Oil level and MPG reflections......

I think the opposite, lower oil level (not extremely low) would help mpg: less likelihood of crankshaft splashing in the crankcase oil, so easier spinning.

 

And less oil mist to be pulled into the PCV path to eventually cause EGR clogging.

Oh, excuse me, that is a Gen3-specific problem, not applicable to this Gen2.

Does the Gen2 allow you to reset the MPG reading daily, so that you can directly compare daily MPGs?

Perhaps not, that might be a Gen3-4 thing, with Gen2 only resetting automatically with tank refills.

I have a feeling that this improving trend is just from a placebo effect on the hardware side, plus behavioral change on the operator side. Driving style alone can have a huge impact.

 

While learning how MPGs change, doing this daily for a while can be very useful and informative. And if your car actually took an MPG jump for some reason, resetting the display and calculation now can give you an immediate reading on what the new improved MPG is, without waiting for the display to slowly and asymptotically catch up.

 

I get the impression the car has to set some base lines, and they can vary. Maybe it can get off on a different "footing" sometimes.

I've had to disconnect the 12 volt on ours a couple of times recently, and the next few start ups has the engine doing an unusual rev up, just for a few seconds.

Establishing a fresh baseline, and maybe that can vary some??

 

'Nother thought: you stumbled on some ethanol-free gas?

 

I filled up at a Chevron once, up the coast in a small town, and I suspect they didn't get ethanol gas: mpg was amazing good for that tank. Filled up at the same station a couple of years later, no such luck...

 

I get gas at shell and I get the best mpg from it.

Chevron is a pricey pill to swallow.

But when you fill up once every 3 weeks, it could be worse.

 

The different brands mostly stand united in their prices around here. Once in a while there's a half-hearted war.

Yeah when it's half-a-tank monthly, who cares, lol.

 

I don't know about about your area specifically, but elsewhere, there is no guarantee that the normally labeled "up to 10% ethanol" actually contains that much ethanol, or even any at all. When supply or transport problems arise, they may temporarily sell E0 or something in between until the issues are resolved. (Substituting the other way, selling more than 10% without notice, would technically be consumer fraud.). It could conceivably happen anywhere, to any brand, even when you always use the very same station.

And Mendel seems to have identified such a substitution that one time.