Honda Civic Gas Mileage: 1978-2013

42 thoughts on “Honda Civic Gas Mileage: 1978-2013”

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2. Your gas milage charts for specific vehicles is really cool, BUT there is no explaination of the meanings of the abbreviations in the Transmission column such as:
   L5, AV, L4, L3, A3, S2.
   I assume that A3 is a 3 sp. auto and the M3, M4, M5, M6 are manual 3, 4, 5, and 6 speeds but the S2 manual(?). then some (78 Civics) had no trans listed.
   Thanks for any help you can provide.
   Puzzled

3. What is the difference between (R) and (C) for fuel and what is the difference between (AV) and (L4) for transmission???

4. hey, these two models are EXACTLY the same except for the mileage….is the first listing for a city on some other planet and the second is for here on earth?

   1992 Honda Civic HB VX 4 cylinder 1.5 liter R (M5) Manual 48 55

   1992 Honda Civic HB VX 4 cylinder 1.5 liter R (M5) Manual 44 51

5. @Wyatt – yep … some of the transmission abbreviations are cryptic. I’ll do some digging.

   @JNH – There’s a string of VXs with dual listings. The best I can reckon at this point is that the higher numbers are for cars equipped with a Shift Indicator Light … a SIL takes the guesswork out of when to shift and can save a good bit of fuel.

6. just filled up my 2008 Civic LX w/5spd Auto for the first time. On the first tank it returned 37.5mpg. I am sure it will do better when I slow it down on the highway…

7. must be something about the M5 manuel, my 2001 auto only reaches 38MPH highway but my dads manuel has seen 42MPG highway

8. on my second tank I never went over 70mph, used no ac and generally drove as economically as possible without holding up traffic…got a whopping 42.5 mpg…no joke…I am loving this car!

9. I’m wondering why these are so different than the fueleconomy.gov website.

10. @Tim – Take a look at the EPA page, just above the MPG specs. “We have revised the 1985-2007 MPG estimates to make them comparable to the new 2008 and later MPG estimates!”

    We provide the official ratings as they were originally published rather than the revised estimates, in order to provide historical, rather than revisionist, perspective.

    The biggest issue with the revised ratings is that they encourage increased consumption … if a driver is able to hit the lower numbers, they might think they’re doing just fine, when in fact, they can do a whole lot better simply by changing their driving style.

    America deserves better then that and that’s why we’re here … to deliver truth, justice, and the American Way (to borrow a phrase from Clark Kent’s alter ego).

11. 2004 Honda 5 speed one reads 38 mpg other 44 same spects what up

12. Neat…
    I have a 95 CX that is rated 42/46. I generally get about 42 overall driving. Highway with the speeds @70+ it is actaually lower at about 38. I had a 84CRX 1.3 new that averaged 52 over its 170K life with me. Once got 62.5 over a three tank average but that was when the Interstate speed limit was 55, enforced and not runing the airconditioner. Never would see 67mpg highway no matter how soft I drove it. Replaced the CRX with the 95 CX. Thanks very much for the website

13. Our first long trip with our 2008 Civic automatic. Went from Mich. to N.C. first 270 miles set the cruise at 63 got 44.8 MPG. Lowest MPG 37 while having the cruise set between 65 – 70 while driving thru the mountains. Fantastic car

14. Pingback: Why Hasn’t Gas Mileage Risen?

15. Scratch my head? I disagree – the fuel economy of the cars has improved dramatically over the years.
    One forgets the early Honda Civics weight half what they do now; lacked ABS, six airbags, size, general safety requirements that have increased because of the govt, etc. The cars today also have amazing emissions compared to their ancestors. Were the Civics of yesteryear all Bin-II ULEVs or better?? Considering how much larger the vehicle has gotten, how much heavier the car has gotten, and, yes, how much more powerful the car is – it is amazing to me the fuel economy has still stayed relatively high.
    I get about 26 on my 2008 Civic 5Spd doing only short hops and got 39 on mostly highway driving.

16. Mileage has dropped because speed limits have increased. My 1999 Civic got only 32-34 mpg at 75 mph (New Mexico highway max). I slowed to 65 mph on the return trip and increased to 42 mpg. I went 55 mph (the old National speed limit) on another trip and got 48 mpg.

17. We have a 2006 Civic LX automatic.

    In the city mpg we get about 24 mpg, BUT on the highway we get 42 to 49 mpg.

    When the car was new we got 42 mpg going 72 mph on a 4 hour trip.

    Last year on a two hour trip, with highway speeds around 55 mph due to construction, we got 49 mpg.

18. “I disagree – the fuel economy of the cars has improved dramatically over the years.”

    No it has not. Just because the weight of a car goes up and the fuel economy stays the same, does not meant that fuel economy has dramatically improved. What it means is that weight has dramatically improved. Re-read what you said and see how silly it sounds.

    Adding useless junk like power windows, which are rarely ever required (maybe for the back doors ONLY…but NO they do it on ALL the windows for you), and other useless junk like Air conditioning in Canada (Canada is already air conditioned naturally – use a sun roof!), along with more useless junk such as air bags that go off by mistake (do air bags help people on motor cycles by the way? how about doors on motor cycles? As far as I am concerned a civic is a big motor cycle and air bags are not mandatory – especially since other LIGHT WEIGHT safety features could be added to the car such as a bendable steering wheel like Volvo had)

19. L505, I re-read what I said and it makes sense.
    Fuel efficiency takes in part because people care about EFFICIENCY. Maybe I should have said that cars have become more far more EFFICIENT, not fuel efficient. And, the gross weight of items like power locks, airbags, air compressors (on or off) defrosters, etc. have minimal draw on efficiency when they are not used and mild decreases even when they are – at worst.

