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I am pretty new here so I will briefly introduce myself. I am married with two kids and I live in CO. I bought an HCHII about 4 months ago. Several weeks after buying it, I joined GH. I also joined here a few weeks ago. (Thanks to Hot_Georgia, xcel, and the many others for all the FE tips at both sites.) My other vehicle is a 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring. My wife and I split the driving quite a bit depending on who has to drive the most that particular day.

Early on, my wife was on maternity leave and I drove the HCHII almost exclusively. Now, my wife is back at work and regularly has to drive a lot of miles so she is using the HCHII as much or more than I. I was never one to waste gas when driving, but since I bought the HCHII, I try even harder to achieve good fuel economy.

I have gotten pretty good at achieving good fuel economy in my HCHII. I now consider any RT under 60 mpg a disappointment. I have even had RTs of 45 miles at 74 mpg. My wife actually does pretty good too. Her only problems are that she has to drive through some bad traffic at times and she sometimes gets in a situation where she is rushed. Today she did 108 miles at 53.8 mpg on a new tank.

Driving the Odyssey can be very frustrating because it can be quite difficult to achieve good FE. Shortly after we bought the vehicle, we regularly had tanks below 20mpg (almost all city driving). We did work to improve the FE, but it just did not seem like it was enough to satisfy me. Today, my wife had the HCHII and I was stuck with the Odyssey. I decided to try FAS full-scale. Previously I had only tried it at stoplights and just a few other times just to get used to it. I have not even tried FASing in my HCHII. Anyway, I was very happy with the results in my Odyssey (20/28 EPA).

This morning, my first several trips of the day resulted in 24.5 mpg over 12.0 miles. A significant portion of this was a slight but steady uphill climb (with lights). My second segment was a round trip from my work. I achieved 30.5 mpg over 30 miles. My final segment was 30.6 mpg over 13.1 miles. If I did not have to pick up both kids at two different daycares on the final segment, I would have made it home at almost 40mpg (this is the reverse trip of the steady uphill climb from the first segment). All of this calculated out to 29.0 mpg over 55.1 miles. These trips are what would probably be considered suburban.

I have to drive the Odyssey again tomorrow and I am anxious to see what I can do.

Thanks,
Mr. Kite

Cool! I FAS like a mad man all the time. I can't stand not to anymore. Be careful, you know about the PS and PB issues, correct? That is the nice thing about the hybrid, electric PS!

Let us know how you are doing tomorrow.

Cool! I FAS like a mad man all the time. I can't stand not to anymore. Be careful, you know about the PS and PB issues, correct? That is the nice thing about the hybrid, electric PS!

Let us know how you are doing tomorrow.

I was able to get just over 28 yesterday. Without doing some FASing, that would have been about 23.

The loss of PS in the van was quite a shocker. I had no idea how hard it would be to turn. One of the places that I do an FAS has a downhill to a stop sign before I would turn right (the only option) on an L-shaped intersection. It seems pointless to have a stop sign here so I usually don't stop. However, I do have to slow down a bit to make the sharp turn. The first time I tried that, I thought I was going to break the steering wheel. I then continue downhill for a bit before going 3/4 of the way through a roundabout, downhill some more to a stop sign at a relatively busy road. Then I restart.

I have not tried FASing in my hybrid yet. When I get to drive it again, I will start seeing where I can benefit from FASing during my commute. I will be driving the Odyssey today also. I have to go get gas in it on my way to work. It looks like it will be my best tank yet on it (maybe just over 25mpg). I only started the FASing for the last 100 miles or so.

I guess this means that I will have to stop referring to all of you FASers as crazy.:)

Last year I had a rental Odyssey a couple of days, but it was before I thought about FASing. It would have been interesting to compare it to an Insight in this respect. (Wild guess - more momentum) The main thing on my mind was getting familiar with the Odyssey quickly and drive carefully - I don't opt for the extra insurance on rentals....

I just filled up on the way to work this morning. My dash displayed 24.9 mpg, but I calculated 26.1 mpg. I even tried to squeeze in an extra click of gas. This is the most off that the dash has been through my 9 tanks that I have calculated. I only FASed on the last 90 miles of the tank. I will see if this trend continues.

