Maximum Gas Mileage

[namja]

My nearly 1200 mile trek from SoCal to Washington:

Hollywood, CA to Kettleman City: Forgot about the "break-in procedure". 28 MPG keeping under 2K RPM
Kettleman City to Tracy, CA: ~23 mpg in 8th gear keeping RPMs between 2K-4K (break-in procedure).
Tracy to Cottonwood (south of Redding, CA): same break-in procedure at ~21 MPG due to intense fog, cops, and following a speeder.
Cottonwood to Oregon Welcome Center in Ashland: ~19 MPG due to hills and a bit of spirited driving
Ashland, OR to Myrtle Creek: ~21 MPG due to hills and one hard pull on an uphill to make a pass, but drove more cautiously due to possibly icy conditions
Myrtle Creek to Salem, OR to Seattle, WA: surprisingly ~26 MPG since being out of break-in period, some very spirited driving with some excited people and some ~10-15 MPH traffic near Tacoma.

 

[CKeeler]

Just on my highway jaunt to work

 

[Travis Wills]

Just on my highway jaunt to work

That is amazing gas mileage. Anything you did special? Was this downhill?

 

[HerbieTheCar]

Just on my highway jaunt to work

Holy crap! Just regular 91 Octane? I've noticed that when I use Non-Methonal premium, I get about 4-5 MPG increase in fuel efficiency.

That is amazing gas mileage. Anything you did special? Was this downhill?

He must be driving down the mountain to work!

 

[CKeeler]

My house is at 1384 elevation. My work is at 1237 elevation. The roads I travel are up and down all the way to work. Nothing is flat out here

 

[MerlintheMad]

So, can you consistently duplicate that? And if so, you have an audience waiting with bated breath to learn your secret.

My house is at 1384 elevation. My work is at 1237 elevation. The roads I travel are up and down all the way to work. Nothing is flat out here

 

[CKeeler]

So, can you consistently duplicate that? And if so, you have an audience waiting with bated breath to learn your secret.

Consistently

 

[CKeeler]

As long as I’m not running late and am just taking it easy

 

[MerlintheMad]

Ahah! A caveat! A caveat! I knew it.

Consistently

As long as I’m not running late and am just taking it easy

 

[CKeeler]

Ya caught me!

 

[Travis Wills]

Holy crap! Just regular 91 Octane? I've noticed that when I use Non-Methonal premium, I get about 4-5 MPG increase in fuel efficiency.

Higher octane gas can’t actually increase your absolute maximum fuel efficiency. It can only increase fuel efficiency at closer to wide open throttle.

The engine is no where near knocking at its most fuel efficient throttle position.

 

[HerbieTheCar]

Higher octane gas can’t actually increase your absolute maximum fuel efficiency. It can only increase fuel efficiency at closer to wide open throttle.

The engine is no where near knocking at its most fuel efficient throttle position.

Thanks for the clarification! I know that higher octane gas increases maximum power, somewhat but never seen anything on Non-methanol premium. I have normal 91 premium near work and non-methanol near my house and I've noticed that non-methanol gives me better fuel economy. I don't know anything about non-methanol other than it can be used for yard tools such as lawnmowers and weed whackers and it can be less prone to freezing.

 

[turboAWD]

You sure you mean methanol, Herbie? The most common mix, by far, is 5-10% ETHANOL. Hence the terms E5 or E10 and E85 for mostly ethanol. I would be very surprised if you had a methanol blended gas available at a non-specialty station. Methanol injection is a thing (aka WMI - Water/Methanol injection), but I don't think it's mixed with actual pump gas very often.

 

[HerbieTheCar]

You sure you mean methanol, Herbie? The most common mix, by far, is 5-10% ETHANOL. Hence the terms E5 or E10 and E85 for mostly ethanol. I would be very surprised if you had a methanol blended gas available at a non-specialty station. Methanol injection is a thing (aka WMI - Water/Methanol injection), but I don't think it's mixed with actual pump gas very often.

I think it's supposed to be 0% Ethanol but it says Non-Methonal? I'll double-check today since I'll be filling up my tank.

 

[SteveCo]

For pump gas it's ethanol, not methanol. Gas without ethanol will provide better fuel economy, as gasoline has more energy content per volume than ethanol. The difference isn't huge with only a 10% mix, but it's there.

 

[CKeeler]

A new personal best. Helps that there isn’t much traffic on the road now. 34mpg

 

[MerlintheMad]

A new personal best. Helps that there isn’t much traffic on the road now. 34mpg

Impressive. But what is it for the whole tank? (I see you've only got 40 miles of range left.)

 

[CKeeler]

Impressive. But what is it for the whole tank? (I see you've only got 40 miles of range left.)

This tank has actually been better than most. I’ll get a picture of it when heading home

 

[CKeeler]

Overall, a good tank

 

[Travis Wills]

A new personal best. Helps that there isn’t much traffic on the road now. 34mpg

Try ECO mode with the “Coasting” feature turned on if you have significant downhill portions. That can improve gas mileage a lot if there are long downhill sections.