"; for SC (P225/55R18), 704.7 mm / 27.74". Expect some variation among models and brands.
So based on those numbers, Screw Aero only increased tire diameter by about 2.5% (his new tires are about 28.5" dia.). This is nowhere near enough of a change in wheel diameter to cause a 20% error in fuel mileage calculation. Clearly something else is going on.

sm
 
#13 · (Edited)
Similar Gas Mileage : 06' 4WD with "Mud" Tires

RollinRanch - What kind of tires are on your E?

My '06 EX 4WD averaged approx. 14.5 in inner city driving this summer. A/C on max much of the time. I drive it gently. Many trips approx. 1 mile; "commute" to work is 2.4 miles. The E does much better when I actually go somewhere.

The previous owner put on wide tires (18" rims) and the "mud" tire pattern doesn't help either. I blame the tires.

For whatever it's worth, the E has averaged 25.5, 26, 27.1, and 27.4 on trips through a Nat'l Forrest where I can accelerate very gradually and didn't need to run the A/C.

I'm curious whether you identified any root causes and, if so, what you learned.
 
#15 ·
I have the Michelin LTX 225x70x16 on my 08 EX AWD, the speedometer and my GPS show the same speed. If you don't have a GPS borrow one from a friend and check it.

You can also drive 60mph on an Interstate and time yourself between milemarkers, 1 minute per mile or 10 minutes in 10 miles. This won't be as accurate as a GPS but will be close.
 
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