54.6 MPG?! Wth?!!

Evan -- Tripp's right. r2-e2 hangs out in Albuquerque, NM.
TPS gets quite respectable FE for chicago; I just figured if he wanted to berate himself, I should help

Oddly, I did put my demographic information in. Some times it shows up, sometimes not.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ Jul 6 2006, 12:50 AM) [snapback]281824[/snapback]</div>

I would like to get 59 or 57 MPG. My lifetime ave. over 7300 miles is 52.5. I do know that weight makes a big difference. One xtra person that weighs 200 lbs. will drag your MPG down. I watched mine drop to 45.6 with an xtra 200+ lb. guy in my car.

 

I'm barely averaging 44 mpg and try to pulse and glide- how the heck do i get in the 50s?!?!?!
Thanks

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(savingtheearth @ Jul 9 2006, 12:07 AM) [snapback]283250[/snapback]</div>

How long is your average trip? If it is under five miles, that may be the problem.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Jul 7 2006, 01:40 PM) [snapback]282699[/snapback]</div>

Here in Reno, we are forced to use oxigenated gas more than half of the year (Oct thru Apr). They add MTBE to the gas to reduce Winter pollution. It devastates my gas mileage. My first fill-up after Oct 1st drops my mileage from the upper-50's to the mid-40's. It is a decrease of around 8 to 13 MPG, instantly.

That is more that a 20% drop in efficiency. I think if everyone knew there would be a revolt against that law, but most people don't monitor their gas mileage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(n2y2 @ Jul 10 2006, 07:28 AM) [snapback]283800[/snapback]</div>

I think the oxygenated fuel is used only October through March in the Spokane area. However, I did notice that one of my recent fillups was from a station advertising (on their pump) ehtanol in the fuel.

It affects fuel economy quite a bit. I talked to one of the previous owners of a gas station here in Cheney (about 15-20 miles from Spokane). She said the winter gas typically drops the mileage by about 5 mpg. If that is based on a percentage of the mileage, it could be a lot higher for Prius owners.

Since the oxygenation is primarily for decreasing pollution, hybrids with their cleaner systems should be exempted from that fuel. We need a few stations with our own pumps.

Incidently, I've found the biggest factors in mileage is trip length, environment temperature, and speed. I traveled to Fairmont hot springs and back a week ago, only stopped a couple of times, temperture in the high 80s and into the 90s, air conditioner on most of the time, speeds mostly between 55 and 70 (most of the time around 60) and got 52 mpg on about 500 miles. Around Cheney, if I am only driving in town, I get less than 45 even this time of the year. On the other hand I've taken some test trips around Cheney totaling about 30 miles without turning off the engine and have gotten about 74-75 mpg.
This includes elevation changes of several hundred feet, stopping and starting at at least a half dozen red light &/or stop signs with speeds when moving between 25 and 45 mph. On a test trip on the highway (not freeway) about 22 miles round trip yielded 61 mpg at a fairly constant speed of 55 mph.

Incidently, I haven't tried inflating my tires up to 42 front/40 rear yet. The streets in Cheney (and Spokane in certain areas) are pretty rough.


Dave

 

I would guess that this is MFD mpg? My calculated in summer is generally higher than the computed and lower in the winter.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jul 10 2006, 11:00 PM) [snapback]284246[/snapback]</div>

57.2 !!?!

UGHH.

j/k

 

Don't put too much stock in the gas pump's meter figure. I would trust the car first. Read this article form the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/264462_gaspumps27.html

Here is the same article discussed on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5304258

According to the article, a pump can be up to 1% inaccurate and still pass inspection. Even with that margin of error 80% of gas stations had some failure in the 3 year time period of the study.

Here is something interesting they discovered: If you want to get the most gas possible in your tank, pump as slowly as you can. The pumps error in your favor at that speed.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Jul 10 2006, 08:36 PM) [snapback]284266[/snapback]</div>

 

i can concur that pumps are not what to go by. in fact, using my MFD readings, i was able to determine which pumps gave me favorable fills. a survey of pumps in Wa State showed 13% to be inaccurate with more than 3/4th of those in favor of the station.

 

my last tank was best by distance, albeit, by only a little. with CANVIEW, makes it easy to push the limit. have to admit gas gauge toggled between ZERO and 2 % for the last 4-5 miles though...right now, 62.1 mpg with 190 miles. tank measuring 84% so begining to see that the digital gauge works like the analog version. the end points as far as gas gauge percentages are bigger than the middle percentage points.

having only very recently thought about this as possible (me being in the "digital is more accurate" crowd because of its absolute measurements for an infinitely varying quantity) have little data so far for the top of the tank. anyone else notice this?

but if 100% of a tank gives you 600 miles then each percent would be 6 mpg. but so far, even without topping off, my top 20% is looking to be more than 11 miles per percent. it that is the case, when i started toggling between 0 and 2, i had as much as 20-25 miles instead of 10-12 that i assumed.

this kinda makes sense as many report going as much as 150 miles before filling after the last bar flashes. on my car, the bar starts flashing at about 12% or 1/8th of a tank. that should mean more like 80 miles give or take.

 

Dave, since there is no absolute starting volume, the total tank is variable, digital or otherwise. Once you are into the tank from one bar down and onward, I'd expect measurements of remaining fuel to be accurate, but that is different than *percent* of tank remaining.

If I get the chance, I'll track the fuel consumed from bar 9 downward in bar amounts. It should give insight into the Toyota mind .. or at least clarify if markers in the tank, or fuel consumed is the basis for bar changes.

 

i tried the bar distance amounts and found them to be very very inconsistant. had a bar disappear only to reappear on the next startup, some bars disappearing in as little a 14 miles, etc. tracked this religiously for 6 months before giving up. i did determine that there is probably lag in reporting tank amounts that are mitigated by the distance traveled in a trip. i found that short trips frequently will toggle a bar on and off. while longer trips seem to be more consistant and accurate as far as bars being used in the middle of the trip but if a bar disappears near the end of the trip, it came back 8 different times.

with CANVIEW, consistency is not any better, but the range of accuracy is 4 times greater. (canview only reports tank measurement in 2½ % increments so tank goes 100,97,95,92,90,87 etc) with the bars we are assuming about 10% or more likely 15 % for the end bars and 7-8% for the middle ones or what ever.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 11 2006, 02:02 AM) [snapback]284332[/snapback]</div>

Evan, you'r squizing up to the last drop.................... be concious to capture the fumes of the gas tank when to uncork for fill-ups.
Congrats!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 7 2006, 10:54 PM) [snapback]282877[/snapback]</div>

Your Tank was excellent, which I could do this for a whole tank.