taurean98
@upc.cz |  [Help] How can I determine my gas mileage?
Any tips on how to determine the actual gas mileage of your car? Driving a ford taurus 6 cyl by the way, but I'm looking for info that I could apply to any vehicle. Thanks for any assistance. |
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Cody
Bob Vance, VR
Premium
join:2002-05-28
Mukilteo, WA
clubs: | What I do:
Fill your gas tank and reset your trip odometer
When close to empty fill gas tank again
Miles you've gone/Gallons = MPG
Reset odo
repeat as desired
 |
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Mospaw
New is good. Old owes me 7k
Hawaiian Jellyfish
join:2001-01-08
The Pacific
 ·Cox HSI
Host:
Road Warriors, Not..
All Things Macintosh
Automotive
| reply to taurean98
If the vehicle has a "trip" odometer, simply reset it when you fill your tank. The next time you fill up, divide the miles on the odometer by the number of gallons of gas put in the vehicle.
For instance, 300 miles traveled and 15 gallons put in is 20 MPG (300 / 15 = 20).
If the vehicle doesn't have a trip odometer, then you will need to record the mileage on the regular odometer and do a little subtraction.
Just remember to reset the trip odometer when you fill up and to fill the tank fully (but not over full) each time.
This technique will give you a very good idea what you mileage is. Factors that make this a bit less accurate are the accuracy of your odometer. If your tires are the correct size and properly inflated, this shouldn't be much of an issue.
Also, don't sweat the math too much. I used to calculate to the thousandth of a gallon when I realized that 17.885 MPG is pretty much the same at 17.880. The difference is less than a teaspoon.
Don't worry about one tank, either. Mine fluctuates. What this does give you is a good average. Sometimes you might short fill a tank or other factors that might appear that the car's mileage has changed when it hasn't. Different drivers, conditions and styles will affect it, too. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| reply to taurean98
What I do is get a estimate in my head. With the trip odeometer I know how many miles I went and when I fill the tank I know how many gallons (assuming gas is always filled up).
If I used 9 gallons (rounded) of gas and went 360 miles then I got about 40 mpg... 40*9 = 360 miles. i find this easier to do in my head than the actual division for some reason. |
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Cody
Bob Vance, VR
Premium
join:2002-05-28
Mukilteo, WA
clubs: | I just use the calculator on my phone. I like it a little more precise that way any fluctuations of 4 or so mpg let me know to ease up my right foot a bit |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| I can usually estimate correctly to about 2 miles - I do adjust my milage when I look at the numbers after doing the estimate to know which way to take the estimate...
Half the time i don't have my phone but I had not thought of the function that should be in all cell phones by now. |
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Hall
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH
 ·EarthLink
·AT&T Midwest
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| reply to Mospaw
said by Mospaw  : I used to calculate to the thousandth of a gallon when I realized that 17.885 MPG is pretty much the same at 17.880. You're kidding ! You used to calculate it to 3 places ?? Damn... To me, 1 place is good enough. Is it an estimate of course. Too many other variables that influence it.
Don't worry about one tank, either. Mine fluctuates. What this does give you is a good average. Sometimes you might short fill a tank or other factors that might appear that the car's mileage has changed when it hasn't. Exactly. The one tank that you measure/calculate may or may not be "typical" driving. You may have done more city driving or more highway driving than usual. One time I wanted to get an idea of what kind of highway mileage I get so I filled up at a station right next to the highway on-ramp and filled up again within an 1/8 mile from the highway off-ramp. I wanted as much highway (steady) speed as possible, no stop light or stop signs, stop and go or slow traffic, etc, etc. |
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yengec
join:2000-03-24
Boca Raton, FL | reply to taurean98
Guilty as charged, I calculate 3 places on gallons, one place on the odometer (such as 352.7 divided by 12.231) myself.
My 01 Corolla used to average 29.2mpg, after it got totalled I switched to a 2003 and seems like 32.1mpg on this one... |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | reply to Hall
I calculate it to see if there are any wild fluctuations that might signal a big problem. I know my range and if I get out of the typical range then I know to start looking at things. |
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koam
Pink Pecker
Premium
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
clubs: | reply to taurean98
Mileage = MPG = MILES / GALLON.
Figure it out. |
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jrs8084
Premium
join:2002-03-02
Statesville, NC
·AT&T Southeast
| said by koam :Mileage = MPG = MILES / GALLON. Figure it out. You're right. It isn't that hard.
How do all your mileages compare to rated? I know a lot of people complain that it is less, but my family always gets much better. Dad always taught us how to drive very conservatively (coast to red lights, avoid excess stops, etc.)
My '92 Corolla (auto) almost always gets 41 MPG on sustained highway trips, assuming the speed limit is 65, it drops off a bit higher than that. My '91 Camry is always upper 30s. But, that is driving like most people won't-no frivolous stops for food/bathrrom, reserved AC usage, windows up,
--
512Ke, LC, Classic, Qudra 605, Centris 610 AV,Performa 6112, PM 6500, Cube, iMac G4 17", iMac 24", PB 5300, PB 3400, PB G4, and a few PCs |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03
·CableOne
| reply to taurean98
Also, as stated above, each particular tankful is going to tell you what MPG you got for THAT tankful. To get more of an "average", do this several times, recording the amount of fuel added each time.
i.e.:
1 fill up.
