Honda Car Forum

"Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLEASE@mindspring.com> writes:

> Buying either is a mistake considering current gas prices. I would hold on
> to what you have until an equivalent hybrid is available at a reasonable
> price.

Hi Art,

While that sounds great in theory a) the efficiency of a hybrid
minivan is unlikely to be Prius like and probably lackluster enough
and involve enough maintenance costs to offset those gains given my
low yearly mileage for this car, and b) my driving patterns don't
involve high mileage by a long shot, except on weekend trips involving
the highway where I'm taking 5-7 people places routinely. Which, with
what I've got (something that tops out itself at 28mpg hwy, 18mpg
city) involves taking 2 vehicles instead of one.

Factoring that in, the minivan form factor actually becomes the less
thirsty option versus 2 vehicles.

--
Todd H.
2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4
Chicago, Illinois USA

On Jul 16, 10:04*pm, "Art" <begunaNOSPAMPLE...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Buying either is a mistake considering current gas prices. *I would hold on
> to what you have until an equivalent hybrid is available at a reasonable
> price.

A local Toyota dealer has said that he expects a hybrid minivan from
Toyota in the 2010 model year. If it will have the Highlander drive
train, it should be excellent choice.

Mazda makes a small minivan that gets good gas milage.

--
Ron

In article <xn0fss2gearbui7000@news.mixmin.net>,
"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:

> dbu, 7/17/2008,5:54:16 AM, wrote:
>
> > The Sienna gets 25-28 MPG.
>
> This is hard for me to believe.

I own one. Trip mileage of course, no kidding I really do get that kind
of gas mileage. City driving is less depending on how much of a lead
foot I am, but I usually try to drive like I have an egg under the gas
pedal. BTW, a friend has a 08 Ody which gets even better gas milage.
On a trip, it runs on 3 cylinders. I don't know how they do it. The
gas mileage is average in city however. It is hard to believe for a
4000 lb plus vehicle to get that kind of economy, but it is so.
--

In article <slrng7u97j.mv5.joe@barada.griffincs.local>,
Joe <joe@nospam.hits-buffalo.com> wrote:

> On 2008-07-17, badgolferman <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:
> > dbu, 7/17/2008,5:54:16 AM, wrote:
> >
> >> The Sienna gets 25-28 MPG.
> >
> > This is hard for me to believe.
>
> Hard for the EPA to believe, too... ;-)
>
> 18/23 City/Hwy

I tell truth. I don't care what EPA says. I've had vehicles where the
EPA says I should get 16/19 and I got much worse.
--

In article
<b1c62226-9512-4c81-8bb9-b9bad8d66fc3@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com>,
Siskuwihane <Siskuwihane1@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Jul 17, 6:27*am, "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolfer...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > dbu, 7/17/2008,5:54:16 AM, wrote:
> > > The Sienna gets 25-28 MPG.
> >
> > This is hard for me to believe.
>
> It may get that on a long trip, but for day-to-day driving...
>
> From Consumer guide Automotive
>
> Forget the EPA. Consumer Guide's auto editors drove 150,000 miles
> last year. We drove to work, to day care, to the grocery store, and on
> vacation. We drove through record heat, blinding snow, driving rain,
> and confounding road construction, keeping track of every drop of fuel
> we used along the way.
>
> The EPA admits its fuel economy numbers are estimates. Our numbers are
> real. A typical Consumer Guide test car is evaluated by at least four
> editors, all of whom account for their individual fuel usage. Here are
> the vehicles in each class that used the least amount of fuel while in
> our care.
>
> Honda Odyssey-16.4 MPG
>
> Toyota Sienna-16.4 MPG

Again, those numbers are way off from what I get and what my friends Ody
gets.



