Losing MPG?

[elderlycoffee]

When I first got my car the trip computer was saying I had 470+ miles to go when I would fill up my tank.
Now it has literally cut in half and it's saying around 240.
I watched my gas gauge go from half a tank down to less than a quarter going downtown yesterday.

I'm getting roughly 16 mpg i believe.
This is horrible compared to the 29+ i was getting before...

I'm not leaking anywhere so it's burning excessively or something.


Any ideas?

 

[jhowey]

When you figure it out let me know. I think it might be the gas quality, I was in California over the weekend and filled up for my drive back and managed to get 300 miles to the tank doing 90+ the whole way. When I was leaving with Arizona quality gas I only eneded up getting like 240 at those speeds so IDK but seems wierd to me.

 

[MS3ICA]

those trip computers are inaccurate anyway, i get 20 to 21 constantly and my computer sais i get 23 to 24. the only way to know what you getting is to measure it physically by filling up driving then filling up and divide the number of miles you drove by the number of gallons

 

[elderlycoffee]

The trip computer isn't perfectly accurate but the gas gauge is.
I'm only getting 3 days out of my car where I was getting nearly a week before I had to fill up.

 

[MS3ICA]

gas guages are off all the time too, the only way youl will know is to do like i said other wise its all heresay

 

[BlackJack]

It depends mainly on where you buy the gas. Better known gas brand, better quality of the gas, more MPG.

For example, Shell or Chevron are one of the top tier companies and their gas quality is very good for the money. cheaper gas stations tend to have bad quality and no addictives in it.

Another thing that could affect MPG is the heat. I'm just wonderin about this from what i've seen of the Dynos with the cars being cooled.

Please correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[aaronc7]

tahts weird. any changes in mods etc? i should get getting better now with CAI...but now i just get on it more lol

 

[TorqSpeed5252]

Another thing to watch out for is if the gas you are putting in has a sign at the pump that reads "Up to 10% ethanol added."

This is done for emissions purposes, but ethanol releases less energy when combusted so you have to burn more of it to get the same amount of power.

 

[redspeed]

cheaper gas stations tend to have bad quality and no addictives in it.

Cheap gas does have additives, since its federal law, all gasoline must have a minimum quantity of additives. And cheap gas don't have bad quality, it have less additives than top tier brands. I personally been using cheap gas for about 10 years and never had a problem so far.

 

[aaronc7]

i thought i heard somewhere they increase ethanol content during the summer? or maybe I am just imagining stuff, lol

 

[major error]

Gasoline is gasoline regardless of who sells it. All refineries use the same simple chemical processes to crack the crude into its various useful components. Standards bodies and legislation dictate minimums for consumer use in a given region.

In reality, when you choose between BP/Exxon/Chevron/et al, the actual fuel is all the same. You're only buying a different additives package.

 

[clos561]

my estimated milage for 3.3 gallons the computer gave me was 114 lol..i actually got about 70+ which is around 20-24mpg which is about average and pretty great considering my heavy foot. you have to also incorporate the heavy foot thing..especially if u have cai or exhaust..any with these mods will know what im talking about...the turbo spool just eases the soul

 

[MS3Chik]

its gas quality.. i get 230 every tank no matter how i drive it

 

[ALIEN3T]

shell has made a diffrence.
I been useing arco 87 in old cars of mine cause well they didnt need it! used arco was getitng about 225-250

same driving style i went ot shell usually around 250-280 best so far is 315
and same driving style if not i drive a littel harder at times!

 

[LENNY127]

there is only one reliable way of getting mpg, fill it up until the spout stops the first time, dont keep squeezing the trigger just for accuracy. hit the trip meter so its at zero , drive it until its empty or nearly empty . check how many miles you put on the trip meter, fill it up until the spout stops the first time. Check how many gallons you put in, divide your trip miles by the gallons you just gassed up and that will be a 100% accurate mpg reading. in my speed3 the mpg computer is always off by about 2-3 miles per gallon.

 

[guy_incognito]

Does it really stop at the exact same amount each time?

The most accurate, but stupid way, would be to completely top it off, until you can see gasoline coming up to the cap.

 

[Belvadere]

Perhaps gas-syphoning ninjas are striking at night.

 

[LENNY127]

you know what i mean jerky, i aint counting droplets. I put in my CAI last saturday and i am trying to see if it does get better mpg but im always on it so hard to tell, I have a feeling while put putting around it will give better gas but when i stomp on it i think it does suck out more gas

 

[theurgy]

The gas gauge is the most inaccurate gauge in your car.

 

[clos561]

Perhaps gas-syphoning ninjas are striking at night.

lol...i measure with how many gallons i put in...the other day i put in 3.3 gallons and i got 77 miles from that. i reset the trip everytime i gas up and count how many gallons i put in. then divide, its pretty simple, u dont have to gas ur whole car up. and i never gas up all the way because less weight would increase milage and if i need to race someone.