i posted this in the gas mileage thread, but i know not everyone will see it.

i see that a lot of people are judging has mileage by when the light comes on, and that's innacurate as hell. that would explain why peoples gas mileage is so spread out from 230-340 miles per tank.

this is the PROPER AND ACCURATE way to find your gas mileage: never go by when the light comes on!

next time you top off, check your odometer. make sure to stop filling when the pump "clicks" off. don't overfill

ok, so you now know you've got a full tank and say your odometer reads 50,000 miles.

so drive around and yada yada until you need to fill up again. try going to same pump/station as last time for accuracy. fill her up again only to when it "clicks" off.....DON'T OVERFILL!

look at the pump and see how many GALLONS went in. say it filled 10 gallons before it clicked off. now look at you odometer, say it reads 50,300 miles.

so you went 300 miles on 10 gallons, that would be 30 mpg. the only thing that sucks about this ACCURATE method, is that you always have to top off the tank when it clicks, otherwise it's just a guessing game. and i know i always don't have $$$ to fill 'er all the way up.

 

this is what i do, and i believe it is the most accurate way.

Try using the same pump because the incline of the road surface effects the level of the gas in the tank.

 

hehehe.. damn ricehornet, you gonna try to do it at the same temperature each time to limit the effects of thermal expansion too!

I have a little log book.. I have recorded every drop of gas I've ever put in the car.. (so I guess those who live in glass houses.. ).. the upside is that I can rather accurately calculate the lifetime average fuel economy of my car, and I can plot trends and all that!! hey shutup! Hey! _I_ think it's an upside!.. jeeze.. grumble, grumble, grumble..

 

I do exactly the same thing as MechE00, except I don't graph the info. Hey MechE, you wouldn't happen to be a Mechanical Engineer would you? I'm working on getting a degree in that at NCSU.

 

Well it also helps to drive on an empty stomache. Cause we all know....the lighter the car the better gas mileage!!
Also, try to drive at around the same temperature so you can get a better and more accurate reading AND try very hard not to pick up any of your buds, ask them to walk instead so there are no variables in the way...



Indy

 

whats the point of this post? are there people really here that don't know how to figure gas milage??? i sure hope not