Mpg
#22
01-23-2010, 10:38 PM
Hyper-miling
I filled up my tank yesterday and decided to give hypermiling a try. The concept is simple. Upshift as soon as you know that the engine won't lug in the next gear and apply gentle pressure on the throttle. Also it is advisable that you do not use cruise control, this way you can use engine braking when going down a slope or you want to maintain a constant speed.
I chose to try and drive between 55-60 mph on freeways that have 65 mph speed limit. It is somewhat unadvisable as going slower than the flow of traffic gives you wild cards like drivers with road rage etc. Anyway, I stuck to the lane just inside the slow lane and drove about 100 miles with 95% of that on the freeway. The trip included a 30 mile trip through the twists, turns and elevation changes of Highway 17 in the Bay Area of California.
And all this lightfootedness on the throttle gave me an indicated 42.3 mpg on the meter. I plan on continuing to drive in this manner until the tank is empty, just to see what my calculations by hand will give me. However, once the week arrives, my car will be loaded to capacity with boxes, so there will be variables that I'll have to factor in.
But all in all, it's quite an accomplishment and I'd like to pat myself on my back.
An update will soon follow...
I chose to try and drive between 55-60 mph on freeways that have 65 mph speed limit. It is somewhat unadvisable as going slower than the flow of traffic gives you wild cards like drivers with road rage etc. Anyway, I stuck to the lane just inside the slow lane and drove about 100 miles with 95% of that on the freeway. The trip included a 30 mile trip through the twists, turns and elevation changes of Highway 17 in the Bay Area of California.
And all this lightfootedness on the throttle gave me an indicated 42.3 mpg on the meter. I plan on continuing to drive in this manner until the tank is empty, just to see what my calculations by hand will give me. However, once the week arrives, my car will be loaded to capacity with boxes, so there will be variables that I'll have to factor in.
But all in all, it's quite an accomplishment and I'd like to pat myself on my back.
An update will soon follow...
#23
02-01-2010, 11:36 AM
I just hit 10K miles on my ET and no longer delivering pizza with it. My ET is now on easy street since I only commute to school twice a week and work from home. Weekends and vacation mean roadtrips so that's where I'll make earn it's keep and test out the limits of the 100K warranty.
#24
04-19-2010, 09:54 AM
My 2010 SE with the manual transmission had an on board average of 26 when I took it home with about 400 miles on it. I didn't reset it and have been watching it increase to 34 mpg now with 1100 miles. That makes me happy but my biggest surprise came this weekend when I did a manual check based on the trip meter. I got a hair over 40 mpg on that tankfull!
#25
04-19-2010, 11:08 AM
My trip computer has been a bit of a liar. I have a very predictable commute and a very reproduceable driving style (yes I know that isn't really a word...).
Right after filling the tank (I reset everything on each fill) it tells me I achieved ~8.1L/100km for the first 50km. As I run out the tank (approx 600km) it will slowly improve to 7.6L/100km or 7.5L/100km. Exactly the same commute, exactly the same driving style from the beginning of the tank to the end.
Once it reaches 7.6L/100km (approx 150km-200km in) if I add the trip distance to the distance remaining it will total ~540km, but as I reach the end of the tank this always increases to 610-620km. I understand why it would be different when it says I am getting 8.1L/100km, but once it settles down to 7.6L/100km that total should not change.
After I fill and calculate my mileage by hand I get 8.51-8.55L/100km on every tank, meaning the trip computer is off by almost 1L/100km every time. I haven't had a chance to do any long distance highway trips yet, but so far it is disappointing to see that the trip computer lies by such a large margin.
Right after filling the tank (I reset everything on each fill) it tells me I achieved ~8.1L/100km for the first 50km. As I run out the tank (approx 600km) it will slowly improve to 7.6L/100km or 7.5L/100km. Exactly the same commute, exactly the same driving style from the beginning of the tank to the end.
