31mpg for the Element

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Hang around any N.G. long enough and you'll see that MANY people haven't figured out that the Gas Station prints the actual VOLUME of fuel right on the reciept. They fill the tank ten times and assume they've used 10 'tankfulls' of fuel. They look in the sales brochure (never the owner's manual) and find out the tank holds (say 16 gal) and they went X miles. They divide it all out and BRAG about their fantastic mileage.

Now you know how they did it. I'm not kidding.

'Curly'

I have a 2005 manual Element AWD, and my combined city/highway mileage is a little over 24 MPG. Not bad for a vehicle that is as aerodynamic as a toaster!

Steve

: > I have been thinking about getting an Element and will ask owners once in : > while how they like it. : >

: > One guy said he was getting 25mpg on the highway and 21mpg in the city. But : > the latest was a guy who had a 2003. He said he was getting 31mpg on the : > highway and 28 in the city. Seems a little high. : : : -------------------------------------- : : Hang around any N.G. long enough and you'll see that MANY people haven't : figured out that the Gas Station prints the actual VOLUME of fuel right : on the reciept. They fill the tank ten times and assume they've used 10 : 'tankfulls' of fuel. They look in the sales brochure (never the owner's : manual) and find out the tank holds (say 16 gal) and they went X miles. : They divide it all out and BRAG about their fantastic mileage. : : Now you know how they did it. I'm not kidding. : : 'Curly'

Seems to me it would work the other way. If you assumed you were putting in the full capacity (say, 16 gallons), you'd come up with a lower MPG figure than if you calculated it based on what you actually put in (say, 14 gallons).

Paul

"grinder" wrote in news:AiKag.3434$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Answer: Nobody really knows.

Nobody I personally know does actual recording of fill amount and mileage covered, and does this with EVERY fillup for the whole year. Nobody.

And without the data thus generated, EVERYbody is guessing as to their real mileage.

I record for both our cars in a book, in this manner: Date........Odometer.......Dollars.......Amount May14/06....72,128.9mi.....$19.70(Cdn)...5.34 gal and so on for each and every fillup.

EVERY fillup is to completely full, to at least two pump shutoffs.

So, here are some figures for our '99 Tercel (the book I happen to have handy at the moment: Feb 18-May14: 2,691.11 miles, 88.59 gallons = 30.38mpg.

Ah, but it gets interesting! Watch this: Feb18-Mar25: 933 miles, 33.54 gallons = 27.81. Winter is bad for mileage! Mar25-May14: 1,758 miles, 55.05 gallons = 31.93. That warm weather we had!

Now the very last fillup (only one entry): May12-May14: 190.2 miles, 5.34 gallons: 35.58mpg. One fillup is not trustworthy, so this one obviously contains an anomaly of some sort that will get evened out in subsequent fillups.

Now, there's a confounding factor besides temperature and type of driving, and that's octane. Every fillup except the last was with 91 pump octane. From now on, we're using 87. With my '91 Integra, I've discovered that using premium costs me about 2% in mileage. Don't know now whether the Tercel will be the same.

"TeGGeR®" wrote

We've never met, no. ;-) I never KEPT records, but for the first couple years I divided the miles on the trip odometer (to one decimal place, and always reset after filling up) and divided that figure by the gallons used (per the receipt, to three decimal places). During the first few months it recorded around 26, but since then my '04 4-cyl Accord auto regularly posts

27-28 mpg driving mostly "around town." FWIW, I live in southern Arizona, where it's f****** hot.

I've been doing this for years as well, with a few different cars. It's just been a habbit, although I don't write down the cost of the fill-up. If the person really wanted to be "anal" about it, they would go as far as using the same pump at the same gas station each time!

Mileage dips in the winter here in MD. Different fuel formulation, colder engine which takes longer to warm up so idle can drop, etc.

My '05 Accord manual varies from about 26-29 mpg, depending if it's more city or highway driving. The 2 trips with almost all highway driving was

33-34 mpg. Could have done better but that would have upset the drivers behind me.

-Dave

I don't keep records, but I like doing math in my head, so I can easily figure out to within less than 1mpg every time I fill the tank. My '02 Accord LX coupe w/ manual averages around 30-32 city/commuting (I typically fill up after the low-fuel light comes on, putting in around 14 gallons at between 400-450 miles), worst is around 26-27mpg in winter commuting, best is 40mpg on extended highway trips - I've done this at least twice while averaging around 68mph for an 850-mile trip (yes, this means I was cruising

70-75mph for most of the trip), with A/C on and the car loaded down pretty good with luggage. Since those figures were seemingly high, I double-checked them with a calculator to be sure. :þ

I've heard stories in the past of folks getting phenomenol MPG at super-legal speeds with small 4-cyl. cars. I recall an internet posting years ago about a fellow that drove something like 90-100mph across Canada on an extended trip with a Mitsu Eclipse (or maybe it was a Laser) and got well into the 30+mpg (U.S., not Imperial) range.

When I had my truck, I'd take occasional trips into the mountains. MPG would be unusually high for the first tankful or two because the truck would run lean in the thin mountain air - we're talking 23-24mpg with a V8 Dakota...

