436 miles

14.4 gallons

30.27 MPG


Drove without the A/C on at 65 mph, no cruise control. I made 2 stops (each lasting more than an hour, so the engine cooled down)

 

thats freaking crazy ken... mustve been kinda wierd going 65 the whole time though..

 

Strangely in Oregon MOST people DO go 65 to 70 mph. If you stand out, you get pulled over. Lots of cops on I-5 just waiting to bust someone who stands out...

 

hmmm.... thanks for the tip... now i know not to go 80ish in oregon on I-5...

 

DEFINITELY do not. Anything over 75 in most spots is asking for a 120+ dollar ticket

 

i actually heard if you use cruise control it,d actually save you gas, cause you're going at a constant rate, not accelerating etc...

 

thats sweet
quote dane coOk -"I WANT THAT!!!" "WHY NOT MEEE??!"

 

are you sure the type II is not a diesel engine? j/k thats amazing gas mileage.

 

I think its my tires (Toyo 800 Ultras)

They are low rolling resistance tires, the bad side being longer stops (not by much though)

 

lol, youve menchined your tires a countless amount of times for better mileage... and its obviously a bigger factor than i thought. nice one.

 

Yeah, i read/heard somewhere official that the hybrids are given similar tires and that they contribute to 5 mpg or more

 

hah i get like 14-17 mpg... if I'm lucky.
Every block next to me has a stop and the expressway is a virtual standstill 24/7. Among everything else here. I'm probably stopping and going less than every 100 yards or so. So that's definitely a reason.

 

I need me some low-rolling resistance tires.

 

Do you really save on gas from driving 65m/h compared to 80m/h? My thinking is, assuming you'll have 500miles to drive. If you drive at 65m/h you'll get there in 7.69hours. Doing 80 will get you there in 6.25 hours. therefore I think eventhough you use less gas/mile driving at 65m/hour, you're going to spend more time on the road thereby consuming more gas! Any thought on this??

 

^ yeah but to keep u going at 80 your ganna use extra/more gass to go at that speed for that less time travling/moving... right? so it would equal out or use more gas?? "I don't know, I'm not a doctor.."

 

Yes. You use more gas driving at 80 mph than driving at 55mph because the engine does use more gas trying to keep the car going at 80 because of the drag. For many cars, 55mph is the optimum speed for fuel economy.

Ken, you suck!! As for a tank of gas, the best fuel economy I can get is 23mpg mixed. But since I've gotten the ScanGauge to check, I can actually get up to 28, 29mpg per trip.

 

I guess you only save on time

 

Once you go past about 65 or 70 mph, the wind resistance increases dramatically.

 

guess it dont help with wind resistances when i stick my head out the window like a dog at 65

 

Yeah that definitely lowers it.

 

You're not thinking about it the right way. You're going the same distance but using less gas when you go 65MPH instead of 80MPH. MPG doesn't involve time at all.

 

The "drag" force can be though of as a giant hand pushing backward on your front bumper. The engine must burn more gas to overcome this force. When the car has no speed, there is no drag force (except for any wind, which we will ignore for now). As your speed picks up, the drag increase is proportial to the "square" of your speed. Here is a simple drag factor table:

Speed -----> Drag Factor (=square of speed):
0 -----> 0
5 -----> 25 (= 5 X 5)
10 -----> 100 (= 10 X 10)
20 -----> 400 (=20 X 20)
30 -----> 900 (=30 X 30)
40 -----> 1600 (=40 X 40)
50 -----> 2500 (=50 X 50)
60 -----> 3600 (=60 X 60)
70 -----> 4900 (=70 X 70)
80 -----> 6400 (=80 X 80)
90 -----> 8100 (=90 X 90)

So, the drag force at 80 is over 2 1/2 times greater than the drag force at 50. It is all physics.

Ken is right though, up to about 50 MPH, your engine efficiency gets better and better with increasing speed because the engine and transmission is designed for efficiency at higher speeds. Above 50 MPH, the drag increases are so significant that they overwhelm the engine and transmission benefits and your fuel economy begins to drop. It is all physics - anyone who claims to get better gas mileage at 80 mph than they do at 50 mph is essently claiming that their car can "walk on water" (without regard to the laws of physics.)

 

Some free K&N air filters up for grabs on Acura World.com. Look on their homepage. Maybe that will help your MPG's ?

 

I don't mean to get of the subject, however this is the second time I have seen the this scan gauge item come up, what is it?

I get 28.5 mpg doing 70mph.

 

Its a small palm pilot-like device that is used to diagnose engine malfunctions/processes and performance. It has numerous features including MPG readouts.

 

where does one get such a device, what are the costs of such a device?

 

yes. around 55 mph is the most efficient speed for most cars, especially manuals!
most car engines operate at most efficiency at 2400 to 3000 RPM. if you can achieve that range in the top gear of your car, it will most likely be around 55 miles per hour.
the highest gear of your transmission will exert less force when applied to the engine than in any other gear. That's why you take off fast off a stop in 1st gear. ever tried taking off in 3rd or 4th? if you can do it without killing the motor, you will go extremely slow. sorry if i'm confusing, i think i know what i'm talking about? hopefully?

 

damn u guys got good mileage mines is pretty bad..

 

To get the 3.2TL to cruise running 2400 to 3000RPM would be like doing 85-100mph

 

True, in the case of a 2000+ TL

60 mph in 5th gear in the (sold) '03 TL got me 38 mpg once.

 

I did this once. I forced myself to drive a 75 mile trip to Atlanta and to not go over 60. I filled the tank and began the journey. After I arrived, I stopped and topped off. The result was 38.7mpg.

I posted it and of course everyone said that it wasn't possible and I just miscalculated, but it wouldn't even hold 2 gallons after the trip (something like 1.9 gallons).

 

I get about 8 mpg on a good day. 8 fantastic miles of joy for $3.19 worth of super unleaded fuel.

 

8mpg? What exactly is wrong with your car?

 

Factors such as wind (head wind/tail wind/side wind) will greatly affect your mileage. Also I have had problems in filling up my TL (99) to the brim. Sometimes it just won't fill up all the way so it is hard to determine exactly what the mileage is. Also / please post your car year/type. Some posts don't have this info. I experience 23-29 so far in daily city/high driving. The more highway, the better the mileage=of course!

 

all city drive i get 16 - 18 MPG , 3.2 (96)TL 131,XXXmiles

 

For the record (some of you arent regulars in this subforum )

1997 Acura TL 3.2

134,000 miles

Toyo Ultra 800 tires