50+ MPG Owners Club

[FXSTi]

Just filled, 10,274 miles on odometer 467 mile tank and 9.307 gallons. That works out to 50.177mpg. I'm in.

[FXSTi]

I've had three more 50+mpg tanks since my last update.

[belovedson]

How th heck do you guys avg that?

Sent from my ADR8995 using Tapatalk

[FXSTi]

Originally Posted by belovedson

How th heck do you guys avg that?

It takes a heck of a lot of work. I view it as a one man competition. I am mindful of my gas mileage every second I drive and always trying to improve.

I used to drive everywhere I went as fast as I could get away with. For me driving has always been a game, I just changed the rules.

A big factor is the route I drive. I'm driving 55 miles each way, five days a week. My route has a few miles of state highway (not freeway) lots of side roads and a couple miles in a small city. If my route was all city or all freeway, there is no way I could even get close. Even with a challenging route there are things a driver can do to increase mileage

A good place to start would be with this list: 100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

In my opinion, the techniques which will get you the most gain:

1. Slow down
2. Accelerate smoothly, and shift early.
3. Anticipate traffic lights (it takes more fuel to get a car moving than it does to keep it moving)
4. Drive like you have no brakes (stepping on the brake wastes all the gas you spent getting up to speed)
5. When driving in hills, maintain a steady throttle position instead of steady speed. Imagine you are on a roller coaster go up the hills slowly and then pick up speed on the way down.
6. Don't let the car idle, shut down at long lights, and warm it up by driving.


There are a few thing you can do to the car which will help to get better mileage:

1. Tire pressure: From Fuel Economy

You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.

I run higher pressures than the door numbers. If you look at the small print on the sidewall of the tire you will see a maximum recommended pressure. I'm pretty close to that.

2. Track your fuel economy. Keep a log on a site like Fuelly | Share and Compare Your MPG and/or get an application for your phone. I use FuelLog from the Android market.

3. Add an OBDII device which provides instant feed back, such as; Ultra Gauge, Scan Gauge or Torque (an Android app with a Bluetooth OBDII dongle). Having the feedback makes you aware of how you are doing and what wastes fuel.

Using these techniques should help to get better mileage. To get even higher will require using more advanced techniques. Those can be found on sites like CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling, Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com, and GasSavers.org - Fuel Efficiency, Save Gas and Gas Mileage Forum

I hope this helped

[3Mach1]

Originally Posted by FXSTi

It takes a heck of a lot of work. I view it as a one man competition. I am mindful of my gas mileage every second I drive and always trying to improve.

I used to drive everywhere I went as fast as I could get away with. For me driving has always been a game, I just changed the rules.

A big factor is the route I drive. I'm driving 55 miles each way, five days a week. My route has a few miles of state highway (not freeway) lots of side roads and a couple miles in a small city. If my route was all city or all freeway, there is no way I could even get close. Even with a challenging route there are things a driver can do to increase mileage

A good place to start would be with this list: 100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

In my opinion, the techniques which will get you the most gain:

1. Slow down
2. Accelerate smoothly, and shift early.
3. Anticipate traffic lights (it takes more fuel to get a car moving than it does to keep it moving)
4. Drive like you have no brakes (stepping on the brake wastes all the gas you spent getting up to speed)
5. When driving in hills, maintain a steady throttle position instead of steady speed. Imagine you are on a roller coaster go up the hills slowly and then pick up speed on the way down.
6. Don't let the car idle, shut down at long lights, and warm it up by driving.


There are a few thing you can do to the car which will help to get better mileage:

1. Tire pressure: From Fuel Economy

You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.

I run higher pressures than the door numbers. If you look at the small print on the sidewall of the tire you will see a maximum recommended pressure. I'm pretty close to that.

2. Track your fuel economy. Keep a log on a site like Fuelly | Share and Compare Your MPG and/or get an application for your phone. I use FuelLog from the Android market.

3. Add an OBDII device which provides instant feed back, such as; Ultra Gauge, Scan Gauge or Torque (an Android app with a Bluetooth OBDII dongle). Having the feedback makes you aware of how you are doing and what wastes fuel.

Using these techniques should help to get better mileage. To get even higher will require using more advanced techniques. Those can be found on sites like CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling, Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com, and GasSavers.org - Fuel Efficiency, Save Gas and Gas Mileage Forum

I hope this helped

Excellent write up. Some of you guys are getting better mpg than my 1200cc motorcycle. My last tank with it was a miserable 35 mpg. I have seen as high as 55 but usually average about 45. There are so many factors that go into good mpg and the above poster just has a great write up. I dont have an economy car but I do try to practice the above myself even on my motorcycle if possible. Sometimes the fun factor over rides my brain and makes me twist the throttle harder at times.

