2019 Acura RDX getting only 14mpg!!
 

Hey there :-)
I thought I'd reach out to the community and seek your guidance on a frustrating issue I'm having with my brand new 2019 RDX with the Tech package. I should be getting avg 22mpg but am only getting 14mpg according the computer as well as real world calculations - 80% city driving by the way.

Yes, I've played with the Sport + and have had some fun with it, but I've also driven a couple tanks in Comfort mode driving VERY mellow and still ... only 14 mpg. I've driven 1,500 miles so far and no change. One factor I have to say is I have sat idling for 30+ minutes at a time and know that would affect mpg to a degree but can't imagine THIS much ... even when not idling for long periods during a whole tank of gas, it STILL is very poor.

I've been do the dealership twice but they can't find anything and conclude it's the driver!! Really?! :-)

What would you do in my situation? I LOVE love LOVE the car and will not get rid of it but would like a replacement or ??

I've never been in this weird situation and appreciate any/all insights/advice!

:-)

Carl

Welcome. Ticking over uses way more fuel than you would imagine. I have a 1.2 Litre and I switch the ignition off at long lights, and anytime I know I am going to be ticking over for more than 7 or 8 seconds. If your display can show G.P.H, stick it on that, and see how tick over compares to highway driving. You'll be surprised.

Just wondering, is this a term to refer to idling? I have been doing the same with lights and never idle anymore. My husband heats up his car with autostart, then when he gets home, he sits in the driveway with the car on to finish the chapter of his book on tape (CD). No wonder he only gets 20.8 mpg!

Tick over, idling, you say tomato I say tomato. Same thing. When I start off from cold I select first, clutch depressed, turn the key, and the second the engine fires I lift the clutch and drive off. I do not set the heater to warm, until the engine reaches temperature (Jazz has a temperature light on the dash). Once the blue light goes out I then select heat and warm the car up. Getting the engine warm is more important than getting me warm!

You're right. Idling won't dump your MPG overmuch. Once, my 43MPG 1988 Ford Festiva was locked & idling for 50 minutes, till I could get my spare key from home. Next tank fill-up was....... 43MPG.
If you can find 100% ethanol-free gasoline in your car's octane rating, try it in your tank. However, MPG should only go up 8% to 5%. But ya just don't know.

As you say, it's new. The tires have higher rolling resistance when new, and their best won't appear for at least a couple thousand miles. The cars have more wear on their tires than that when they are tested. Other parts need to break in, and the engine computer goes through a period of 'learning'.

Check the air pressure; modern tires can be low without looking low.

It seems counter intuitive, but driving too mellow on a step automatic can get worse fuel economy. It is because under acceleration, engine output goes through the torque converter, which isn't efficient. It's better to use more acceleration to get up to speed quicker, and allow the transmission to lock up, which bypasses the torque converter. The caveat there is that you want to limit the amount of boost from the turbo.
The new RDX has auto stop, mother just got one.

Since it's new, and just like my truck, more often then not, it has a break in period, I went from getting around 15 mpg to around 20-21 mpg, this happened when I hit around 5k miles on the truck, recently I got new bigger tires and it put me down to about 19 mpg, guess I can't complain, like the tires :)

New tyres always screw up the mileage, Even fitting two new tyres made a big difference to my Jazz. EPA mileage stipulates that the tyres on the test vehicle must have covered at least 3000 miles and not more than 5000 miles. Best tyres for mpg are the ones you are about to dump!

Our new simpler gas, non-turbo (both automatic & manual) cars got good MPG from the beginning. First tanks were 40+MPG. Lead footers couldn't get good MPG from our brand car, but for the first year, our cars averaged 10MPG over the lead footers average. Knowing the easy accelerating shift points for an automatic transmission is important. No need to drive at higher speed gears & speeds, if an additional 2MPH causes the auto tranny to up-shift. Maybe diesels still need a breaking-in period, but low octane, low compression ratio, non-turbo gas engines, electronics & tires don't.

Thanks for your input everyone ... just realized there were replies but didn't get notification! :-)

So it sounds like a reasonable probability that it a "breaking in" period for the engine and tires. Ok, I am going to be patient and see what happens. It's SUCH a beautiful ride that I just can't see myself getting anything else.

I am most definitely disappointed w/ the dealer who sold me the lease .... after leaving several messages about the issue, I still haven't gotten a single call from him! Not good business!

Thanks again everyone for your input ... much appreciated!

Carl