That statement is in error right there. City driving is where you have the MOST opportunity to improve mileage! Properly dealing with changing conditions like traffic and light timing will give you a huge boost.

...and if you're going to complain about your budget for a device that will eventually pay for itself, don't go listing your more expenive mods, which will never pay for themselves.

 

Verily, your point has been made.

or if you prefer today's colloquial speech: Shaddup.

 

I don't recommend this when the host is NOT a large BOX truck or 18 wheeler that can't possible stop faster than you.

How this relates to distance varies with speed. How you do it at speed is look at the trucks rear bumper and a mark on the road. When they pass count "one thousand, two one thousand " until the front bumper of your car reaches the same mark on the road. You want to make sure it's no less than 1 sec. I like and recomend a tad over 1sec

My scan gage and trips testing this hyper milling technique has told me this:

1. 1+ sec drafting is good for 5 to 6 more mpg (than not) at 55 to 70mph
2. Never go more than 70 if eco is a goal
3. Greater than 2sec is maybe good for 1 or 2 mpg
4. less than 1 sec is unsafe and will not leave you time to dodge anything or brake safe. It's also a breaking a DMV law in most states.
5. If you can't and do not want to stay focused when doing this back off and don't. If you are day-dreaming and discussing stuff with others in the car, don't do it. You have to pay attention all the time.
6. You can get 44mpg in a MT Sport at 65 to 70 mph doing this every time.....

Hope this helps

 

Another observation today, backed up by data.

on my 2008 Sport MT w/ 2500miles
75F outside

With engine warm
the idle fuel usage is .18gal/hr
under same condition having some ele loads on jacks it up to .24gph

head lights
even parking lights and
HVAC fan
are what I cycled when making this observation.

Recommendation.

If your of the mind to you keep the eng running (when at a light or stopped) and you are between two cars, you could cut the lights off till it looks like it's time to go.

Of course a small savings, but IMHO it all adds up

 

Well another plus for the SG. It's not effected at all from under or over fill and pump issues. So if it says the tank was 44mpg it will be very close. My average is at 42 using the MILES/GAL = MPG math and can vary a great deal and I'm sure over time it's as good as the measured gal pumped.

I set mine up to read HP now. It does not take many to run down the road for sure...

Too bad other SG users have little to offer here

 

Not for long, I'm locked and loaded! Mine just arrived yesterday, installed last night, with the first drive today!
Home > Haircut > Lowe's (across the shopping center) > Got lost, wrong offramp > Wawa > Home. (about 30 miles)



Plenty of "first timer" observations:
- ANY kind of acceleration is scary, and gets in the range of 15-28 MPG
- Steady state between 50-55 shows low 40's, but my area is very hilly
- The Fit loves the FAS, cutting the engine brings the trip reading up exponentially, even if its brief.
- Thermostat keeps the water temp at 172-173
- Intake air temp is VERY close to the actual outdoor temp over 45 MPH.
- Decel fuel cutoff seems to be reporting correctly right out of the box (9999 MPG)

Plenty more to learn.

Edit: also, get to 5th gear fast, but dont lug it in the lower gears to get there.

 

Rich,
Don't forget to look up now and than at Signage, Stop lights... lol

Do some drafting and watch the big numbers at real speed.

That's the same color I made mine.

Here's a tip. On the fill up just reset it and set the new $/gal.
don't change the fuel with the trim with the gal used feature. You will see it's about dead nuts messing with it will put you in a cycle of always messing with it when in reality it OK....

have fun!



I programed daily MPG as my 1st X gauge so I can leave it up with three others as a gauges. Way better than looking at the trip as you did above when rolling along.

I just added my 2nd X gauge this week
Program it to read HP

 

Gotcha. that "trip" shot was for posterity. my current setup is:
Left Side: Instant MPG & Xgauge Trip MPG
Right Side: 2 out of 3: Voltage, Water temp, Intake air temp.

Interesting on the Fillup routine. this upcoming gas stop will be the first fill so I know not to touch the "gals used". but should I really not touch it on the tank after that? Even if it's several gallons off?

 

Congrats on getting the Scangauge btw

 

Yes That's what I suggest. It's very close to perfect with no correction and what you will be doing is making it wrong based on fill issues. Does than make sense? On average you will see it's perfect. Avg being over maybe 5 fills or so.

Ohh and set the gal size of the tank to 10 (gives some extra margin) and leave that. It will not let you do 10.8 and 11 will be too late on a normal fill

SNAP time get your's, brother.

sorry for the typo

 

Fair enough, I'll just hit fillup then. I do my log calculations from the odometer and gas receipt either way so we'll see what happens.

Why do we need to get his brother?

 

I just picked up my SGII a few days ago! This little wonder has tons of goodies to be displayed. I currently have it set to X guage trip AFE (average fuel economy) and X guage AFU (average fuel used). I also set it to MPG and GPH. I still can't get to the 40 mpg mark but I'm trying. My commute to work is mostly all back roads, no highway. I've been coasting in 5th as much as possible and will put it in neutral to get me the rest of the way to the stop sign, if needed.

I changed the oil first the first time today, right at 5K miles, and switched to Mobil 1 synthetic. My best MPG so far is 38.5 so I'm getting close to 40 but not yet.

 

The X guage trip MPG is nice! I squeaked 39.3 on the way to work today, getting closer.

 

Nice going. Did you do anything to the car and how did you drive.

I confess on my commute it takes some work to get the 40's. If I drove 100% normal I'd be in the 35 range or less.


Have you noticed how it takes almost the entire trip to dig yourself out of that low mpg you have just getting to the end of the street ....at the START of the day?

 

The car (engine wise) is bone stock. I have it lowered on Progress springs and am now running 15" Kosei K1 wheels. Yeah, as far as that MPG, it takes quite a while for the numbers to get up there. I also switched to the TPS on the SG. It seems to help give an idea on how hard I'm pressing the gas pedal down. I'm shifting usually no higher than 3K RPM's and actually slowed my speed down a bit today.

 

Hey guys... check your scangauges. I've taken two trips with mine so far (30 miles and 14 miles) and each time the "today trip" reports top speeds WAY over what I've actually driven. The First time it was 114, today it read 98, when I didn't even cross 55. I usually don't look at this screen, but I just hope it isnt skewing my MPG figures higher. I will have to leave one of the gauges set to MPH next time to try and spot when this happens.
Anyone else with max speeds reading high?

 

i just got mine today ordered it from Amazon...i plugged it in and it read fuel tank FULL even though i was at empty..... ..i still dont know how to use it

 

i just got mine too- i got the built in kind but it only tells you the milage and trip length , o and i upgraded to the model with the oil life counter too...

no not really i dont have one- boo for me and congrats to all you who know every vital about the car at any second
maybe someday...

 

Yes and I've been meaning to call about that.

 

When new and after you fill up, you will have to get to the "fill" and tell it you filled up. You will also have to tell it the size of the tank. When you fill the tank and reset the fill, it will ask you for the cost per gal. If you update that it will tell you to a cent what you cost's are.