I do.

I have the EXACT gas fill info for EVERY tank full on my '92 Accord (LX two door,5 speed, White/Blue) since new. I taught myself to use Excel to put the info in a yearly table. bob

"N.E.Ohio Bob" wrote in news:JAYag.34622$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

I'm glad to hear there are people who actually do figure their mileage properly out there. As I said, nobody I *personally* know (friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc) does this.

Most of the people I know use the miles per tank method, which is bogus.

"Howard Lester" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

I bought a car part from Arizona once...

The problem with not keeping official records is that it's too easy to lose a receipt, or to include something you shouldn't, such as a partial fillup. You also can't include the fillup amount from the *start* of your recorded mileage.

A written (or Excel) record is more rigorous and more likely to be accurate, although your recorded 27-28mpg seems right for your car. I get about 28mpg in my Integra with lots of 80mph highway driving. Not bad for

267,000 miles, huh?

"TeGGeR®" wrote

Did it arrive melted?

I don't understand your last sentence. Maybe I don't know just what you mean by the "start of my recorded mileage." By "start" do you mean from the time I drive it off the dealer's lot? No, I didn't do that.

I fill the tank on my way to work. I note the trip odometer (typically

300 - 320 miles), I have the receipt, and when I get to work I divide the 300 or so miles by the number of gallons bought. How does that differ from your method?

I never based my mileage on one or two samples, even though I'd fill up at the same gas station. I know that some pumps, and on different days, will shut off at different levels of gasoline filled into the tank. So I figure over the course of a couple years I have it down pretty well. ;-)

Howard

I started doing this for business reasons a few years ago and learned some interesting things. Particularly about summer/winter driving. My Honda civic has been averaging about 37 mpg in the summer and 33 in the winter. I think the difference is half due to winter 15% ethonal (pure ethonal only 70% the mileage) and other other half due to recreational road trips. I also wonder if cooler weather on the engines or tire pressure is a factor. AC has almost now effect.

On 5/17/2006 8:44 PM TeGGeR® spake these words of knowledge:

I have done it with every fillup since the day I bought my car (2003 Accord LX). I do it with every vehicle I drive, because usually the first clue that there is a problem is a drop in mileage.

In my book, I record the odometer reading, the per-gallon price, the total amount I paid for the fillup, and the date. When I enter that in a spreadsheet, I have (through formulas) the miles traveled, the gallons purchased, and the MPG for that fillup. Because it was trivial at that point, my spreadsheet also calculates my total gas cost, the total number of gallons I have purchased, average price-per-gallon, average miles-per-fillup, and average cost-per-fillup - over the life of the car.

I have spent $5165.12 in 226 fillups, buying 2945.13 gallons of gas at an average cost of $1.75.4, averaging 361.65 miles per 13.03 gallon fillup, at an average cost of $22.85, and an average MPG of 27.75.

If anyone is interested, I can post the Excel spreadsheet with the formulas still in it, for you to use.

RFT!!! Dave Kelsen

Depends. If you do a lot of short trips, the engine does run momentarily in 'rich' mode until it is warmed up. The colder it is, the more fuel it will use every time you start it up.

You should be checking your tire pressure at least monthly. It's not uncommon to lose quite a bit of pressure going from ambient 80-90 degrees F to sub-freezing temps. That will definitely affect your mpg.

There was a study not too long ago that found that with modern automobiles/engines, the A/C used much less fuel than rolling down a window at speeds above 30mph or so.

On 5/18/2006 7:35 AM TeGGeR® spake these words of knowledge:

Actually, as long as you include the *amount of gasoline* you put in, you will still be able to calculate the correct miles-per-gallon figure, at your next full fillup. For example, once my tank is full, I start driving. If I put in 5 gallons, then 11.23 gallons, then 3.99 gallons, then 8.04 gallons, then do a complete fillup of 14.55 gallons, and traveled, say, 1611 miles, I averaged 37.63 miles per gallon. Of course, I can't calculate the MPG for the interim time; only between complete fillups.

RFT!!! Dave Kelsen

Wow - that's excellent gas mileage. Sounds like you're doing much better than the ratings for this car. What is it "supposed" to get? One thing I wouldn't do is consistently drive until the fuel light comes on. I understand it has a tendency to kill a fuel pump quicker when run so low. Also allows more water to build up in the tank, which could help promote rust.

Was this person from the states or from Canada? I thought Canada uses kilometers instead of miles.

-Dave

I've done it on the cars I've owned too. It's just become a habbit. Also never understood why some people want to keep putting $5 or $10 in the car instead of filling it up, when they had the money. You'll only have to visit the gas station that much quicker and more frequently.

Sure! I'd love to put it to use. It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Dave

"Dave L" wrote in news:3_edneZS7PomufDZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

It does. But we *do* have pocket calculators, you know...

But some of us grew up before Metric appeared on the scene, and some of us prefer to work in Imperial regardless of government bumpf. No laws against it, you know. Unlike Britain...