samsel450r
Member
ive had my ms3 say 15.3 average for about 2 day then went back up to normal which for me is in the 17 range
Gas mileage problems
- Thread starter midgarr30
- Start date
fourthmeal
Banned
JACKPOT! I figured most of it out on a LOOONG road trip that I just got back from. I logged all my stops, and the mpg I was getting, as well as a rounded idea of the speeds and conditions.
Here's the synopsis:
The most variance in mpg occured when it got really cold outside. Now, my car has never seen 15 degree weather before (Vegas FTW) until now, and when the cold air came during my trip, it cost me 3-4 mpg with all other variables exactly the same.
On the highway, relatively flat roads, I averaged 30-32 mpg, and I was traveling at an average of 78-85 mph. This was without flooring it to get around people...instead I just used the cruise mostly and tapped up and down to get the speed I needed to pass.
On the highway, with mountainous roads, I averaged about 28-30 mpg, and found that as long as I didn't slow down dramatically for an accident or for heavy trucks, the car would maintain a good mpg on these roads. What I lost on the uphill I gained on the coasting downhill, for the most part.
In the cities, I lost mpg dramatically compared with the highway, but, and here's the interesting part, the overall return of mpg was much better when I was driving in cities other then my home town. The car was slower though! I think the car adapts to your driving style from one tank to the next, and tends to reward highway driving with more MPG even in the city. I confirmed this by coming back home and driving around, and getting about 3 mpg better then I usually do. The other possibility is that Vegas specifically may have poor fuel quality and the car may have to richen up the mixture to keep the knock sensors happy.
In the cold, and I mean 15-25 deg. F, the car got horrible gas mileage compared with warmer temps. While traveling on a nice, straight stretch of I-40, the temps swayed from 15 to well above 50. During this, I noticed the mpg increased proportionately with the temperature outside. In the lowest temps, I got about 25mpg, and in the 50+ temps, that mpg went to about 30.
Now that I'm back in Vegas, I miss the 30+ mpg times. I got a lot of miles out of each tank doing that!
Here's the synopsis:
The most variance in mpg occured when it got really cold outside. Now, my car has never seen 15 degree weather before (Vegas FTW) until now, and when the cold air came during my trip, it cost me 3-4 mpg with all other variables exactly the same.
On the highway, relatively flat roads, I averaged 30-32 mpg, and I was traveling at an average of 78-85 mph. This was without flooring it to get around people...instead I just used the cruise mostly and tapped up and down to get the speed I needed to pass.
On the highway, with mountainous roads, I averaged about 28-30 mpg, and found that as long as I didn't slow down dramatically for an accident or for heavy trucks, the car would maintain a good mpg on these roads. What I lost on the uphill I gained on the coasting downhill, for the most part.
In the cities, I lost mpg dramatically compared with the highway, but, and here's the interesting part, the overall return of mpg was much better when I was driving in cities other then my home town. The car was slower though! I think the car adapts to your driving style from one tank to the next, and tends to reward highway driving with more MPG even in the city. I confirmed this by coming back home and driving around, and getting about 3 mpg better then I usually do. The other possibility is that Vegas specifically may have poor fuel quality and the car may have to richen up the mixture to keep the knock sensors happy.
In the cold, and I mean 15-25 deg. F, the car got horrible gas mileage compared with warmer temps. While traveling on a nice, straight stretch of I-40, the temps swayed from 15 to well above 50. During this, I noticed the mpg increased proportionately with the temperature outside. In the lowest temps, I got about 25mpg, and in the 50+ temps, that mpg went to about 30.
Now that I'm back in Vegas, I miss the 30+ mpg times. I got a lot of miles out of each tank doing that!
- Yeah; I wish the trip computer wouldn't do that at yellow light time. My estimates are there are at least 2 gallons left when the light comes on, and as much as 2.5 gallons. I have noticed the cold mpg as well; my cold weather miles per tank have been around 220 and I've been filling up with 13 gallons. It's not a fuel change as I only use Shell premium. Combined with losses from the cold air I also feel the butt dyno gettting those HP gains, so I'm on it more, so that's probably the other half of the loss in mileage factor. In the summer I was getting about 250-260/14 gallons, all city. Highway, I'm convinced, at 69-74mph on cruise, our car can nab 400 miles to the full tank and you won't be in danger of fuming it.
+1. I just drove down to visit a freind in San Marcos, Texas. Round 233 miles, give or take, averaging around 80mph on the highway, used just around a half tank of Shell.
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