Poor gas mileage

[ToyGuy]

oppss..typo..yea..5/60

unless i'm losing it, i think i'm doing it right. i reset the odo to 0 and pay attention to the gallons i get on the gas pump. then i divide the miles by the gallons.

195miles/16.5gallons=11.82miles/gallon

the time before that i got (same gas station)
175miles/15.5gallons=11.29miles/gallon

sooo...two times in a row now i've gotten 11mpg.

i filled up at a different place this time, and put in 16.5gallons, and i reset the odo, so i'll check it again (of course it might take me about 3weeks :) )

Are you combining the gallons you put in now with the miles you end up with later? Think about it..doesn't make sense. Zero your odo when you fill up your tank. You now have 0 miles travelled and 0 gallons used. When you fill up again record the gallons used and the miles on the odo. IE: 200miles and you put in 10 gallons...20mpg

From above, when you put in the 16.5gallons how many miles on the odo before you zero'd it? These are the numbers you use..get it?

[Missay]

From above, when you put in the 16.5gallons how many miles on the odo before you zero'd it? These are the numbers you use..get it?

yup...when i'm empty i'll go to the gas station and reset the odo to 0. (i'm bad..i almost always wait till the last min when the light is on and the gauge is below the empty line ..and the car is put putt-ing into the gas station)

so, i'll reset to 0
then i'll look at the gas pump to see how many gallons i got (let's say 16.5)
next time i'm at empty (really really really empty ) i look at the miles that i had set to 0 (so it says 195mi since last fill up)

i divide the miles i got between fill ups and divide it by the previous gallons that i filled (so i divide it by the gas that woulda powered my car those 195miles)

hence...195miles/16.5gallons=11mpg

[Optimus]

you've got to be kidding me!!!
based on your explanation, you're doing it wrong. i think we've found the problem.

AFTER you fill up, you divide the number of miles since last fill up by the amount just put in (not the amount previously put in).

the goal is to see how much gas was used to go X miles. the way you are saying that you do it makes absolutely no sense.

[20SoLaRa02]

Damn missay ur still tryin to get ur mpg fixed? i thought what i told u that one time would have cleared up how to do it. i think the way ur doing it is sort of inaccurate but close. Either way i think you should try and do it the other way and i also think there's probably something wrong with ur car. Just my 2 cents!!

-Michael

[Missay]

lol..what are you guys talking bout?? that's exactly how i'm doing it.

ok...lol..this is getting confusing..

let's pretend i have a brand new car w/ 0miles on it and 0gallons of gas in it.

so...you fill the car up w/ 10gallons of gas and you drive 100miles.
you get 10mpg...isn't that right?

so i filled up 16.5 gallons ...drove 195miles till empty (w/ that 16.5gallons). so it's 195/16.5=11mpg.

[ultramookie]

check out how i keep track of my mileage!! mookie's mileage. (i know, this got crossposted, but i didn't read this message before i posted in general!) anyhoo, i have the thing in openoffice.org calc format, but i can easily save it to excel format if anyone wants it to use for themselves

[ToyGuy]

lol..what are you guys talking bout?? that's exactly how i'm doing it.

ok...lol..this is getting confusing..

let's pretend i have a brand new car w/ 0miles on it and 0gallons of gas in it.

so...you fill the car up w/ 10gallons of gas and you drive 100miles.
you get 10mpg...isn't that right?

so i filled up 16.5 gallons ...drove 195miles till empty (w/ that 16.5gallons). so it's 195/16.5=11mpg.

Somebody just kill me!

You start with 0 miles and a full tank. That is 0 miles travelled and 0 gallons used. Doesn't matter if it took 10 or 100 gallons to fill it, it has to be full when you start out. Now, drive. When you decide to get gas again, pull into the station, write down the mileage before you get out of the car. Fill up. Get back in. Write down the gallons you just put in. These are the numbers you use.

The way you're doing it, say you drive for 3 days and fill back up and it takes 2 gallons. THen you drive til the low fuel light comes on, say 200 miles...that's 100 miles/gallon.

[Guest]

You start with 0 miles and a full tank. That is 0 miles travelled and 0 gallons used. Doesn't matter if it took 10 or 100 gallons to fill it, it has to be full when you start out. Now, drive. When you decide to get gas again, pull into the station, write down the mileage before you get out of the car. Fill up. Get back in. Write down the gallons you just put in. These are the numbers you use.

i agree with your method, but it doesn't really matter, because if she always waits till almost empty, then it's always about 16.5 gallons.

and i agree with michael, it's close. give or take a gallon, she's still getting somewhere around 11 mpg for 195 miles. That's just bad fuel economy for the solara.

Missay, you need to have that checked by someone. Have you talked with your co-workers/friends/family about their mileage? I mean, the ones that live and work (and therefore drive) around your same area?

[Missay]

hey ,toyguy...i figured out what your talking bout....i'm gonna go fill my tank and see how many gallons i get and divide the miles i've driven so far by that mileage...(so let's say i have to put in 5 gallons to get it full again..and i've travelled 50miles since the last full=10mpg)

although, guest is right too...i wait till it's nearly outta fuel so i almost always end up putting in16.5 gallons every time i fill up..so it will probably end up being the same.

i asked my mechanic and he said i shouldn't even bother calculating my mileage in the winter..and it would be lower b/c of the front defroster and b/c i take several short trips..but still..it's the same thing as a camry, i should get more than 11.

[Missay]

ok, i finally had my next fill.

ok, i couldn't have screwed it up!! i even had eamon (4banger) in the car supervising me to make sure i didn't screw it up!

sooo...from the last fill up to the time i filled it last night i got 183 miles. i put in 17.5 gallons of gas. so 183/17.5=10.5mpg!

10.5mpg!

(oh, and thanks again eamon for that extra 8bucks of gas i swear i'm gonna pay you back when you're not paying attention!! )

[20SoLaRa02]

dang missay...either you redline ur car everywhere u go or there is something definitely wrong with ur engine!!!!

-Michael

[Yanks0114]

Alright here are a couple of things i have noticed about my gas mileage. When its cold out and I take short trips (i.e. To school and back) I get terrible gas mileage. In order to warm up the car we idle at like 1500rpm instead of 600-700. Also since cold air is more dense you can combuste more O2 at 30 degrees than at say 60 or 70 degrees. The increase of air also leads to more fuel being used. This doesn't really explain why you are getting 10mpg though.

[Missay]

i did notice today that my car idles around 1600-1900 rpms when i first start it...and i do frequently visit between 3-4rpms..but still.

maybe the fuel injector?? i hate when the men in my life (dad and mechanic ) both tell me i'm crazy.

although, i hung out w/ 4banger last night and we did get stuck in traffic on storrow drive in boston that took us from 10-11pm to get 1mile down the road ! my god...he saw my road rage at it's worse!

so i'm sure that 1hour=1mile killed that gas mileage a lot! (hehe..nothing like putting your car in park on the hgwy so you don't have to keep your foot on the brake )