Fuel Economy

[swng]

Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

You people that break your MPG down to the tenth of a mile are all insane.

Just wanted to share that.

I respect your opinion. It may not be too meaningful to state mpg numbers down to the tenth of a mile. Those numbers can hardly be really that accurate. However, when one uses fuel economy calculators like those linked underneath, one will more likely than not get numbers that are in fact calculated down to the tenth of a mile. I guess few people will spend extra time to round the figures up, or down. Incidentally, the fourth one, which is from the US Department of Energy, actually states examples in numbers calculated down to a tenth of a mile. So, I won't blame those who post numbers with decimal points.

http://www.roity.com/petrol/metcalc.html


http://www.vehicleservice.co.za/calc/fuel.html


http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportatio...ut.cfm?attr=16


https://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=calcMPG

[Driver]

Driven 1,186 miles averaging 33.5 mpg

[Yaris]

Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

You people that break your MPG down to the tenth of a mile are all insane.
Just wanted to share that.

You should see what the Prius forum folk do to check their mileage. You'd think they were rocket scientists.

[Racer X-8]

Oh crap. My MPG dropped from 36.0 down to 35.9 Probably because my wife drives it to work now instead of me, since mid-September, and she uses a lot more two-lane, whereas I was amost all 4-lane. Still totally not too shabby IMHO. I just switched oils on an oil change that I did this past Friday - from Castrol GTX 5W-30 to Mobil 1 5W-30. We'll see what that might do... stay tuned...

Oh, BTW, that 39.0mpg blip on 10-29-06 was from a trip we took to Hotlanta - mostly all trip miles on that tankfull - three people.

You're looking at 15,000 miles total. Gallons are US.

[nsmitchell]

My Odyssey got 24.8MPG on my trip to NJ this weekend. No too shabby. I'm using Amsoil Series 2000 0W-30 oil. 62K miles on my Odyssey.

[Yaris_Fan]

Racer X-8, Where did you import that graph from?

[Racer X-8]

Originally Posted by Yaris_Fan

Racer X-8, Where did you import that graph from?

It's an Excel chart that I made up. I track all of my cars the same way, each one has a separate Excel file, different only in the data input from each fill-up. I've been using it since 2001. Works pretty good. The files also chart gas pricing and total mileage.

Inputs required - only done for complete fill-up's:
1) Date
2) Total mileage
3) Trip mileage since last complete fill-up
4) gallons (if you had one of more partial fills since your last fill-up, add-up the gallons for a total)
5) $money spent$ (again, if you had one of more partial fills since your last fill-up, add-up the $$$ for a total)
6) Kind of gas (like, "Shell regular")
I also have a remarks column for anything that might pertain, like oil change info, or like "Trip to Hotlanta"...

The gas pricing chart is pretty cool. You can see how they're playing the general public like a bunch of fools. You see a lot of short-term surges. The cost surges alarmingly high, then it receeds to calm the masses, but not all the way back. One after the next. After a while you see how the receeding not all the way back causes the long-term trend of increased cost that won't ever receed.

[swng]

Originally Posted by Racer X-8

It's an Excel chart that I made up. I track all of my cars the same way, each one has a separate Excel file, different only in the data input from each fill-up. I've been using it since 2001. Works pretty good. The files also chart gas pricing and total mileage.

Inputs required - only done for complete fill-up's:
1) Date
2) Total mileage
3) Trip mileage since last complete fill-up
4) gallons (if you had one of more partial fills since your last fill-up, add-up the gallons for a total)
5) $money spent$ (again, if you had one of more partial fills since your last fill-up, add-up the $$$ for a total)
6) Kind of gas (like, "Shell regular")
I also have a remarks column for anything that might pertain, like oil change info, or like "Trip to Hotlanta"...

The gas pricing chart is pretty cool. You can see how they're playing the general public like a bunch of fools. You see a lot of short-term surges. The cost surges alarmingly high, then it receeds to calm the masses, but not all the way back. One after the next. After a while you see how the receeding not all the way back causes the long-term trend of increased cost that won't ever receed.

[spkrman]

Originally Posted by Racer X-8

The gas pricing chart is pretty cool. You can see how they're playing the general public like a bunch of fools. You see a lot of short-term surges. The cost surges alarmingly high, then it receeds to calm the masses, but not all the way back. One after the next. After a while you see how the receeding not all the way back causes the long-term trend of increased cost that won't ever receed.

yep... its a way to "safely" raise the prices and still gouge the hell out of us in the meantime...

[Racer X-8]

Okay here it is, hehe. A couple things I can point out:

The downward trend in the beginning is mainly I think due to the drop below $1 per gallon just after the 9-11-01 attack. The price of gas dropped un-naturally low for some reason.

