200 mile fuel report

[Bill Marshall]

Originally Posted by sk8ndad

One other note, after the fill, the 8th indicator wasn't lit on the gas guage.

Same thing happened to me. But not on either of my 2 previous fillups. The Service Dept. said that they can make an adjustment. It was reassuring to hear that they haven't had any problems with fuel guage malfunction on the "Empty" end of the guage.

[Bill Marshall]

Originally Posted by WhiteNBlack08

Not trying to start up the whole " how big is the tank" debate again, but this doesn't add up. Your numbers mean you put 9.6 gallons in your tank?
The only reason I even looked twice is because I fairly routinely get 350 miles on a tank, but I'm usually averaging 42-43 mpg doing it. I usually fill up when the gauge reads .8-1.0 gallons, and rarely ever get more than 8.0-8.2 gallons in it.

You're sharp!

I took a trip yesterday to New York. I needed to refill for the return trip, but was shocked at the gas prices down there. So, I threw in a couple of gallons to get me home & then completed the refill back here in CT. So, it was a 2-stage refill. I combined the 2 refills for the total fuel amount.

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

Winter is killing my mileage. I normal do around 43-44mpgs. I'm doing around 37 now. FYI - I have almost 22k miles on my car so it is broke-in. Give it time and apply your Prius driving skills to the Smart; once spring hits you easily get well over 40mpgs.

Bum's got it dead on. Cold weather sunk our MPG as well. In summer we get many 47MPG trips, but most at around 43-45 (town and country).

Best MPG 51.3 at 50-55 MPH. Many work days wife runs 300 miles @ around 45 MPG. Also 22k on car.

Hang in there Bill, good things ahead Re MPG. A2Jack

[Bill Marshall]

After another 200 miles, filled it up for the 4th time yesterday. 34.0 mpg.

After 3 1/2 weeks, I'm almost at 1000 miles.

[drema44]

I have had my Passion Cab for nearly a year...17000 plus miles. Except for the first 1000 miles or so, I consistently got 48-50 mpg until the winter fuel change...I have been getting 40-42 mpg during this winter.

[Bill Marshall]

Originally Posted by drema44

I have had my Passion Cab for nearly a year...17000 plus miles. Except for the first 1000 miles or so, I consistently got 48-50 mpg until the winter fuel change...I have been getting 40-42 mpg during this winter.

My Prius mpg drops from 44 in summer to 39 in winter. I'm hoping that my fortwo will be up around 40 when spring gets here. That would be nice.

[unicycle]

Originally Posted by drema44

I have had my Passion Cab for nearly a year...17000 plus miles. Except for the first 1000 miles or so, I consistently got 48-50 mpg until the winter fuel change...I have been getting 40-42 mpg during this winter.

I am always doubtful of anyone who out-milages me. Not that there is anything wrong with that achievement, and it's not that I'd be jealous (ok, maybe a bit), but I do quite a lot just to achieve 47 mpg during the warmer months: I maintain an avg speed of about 57, I pulse-and-glide, and I constantly go into neutral to reduce RPMs maintain the glide part of the P&G. Most ppl simply keep their foot on the gas, drive 65-70 mph, and behave like normal drivers at red lights (I turn my car off and glide to red lights and stop signs. So, ...
1. What 'tricks' are you using to achieve such high mileage?
2. How sure of your awesome mileage are you?

That is, are you really keeping track carefully, or do you just figure it out based on a measure of the occasional tankful?

I've kept track of every fillup since I got the car 28000 miles ago and have seen definite trends (I lost mpgs in the cold weather); I've also seen how the car loses quite a bit of mileage as the speed increases.

[Bill Marshall]

Unicycle, can you save fuel by switching into neutral at raffic lights? I assumed since this is a standard transmission that the computer already had it in neutral when it was at a dead stop. What am I missing?

[unicycle]

Originally Posted by Bill Marshall

Unicycle, can you save fuel by switching into neutral at raffic lights? I assumed since this is a standard transmission that the computer already had it in neutral when it was at a dead stop. What am I missing?

My understanding is that this reduces fuel consumption AND engine wear. NYC taxi drivers have been doing this trick for decades.

But if the stop is longer than 10 seconds, it prolly makes sense to turn the car off. Turning it back on uses little fuel. I'm not sure where the cut-off is (10 seconds of running vs turning the car back on, or 15 seconds, etc). But since I'm generally coasting WITH THE CAR OFF on my way to the red light, it's usually off for more than 15 seconds. I know that in my typical 360-400 mile tank, I'm actually adding another mile or two of just coasting with the car off. That's only the difference of an additional eighth of a gallon saved per tank (that is, your mileage increases from, say, 45 mpg to 45.125 mpg), but over the many tanks I've filled, it's added up to about 10 gallons. That's a lot better for the environment and has saved me a few pennies too.

[Dave777]

Originally Posted by drema44

I have had my Passion Cab for nearly a year...17000 plus miles. Except for the first 1000 miles or so, I consistently got 48-50 mpg until the winter fuel change...I have been getting 40-42 mpg during this winter.

I'm with unicycle on this one. I'm not a hypermiler at all, and the best full tank MPG I've achieved is 53 MPG, but that took very careful driving. My skepticism is with the "consistently got 48-50 mpg" and not telling us the rest of the story. If all your driving is long trips on level roads at a consistent 50 MPH, I'll believe it. If not, I'm skeptical.