Real life MPG

[schrederman]

Really doing it by hand doesn't need to be so complicated. Do it the same way several times and then average them. You will be close to a true figure that you can count on. I carpool so I won't be filling up this weekend... It will be next weekend after 5 or 6, 80-mile round trips.

I thought I read that it's illegal to tamper with or remove stuff like the EGR and DPF... I'd love to get that kind of mileage, especially with the cost of diesel being higher than unleaded...

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by schrederman

Really doing it by hand doesn't need to be so complicated. Do it the same way several times and then average them. You will be close to a true figure that you can count on. I carpool so I won't be filling up this weekend... It will be next weekend after 5 or 6, 80-mile round trips.

I thought I read that it's illegal to tamper with or remove stuff like the EGR and DPF... I'd love to get that kind of mileage, especially with the cost of diesel being higher than unleaded...

It is illegal. It's also stupid to have a DPF

[wingnut60]

schrederman,
I am with you on how to figure fuel mileage--over several fillups, it won't matter that you don't 'stuff the tank' to full each time. If you fail to top off the tank, then you just won't go as far on that fillup before needing fuel again. Using the DTE/comp avg can drive you batty...
Joe

[MarkQ]

If you can use the same pump every time you do your fill up, you can assume that it will click off at the same amount every time, giving fairly accurate info. Using multiple pumps will give you erroneous data due to the variation in each. This way you wouldn't have to force the extra into the filler neck.

[tooltrdr]

my f150 mpg reading is about 0.5 high. Last weeked 600 miles to Cooperstown NY and back home to the Jersey Shore logged aprox 9.5 mpg-hand calc-going and about 10.6 coming home. Maintained about 55 mph. Truck and trailer total about 15000 lbs for this trip

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by jamesrxx951

Smokeywren, I will need to warn you about filling the fuel on a gasser to the cap. For one that is hard to do ...

Yep, and especially with a 2012 F-150 with no gas cap. With the diesel, I literally filled to the cap. With the gasser, instead of literally filling to the cap, I fill until one drop of gas lands on the ground under the wheelwell. And I only do that once or twice a year to double-check the accuracy of the computer (lie-o-meter). The lie-o-meter is surprisingly accurate, so close that I rarely bother to "hand calculate" the MPG on the F-150.

But with either diesel or gasoline, if you don't fill it up to the same level both before and after the MPG run, then you're not going to get an accurate MPG computation. And relying on the service station pumps to cut off only when you are full is an exercise in futility. There can be more than a gallon difference in when the pump shuts off because of foam or air bubbles.

[JIMNLIN]

Originally Posted by wingnut60

schrederman,
I am with you on how to figure fuel mileage--over several fillups, it won't matter that you don't 'stuff the tank' to full each time. If you fail to top off the tank, then you just won't go as far on that fillup before needing fuel again. Using the DTE/comp avg can drive you batty...
Joe

Yeah.....some folks give a best tank mpg figures or a 'puter reading as their mpgs. I prefer to use a average over several tanks or for the trip.
Our last trip was 4550 miles and a 12.5 average which included towing the 11200 lb 5er and running around looking at the sights and errands.

My first trucks were the '50s then '60s etc. Towed for a living when the 454/460 big blocks were the big muscle in one ton DRW trucks. They averaged 4-6 mpgs towing at 25k-28k GCW range. Empty was in the 10-12 mpgs.
Fuel costs/usage is a big deal to me.

[MarkQ]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

Yep, and especially with a 2012 F-150 with no gas cap. With the diesel, I literally filled to the cap.

And relying on the service station pumps to cut off only when you are full is an exercise in futility. There can be more than a gallon difference in when the pump shuts off because of foam or air bubbles.

I acquiesce to Smokey here. The idea of using one pump consistently for a uniform shut off was a borrowed idea. I heard it on an episode of Car Talk once and I assumed the Maggliozzi brothers were correct.

[ykcamom]

We just returned from a 7500 KM trip that took us through Banff and up and down the Alaska Hwy.

We got an average of 13 MPG pulling a 24 foot trailer that weighs in around 6500 lbs.

[Superslif]

Just got back from a 200 mile return trip with: 30 miles of secondary roads, 150 miles of freeway (62-65 mph) and 20 miles of freeway gride-lock (10-20 mph). Got 10.9 MPG. with a little tail wind. On the same trip there, with head winds I got 10.6 MPG, but no gride-lock.

Towing with a 14' Tundra (5.7L) and a 25' tt (5200 lbs. wet)

[schrederman]

Well... I got tricked into fueling up early... Wifey said 5% discount using her card... but pump didn't like the brand of cc. Anyway, same pump, shut off second click. So, 18.7 on the first fill, and 17.3 this time... I figure I can reasonably say I'm averaging 18 mpg. Next week I'm driving, and it's mostly hiway and 80 miles round trip each day... we'll see...

We'll be on an excursion next month and I'll start with a full tank, and figure my mileage... towing...

[tedgard01]

Originally Posted by Oconomowoc

...My wife does have a Prius though, here is the best MPG it's ever got. (She only gets 42mpg due to a heavy foot)

I have a heavy RV... I get 50 mpg, when going downhill and a tail wind.... Oh, that is not relevant either... Lol

[Highway 4x4]

When towing, I get somewhere between 4 and 99 mpg depending on conditions.

[tedgard01]

Originally Posted by Highway 4x4

When towing, I get somewhere between 4 and 99 mpg depending on conditions.

That's so true... I am going out to just stop driving up hill...