2011 Pilot EX-L - VSA - Low MPG

[jgunson2]

I just purchased a 2011 Pilot EX-L certified used with approx. 14,500 miles. I have driven 1.5 tanks of gas, and I'm pretty disappointed with the fuel economy. I'm driving 75% city, 25% highway, hilly conditions in southeast PA, and I only got 15.2 MPG on the last full tank of gas. I've noticed that when I'm driving slowly - 30-40 MPH - and let off the gas, it feels like the engine or transmission is braking the truck, versus just coasting. I suspect it has something to do with the VSA or 4WD.

As a test, I turned off VSA this afternoon, and my MPG on the computer is indicating much better performance, and I'm not feeling the 'braking' effect.

Has anyone else experienced this condition? I see the 'Econ' indicator coming on constantly, and can't imagine this new 2011 truck getting worse economy than my old 2004 Rainier with 142000 miles with similar V6 engines.

Thanks in advance!

[jpd0363]

Most likely the Grade Logic feature.

It stabilizes speed when going up or downhill in order to keep it fairly consistent.

[theirishscion]

As jpd0363 says, the Grade Logic feature will downshift and provide you with engine braking under certain circumstances when you're going downhill.

I suspect that's not what you're feeling though, I think you're familiar with the feel of your old Rainier, which if it's anything like my 2003 Explorer (and every domestic automatic I've driven in the 11 years I've lived here), offered little or no engine braking when you took your foot off the gas, it just sort of freewheeled along. The Pilot isn't like that, Honda transmissions are very different in design and the control software they use is a bit different as well. When you take your foot off the gas in your new Pilot, you'll immediately feel some engine braking start to take effect. If you're going downhill (and especially if you dab the brakes for a moment) it'll become more dramatic. If what you want to do is just waft along, slowing very gently or not at all, just keep your foot steady on the gas and you'll waft. Takes a bit of getting used to, and is a little jarring at first. On the plus side, when you do take your foot off fully, a lot of that engine braking effect you feel is from the ECU cutting fuel to the engine completely, but keeping it spinning on the transmission. Infinity MPG for the duration.

VSA doesn't do anything under normal circumstance, it just watches and waits for something to go wrong. You can force it to act by throwing the Pilot into silly turns on wet pavement or mud, or possibly just flooring it in the wet, though that'll be hard to make happen since you have the 4WD

As such, I believe the improvement in fuel economy you're perceiving is either coincidental or confirmation bias at play. It's possible that turning off the VSC also disables Grade Logic, I don't know. If that's the case, that might explain the reduction in engine braking if you're going down real hills. You can achieve the same effect without turning VSC off by just easing up a bit less on the throttle as you go downhill.

If you want to confirm what I'm saying about VSC only operating under fairly extreme conditions, you can always watch for the VSC light on the dashboard to light. It flashes whenever the VSC system engages.

The 4WD system only activates under acceleration and when wheel-spin is detected. It does add weight and some friction of course. 1MPG reduction across the board versus the FWD Pilot.

In a more general comment on fuel economy (a topic that's been regularly beaten to death on this forum, I encourage you to play with the search feature) a couple of thoughts strike me;

First, your Rainier weighs about the same as the Pilot, certainly within a couple hundred pounds. So with a similar 6 cylinder engine in each (the Rainier had a 25HP advantage over the current Pilot) it seems reasonable to expect similar-ish fuel economy ratings. Ultimately, I expect you'll find the Pilot to be a couple MPG better, but YMMV The EPA seems to agree with me though, they rate the 2004 Rainier at 14/16/19 for both RWD and AWD. Your Pilot is rated at 16/18/22, and folks don't have too much trouble achieving that. Unless your Rainier was significantly exceeding EPA, you shouldn't have too much trouble bettering it's mileage by 2MPG.

Second, your Pilot may still be breaking in. I'm up to 23,500miles on mine and it still feels like it's loosening up. My mileage has been slowly improving as well, though that's likely pretty much plateaued at this point.

Third, there's a 'knack' to getting optimum fuel economy from the Pilot. In my roughly 50/50 city/highway commute, depending on traffic, my mileage can be anywhere from 14mpg (stop and go all the way, nightmare conditions, bad mood, driving aggressively) to 22MPG (clear freeway and the traffic light gods smile upon me, driving very steadily and not exceeding 65MPH.) The VCM cylinder deactivation system likes to get up to speed briskly in 6 cylinder mode, and then stay at steady speed in 3 or 4 cylinder mode. That'll yield best results. If you're seeing the ECO light on all the time (indicating that it's likely operating in reduced cylinder mode) then you're doing something right.

Obviously, if you're concerned, check the usual suspects, no less than 32PSI in cold tires (34PSI works very well for me, smooth ride, little better mileage) and see if you can check that the oil is the correct 5w20, not 10w40 or something silly from quick-e-lube. That'll make a difference as well.

Also, how were you measuring mileage in your Rainier? Onboard trip computer, or calculated at the pump? The Pilot has a reputation for a fairly honest trip computer (confirmed by my calculations on my car at least, deviation of less than 1MPG). I don't know about the Rainier.

In summation, I suspect the issue lies in technique.

Good luck, let us know if you have any more questions.