97 accord - 21 mpg city

this 97 accord was down to 19-20mpg this winter from 23-24 last fall. I
thought it was oxygenated fuel. Then I took it to dealer last month who
changed spark plugs, wires and also seals for spark plugs ( they had
some oil on them).

Now the mileage went to 21.5 mpg (mostly local driving). On a all
highway trip it was 31 mpg.

Does that sound ok in local driving.? considering highway mileage is
good, should i be concerned.

Before winter, I had the timing belt/ water pump and radiator changed.
it has 80k miles.

 

Have you checked the air pressure in the tires lately?

For more tips, see also
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id11.html . Your
car is "ripe" for many of what's listed at this site. E.g. a
new PCV valve; a bottle of Chevron Techron added to the fuel
tank; check ignition timing.

 

If Freeway mileage is OK, there is probably nothing terribly wrong with
the car. You'll need to fix the driver!

Stay off the brakes! Every time you use them, you are throwing away
gasoline.

The best way to improve city mileage is to start looking 20 to 30
seconds down the road. (Most drivers seem to be blind to anything more
than ~5 seconds ahead of them.) Always be on the lookout for the next
stoplight. If it's a fresh red or stale green, you're probably not
going to sail through that particular intersection; slow down slightly,
even a few MPH will help. AS you're coming up to a red light, ease off
the gas early and glide. Try to arrange is so that you don't need to
use the brakes at over 25~30 MPH. Braking to a stop from 40 wastes 70%
more gas than stopping from 30 and a full 2.5 times more than braking
from 25.

You don't want to take this too far or other drivers will start to get
pissed. (Some will get pissed anyway - they're the ones who hammer up
to a stop sign at 50MPH and then bitch about their poor mileage. DOH!)


FWIW, I get 32~34 MPG commuting to work and back in a '92 5spd Accord
Wagon. The EPA numbers (often a bit low) say 22 city. (I'm 9 miles
from work and have 13 stoplights to contend with, so it's not
bumper-to-bumper city driving.)


-Greg