Once it reaches 7.6L/100km (approx 150km-200km in) if I add the trip distance to the distance remaining it will total ~540km, but as I reach the end of the tank this always increases to 610-620km. I understand why it would be different when it says I am getting 8.1L/100km, but once it settles down to 7.6L/100km that total should not change.
After I fill and calculate my mileage by hand I get 8.51-8.55L/100km on every tank, meaning the trip computer is off by almost 1L/100km every time. I haven't had a chance to do any long distance highway trips yet, but so far it is disappointing to see that the trip computer lies by such a large margin.
#27
05-19-2010, 04:49 PM
I pretty much don't care about gas mileage any more. I own a 2009 Vibe which brings in around 30mpg in suburban driving. And now I own the ET GLS. The reason I don't care is because I shop my cars very carefully (re: Consumer Reports) and will own them until they burn and flip down the side of a hill. The cars are mine, and that won't change any time within the next 10 years, minimum. About the only reason to check every once in a while is to ensure there is not a problem with the PCM or PCV. Otherwise, the cars are here to stay, and with such a long warranty, to stay for many years. I've been driving "the wife's" ET and simply cannot drive it for a long duration. The leg room on the gas pedal is just too short. I am more comfortable in the '09 Vibe. Besides, my Vibe has XM for life, so I have to drive it every day. 
Nonetheless, the ET is a great car, and it will be on my very short list once it is time to push the Vibe over a cliff.
Nonetheless, the ET is a great car, and it will be on my very short list once it is time to push the Vibe over a cliff.
#28
06-18-2010, 07:32 PM
I figured I would go ahead and post my results for the less than 3 months and just over 5000 miles I have had the car. My driving consists of mostly suburban driving with a mix of about 80% secondary roads (speed limits ranging from 40-50 mph) and 20% short freeway hops. So far, I have been hanging around 26-27 mpg for my normal driving. I try to keep a light foot and not let the engine rev over 3K (2500 in most cases). This seems to be in-line with what other users are reporting.
My worst tank so far was 24.1 which was not unexpected given that I knew I had been driving the car a bit harder than I normally do.
Today was my record high tank. I drove from Austin, TX to Abilene, TX which was 228 miles between fill-ups based on my trip meter which I reset at the gas station. I got into Abilene and put 6.2 gallons in the tank for an average of 36.7 mpg! I couldn't hardly believe it. My mpg computer which I reset when I left the gas station had settled in at 32.2 which surprised me because it usually reads about 1-2 mpg higher than the actual calculate mileage.
For reference, the terrain was rolling hills, cruise set at 70 (indicated) which was around 67 on my GPS. Temperatures in the upper 90s to 100 and obviously running the AC. I regret I did not reset my GPS trip meter to compare to the car's odometer to see how much error there is with the car. It has been my experience that cars and motorcycles that have a fair amount of error with the indicate speed have less error with the odometer and this appears to be the case with the ET (or mine anyway). The last 80 miles I was keep track of the GPS's distance traveled compared to the car's trip odometer and it was pretty close if not spot on, so I am inclined to believe that mileage calculations based on the car's trip odometer readings are fairly accurate provided you are able to consistently fill the tank. The best way I know how to do this is to simply fill the tank until the pump clicks off and not top off.
My worst tank so far was 24.1 which was not unexpected given that I knew I had been driving the car a bit harder than I normally do.
Today was my record high tank. I drove from Austin, TX to Abilene, TX which was 228 miles between fill-ups based on my trip meter which I reset at the gas station. I got into Abilene and put 6.2 gallons in the tank for an average of 36.7 mpg! I couldn't hardly believe it. My mpg computer which I reset when I left the gas station had settled in at 32.2 which surprised me because it usually reads about 1-2 mpg higher than the actual calculate mileage.
