Honda Car Forum

I had recently bought a 1998 Honda civic (manual) I had noticed that in a day of errands the gas would go down around 1/4 the tank just from driving around the city in under 3 hours. I have almost an empty tank and got around 230 miles off of a full tank. I dont think this is normal. Please let me know if you guys know if there are any problems. Thanks!

Don't go chasing bad MPG unless you are sure of it. You could be spending time and money chasing ghosts. So try this experiment firsta) fill the tank to the max(b) get on the HWY - late night / no traffic hour(c) drive about 20 to 30 miles (at 55 MPH)(d) use cruise control - very important(e) note the EXACT MILES(f) get off and immediately get gas(g) note the EXACT GALLONSNow you can calculate the MPG byMPG = MILES (step e) / GALLONS (step g).The reason you start out with full tank is that is the "repeatable" condition. You want to avoid traffic so you don't use the brakes on the HWY. Braking will negatively affect the MPG calculation. You use the cruise control so you and eliminate your driving habit as a factor.Without a good MPG calculation you might be waiting your money chasing ghosts. Also you can repeat this test anytime you feel like you car is not running right. You can also try the same thing but off the cruise control to check how much your driving habit affect the MPG. etc.

yeah i believe you have an 11 gallon tank. if you have a manual transmission you should at least be getting 30 mpg in the city, unless you have a lead foot. so you should be going at least 330 miles off of one tank

I have a 98 Civic LX sedan, 5 speed.LOVE Hondas!You should be getting at LEAST 300 a tank. I get 350-380 cos I use cruise when on hwy, and keep tire pressure at mfg specs. I also roll windows up and use vents for less drag.Of course, it's been 100 for a week here in Sacramento so I've used the AC quite a bit; but still...... I'm at 302, with almost a 1/8 left.