NEW Miles per tank RECORD!! - Page 4

Oct 16, 2006 | 03:30 PM

#76

zenmoused

the stig is my hero

Joined: Feb 2006

Posts: 701

Likes: 0

From: NC

I just got back from Maryland. Got 360 even on one tank. I was trying to make it back on one fill-up and I succeeded, though the needle was well below the E. I ended up averaging around 26 mpg. I was happy :-)

Aug 21, 2008 | 07:59 AM

#77

longpath

Registered

iTrader: (1)

Joined: Apr 2005

Posts: 631

Likes: 3

From: Stamford, CT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kewl

I have found that the mileage just sitting (still) at idle is terrible. Okay for die hards...the gas consumed while sitting at idle is high. Much higher than an average piston engine. I agree mileage while waiting for a light - for example - with the engine at idle is zero. So while stop and go hurts mileage for sure the rotary at idle uses lots of gas...

Point? Don't spend any more time at zero speed with the engine at idle then you absolutely must.

I typically refuel around the 7.5 to 8.5 gallons down from full, as I refuel at either of a pair of filling stations that are near my work but about 50 miles from my home (there's about a $0.75 to $1.00 a gallon price difference between where I work and live). My commuting, which is almost entirely highway, typically nets out to 18.6 to 22.6 MPG. I did also see a situation where I was stuck in a traffic jam for roughly a half hour over a distance of 1/4 to 1/2 mile. Because of the heat and the amount of cars packed into this tight area, I did have the AC running the whole time. In this case, I used as much fuel (according to the admittedly questionable fuel level gauge) in this half hour of being stuck in the jam as I had in the 49 highway miles I'd covered earlier in the same trip (so it wasn't merely a case that the engine wasn't warmed up). going zero to almost zero miles per hour while running the engine is a a big kiss to the government (who get more than half the cost of the fuel we buy) and to the oil company that made the fuel.

I did find it fascinating to hear of the observation that rain degrades fuel economy. I'm wondering if the cooling effect of the humidity might be fooling the MAF sensor to think the car is inhaling more air than it is, and it's dumping fuel to try to balance it out (though I'd think the O2 sensor would tell the PCM that wasn't true). I am planning to get a Scangauge II so I can try to make more informed decisions about my route, speed, and gear selection, and these observations seem to support that having that feedback is just too useful in a 500 mile a week commute to go without it.