ScanGauge II 3-in-1 Compact Multifunction Vehicle Computer with Customizable Display

I was fortunate to have a real time MPG gauge on my 1992 VW Passat and it taught me a lot about my fuel consumption. Like Nickel said in the article, a few small changes to your current driving habits can save you a lot of money.

Even better, it improves the way your engine runs and reduces emissions. Fewer ‘orange alert’ days would be great!

Has anyone else heard of it or tried it out??
http://hfactorfs.com/workings.html

For people who have a problem monitoring their acceleration (like me, when I get caught up in a really awesome song), try using the cruise control. That’s been my saving grace!

Congrats!

Dan

However, one tank may or may not be a good test case since you assume that the pump shuts off when your tank is “full” but that may not be the case. For example, I recently did an experiment and found that I could add more than one additional gallon into my “full” gas tank – full meaning that the fuel pump stopped dispensing fuel. But by trickling in the remainder, I added just over 1 more gallon! I did this out of curiosity. A high fuel pump flow rate is likely to indicate “full” sooner than a low flow rate nozzle.

Regardless, I have found that getting 10% to 20% better mpg is possible through improved driving techniques too.

Also – i’m starting to carpool. Every day that I don’t drive saves me $7.12. So if I carpool just twice/week (me driving once), that’s a savings of $30/month. woohoo!

A few more mileage enhancing tips.

1. Don’t drive during rush hour. You spend way too much time standing in traffic, wasting gas, And more time at stop lights, too. Leave early or late to avoid the crowd if possible.

2. Speaking of stoplights, some cities time their lights on busy streets so that traffic doesn’t have to stop if a certain speed limit is observed. This can be a HUGE gas savings for motorists, so try to find these streets and use if possible. Unfortunately, in Colorado Springs, the planners never heard of such a great idea.

3. I’ve noticed that my mileage drops quite a bit when driving in inclement weather – rain included. Seems that the extra friction when the streets are wet really makes a difference sometimes up to 20%. Sounds silly, but try to drive “dry.”

Dan

Recently I looked at my mpg and compared it to what the EPA says I should get for my 2001 Saturn SC-2. My fuel economy is way better.

I have achieved 44mpg on one tankful, and 40mpg on several tankfuls, but usually I am around 38 mpg on the highway.

My website explains in detail 37 ideas about how to get better fuel economy, buy gas cheaper, avoid using fuel, and other tips about lowering overall transportation costs. I use most of the techniques and have reduced my fuel consumption by about 75% over the last three years.

Out here on the prairie, we can coast heading east into town. I have traveled miles without using the gas because of a strong wind at my back. We also have serious headwinds as well. In those cases I slow down.

Overall, driving in Cheyenne is relatively conservative. Few people are in a hurry to burn up that $3.98 a gallon gas, but there are some that still drive like it is 75 cents a gallon. My fuel is $2.91 per gallon, and even at that reduced price, I don’t waste any of it.

Our fuel economy and our cost of transportation is all based on our decisions about what we drive, how we drive and how we purchase fuel. It can add up to many thousands of dollars each year. None of us have that kind of money to just throw away.

Clair

Perversely, my in-town mileage is now higher than my highway mileage (33mpg vs 27mpg) because my highway rpms are much higher than my in-town rpms.

I’ve also been using Fuel Frog to keep track of my mileage (www.fuelfrog.com)

Ethanol also gives less mpg than gasoline…meaning you have to purchase more to go the same distance.

Also, ethanol is a big joke. You don’t save any emissions or money, and the only reason it exists is because the 1st presidential primary is in Iowa. It takes the equivalent energy in 1 barrel of oil to make 1.2 barrels of ethanol. Not efficient at all, considering oil has more energy per gallon than enthanol does per gallon. The sooner we get rid of corn ethanol the sooner we can find a real alternative.

My older Grand Prix has one of those ‘driving centers’ that calculates miles left on the tank and MPG. I am leaving it on the MPG reading — it is instant feedback for my driving habits.

I made a trip down there to get ethanol for a friend’s car and later found out a few things. 1. There’s a lot of production line Flex Fuel vehicles out there, just look for a list them on the internet. Mostly SUVs and trucks. 2. Getting a Flex Fuel kit is easy, finding an installer is harder. (I was thinking about it.) 3. Ethanol has less chemical energy to convert into kinetic energy, so you might be sacrificing hp to switch. You might be better off tanking up with regular gas 3/4 of the way and then topping off the last 1/4 with ethanol.

Personally, I wouldn’t put any ethanol in my car because it eats through rubber fuel lines. (Or more technically speaking, leaches out the hydrocarbons in the rubber, thus destroying it.) I guess 10% ethanol to gas is considered ok?

Last time I went I decided to try 65 the whole way. Well I noticed a few things. The most obvious was that most other drivers had slowed down, especially diesel fueled trucks. The other thing is I got back to Memphis on a little over half a tank. I couldn’t believe it. I probably used 5 gallons less gas then I used to. It took about 15 minutes longer (30 round trip), but I saved about $20. My time and safety are worth at least $20/half hour.

About the only other things I’m doing are to be more vigilant about my tire pressure, maintain a cruising speed that’s a lot slower than I usually prefer. (By about 5mph. I no longer sit in the fast lane.)

The last thing I’m doing is to alter my route to avoid a big hill. I have to make a right turn onto it and usually it’s from a red light. Then I have to charge up the hill, crest it to find another red light, and then midway down the hill, another red light. I avoid this foolishness by driving on a slightly flatter route riddled with stop signs to the next exit. I find that depending on traffic, it’s slightly slower, but less annoying.

Has anyone else changed their route to save fuel?

I just wrote a post yesterday about the temptation to fill up with E85 (85% ethanol) instead of regular gas. I don’t know if it’s available where you are, but it is a least 50 cents cheaper than gas in my area. I also saw your old post on how ethanol-blended gas can reduce gas mileage. It turns out that the gas mileage with E85 is 20-30% worse than regular unleaded. Ouch.

I’ve been driving an old Buick LeSabre for the past 6 months, and through similar driving habits had managed to coax it up to a little over 30 miles per gallon until a week ago. Now it needs some major repairs and I’m lucky to get more than 15-18 miles per gallon in it.

I just bought a Honda Fit this past weekend, though, so I only need to drive the Buick one more time and that is to get rid of it. I imagine the Fit is going to get much better mileage.