I work for a charity which has an '02 Honda Odyssey van with a 3.5 six cylinder engine. Most of our trips are in the 2 - 5 mile range. I recently noticed it is only getting about 11 mpg. We took it to the dealer who checked it and said everything is fine. When pressed about the low mileage, the service tech mumbled something about the short trips not letting the computer do something or other.
Does this make any sense? Are we just stuck with the poor mileage?
--Don
Sounds perfectly right. A Honda Odyssey only get 12 mpg in city driving, and a cold engine makes things worse because it consumes more fuel. The colder air is the more dense it is with oxygen, which is compensated for by using more fuel.
I’d advise you to change your oil often, as short trips like you’re doing are very abusive on an engine.
Oh and I suspect that if you go on a 30 mile trip on the highway you’ll see your gas mileage jump to about 26-28 mpg.
well…not what I was hoping to hear, but thanks. Oh - we’re in Dallas, which has a serious shortage of cool air these days 