I'm taking the Odyssey on a road trip starting tomorrow night. We will be driving 2500 miles or more in the next week and a half. I'll see what it can do just cruising on the interstates.

Hi Mr. Kite:

___On the road trip, don’t forget to up those pressures and do not run 70 + w/ A/C if you can avoid it either. You will be surprised what the old girl is worth at 60 - 62 mph cruising down the highway after setup :D

___And enjoy your vacation! Sounds like its going to be a good one.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Mr. Kite:

___On the road trip, don’t forget to up those pressures and do not run 70 + w/ A/C if you can avoid it either. You will be surprised what the old girl is worth at 60 - 62 mph cruising down the highway after setup :D

___And enjoy your vacation! Sounds like its going to be a good one.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thanks. I will up the pressures a little more before I leave. I'm currently just under 40. I will minimize AC use and it will help that most of the drive will be through the night. As for the speed, I'm not sure I can do that one.:( On a shorter trip, I definitely would. However, 60mph versus 70mph means I have to drive 2.4 more hours over the ~1,000 miles there. Chances are that I will be doing all or most of this driving.

The vacation will be fun, but it is mostly just visiting friends and family. The last day before we head back, I will be at the Denver Broncos season opener in St. Louis. That should be lots of fun.

Hi Mr. Kite:

___About the speed … I tried ;) And don’t forget the pics!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I'm going to remove the roof rack today, which has never been used. I've also been considering removing the mud flaps. What do you guys think? Are the mud flaps more likely to be helping or hurting aerodynamics?

yeah mud flapps are a tough one, roof racks can go for sure but if you can just visualize the bumps on your car, the mud flaps are quite square so the air has quite a ways to get around it and through your car.

But then it gets dirty and rocks starts going at your car ;(

I'm desperately trying to get the Odyssey's FE to at least 100% of EPA combined. I think the mudguards are going to have to go. The mudguards themselves tend to have a damaging effect on the paint. Dirt gets trapped along the edge that is contact with the paint and vibration between the mudguard and painted surface starts to eat away at the paint.

Hi Antrey:

___Unless you are willing to go to a LS P&G routine (see the reasons for not doing so earlier in the post), 200% of EPA combined is probably all but impossibility. I have seen 100% of EPA combined on a 10 mile jaunt of the same in the X but that was for a 10 mile or so test segment and I would not be performing that again do to the caveats as posted and can be found in the various Ody/Pilot/MDX forums. 50 - 75% of EPA combined is a no brainer but you have to get awfully aggressive for 100% of EPA combined and your Ody’s tranny was not made for it.

___Your SAAB probably uses a GM tranny more then likely by now and those are usually far more bullet proof then the Honda Auto’s of the last 5 years.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Antrey:

___Unless you are willing to go to a LS P&G routine (see the reasons for not doing so earlier in the post), 100% of EPA combined is probably all but impossibility. I have seen 100% of EPA combined on a 10 mile jaunt of the same in the X but that was for a 10 mile or so test segment and I would not be performing that again do to the caveats as posted and can be found in the various Ody/Pilot/MDX forums. 50 - 75% of EPA combined is a no brainer but you have to get awfully aggressive for 100% of EPA combined and your Ody’s tranny was not made for it.

___Your SAAB probably uses a GM tranny more then likely by now and those are usually far more bullet proof then the Honda Auto’s of the last 5 years.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

When in the Odyssey I avoid forced auto stops unless I'm coming to a complete stop at a light. As you mentioned there is the risk of damaging Honda's typically delicate auto tranny. I'm hoping aeromods can improve highway mileage by at least a couple of MPG.

My SAAB 9-2x is actually a Subaru Impreza WRX clone. It has a five speed manual which along with the clutch is used in much higher powered applications in Europe and Japan. I'm sure it can take a much greater beating than what I'm giving it by hypermiling. I've been amazed by the SAAB's willingness to squeeze out well over EPA highway. The last couple of tanks have been in less than ideal conditions and I have still gotten over EPA highway numbers. The last three weeks I had to idle and crawl forward in stop and go traffic for 10-20minutes every day while crossing the Southern border into the U.S. This week I finally got my commuter lane pass which will make it much easier and quicker to cross the border back into the U.S. and I expect even better results from the next tank.

