grimmett2107

im glad gas is going down

CivicWagonRUS

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by grimmett2107 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im glad gas is going down</TD></TR></TABLE>

Eh, I don't care much except that hopefully food will get cheaper. I commute on my motorcycle (short ride) so the difference between filling up for $10 a month vs $15 a month is small.

Buktheng

I don't know how the hell you guys do that but I can't even get over 25 MPH on my 07 Auto Sport Fit. I don't know if its me but when I drive it, I drive to get the most I can out of every tank of gas. Is it just the auto have a poor gear ratio? Do you think if I change the spark plug and air filter it'll do anything since I haven't done that since I bought the car and have about 36K miles on it.

CivicWagonRUS

Where do you drive the car most of the time? City? Highway? Rural roads?

What do you do to drive efficiently?

25mpg is rather poor, my 1990 Civic Wagon (auto, DPFI) got 27-28 just driving around town, then again I did drive in an efficient manner.

On the other hand my friend's girlfriend somehow manages to get 21mpg in her Sport Auto

dbrd

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Buktheng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't know how the hell you guys do that but I can't even get over 25 MPH on my 07 Auto Sport Fit. I don't know if its me but when I drive it, I drive to get the most I can out of every tank of gas. Is it just the auto have a poor gear ratio? Do you think if I change the spark plug and air filter it'll do anything since I haven't done that since I bought the car and have about 36K miles on it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually, the final drive is a little taller on the auto than the manual, plus it locks up in each gear, so it is better than most auto trannies for fuel economy. I don't think you would need spark plugs at this point, but for sure you need to be changing the air filter more often. Have you changed the oil per the oil life monitor? Do you check the tire pressure? As CWRUS asks, what economy driving techniques do you use?

Buktheng

I just changed the oil on it recently, use Mobil 1 5W20 synthetic and I do check the tire pressure. I try to keep it around 40psi. I don't really use any driving techniques, just try to drive conservative, like doing speed limit and not speeding up like crazy from a stop. Its crazy, the only time I ever get close to 30-31 MPG is when I'm taking a trip and do strictly highway miles.

Its been like this pretty much since I bought the car like a year and a half ago.

Sahwn

Thought I would share some info:

my drive:



My log:

CivicWagonRUS

So your last all highway tank was 43.66 mpg? That's pretty much exactly what mine gets on the highway (driving 65ish, no hypermiling, tires @36psi)). How fast were you going?

Sahwn

Terrain and weather is going to vary between people considerably, here is mine:

1/4 of the trip was speeds of 55mph - flat - heavy rain - 10/24/2008 - 74 degrees
1/4 of the trip was speeds of 60mph - hills - heavy rain - 10/24/2008 - 74 degrees
1/2 of the trip was speeds of 70mph - hills - night - 10/25/2008 - 50 degrees

Mods:
Tires at 65psig - now with 43K on them and a patch in 2 of the tires.
short ram intake(not sure is this is any good yet)
FAS switch(didn't use much)
Skunk2 short shifter
0w20 mobile1 synthetic oil 50% oil life left

This was highway/interstate driving with Cruise Control doing the speed limit. From Myrtle Beach to Lexington and from Lexington to Carowinds(Scarowinds)/Charlotte, NC and back. Only used FAS when approaching stoplights. What a sad tank

388.6miles
8.9 gallons
43.6 mpg

Well, this is what the speed limit and CC will get you in a MT Fit.

CivicWagonRUS

Jeez, 65 PSI seems a little extreme. Is that with the stock tires that come on the "Base" model? I keep my tires at 36 psi, a little above the recommended pressure (32psi iirc). In the wet, grip is absolutely atrocious. Anything more than slow and deliberate acceleration leads to wheel spin in first gear. I can't imagine what it'd be like at 65psi.

Sahwn

Not extreme when people are running 80psig+. I have noticed enhanced grip in wet and dry conditions and hopefully prolonged life of the stock tire(sport model Dunlops rated at side wall max of 51psig). According to my logs I have only been at 65psig for about 3k. Before that I was at 60psig for about 11k. Before that it was 50-55psig for about 12k.

dbrd

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sb foto &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

leaving it in gear cuts fuel. leaving it in neutral puts it in idle and uses fuel. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The question was whether to leave it in gear or put it into neutral and coast while approaching a stop. My ScanGuage II tells me he is correct, at least in part. Taking your foot off the gas cuts off the gas. My Fit is a manual transmission, so I only address its behavior:

1. Take your foot off the gas and leave it in gear, and the injectors are cut off.
2. Put the clutch in, even for a moment, and it does not cut off fuel.
3. You have to decide if the drag from the motor out-weighs the benefit of having the fuel off.

Coasting in neutral at 30 gives greater than 100 mpg, at 60, greater than 200 mpg. Coming down an incline (bridges, around here), I take advantage of gravity and coast in neutral as far as it will get me, before I need to use the gas again to maintain speed. When I get caught by a light, I leave it in gear, a change from my previous practice.

Sahwn

Whenever my foot is off the gas I cut off the fuel.

dbrd

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sahwn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whenever my foot is off the gas I cut off the fuel. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Whenever the engine is idling - coasting in neutral, with the clutch in, or in gear, the injectors are working except in certain circumstances as described. Otherwise, why cut off the engine, for those like you that are willing to do that? There would be no benefit.

It is taking a while to get the ScanGuage calibrated to my satisfaction. I've filled twice. When you fill it tells how much fuel it estimates you used, and you put in the actual, giving it a percentage to adjust. The first fill resulted in a big increase in the mpg it estimated. The second resulted in a smaller decrease. This tank avg. seems to be getting close to what I calculate; 39 plus change. Will see when I fill up next.

