Gas Miles per Gallon tracking

[prm1177]

I'm approaching the middle of my service interval, so I thought I'd report. Mileage keeps getting a little better. Car is 3 months old with approx 4400 miles. Commute loop is 32 miles each way with 1/3 suburban, 1/3 highway, and 1/3 mountain/hill driving. Last fill-up gave me 48.4 mpg. Using automatic mode with the only exception being that I shift to neutral at stops. No special brand of gas (I switch between Costco, Shell, and occasionally Chevron), but I do use premium.

The car is better than I expected in this respect and I can still highly recommend it as a daily commuter.

[dancote]

My last fill-up was with mid-grade (89 octane). Mileage on this tank was 43 MPG. We had been averaging 42-43 MPG so no appreciable change.

Car has 2500 miles. Driven exclusively in "auto" mode. Usually with driver and passenger. Not much stop & go. About half this tank was freeway miles @ 65-75 MPH. Most of the other half was in a suburban setting with lots of hills.

[Smartical]

The manual states you need 91 octane. Have people found it necessary or can 89 octane w/ Ethanol work ok?

[xcrew229x]

Not sure about the ethanol, I've run mine on 87, 89, 91, 93 and cannot tell the difference.

[Smartical]

Originally Posted by xcrew229x

Not sure about the ethanol, I've run mine on 87, 89, 91, 93 and cannot tell the difference.

Cool. There is about a $.25/gal diff now between 89 and 91 here.

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by jthomas119

You (and the others that responded with similar comments) are right. Just as another experiment, I drove our Prius on the same 2 mile trip. When cold, it got 23 mpg. This is a bit less than my smart which got 26 mpg. And the Prius had the advantage of the engine turning off when I stopped at a light for a minute or so. When warmed up, the Prius got 52 mpg for this same 2 mile tirip which was better than the smart but to be expected from a hybrid.

The bottom line is that if you have a little short trip to make, either ride your bike or combine your trip with other needed trips. I will have to admit that the fact that my little smart is so much fun to drive has caused me to use much more gas than I need to. While waiting for my smart, we were a one car family and for 6 months, I survived by only riding my bike during the weekdays. I need to go back to bike riding, it is healthier for me and the environment even if it is not as much fun.

John

John, that makes sense. I read advice somewhere, I think in a Popular Mechanics or Mother Earth News hypermiling article, that if you have to cross town on a round trip of errands, go to your farthest destination first. That'll warm up the engine to its optimum temp, so most of the driving is made while it's warm. Once I get my ScanGauge installed I'll have to test that theory.

On the Prius 2 mile trip, the battery charge is another factor... how much battery was used vs engine? It's possible the first trip had low enough battery that the engine was used to charge, and the second trip used the fully charged battery most of the time. In any case, your 4 mile round trip averaged about 36mpg, still low enough for a hybrid to confirm the short-trip syndrome you observed.

[CruzinSusan]

Ok. Working mode...mileage report.

Sea level, Hwy 101, Central Oregon Coast. Mostly two lane, some passing spaces. Lots of s l o w motorhoming tourists. Frequent long hills, curvy river roads. Small towns, few lights. About a hundred smiles to the mile.

Chevron (highest octane here is 91)

99% auto, sometimes shifting because I get nervous when the tach is below 2000.

Picked her up on 02/29/08, and she came with a full belly, 28 miles on odo.

Date..........Trip.......Gals............MPG...... ..........Miles.....$/Gal.....$ Fill
03/05/08 ..286......7.287 ..........39.24 ..............286 .....3.599....26.23
03/11/08 ..248.1 ...6.531 .........37.98 ..............534 .....3.659....23.90
03/13/08 ..266.9 ...6.791 .........39.30 ..............801 .....3.649....24.78
03/20/08 ..259.5 ...7.346 .........35.32 ............1061 .....3.679....27.03
03/24/08 ..284.0....7.185 .........39.52 ............1345 .....3.619....26.00
04/02/08 ..250.7 ...6.790 .........36.92 ............1596 .....3.679....24.98
04/10/08 ..272.6 ...7.037 .........38.73 ............1868 .....3.819....26.87
04/11/08 ..297.7 ...7.296 .........40.80 ............2166 .....3.699....26.99
04/18/08 ..241.2 ...6.635 .........37.00 ............2412 .....3.739....24.81
04/23/08 ..232.1 ...5.726 .........40.53 ............2644 .....3.799....21.75
04/25/08 ..224.6 ...5.643 .........39.80 ............2869 .....3.859....21.78

(If the spacing doesn't post right, I'll have a booboo face)

So, I can look and see that when I go up to Tillamook, down to Waldport, more mountains, worse mileage (36-38) and more local, fewer hills, better.

So, in DOLLARS per MILE: <drumroll>

Cost per gal: 3.86
MPG: 39.8
MP$ 10.31 MILES PER DOLLAR

( http://www.unfocusedbrain.com/projec...es_per_dollar/ and
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...int&id=3675662 )

I'm not the lease bit disappointed - except in the obscene profits of gouging oil companies.

............Lonely Gas Station.............Bwaaaaaaaaa

[CruzinSusan]

booboo face

So I added dashes, got stars...

In my next life,m I want to be a nerd.

Third try...better.

[wahi]

Nice log, susie. Mine's at 3000, I have all the receipts, and will recompile my smart report using your template soon.

[jpmcdonough]

Originally Posted by SnakeFarm

BTW, How IS that ac?

Tell me it's COLD. (I want ice hanging off my beard here.)

We have noticed that the ac is not all that great. I would have chosen a white car, but my wife thought the blue was cuter. We'll see how cute it is in August.

The heat works fine, though. We had it on today for the April cold front.