Hi Antrey:

___I screwed up. I thought you were asking for 100% beyond EPA combined, not just EPA combined. I changed my post to include 200% of EPA combined above. Yes, hitting the EPA combined in your Odyssey will be relatively easy if you set her up properly and keep your speeds down when out on the highway. I do not think I have ever been anywhere down near the EPA combined of the MDX now that I think about it and as your skills improve, you will definitely find the same in the Ody.

___Great to hear your SAAB has a stick as that will make swinging her around an easy and much safer task indeed.

___Sorry for all the confusion.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Antrey,
How many miles are on your Odyssey? Although I did not record the tanks, I remember that most of them for the first year were below 20. We bought it in June of 2005 and mostly drove it in town. Between the break-in and the winter, we did not start getting good tanks until Spring of 2006.

By the way, the EPA combined for the Odyssey with VCM is only 23 mpg (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2001cartablef.jsp?id=21235).

I'm currently working on a tank in my Odyssey that is 29.1 mpg according to the dash after 357 miles. 205 miles were the end of our recent road trip. Now I am just trying hard to maintain.

We currently have 17,082 miles on the Odyssey so I doubt break in is the issue. I'm sure its driving technique more than anything else. Since my wife is unwilling to hypermile I'm only going to be reporting tanks for which I did most of the driving....basically only on long distance trips.

It looks like the EPA is adjusting the Odyssey's fuel economy rating. At the temple of vtec (www.vtec.net) a post states that for 2007 the EPA has adjusted the rating of VCM equipped Odysseys to 19/26 while the non VCM equipped models remain at 18/25. This seems to much better match mine and other owners' experience. I'm going to adjust the spec for the Odyssey in the Mileage Logs to account for this but will change it back if it proves not to be true.

On the Honda website, it does show an EPA estimate for 2007 of 19/26 (http://automobiles.honda.com/models/specifications_full_specs.asp?ModelName=Odyssey&Category=3).

After a little research, it seems that the change in the EPA numbers are the result of a new transmission in the 2007 Odyssey. There is no reason for us with 05s or 06s to make changes in the database.

I thought about the new transmission as well, but why does it not affect the non-VCM Odyssey? To be conservative I set my Odyssey's EPA numbers back to 20/28.

I thought about the new transmission as well, but why does it not affect the non-VCM Odyssey? To be conservative I set my Odyssey's EPA numbers back to 20/28.
From what I read, it did have some affect, but rounding kept the non-VCM numbers the same. It seems some of the earlier estimates from Honda's website had the non-VCM numbers different as well. A fact sheet pdf on the Honda website has the 2007 VCM Odysseys listed at 19/27. I've seen 19/26 on Honda's site also as well as on edmunds.com.

I just finished a pretty good tank in my Odyssey. The first 205 miles were interstate driving. The remaining miles were driving around town with FASing.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/505/medium/IMG_3342.JPG

question for your odessy, how many times can you keep using the key until it starts giving out? (like sounding weaker than it should crank)

how many times would you fas? what's your limits?

Today, I traded my Odyssey in on a 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited AWD. I'm really looking forward to hypermiling my new vehicle.

Today, I traded my Odyssey in on a 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited AWD. I'm really looking forward to hypermiling my new vehicle.

Chances are, the MFD is going to be an entainment center in the coming weeks. :)

Chances are, the MFD is going to be an entertainment center in the coming weeks. :)

I'm pretty sure you're right. So far, I'm at 38.6 mpg after 50 miles. I really wish I could track the fuel economy of both trips and tanks. I have that in my Civic and I had that in my Odyssey. I really liked that van, but it was such a struggle to get good FE in it. It is a bit of a trade-off, but I think it is worth it. Most of my miles are suburban and the Highlander really seems to thrive in that.

I regret that I didn't get to finish the tank I was on. I was going for a record in FE and distance. It was 29.6 mpg after 272 miles. It would have been over 30 if I had made it home from the dealership with it (the dealership was uphill from my house).