Poll: What's your best tank?
#11
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
My best tank thus far was 55.32 miles per gallon, this past June 12th, before the heat and uptick in traffic hit. 614.8 miles on 11.113 gallons of gas.
Lifetime average is 49.55 miles per gallon, with 49.3 on the dashboard readout.
Lifetime average is 49.55 miles per gallon, with 49.3 on the dashboard readout.
#12
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
The tank I am on right now... no bars left on gauge, light on..... 603.1 54.9mpg refill in the morning. I drove my wife crazy because I drove us to choir practice (17mi round trip) with the gauge empty and the light on!
#13
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
My best was 60.6 mpg but it was on 5.498 gallons. Second best was 57.2 mpg on 9.248 gallons. Unfortunately, the cold Minnesota winters kill my avg. Lifetime avg is 50 mpg.
#14
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. My best is 49.1 mpg. I mostly drive the LA freeways 65 mph with cruise control. For those getting in the high 50's and low 60's are you using 87, 89 or 91/92 octane and from which oil company do you primarily use? I drive her real easy, slow off the line and stay within the speed limit. Thanks for responding.
#16
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. My best is 49.1 mpg. I mostly drive the LA freeways 65 miles per hour with cruise control. For those getting in the high 50's and low 60's are you using 87, 89 or 91/92 octane and from which oil company do you primarily use? I drive her real easy, slow off the line and stay within the speed limit. Thanks for responding.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1306
#17
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
My in-laws live in the OC and I've driven there. IMHO, it's almost impossible to drive 60 miles per hour or under on the freeways. When I'm there, I usually try to keep it at 70 miles per hour and there's A LOT of people just blowing past me. They're going at least 80-85 mph. Just don't want to cause an accident, just to save some mpg.
Last edited by peking; 07-17-2008 at 07:54 AM.
#18
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
Dan,
I only have had one 434 mile, 8.5 gallon tank and it was the dealer tank. The first 200 miles were driven by the delivery driver and I got 50.8 MPG. I'm guessing he got about 40-45 MPG. So far on this tank, I've gone ~250 miles and the iFCD says I'm getting 61 MPG. My best segment so far in the last week is 70.0 MPG on a 23.6 mile stretch on 45-55 MPH speed limit roads between my house and the Interstate.
In stop and go traffic, I try to maximize the amount of time that I'm not burning any gas with auto stop and glides. I let the car in front of me get 25 feet ahead before I take my foot off of the brake. Then I accelerate gradually up to 12-15 MPH, or whatever the situation allows, and then glide/coast back down to 8 MPH. At 7 MPH, I gently touch the brake and allow the car to coast as far as possible with no resistance from the engine/motor/brakes. Of course, it doesn't always go smoothly and people cut over in front of you, but I take it all in stride and do my best. I got 63.2 MPG on the 25.3 mile trip to work this morning withe traffic being not too bad.
I definitely do better when traffic isn't snarled, but I drive in flip flops so I can take my right one off and have a good 'feel' of the pedal. Touch of the pedal is the key for me. Whenever you can coast a long way without assisting much, you are getting the maxed out mileage which improves the avg. MPG.
The magic of this car for me, however, is what I call the 'lean burn' mode of the engine. As an example, you get up to speed (48) in a 45 MPH zone and you will be getting say 50 MPG, so I let off the gas a little, but not so much as to go into 'no burn' (ev glide) mode. I know when I'm in the magic zone when the iFCD shows between 75-90 MPG. I am able to hold my speed between 44 and 47 doing this, depending on hills. So far, I've found the magic spots at about 33, 47, 61. Sometimes on the flat interstate I can maintian 61-63 MPH and also show 95 MPG on the iFCD for several miles.
I try to keep the iFCD above 40 MPG and the RPM's below 1800 while accelerating. Accelerating and hills are what kill my segments. I have used cruise control only a few times so far, but I will probably use it more once I feel like I know my car well.
