New Passport Owner and Forum Member with a quick question :)

st_michael said:

Hello all!

Looks like you have a nice community here! I've been a Honda fan boy my entire life. My first car in high school was a 94 Honda accord LX and I put over 250k miles on the original engine/transmission before upgrading, but was hooked from that point forward.

My daily driver is a 2016 Accord LX and I just bought the wife a 2019 Passport Elite.

We both absolutely love the car, however I do have 1 quick question for the forum members!

This car has nearly every add-on you can get. It was heavily accessorized when I bought it and we love it as is, my only concern is the absolutely abysmal mpg we are getting around town. 14-15mpg is the norm. The only way I've been able to get it closer to 20, or even above, is during freeway driving. Running errands and picking up groceries has been sucking up gas far more than i imagined. The car is a certified pre-owned and was bought from a dealership so I doubt there is anything wrong with the engine or transmission. They did their inspection on the vehicle before I picked it up.

After reading some posts here I didn't realize home some accessories like a roof rack could affect mpg, and in our case, we have one, along with the side-steps, and I'm wondering if combined with the 20in wheels - it's what's causing the problem?

My wife just drives it "normal wife mode" and I've been driving it extremely light-footed to see if there would be any change (on eco mode) and nothing thus far.

Is this normal for this vehicle, and what other forum members have been seeing? I was thinking at least 18mpg around town with 25 or so on the freeway, but we are nowhere near that.

It's not so much the mpg that's a bit bothersome, its the fact that you can get V8 power with similar mpg numbers, but maybe I'm completely delirious?

Regardless, we love the car and it's not going anywhere i was just thinking the mpg would be more favorable for a v6 with under 300hp, but I haven't owned anything other than a 4cylinder in decades so maybe I just forgot how thirsty some of these engines can be!

Hope you are all doing well and God continues to bless!

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Slagmi said:

Nice looking passport!!
Others will chime in but I have a 21 elite and consistently get 23-24 mpg both estimated and real math at the pump. I have the mudflaps but not the side steps, and the moon roof visor but not the roof crossbars. And my hood deflector is the low profile version.
I live nowhere near a big city.
Eco mode doesn't really help mileage much or at all for me.
I seem to get better mpg @ 61-62 mph than @ 55!

Based on reading here and speaking with other passport owners your mileage seems low.

IME with other vehicles the roof crossbars does affect mileage.

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st_michael said:

Thanks! Yea, the posts I've read on the forum seem to speak to this more often then not - how mpg numbers can be lower then expected, but 14-15 mpg seemed even lower then that!

I told my wife to drive it with the eco mode off this week to see if it makes any difference. Thanks for the feedback!

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stevenD said:

Don't use premium (it's a waste of your money), remove the Crossbars (unless you are going to actually use them), engage the ECO button, and try to get more economic tires when you swap them out.

There is one more thing, I will mention and then RUN & DUCK for cover..

Your wife's driving style, I know from driving with my Wife, Aunt, & Daughter, that they ALL drive with a "lead-foot"..! Speeding up to STOP signs/red lights and then plowing on the brakes, now I do know some women who don't drive that way, but, I ALWAYS look ahead in my driving and take-my-foot-off-the-gas, when appropriate..

YOUR_DRIVING_MAY_DIFFER....

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ares said:

inasmuch as I would prefer putting in Premium fuel, I won't be able to afford it with the PP. May I ask what your purpose for using Premium?

Using quality fuel (Top Tier at the very least) is more important in my opinion, for the passport.

I have found that some engines only require regular fuel but run better (see: smoother/quieter/more power) on higher-octane. Again, it depends on the "why."

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st_michael said:

Hey good question! My reasons for it are two fold. 1) I had a conversation with a life-long mechanic who specifically told me the quality of the fuel does matter. Burn's cleaner, leaves less deposits, and prolongs the life of the engine. I've always put regular unleaded in my vehicles until after speaking with him. Now i'm sure this may raise hell on here as many don't feel this way and that it's a waste of money but I will defer to him as I'm not a mechanic, but what he was saying did make logical sense to me. Perhaps we have mechanics on the forum that can disprove these statements? 2) affordability of the fuel really isn't an issue to me, especially if it makes the engine perform better - i guess i'm just doing what i can to ensure longevity....

open to feedback on this - could be completely wrong!

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ares said:

Oh a can of worms have been opened alright. As long as you make an informed decision, it's fine by me.

High-Octane does not necessarily mean good quality. For longevity, I feel like additives are the ones that keep the engine running best. Some gasoline brands may market the higher octane gasoline as "better for your vehicle" but in truth even their low octane gasoline has the same additive.

Mom/Pop gas station may be cheaper (no matter what octane) compared to Shell (for example) which can be because of all the "research" that Shell advertises they do and include additives that help with engine longevity.

I have not tested high-octane gas on the PP, but in my previous vehicle, there is a noticeable difference on how the engine idles and runs between the different octane levels. It almost feels and sounds like the vehicle was meant to run on higher octane - though the manual says otherwise. I kept running it with mid-grade fuel as I felt that was a good compromise.

And then there are vehicles that require high-octane gasoline from the factory. I believe those do to ensure the engine performs within the expected conditions.

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st_michael said:

Hello all!

Looks like you have a nice community here! I've been a Honda fan boy my entire life. My first car in high school was a 94 Honda accord LX and I put over 250k miles on the original engine/transmission before upgrading, but was hooked from that point forward.

My daily driver is a 2016 Accord LX and I just bought the wife a 2019 Passport Elite.

We both absolutely love the car, however I do have 1 quick question for the forum members!

This car has nearly every add-on you can get. It was heavily accessorized when I bought it and we love it as is, my only concern is the absolutely abysmal mpg we are getting around town. 14-15mpg is the norm. The only way I've been able to get it closer to 20, or even above, is during freeway driving. Running errands and picking up groceries has been sucking up gas far more than i imagined. The car is a certified pre-owned and was bought from a dealership so I doubt there is anything wrong with the engine or transmission. They did their inspection on the vehicle before I picked it up.

After reading some posts here I didn't realize home some accessories like a roof rack could affect mpg, and in our case, we have one, along with the side-steps, and I'm wondering if combined with the 20in wheels - it's what's causing the problem?

My wife just drives it "normal wife mode" and I've been driving it extremely light-footed to see if there would be any change (on eco mode) and nothing thus far.

Is this normal for this vehicle, and what other forum members have been seeing? I was thinking at least 18mpg around town with 25 or so on the freeway, but we are nowhere near that.

It's not so much the mpg that's a bit bothersome, its the fact that you can get V8 power with similar mpg numbers, but maybe I'm completely delirious?

Regardless, we love the car and it's not going anywhere i was just thinking the mpg would be more favorable for a v6 with under 300hp, but I haven't owned anything other than a 4cylinder in decades so maybe I just forgot how thirsty some of these engines can be!

Hope you are all doing well and God continues to bless!

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Chef Duane said:

Top Tier fuels are refined cleaner and typically have a detergent additive. Using a Top Tier fuel at the reccommended octane is better than using a non-TT fuel at a higher octane.

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