Scangauge fun

[skyl4rk]

Yesterday I went for a ride and tried to maximize mpg. I was on country roads with very little traffic so I could drive as slow as I wanted. I also picked roads where there are not many stop signs. I generally drove around 45mph, but also coasted down hills and if there was no traffic, would coast down to 30mph, then speed up to 45mph, then coast down to 30 again. I always coasted as long as possible before stopping. At the end of the trip my maximum speed was 56mph and max rpm was 2750.

By driving slow and coasting in idle as much as possible, over a 90 mile trip, I was able to get 52mpg according to the scangauge.

This is the first tank of gas with the scangauge, so I have not trued up the scangauge by filling the tank and adjusting the scangauge to make sure it is reading the right amount. So my numbers might be off.

The best mileage I can get is at 30mph in 5th gear. It jumps around a bit but it is in the upper 50'smpg. I think the car could get much better mpg's in every day driving if it were geared up a bit. When my tires wear down I am going to save up for some rims, and get the biggest tire circumference that will fit in the wheel well. Even gearing it up 10% would help.

My tank to tank averages are about 35mpg and should climb with the scangauge helping me know when I am getting good mpg's.

[equlizer]

please tell us how you know the average speed you went and average rpm on the "scangauge" please

[skyl4rk]

The ScanGuage keeps data for the day, trip and tank (fill up). It has top speed, average speed, top rpm, mpg, gallons of gas per hour, top rpm, average rpm, highest water temp, intake air temp and a lot more. You can also pull trouble codes with it. It connects to the OBD II port, the same port the mechanics use to get trouble codes from your vehicle.

http://www.scangauge.com/

[equlizer]

yes thank you I own a scangauge II and cant find anywhere where it keeps average speed and rpm's.

[skyl4rk]

It is under Trip, and you can toggle through Today, Tank, Trip and choose the interval you want.

[skyl4rk]

I just filled up my fourth tank of gas. On the third tank, I went 480 miles for 42.7 mpg. To get this level of fuel efficiency I drove slowly and coasted a lot. 40 to 45 mph seems to be a good speed for gas mileage. Slower is good too, 30mph in 5th gear seems to be the peak steady speed mpg rate.

I'm not sure I will be able to repeat the 42.7mpg performance because it requires lots of slow driving on country roads with no stop signs. I am lucky to have lots of roads like this in my area, but don't always have the time to go slow.

Part of this tank included the addition of the grill block and valence block. However I think most of the improved gas mileage is due to driving style.

My next "mod" is to put Mobil 1 synthetic oil in the car at the next oil change. I may also build rear wheel fairings.