I adjusted the speed (odometer) for tire wear against mile markers on the advice of a friend who works in GIS, who insists DOTs are fanatical about accuracy when placing them. He discouraged me from buying a GPS.

It has gotten to the point I cannot find gas without ethanol.

Sahwn

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dbrd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Whenever the engine is idling - coasting in neutral, with the clutch in, or in gear, the injectors are working except in certain circumstances as described. Otherwise, why cut off the engine, for those like you that are willing to do that? There would be no benefit.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

If I am understanding your question then my mileage logs should answer your question. If you notice I started out at 43mpg and that is without cutting off the car and I was attempting to learn new techniques. You can see that my mpg (more the most part) increased and peaked at 70.5mpg. The valleys in between were due to other highway trips with the family and using A/C, experimenting with air filters and other techniques. Now, DFCO only works until 1500 rpms then the fuel starts flowing. Whenever the car is on it is using/wasting fuel. When approaching a red stop light I cut the fuel(FAS) and I P&G which involves cutting the fuel off. No fuel = infinite mpg when moving and when stopped no fuel = no wasted fuel and no decrease in mpg. Every little bit counts. I use to think this was a bunch of crap and 50mpg was impossible but when I reached 50mpg I thought 60mpg was impossible, then I reached 60mpg, I knew 70mpg was impossible.......

The question is what are you willing to do to achieve the mpg you want? I am happy with 50+ and that is achieved easily in the FIT.

Sahwn

recent tank:

570.8 miles
10.0 gallons
57.0 mpg

A mixed bag of P&G from 60-45mph, 55-40mph, and 60-50mph.

Sahwn

last tank:

$1.93 /gallon

600.8miles
9.5 gallons
62.3mpg

Savings so far(4/11/08-11/10/08): $704.99

Sahwn

Last tank:

$1.82/gallon

631miles
10.1 gallons
62.4mpg

and I ordered a SGII !!!

smithenhiven

So you drive about 200 miles a day? (guessing since it's only been three days since your last 600 mile tank). That's a lot of driving

E = Mc2

Lots of time between posts. I'm guessing that most of us are ashamed of our Winter mileage. I've been averaging roughly 38 mpg the last handful of tanks. Nothing to write home about, but still better than the 20 I was getting in the truck!

redskull1944

sorry i created another thread about fuel economy but i was hoping to get some opinions

so my gas mileage went way down after my cross country drive, the air filter was dirty so i went to autozone for a new one $30-$35 for one to be ordered to the store K&N filter on ebay $35 with free shipping now i get 26-29 mpg all city is this the average for everyone else? i have an automatic and i check my tire pressure weekly and my oil change was 1000 miles ago

Sahwn

E = Mc2 -
actually my last 3 tanks were:

69mpg 12/03
67mpg 11/26
56.8mpg 11/20

Grill Block FTMFW!!! :D


redskull1944 -

I have used a K&N air filter and noticed no difference in mpg. The colder air/weather kills mpg. Also, you need to look at your driving techniques if you really want to improve your mpg. Other things to consider for the colder weather: block heater and/or a grill block and/or warm air intake(short ram intake) along with a SGII. Which I just purchased by the way and that damn thing ROCKS! - I have all the above except a block heater which I am contemplating buying one.

I have been able to achieve great mileage with AM commute temperatures in the 30's and PM temps in the 40's.

redskull1944

i also live at 4800' elevation and my i don't really drive my car that hard at all the only other thing i can think of is the gas it is really terrible out here in utah i use midgrade which is 87 octane

btw what's a sgII?

Sahwn

SGII = Scan Gauge II - it is a tool that does many things like scan for OBDII codes and you can use it to get better mpg. It gives you instant feed back which allows you to adjust your driving techniques if you so choose. With that said one does not need a SGII to improve mpg but it does help and will get you there quicker. It will typically pay for it self in the money you save in gas. I use to be a non-believer.

biggee

first off, I only read the first 5 or so pages so if some of this has been dealt with I am sorry.

Most passenger car tires that I put on have a max psi rating of 44psi. Honda recommends much lower then that. Running on more then 44psi is dangerous. I like to check my tire pressures once a month. It is scary how many people have loooow pressures when I check them.

Always driving very slowly and granny shifting or short trips builds up a lot of carbon in your intake manifold and on your valves, which will in turn cause more damage to your engine. You may save 10 bucks, but it'll cost alot more to disassemble your engine. A good romp or highway trip is very good for your engine as it will help reduce the carbon build up. Oooor if you don't like that idea get yourself a motorvac (or equivalent) more often to keep the build up down. Carbon build up will lead to poor fuel economy as well.

Also I heard someone write that the additives in fuel cause the timing to be changed. That is false. Your engine pinging or pre-igniting when you put regular in a premium needing car will cause timing adjustments. Fuel doesn't change timing, your computer does.

Mythbusters tried that AC on widows up or no AC windows down MPG myth. They got much much further with the windows down AC off. Although when it is 30C+ I am rolling with the AC on.

Disconnecting your battery can cause fuel consumption to go up as well. Weird you say? Well your computer "learns" how you drive. It is called long term fuel trim or block learn/ integrator, etc. So if it always sees you need "X" amount of fuel at "Y" load, etc that is what it will start with and use short term fuel trim to fine tune that. Now if you disconnect your battery and lose all that information you have to start all over again. We have had some clients complain about it before. It just needs to re-learn your driving habits again. Crazy huh?!

I am not trying to knock increased fuel economy, because I have an 80km commute daily with a carb'd pickup, so I know the extra mpg is awesome. I just want to get rid of false information.