The major spike in 2005 was from the shortages due to Katrina.

The last thing I see is - it looks like we're in for a major price hike again... soon...

US $$$ per US gallons. Regular gas - the cheapest I could fairly easily find.

[spkrman]

Originally Posted by Racer X-8

Okay here it is, hehe. A couple things I can point out:

The downward trend in the beginning is mainly I think due to the drop below $1 per gallon just after the 9-11-01 attack. The price of gas dropped un-naturally low for some reason.

The major spike in 2005 was from the shortages due to Katrina.

The last thing I see is - it looks like we're in for a major price hike again... soon...

US $$$ per US gallons. Regular gas - the cheapest I could fairly easily find.

and that gas has across the board been .20-30 cents cheaper than mine.

i dont understand how people buy big SUV's to commute and run little errands and such... how can you justify the ridiculous gas costs, while gas prices are only goin up?

And how can the cost of gas rise, and rise, and rise for no apparent reason? They make more in one second than I'll make in my entire life... lol

[Jem_hadar]

Originally Posted by spkrman

i dont understand how people buy big SUV's to commute and run little errands and such... how can you justify the ridiculous gas costs, while gas prices are only goin up?

Money isnt an issue for a great deal of ppl. Who cares if gas is $100+/L...

So many individuals make enough money that the cost of gas isnt a deterrent. That gas prices have risen greatly hasnt had an real or concerning impact on their way of life whatsoever.

I can see why most ppl simply dont care. They enjoy all the added fancy luxuries and power and pride associated with their large sedans or large SUVs. Why switch to a compact, more fuel efficient car and lose many of those features which you highly value, if the added cost of fuel doesnt impact you? Increased gas prices cant be a big deal for everyone.

I definitely bought my Yaris bc gas prices matter to me, as it does to many ppl on here, but we're definitely not the entire population. If you got money, who cares what you're paying in gas. They drive what they want to drive... fuel efficiency is not a factor they need to consider (at all) in their vehicle purchase!

Jem

[swng]

I have come across an article about understanding fuel economy ratings. It is admittedly long but I would recommend it:

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/gener.../aa022501a.htm

[Racer X-8]

Good article. It mentions one thing that I see people do a whole lot that just really irks me - when they leave their car idling. Heck, I even turn it off when I'm in a line at a drivethru! It's just wasting gas (and poluting), letting it just sit there idling. Some people think that starting your engine takes some equivalent amount of gas as idling it for like 3 minutes or something. How the heck could it? That's so un-true.

[Black Yaris]

Originally Posted by Racer X-8

The downward trend in the beginning is mainly I think due to the drop below $1 per gallon just after the 9-11-01 attack. The price of gas dropped un-naturally low for some reason.

the complete opposite happened here in Toledo, the gas prices skyrocketted, to over $3 a gallon, wich was unherd of at the time

[stuffy]

well it might be a good idea to start caring at some point....i'm thinking along the lines of the environment as opposed to gas prices.

comfort of a large car is nice, but breathable air is better.

i saw an insect outside today, in canada, in january!!!!

racer-x, that's great that you are conscious of the idling engine,i shut my engine off at lights that i know are long ones, sometimes i shut it off and coast up to the light.

[BMGYaris]

you guys should probably start a new thread or something if you are going to keep talking about gas prices, but i wanted to put in my 2 cents anyway. a number of things can cause increased gas prices. Natural disasters can cause for a temporary shortage of resources which will obviously increase prices. Dont forget inflation when looking at prices, the price might be higher, but the actual expense might be the same. But, most importantly, it is a natural resource, and one that is deplinishing and is aquired from regions that are very politically volatile. Further, as the quantity of fossil fuels decrease it becomes significantly more costly and dangerous to aquire--and it also demands that we locate and build new facilities which will obviously cause for increased prices as well. And finally dont forget taxes are sometimes raised as the environment continues to be get worse.

Thus you have inflation, natural disasters, wars, and the ever diminishing quantity of actual fuel (shortages, danger, difficulty, new facilities), and taxes. Looks like damn good reasons for the price to be steadily increasing to me.

I think that the increasing gas prices are less about the man sticking it to us, and more about the future getting ready to stick it to us real good. Perhaps it is a sign of just how dire our fuel crisis is and will certainly become.

[swng]

Valid comments gentlemen.
I agree that when we talk about fuel economy, we should not only care about saving gas (=money) for ourselves but also care about saving gas (=cleaner environment) for the whole world. Also, if the prices are raised in order to get money for the building of more modern facilities and the funding of more research programs to produce fuel that pollute less, I won't mind, well, as far as I can afford to pay. But..........
Members will be glad to know that now many cities, including mine, have made, or are making, leaving a car idling for more than a few minutes illegal.