>
> http://consumerguideauto.howstuffwor...-champions.htm
>
> Consumer Reports faired a little better with 19 MPG.
>
> As one poster noted about the Odyssey
>
> "my normal gas mileage is 17 mpg in the city and 24.5-25 mpg on the
> highway. I've gotten as low as 15 mpg in the winter here (10% ethanol
> fuel) and as high as 27.1 mpg on the highway (traveling by myself with
> just two suitcases). I keep my tires at 37 psi, which is what made my
> gas mileage increase by 1-2 mpg."
>
> Another noted about his Sienna " I drive 80MPH and still get 24 MPG"
> which I will dismiss as total BS.
--

dbu wrote:

>In article <xn0fss2gearbui7000@news.mixmin.net>,
> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> dbu, 7/17/2008,5:54:16 AM, wrote:
>>
>> > The Sienna gets 25-28 MPG.
>>
>> This is hard for me to believe.
>
>I own one. Trip mileage of course, no kidding I really do get that
>kind of gas mileage. City driving is less depending on how much of a
>lead foot I am, but I usually try to drive like I have an egg under
>the gas pedal. BTW, a friend has a 08 Ody which gets even better gas
>milage. On a trip, it runs on 3 cylinders. I don't know how they do
>it. The gas mileage is average in city however. It is hard to
>believe for a 4000 lb plus vehicle to get that kind of economy, but
>it is so.

I can see it doing that well on a trip if you're using super unleaded
gasoline.

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:g5nu6j$h5s$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> dbu wrote:
>
>>In article <xn0fss2gearbui7000@news.mixmin.net>,
>> "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> dbu, 7/17/2008,5:54:16 AM, wrote:
>>>
>>> > The Sienna gets 25-28 MPG.
>>>
>>> This is hard for me to believe.
>>
>>I own one. Trip mileage of course, no kidding I really do get that
>>kind of gas mileage. City driving is less depending on how much of a
>>lead foot I am, but I usually try to drive like I have an egg under
>>the gas pedal. BTW, a friend has a 08 Ody which gets even better gas
>>milage. On a trip, it runs on 3 cylinders. I don't know how they do
>>it. The gas mileage is average in city however. It is hard to
>>believe for a 4000 lb plus vehicle to get that kind of economy, but
>>it is so.
>
> I can see it doing that well on a trip if you're using super unleaded
> gasoline.
>

Over the course of a recent road trip from Houston to Colorado and New
Mexico and back (almost 3,000 miles total), our 2001 Odyssey averaged nearly
24.7 mpg on mostly regular gas. Much of the highway driving was on
interstates, going about 70 with the AC on; there was also some driving at
slightly slower speeds on smaller highways. A fair amount of the total was
going up and down mountains, and there was some city driving as well.

Not at all bad for a vehicle of this size and comfort level, under these
conditions. Probably twice the mileage my dad used to get in our station
wagons on similar trips back in the '70s.

Around town (mix of street and freeway driving), I typically get between 15
and 19 mpg. In a total of about 75,000 miles, I've averaged about 19.4
overall.

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:06:27 +0000, badgolferman wrote:

> I can see it doing that well on a trip if you're using super unleaded
> gasoline.

Horsefeathers. The grade of gasoline has NOTHING to do with how much
mileage you get.


--
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org

Dan C wrote:

>On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:06:27 +0000, badgolferman wrote:
>
>> I can see it doing that well on a trip if you're using super
>>unleaded gasoline.
>
>Horsefeathers. The grade of gasoline has NOTHING to do with how much
>mileage you get.

On interstate driving it seems to for me.

In article <g5nu6j$h5s$1@registered.motzarella.org>,
"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:

> dbu wrote:
>
> >In article <xn0fss2gearbui7000@news.mixmin.net>,
> > "badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> dbu, 7/17/2008,5:54:16 AM, wrote:
> >>
> >> > The Sienna gets 25-28 MPG.
> >>
> >> This is hard for me to believe.
> >
> >I own one. Trip mileage of course, no kidding I really do get that
> >kind of gas mileage. City driving is less depending on how much of a
> >lead foot I am, but I usually try to drive like I have an egg under
> >the gas pedal. BTW, a friend has a 08 Ody which gets even better gas
> >milage. On a trip, it runs on 3 cylinders. I don't know how they do
> >it. The gas mileage is average in city however. It is hard to
> >believe for a 4000 lb plus vehicle to get that kind of economy, but
> >it is so.
>
> I can see it doing that well on a trip if you're using super unleaded
> gasoline.

Yes that is trip mileage, with a steady foot and at speed limit. No 80
mph for me. The Sienna AWD gets quite a bit less mileage, but you have
a heavier vehicle plus 4 wheels driving. I have the 2WD model, it's
been a great vehicle, perhaps the best I've owned yet. One more note, I
don't use the built in MPG gauge, I just use the old arithmetic version,
and at least three checks then average. I'm also very careful at the
pump when topping off the tank.
--