[mamiata1]

I know it's possible but you gotta have just the right conditions. There's a park nearby and the road has very few stop lights. It's a little hilly but after a few miles from resetting the MPG computer and setting the speedo at 40 MPH in 5th gear the readout said 58.6 MPG. Where I live in suburbia and all the short trip errands I run it can't be done. My last tank was an actual 32.5 MPG. Not only do the stop signs and stop lights kill you but when the engine is cold the mileage is terrible.

[FXSTi]

Originally Posted by mamiata1

I know it's possible but you gotta have just the right conditions. There's a park nearby and the road has very few stop lights. It's a little hilly but after a few miles from resetting the MPG computer and setting the speedo at 40 MPH in 5th gear the readout said 58.6 MPG. Where I live in suburbia and all the short trip errands I run it can't be done. My last tank was an actual 32.5 MPG. Not only do the stop signs and stop lights kill you but when the engine is cold the mileage is terrible.

You say it is terrible, but 32.5 is .5 better than the EPA combined average, in the winter, in Michigan, under less than optimal conditions. You are doing a very good job.

[FXSTi]

Originally Posted by mamiata1

I know it's possible but you gotta have just the right conditions. There's a park nearby and the road has very few stop lights. It's a little hilly but after a few miles from resetting the MPG computer and setting the speedo at 40 MPH in 5th gear the readout said 58.6 MPG. Where I live in suburbia and all the short trip errands I run it can't be done. My last tank was an actual 32.5 MPG. Not only do the stop signs and stop lights kill you but when the engine is cold the mileage is terrible.

I was re-reading what I wrote and thought I would add a few more items to address your driving conditions.

Short trips: When you can, combine trips. If possible go to the furthest point first so your engine has the chance to get warm. If the trips are short enough consider walking or riding a bike.

Stop signs: Don't race to them. Accelerate gently, and play shuffleboard with the stop signs (if no one is on your tail). In shuffleboard the object is to give the puck just enough power to make it stop in the end zone without going over. Just remember not to knock to opposing team over the back line.

Traffic lights: Like I said above, anticipate them. When you see a red light ahead you probably shouldn't have your foot on the gas. Learn the timing of the lights you hit a lot. Sometimes you can cruise on through a series of lights just by driving the right speed. Another thing to look for with long greens is the pedestrian sign. In Michigan they usually flash nine times and go to red just before the cross traffic gets a yellow light. Newer crosswalks have a countdown timer, to tell pedestrians how long they have to get across. Several times now I have timed a series of lights perfectly, while another car passes me, races to the red light and is sitting there as I coast through as it turns green.

Cold engine: Park in a garage if you can, use an engine block heater if you have one. If you don't have a garage, parking with the engine facing the rising sun will give a couple degree head start and clear ice off the windshield in the morning. Build a grill block, copying the block on the sfe model should be very safe. I use that much on both sides of the lower grill, Ecomaniac blocks even more than I do. Having an Ultra Gauge makes this possible because you can keep a close eye on temps.

You didn't comment on, it but trip planning can play a big part of getting better mileage. Look for routes with less traffic. Plan for driving off peak driving times. Know where you are going so you don't waste gas driving around lost.

Another thing that can kill mileage in urban areas is stop and crawl freeway traffic. Try to find the rhythm of the flow. If you leave enough of a gap you can sometimes cruise in first gear while everyone else if blasting off and slamming on the brakes repeatedly.

I have found that driving for mileage has made me more aware of my surroundings (I used to drive a semi truck and that required awareness too, but I'm even more aware than that now). It has also lowered my stress level a lot, but I'm sure that my poking along has raised other peoples stress at times. I'm pretty conscious of not impeding others, but I won't speed just to make others happy either.

[FXSTi]

Just thought I'd mention my new personal best tank. The math worked out to 57.01 mpg on a 436 mile fill up. My gas gauge was still showing a quarter of a tank, but I wanted to know if the high numbers on the Ultra Gauge were really happening. The crazy thing is, my Ultra Gauge was showing 54.5 mpg.

[LoDrag]

Wow, very impressive. I’m still learning my car and all the techniques. My stop and go afternoons are hurting my morning gains.