I've been cleaning hot tubs at rental vacation homes for 3 years, year-round. That means starting my car about 20 times a day, driving a couple miles or less to the next house with a few hundred pounds of hoses and chemicals in the trunk, and often hard acceleration/braking. It also means tons of dusty roads, sometimes spinning the wheels too much to get out of snow up to the bumper, and cringe-worthy miles. With my 2001 Civix DX manual couple, I've got 160,000 miles, mostly short miles.
It's got a 10 gallon tank with a 1 gal reserve. I've reset the trip meter every time i fill up from empty, so i've kept religious track of mpg for 5 years. Somehow, it's always been above 40, no matter how i drive, how i long i idle to thaw me out in the winter, or how much cargo I have. It gets up to 46 when I empty my trunk or i take a highway trip, even though it's rated at 30/38.
Maybe I drive efficiently at mostly low RPMs, barely use the clutch, and keep a constant speed, but it's always been surprising. It made me assume for years that EPA ratings were conservative, but I guess not - maybe it's my driving style. BTW, that machine has required almost no maintenance - we've spent more on my dog's vet bills than the honda since it was paid off.
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I've been cleaning hot tubs at rental vacation homes for 3 years, year-round. That means starting my car about 20 times a day, driving a couple miles or less to the next house with a few hundred pounds of hoses and chemicals in the trunk, and often hard acceleration/braking. It also means tons of dusty roads, sometimes spinning the wheels too much to get out of snow up to the bumper, and cringe-worthy miles. With my 2001 Civix DX manual couple, I've got 160,000 miles, mostly short miles. It's got a 10 gallon tank with a 1 gal reserve. I've reset the trip meter every time i fill up from empty, so i've kept religious track of mpg for 5 years. Somehow, it's always been above 40, no matter how i drive, how i long i idle to thaw me out in the winter, or how much cargo I have. It gets up to 46 when I empty my trunk or i take a highway trip, even though it's rated at 30/38. Maybe I drive efficiently at mostly low RPMs, barely use the clutch, and keep a constant speed, but it's always been surprising. It made me assume for years that EPA ratings were conservative, but I guess not - maybe it's my driving style. BTW, that machine has required almost no maintenance - we've spent more on my dog's vet bills than the honda since it was paid off.