Gas Mileage Help

[Natetheskate]

There is another thing you can do:  Fuel up early in the day.  Colder fuel is more dense than warm fuel, and will provide more heat energy per gallon.

 

[Molaker]

There is another thing you can do:  Fuel up early in the day.  Colder fuel is more dense than warm fuel, and will provide more heat energy per gallon.

The problem with this suggestion is most storage tanks are underground and the temperature changes very little through the course of the day.

 

[John From Detroit]

Hit 13.8 with my Damon, only had a 100 mph tail wind that day.

Hit 11 a couple times a year after a good wash and wax

Average is 8-9 the rest of the year.

 

[BernieD]

There is another thing you can do:  Fuel up early in the day.  Colder fuel is more dense than warm fuel, and will provide more heat energy per gallon.

While this may not be another urban legend, it gets pretty close. See Snopes, but make sure you read the last half. There are lots of arguments in both directions, but even assuming it is completely true, you're looking at saving maybe $30/year. Worth getting up early on fillup days?

 

[Natetheskate]

OK, try it sometime.  Fill up early on, then fill up about, say, four in the afternoon.

 

[BernieD]

OK, try it sometime.  Fill up early on, then fill up about, say, four in the afternoon.

And what will that tell you? Are you suggesting that topping off the tank in the afternoon will tell you something? What you would need to do is fill it up in the afternoon, let the car sit without running and then see how far down, if any, the fuel went in the tank. If nothing else, the fill handle cutoff will add some inaccuracy.

 

[Lindsay Richards]

I just bought a Scan Gauge II that has many read outs on it (hooks to your engine trouble code outlet). One of the gauges is gas mileage (real time) and your right foot has a huge amount to do with it. Using the Scan Gauge, you can select the "sweet spot" and quit wasting fuel.

 

[scottydl]

I just bought a Scan Gauge II that has many read outs on it (hooks to your engine trouble code outlet). One of the gauges is gas mileage (real time) and your right foot has a huge amount to do with it. Using the Scan Gauge, you can select the "sweet spot" and quit wasting fuel.

I know a lot of RV folks have installed a vacuum gauge for similar reasons... you can watch the gauge as you accelerate/cruise, and see where your most efficient range is to save on gas.  I like the Scan Gauge idea though, a more "high tech" version of watching vacuum pressure.    I'll have to price those out.

 

[jcarpy]

If I keep my Fleetwood Discovery at 60-62 mph I am typically getting 9.5-10.5 mpg, with toad or without. Still scratch my head wondering how my 4000 pound Jeep Wranger just gets about 4mpg better than a 30,000 pound motorhome.

 

[Icemaker]

My old Dolphin gets almost 9 mpg pulling a CRV on US routes in the flatland...but when I tried to keep up w/the semi trucks in SD running on the governor this old 5.9 maxed out at 75 and I am still trying to do the numbers to figure if the 5 mpg was really true.. if so than I am a believer.. Think I'm gonna run w/those numbers and stay off the governor as much as possible..and I enjoy the ride more too.

George