For reference, the terrain was rolling hills, cruise set at 70 (indicated) which was around 67 on my GPS. Temperatures in the upper 90s to 100 and obviously running the AC. I regret I did not reset my GPS trip meter to compare to the car's odometer to see how much error there is with the car. It has been my experience that cars and motorcycles that have a fair amount of error with the indicate speed have less error with the odometer and this appears to be the case with the ET (or mine anyway). The last 80 miles I was keep track of the GPS's distance traveled compared to the car's trip odometer and it was pretty close if not spot on, so I am inclined to believe that mileage calculations based on the car's trip odometer readings are fairly accurate provided you are able to consistently fill the tank. The best way I know how to do this is to simply fill the tank until the pump clicks off and not top off.
#29
06-20-2010, 09:26 PM
I would like to post an update to my previous news of such stellar fuel mileage...
...I should have known it was too good to be true. I wish I had waited until I returned from my trip before making such a claim. I am always one to question those who claim significantly higher than expected fuel mileage and assume they are either mistaken or exaggerating, so I should have known better than to think my car was able to get nearly 37 mpg.
That said, I don't think it was that far off. My best guess is probably closer to 33-34 mpg on this leg of the trip. This all boils down to how the car performed returning home. The first thing I noticed was how quickly the fuel gauge needle fell below the full mark. That tells me I somehow filled my tank either much more before I left, much less when I arrived at my destination, or some combination of the two. I believe it was mostly getting it very full on the way up because that gas pump was going incredibly slow, so slow it took about 10-12 minutes to fill the tank. What probably happened is the gas wasn't bubbling and foaming as much, so the auto-stop on the nozzle didn't activate as quickly. Some of it was that I didn't get it as full as normal because it usually takes 40 miles for the needle to drop under full. It did it in under 30.
The other thing I noticed was that the car did seem to use a bit more gas returning home which I attribute to a head wind. My return fuel mileage was 28 mpg. Again, I think this number might be a tad low given that I probably didn't get the tank all the way full for that leg of the trip. Overall mileage when both tanks were averaged was 31.2. I feel that is probably pretty spot-on. I still think that is pretty good given I was carrying my wife, our luggage, and an old, heavy bicycle I picked up along the way. I am interested to see how the car does on flatter terrain, though I have to drive a good distance to find that.
...I should have known it was too good to be true. I wish I had waited until I returned from my trip before making such a claim. I am always one to question those who claim significantly higher than expected fuel mileage and assume they are either mistaken or exaggerating, so I should have known better than to think my car was able to get nearly 37 mpg.
That said, I don't think it was that far off. My best guess is probably closer to 33-34 mpg on this leg of the trip. This all boils down to how the car performed returning home. The first thing I noticed was how quickly the fuel gauge needle fell below the full mark. That tells me I somehow filled my tank either much more before I left, much less when I arrived at my destination, or some combination of the two. I believe it was mostly getting it very full on the way up because that gas pump was going incredibly slow, so slow it took about 10-12 minutes to fill the tank. What probably happened is the gas wasn't bubbling and foaming as much, so the auto-stop on the nozzle didn't activate as quickly. Some of it was that I didn't get it as full as normal because it usually takes 40 miles for the needle to drop under full. It did it in under 30.
The other thing I noticed was that the car did seem to use a bit more gas returning home which I attribute to a head wind. My return fuel mileage was 28 mpg. Again, I think this number might be a tad low given that I probably didn't get the tank all the way full for that leg of the trip. Overall mileage when both tanks were averaged was 31.2. I feel that is probably pretty spot-on. I still think that is pretty good given I was carrying my wife, our luggage, and an old, heavy bicycle I picked up along the way. I am interested to see how the car does on flatter terrain, though I have to drive a good distance to find that.
#30
09-22-2010, 12:36 PM
MPG Dropping
I bought an ET GLS about 2 months ago and got a steady 30-31mpg on the computer for the first 1500 miles or so. Recently (with about 2200 miles on it) we have been unable to keep it above 29mpg on the trip computer. The car has been used for the exact same drives (commutes and usual weekly trips). I have not checked it by hand, but has anyone else experienced this drop after the first couple months of driving? I thought after the break in period the MPG should increase slightly not drop. Thanks.