how to calculate gas mileage?

[Pheonixx77]

ok i am about to make a long trip in the X fayetteville, NC
to Fredonia, NY about 13 hours and approx 7 or 800 miles not exactly sure. however i want to know how to calculate miles per gallon. i figure if i write down gallons filled (starting with full tank) and miles drived i can divide them right?

 

[Alec]

yup, just use the trip odo and the amount you fill up after that trip.

 

[james t]

fill the tank up. when you get to your first gas stop, fill it up again in the same manner you did the first time. if you packed it full, then pack it full. if you stopped at the cutoff, then stop at the cutoff. once full the second time, check the gallons on the pump. divide your trip OD reading by the gallons... like this...

OD reading- 300 miles
gallons- 15 gallons

300/15= 20 mpg.

 

[Pheonixx77]

so then i can take all my 25, 20, 15 whatever i might get and avg them out? keep in ming i will be driving up Route 77...deep in the mountians ...mountians from north carolina to pennsylvania. so i figure my mileage will be crappy but i want to see...
thank ford for cruise control, i KNOW it makes a small diff

 

[JoshC]

Is the cruise control designed to help with fuel milage on an automatic vehicle?

 

[Alec]

Originally posted by JoshC
Is the cruise control designed to help with fuel milage on an automatic vehicle?

no, just to keep your foot happy. cruise can result on better or worse mileage, depends on the driver. In mine it usually resulted in worse mileage, as it does in my VW.

 

[JoshC]

Just seems like it does an aweful lot of shifting in my wifes Escape, if i get to an incline, i normally just tap the cruise off and drive it up, to keep it from shifting.

 

[Alec]

Before the s/c Splat didn't like hills too much in cruise. However with the s/c there was so much torque it barely ever downshifted

 

[Rhett]

With cruise control on big hills, I have found that most vehicles will get lower mileage. This is because human beings see the upcoming hill and will let the car coast down one hill to get up the next easier. A cruise control unit, on the other hand, will apply the brake going down a hill, requiring more gas to get up the next hill.

 

[JoshC]

I didn't think the crusie could actually use the brake?

 

[Alec]

Originally posted by JoshC
I didn't think the crusie could actually use the brake?

Most cars don't, and neither do any throttle-by-cable Explorers.

However, mine would modulate the blowoff on the s/c to create more engine braking when needed, though this is more a function of load than smart cruise.

 

[Pheonixx77]

i have seen better mileage WITH cruise, you just cant keep screwing with it set it and leave it alone...big hills are diff but on a 13 hr trip my foor and leg gets tired