![]() 07/19/2019 at 07:50 • Filed to: Fuel Economy | ![]() | ![]() |
Last night marks the 3rd time I’ve fueled the van up since we bought it. I’m happy I check my economy the old fashioned way instead of just relying on the gauge on the dash or I would be disappointed.
My first tank told me 24.1 mpg on the gauge, calculating manually showed 26.5 mpg .
2nd tank showed 23.9 mpg on the gauge, manual calculation showed 25.8 mpg
My fill last night showed 22.1 mpg on the gauge ( yes there was some “fun” had on this tank ), yet manual calculation showed 26.03 mpg.
So it gets significantly better economy than my 1994 (18.5-22.5), but only slightly better than my 1992 (22-27), but our driving has been pretty mixed, so I’m interested to see how our trip to Chippewa Falls goes tomorrow morning. I plan to fill it up when we’re leaving then top it off when we get back to check a pure highway run.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 07:56 |
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Yes, but do you keep a spread sheet to track your economy?
![]() 07/19/2019 at 07:57 |
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This might be the first vehicle I’ve ever heard of where the computer is less optimistic than the actual result.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 08:01 |
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Can usually get ours up to 28 on a long highway run on the computer.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 08:07 |
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I was thinking the same thing. The fuel economy meters in both my M3 and my 328i are a bit optimistic .
![]() 07/19/2019 at 08:23 |
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I shouldn’t jump in on someone else’s question, but I can’t help it!
For which years? I’m pretty sure I have at least a decade’s worth of records on my old truck. I watched it decline from 20 mpg down to 18 mpg. I switched from a notepad/spreadsheet to Mileage Keeper when I bought my WRX. I have over three years in for the WRX (19.2 mpg), but lost track when I started getting rentals for work.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 08:31 |
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i have to admit, i’ve never once checked what my car s f uel economy is
![]() 07/19/2019 at 08:43 |
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Since I learned to drive, I have always tracked mileage. Every tank, every car (even rentals). My first car had a unreliable fuel gauge. Only way to ensure I wasn't stranded was to track mileage. (And keep a gas can in the trunk) over the last 30 years, I've driven hundreds of cars. I travel for business frequently and rent 15-20 cars a year. Very seldom have I found a car that wasn't optimistic in the mileage calculation. Kudos to Dodge for this one.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 08:56 |
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I’ve been using a spread sheet since I got my 328i. I used to get 26 MPG with a standard deviation of 1.5. Now that I don’t drive as far to work, it’s dropped to 24 MPG with a standard deviation of 2.5.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 09:03 |
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Pro tip: don’t fill it back up quite as far and your mileage will improve.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 09:05 |
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I was told that when you replace the OEM tires, you'll lose some MPG because the OEM tires roll more easily, even for the exact same brand and model of tire.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 10:07 |
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![]() 07/19/2019 at 10:08 |
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I always check.
Mostly because I like to know, but partially because it gives me an idea if something is wrong. Like when my van went from 18.5 down to 12-14, I knew something wasn’t right.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 10:09 |
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I’m guessing it will be 28-30 real world on our trip.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 10:10 |
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It’s the first I’ve driven that’s like this. Generally I find the computer is 1-5 mpg optimistic. I’m very happy to find this one is not.
![]() 07/19/2019 at 10:13 |
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I usually check at each fill up and was recording on fuelly for a while. I got lapse on it when I ran for a long time without mileage variance. I just started logging on fuelly again when we got the new van.
This made me realize I haven’t tracked my 1994's mileage on paper since it was the 3.0 3-speed under the hood.....
![]() 07/19/2019 at 23:18 |
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It used to be more work for me since I kept the records on a small spiral notepad in my glove box and transferred them to a spreadsheet every six months or so. Now the apps make it super easy as long as other people aren’t driving my car and filling the tank.