I only have had one 434 mile, 8.5 gallon tank and it was the dealer tank. The first 200 miles were driven by the delivery driver and I got 50.8 MPG. I'm guessing he got about 40-45 MPG. So far on this tank, I've gone ~250 miles and the iFCD says I'm getting 61 MPG. My best segment so far in the last week is 70.0 MPG on a 23.6 mile stretch on 45-55 MPH speed limit roads between my house and the Interstate.
I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. My best is 49.1 mpg. I mostly drive the LA freeways 65 miles per hour with cruise control. For those getting in the high 50's and low 60's are you using 87, 89 or 91/92 octane and from which oil company do you primarily use? I drive her real easy, slow off the line and stay within the speed limit. Thanks for responding.
I definitely do better when traffic isn't snarled, but I drive in flip flops so I can take my right one off and have a good 'feel' of the pedal. Touch of the pedal is the key for me. Whenever you can coast a long way without assisting much, you are getting the maxed out mileage which improves the avg. MPG.
The magic of this car for me, however, is what I call the 'lean burn' mode of the engine. As an example, you get up to speed (48) in a 45 MPH zone and you will be getting say 50 MPG, so I let off the gas a little, but not so much as to go into 'no burn' (ev glide) mode. I know when I'm in the magic zone when the iFCD shows between 75-90 MPG. I am able to hold my speed between 44 and 47 doing this, depending on hills. So far, I've found the magic spots at about 33, 47, 61. Sometimes on the flat interstate I can maintian 61-63 MPH and also show 95 MPG on the iFCD for several miles.
I try to keep the iFCD above 40 MPG and the RPM's below 1800 while accelerating. Accelerating and hills are what kill my segments. I have used cruise control only a few times so far, but I will probably use it more once I feel like I know my car well.
#19
Re: Poll: What's your best tank?
My lifetime average over 45 tanks is 63.9 MPG.
My opinion is people make hypermiling too complicated, though all those techniques makes for riveting reading.
I just drive as if my brakes have failed.
I'm also in Los Angeles.
After 4.5 years of practice I can get about the same MPG in the city or the freeway.
My freeway top speed it 53 miles per hour, though often I keep it at 50.
I leave a TON of space in front of me.
When there are no hills I use cruise control.
Much of the battle is not how you control the car but how you control your mind.
You must give up making the people behind you happy.
They are not happy with what is necessary to get 64 MPG.
They love their car too much to ram into you.
My opinion is people make hypermiling too complicated, though all those techniques makes for riveting reading.
I just drive as if my brakes have failed.
I'm also in Los Angeles.
After 4.5 years of practice I can get about the same MPG in the city or the freeway.
My freeway top speed it 53 miles per hour, though often I keep it at 50.
I leave a TON of space in front of me.
When there are no hills I use cruise control.
Much of the battle is not how you control the car but how you control your mind.
You must give up making the people behind you happy.
They are not happy with what is necessary to get 64 MPG.
They love their car too much to ram into you.
Last edited by kenny; 07-17-2008 at 08:14 AM.
#20
Spouse Reactions
What experiences have members had with driving for best tank with their spouse in the car?
After freaking out about my "empty" tank and lit fuel light going to choir practice last night, I told my wife that I have enough experience with this particular car to know how far I can push it. I told her I predicted that when I filled up this morning, 17 days after the last fill-up, I'd have almost 1.5 gallons left in the tank. He response: "Well, I hope you don't run out on the way to the gas station in the morning." I told her that I'd let her know the fill-up figures.
I sent an e-mail this morning.... 1.486 gallons still in the tank, over 80 possible more miles. Her response: "Well I'm glad you didn't run out of gas. But I don't see any point in taking chances."
Go figure.
After freaking out about my "empty" tank and lit fuel light going to choir practice last night, I told my wife that I have enough experience with this particular car to know how far I can push it. I told her I predicted that when I filled up this morning, 17 days after the last fill-up, I'd have almost 1.5 gallons left in the tank. He response: "Well, I hope you don't run out on the way to the gas station in the morning." I told her that I'd let her know the fill-up figures.
I sent an e-mail this morning.... 1.486 gallons still in the tank, over 80 possible more miles. Her response: "Well I'm glad you didn't run out of gas. But I don't see any point in taking chances."
Go figure.