    The fact is that people have had complaints about cars – and being in a market, car manufacturers listen. People don’t want cars without power mirrors, locks, and the like – and this is reflected with minimal sales with cars that lack that feature. You might not need air conditioning in Canada, but I sure do here in the states. Yes, I am willing to pay for the gas it uses.

    Through the years of automobiles, the marketplace has had cars that are hideously unsafe, with rust and environmental issues. The fact of the matter is the modern internal combustion engine is at the epitome of engineering excellence for performance and efficiency, and I think this is a fact that should be congratulated.

    I’m all about efficiency and conservation but let’s not forget one thing – the engineering of modern automobiles is extremely impressive and deserves praise, not scorn.

    PS My 1989 Honda Accord, with a 110 HP engine got a whopping 29 miles to the gallon at best, weighing in at about 2600 pounds. My 2008 Civic weighs the same, has 140 HP, all the amenities and creature comforts, and gets upwards of 45 MPG on the highway. That’s a significant improvement in efficiency.

20. Air Conditioning– Ever since I lived in florida, I usually leave mine on most of the time. In cold climates air conditioning is actually quite useful, especially at defrost time.

21. I would appreciate a final column converting to the new mpg standard so that we have an apples-to-apples comparison between the cars. I’m not certain if it is possible without a large amount of work, but it would be nice for comparisons. I have a feeling that with air conditioning, the 50s on the 80’s will drop to 40s while the more modern cars will lose a single mpg while running the AC. You have to keep your measurement consistent, otherwise you don’t have data, you have propoganda.

22. @Ben – Interesting idea. These charts present the original numbers as stated, for historical reference.

    Don’t get me started on propoganda … 🙂

    When time & weather allow, we include A/C on/off data in our current model highway mileage tests. Some cars show very minimal effects.

23. Since the difference btw C and R type fuel are not defined, this site is useless.

24. @Useless “R” is Regular Unleaded, “P” is Premium Unleaded, and “C” is most likely CNG. Hope that helps.

25. For my 97 Civic Manual there are 3 identical models with different efficient..
    Checked on the .gov site the difference is in the type of engine.. VTEC-E , FFS and VTEC in the order of efficiency..

    You should add the engine type info also..

26. Hi this is Furqan.. I’ve Civic 2001 EX auto transmission… I jus wana knw wat the mileage of my car is. I mean 1 litre = how much km. ??

27. what does vf mean how is a 1991 civic hb labeled it doesnt have it noted as hb i was wondering if it was civic wagon how do you differentiate

28. Thanks for the site… we have a 97 Civic 5-spd and a 93 Del Sol 5spd (1.6L). My husband and I were just discussing which one of us gets better gas mileage (I drive the Del Sol) and I was shocked at the fueleconomy.gov numbers… something like 28/33 for both!

    I drove the Civic for about 8 months, 750+ miles a week, and never got below 35mpg (usually going 75 on the interstate) and got as high as 40-41 a few times. On the Del Sol, I’ve filled it up 3x so far… 42 the 1st time, 38.5 the 2nd, and 41 the 3rd.

    Needless to say, I love Hondas! 🙂

29. ’98 Civic DX, HB. Averaged 43mpg until I increased tire pressure to f/r 38/35 –> Now average 45.0mpg

    And I paid 3k for this car. Beat that, hybrid nonsense.

30. 1984 honda civic coupe m5 has two different listings, what is the difference?

31. I’m about to give up on this website, which is too bad because it intends to provide such a valuable service. Sometimes there is virtually no way for the average person to identify the row associated with the model/year he is considering. The possible last straw is “information” for the 1993 Civic… no model had automatic transmission??

32. @Steve – Many thanks for the heads-up! There was a glitch when the database generated the table that includes the model year. It’s been fixed …

33. You’re welcome, and I appreciate the email. I am finding this website very useful in choosing my next car.

34. Thank you for this site. It gave me an idea about mileage, so I was able to find the right car, and then a newer engine so I can get the best mileage out of it.
    Everyone is talking about mileage and so on. Look at cars back in the 50s, some got over 30 MPG back then. What people do not understand, is how an engine is build. Everything can be the same, but cam timing is changed. The compression can be more or less, and so on. I have seen 350 Chevys get over 35 MPG with over 450Hp. There is a ton of things that can be done, and should have.
    Again, thank you for this site, and I will post what the car gets for mileage when I get the engine in.

35. Seems like most Civics will give you an average of 30MPG in city driving.

36. What is the difference between (R) and (C) for fuel and what is the difference between (AV) and (L4) for transmission???

37. @Larry – Off the top of my head … R = regular / C = Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). AV = Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) / L4 = conventional four-speed automatic

38. 77′ 78′ Honda cvcc civic. I was wondering how many gallons the tank holds and how many mpg it gets.

39. Looking @ 2000 Honda Civic DX hatchback. Can’t figure what gas mileage to expect. Any ideas? Does this car require premium gas? Thanks in advance.

40. @Chris – The DX didn’t require premium, although the Si did. You’re likely looking at highway MPGs in the mid-thirties if the car’s been properly maintained and driven at reasonable speeds.

41. @Tim – We present the original ratings, as reflected on the window sticker, rather than the revisionist numbers. We do not believe in rewriting history.

42. Happy I found this info t help w which yr hondas t look at even though any honda is a good choice for long life/good mpg ect…… but what is up w ones w same specs showing diff mpg . I’m wanting most mpg due to I’m replacing my Toyota Prius Hybrid t got totaled , but don’t want another one . Looking at civics. Ty