MPG isn't what it should be?! ideas?

[smiley1]

It's interesting, I get 13-145 mpg here, but I averaged 15-16 or even 16.5 to close to 17 mpg going out west. with my extire explorer packed to the brim with stuff and weight. However, I guess it is mostly flat driving out there, so that is probably why.

Its the quality of gas. The more liberal states tend to have a crap load of addatives to reduce emissions. While it may work on paper the fact of the matter is they are requiring the vehicle to burn more fuel to deliver the same power of one running regular fuel. The addatives dilute the effective performance of the fuel. As a result, it produces more emissions as more fuel is required.

Gota love American politics. :fire:

 

[Gcrop]

Just my personal observations and experiences. My 2000 V6 Mustang got 115,000 in just over 4 years from me and mostly highway (Memphis to Louisiana) miles. The speed I traveled seemed to not have a very big impact on my MPG. EVERY time I filled that car up I would calculate my MPG and on trips when I would get in a group doing 90+mph on the highway I might get better MPG than when I satyed around 75-80mph. No hills coming or going. I think the previous poster has a good point. Some gas burns differently than others and could cause some differences. For about a year I kept an Excel spreadsheet of everytime I filled up, what brand, what grade, gallons, price and that helped me to determine who gave me the best MPG (and cheapest avg price).

Just some thoughts and experiences of mine.

Geoff

P.S. I am a MPG nazi, everytime I fill up I write down the mileage from the tripometer onto the receipt and immediately calculate my MPG with my cell phone. I then write that down onto the receipt as well and save it, then reset the tripometer. My gf thinks I am .