Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Jennifer is right on all counts!  Another thing about watching your fuel economy the "old fashioned way" (that Jennifer described) is that you can sometimes tell when a problem is brewing with your vehicle when your MPGs drop (taking into consideration where you've been driving, how you've been driving (impersonating Shirley Muldowney, for instance), etc).  It can also tell you if your fuel gauge is "off"...  There's nothing like running out of gas/diesel and walking in the Texas summer heat, toting a gas can when your fuel gauge shows you still have 1/4 tank...  When filling up our 1994 Chevy dually (now a lawn ornament, but that's another story...) the fuel gauge would shoot over way, way past "full".  If you let it get down to below 3/8 of a tank, you'd better be sitting at a gas pump!!!

 

Milinda Ellis

Beargrass Cleveland Bays

Jewett, Texas

 

PS -- Don't forget, sick people "rally" right before they die, too -- so it's not just vehicles that do that!

Equus Wolf <equuswolf@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The Electronic readers in vehicles of these are generally not truly accurate.  A lot of cars have these.  My Dodge Grand Caravan has one.  It even shows me Distance till empty.  It will say I have 18miles until empty, but I better get to the gas station within 15miles if it's not all interstate.  Point is:  Electronic Mileage readers show the gas mileage only at the speed they are going at that point in time.  So if they are going 60mph on the interstate and it says they are getting 21mpg, they are, at 60mph, without having to push the gas anymore to go uphill or slow down etc.  If they have to apply the gas anymore, that mileage drops.  So I wouldn't worry too much :)  Most cars do not get anywhere near what car companies claim they do.  We drive them in the real world which adds stresses which use more gas/diesel than is claimed on the city/highway mileage.  Of course, I got more mileage per gallon out of my 5sp Saturn Wagon, so it just depends on how they are driven :)

I keep track of my mileage this way.  I fill my tank up and reset my trip odometer to zero.  Use at least half - 3/4 of the tank (it's not good to use the whole tank) and fill back up.  Write down the mileage(example 315.2miles) from the trip odometer and reset it to zero.   Also, write down how many gallons(25.5gallons) you just had to replace in the truck tank.  This lets you know how many miles you drove on how many gallons.    Divide your mileage by gallons to get the miles per gallon.  Do this several times to get an average.  I do this every time I fill my vehicles tank (then again, I'm a bit obsessive compulsive, but it alerts me to any issues my car may be having before it's a major issue.. and is there anyone that can explain why the mileage gets soooo much better before the car just up and dies on you?!? *laugh*)

Anyway, hope this helps!

Jennifer in SC

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