I own a 97 ITR and i noticed recently ive only been getting around 200 miles per tank, i know i should count it by mpg, but still it is pretty dang low. I just regular DD it i dont floor it or redline it much, just DDing it and i got 200 miles on a gallon... does anyone know whats wrong or have a similar problem? Thanks

 

Does the car have a CEL? Does the car run funny? Car mileage? Have you done regular services to the caR?

 

If you're filling the car when the needle gets close to E and you're putting 8 gallons in it, that's 25 mpg, which is totally normal.

If you're letting it go so low that the low fuel warning light goes on, and you keep driving it another 50 miles, then you're probably putting 12 gallons in it. That's 17 mpg, which is a lot worse than normal.

This is why the number of miles to a tankful is not a meaningful number. Miles per gallon is.

 

I don't understand why people measure fuel economy by miles/full tank of gas.

The best way to accurately measure your gas mileage is to fill it up, reset the odo, drive it till whenever you please, fill it up again, and divide your miles driven since the last fill by the gallons required to fill the tank again.

I've just gotten to the point where I calculate what I should get out of a fill at 25mpg (i.e. 10 gallons=250 miles). When I get to the E, I'm almost always within about 20 miles of my estimate. So this means that my fuel economy fluctuates between 24 and 26 miles to the gallon, despite my driving conditions.

 

oh ok, makes alot of sense, i kept on thinking i was putting 10 gallons into it haha. Thanks guys.

 

you may be getting lower miles/tank or gallon because of the changeover to "winter gas" formulas stations and refineries are putting out during the winter. if there's nothing seriously wrong with your car, just make sure you're up to par on maintenance and your tire pressure is good... and just hold out till the spring and summer when it'll go back up. just goggle this and you'll come up with plenty of articles.

 

yea i heard about something about winter gas changing, and i think they mentioned something about thier gas mileage too, but yea thanks