2 reset trip meter.
3 drive.
4 full up, record gallons.
repeat 3 and 4 until you are satisfied, then add up all the fuel you have added, then divide the total miles by the fuel.
This is a nice way to see what mpg your car actually gets overall, rather than what it got that one particular tank when you were hot-rodding around the city, or driving down the freeway with the cruise control set.
--
"I invented it, Bill made it famous." --David Bradley, the inventor of Ctrl+Alt+Del. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| reply to jrs8084
said by jrs8084 :said by koam :Mileage = MPG = MILES / GALLON. Figure it out. You're right. It isn't that hard. How do all your mileages compare to rated? I know a lot of people complain that it is less, but my family always gets much better. Dad always taught us how to drive very conservatively (coast to red lights, avoid excess stops, etc.) My '92 Corolla (auto) almost always gets 41 MPG on sustained highway trips, assuming the speed limit is 65, it drops off a bit higher than that. My '91 Camry is always upper 30s. But, that is driving like most people won't-no frivolous stops for food/bathrrom, reserved AC usage, windows up, With an auto I can generally do what the listed is if not slightly better but with a manual I can easily beat the rated mpg (at leaat with teh 5 speed I can. With my Civic I have gotten 36-38 mpg for pure city driving which is more like the rated mpg for pure highway miles... It does not help the auto is a Chrysler minivan with a 3.8 L engine...
--
Brian
"Some people are like Slinkies...
Not really good for anything......
But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs." |
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jrs8084
Premium
join:2002-03-02
Statesville, NC | When driving the minivan, does that include hauling family who demand stops every 200 miles? |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| reply to Cody
said by Cody :What I do: Fill your gas tank and reset your trip odometer When close to empty fill gas tank again Miles you've gone/Gallons = MPG Reset odo repeat as desired That's exactly what I do  |
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Mospaw
New is good. Old owes me 7k
Hawaiian Jellyfish
join:2001-01-08
The Pacific
·Cox HSI
Host:
Road Warriors, Not..
All Things Macintosh
Automotive
| reply to Hall
said by Hall :said by Mospaw : I used to calculate to the thousandth of a gallon when I realized that 17.885 MPG is pretty much the same at 17.880. You're kidding ! You used to calculate it to 3 places ?? Damn... To me, 1 place is good enough. Is it an estimate of course. Too many other variables that influence it. No joke. Actually, I had a spreadsheet set up for the car that calculated fuel costs on a per tank and ongoing average basis. That really did give me a good overview of how much fuel the car consumed.
I also had calculations for insurance, maintenance and other operating costs like payment. I broke them all out on a per-mile and per-month basis along with the requisite averages.
It was fun to see the different numbers, and how an oil change affected the total cost per mile of the car and so on. Maintaining the spreadsheet it was a bit of a pin, so I stopped.
Yes, I'm a geek. |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| said by Mospaw :said by Hall :said by Mospaw : I used to calculate to the thousandth of a gallon when I realized that 17.885 MPG is pretty much the same at 17.880. You're kidding ! You used to calculate it to 3 places ?? Damn... To me, 1 place is good enough. Is it an estimate of course. Too many other variables that influence it. No joke. Actually, I had a spreadsheet set up for the car that calculated fuel costs on a per tank and ongoing average basis. That really did give me a good overview of how much fuel the car consumed. I also had calculations for insurance, maintenance and other operating costs like payment. I broke them all out on a per-mile and per-month basis along with the requisite averages. It was fun to see the different numbers, and how an oil change affected the total cost per mile of the car and so on. Maintaining the spreadsheet it was a bit of a pin, so I stopped. Yes, I'm a geek. Geek!  |
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jrs8084
Premium
join:2002-03-02
Statesville, NC
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Mospaw
Darn-I thought I was accurate. I am not a worthy geek.
Do you evaluate your payrate to determine the lost productivity for every sip of coffee from the mug?
That sort of info is fodder to HR freaks when evaluating who is "important" to the company during "challenging times".
--
512Ke, LC, Classic, Qudra 605, Centris 610 AV,Performa 6112, PM 6500, Cube, iMac G4 17", iMac 24", PB 5300, PB 3400, PB G4, and a few PCs |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | reply to jrs8084
Well - we have only gone on one long trip and the kids are youing enough that we did not need to stop that often but we do a lot of city driving in the van and my wife is heavy with the foot... |
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robs440
Premium
join:2003-06-26
Orlando, FL
·Bright House
1 edit |  reply to Cody
fill it, drive it a while then fill again.....divide miles traveled, by gallons used. works on all cars. but you don't have to drive it to empty, just fill it again when its about a quarter down if you want to. it also depends on city or highway. you'll always get lower mileage in town with all the stop and go driving. so if you drive some in town, and some on the highway, do both for a few days before filling again. keep in mind your right foot has a lot to do with it... |
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