I will be heading in Northern Quebec come the end of June.

That place is a perfect testing grounds for fuel economy. My best mileages have been achieved there.

I want to test a few things, and in a controlled manner, so I will drive for one long day.

I plan on 4 testing phases. Each phase will consist of 20L of gas exactly.

1st 20L: I will test 87 octane at 90kph.

2nd 20L: I will test 91 or 93 (doesn't matter much) at 80 kph.

3rd 20L: I will test 91 or 93 at 90kph.

4th 20L: I will test 91 or 93 at 100kph.

The two main goals is for me to determine 1) what is the optimum speed for best fuel economy, and 2) determine what is the difference in gas mileage between phase 1 and 3, in order to know the difference in fuel mileage between 87 octane and 91 or 93.

I will perform this test in one long single day. The day will be preferrably sunny and dry (end of June is favorable for this in Abitibi). My test will be driven north of Amos, Qc, heading towards James Bay. The advantage of this is that I have a full 900km of highway to the next place where I need to even stop. There is no village north of Amos, except for Matagami, but we don't even pass through the village.

This will enable me to get the most precise numbers as possible.

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Now. Since I will be conducting this test, and you guys know what I will be doing, do you have anything else you'd want me to collect data on, within what I will be testing on? Remember though, it needs to be within these tests, because I might be travelling close to 1500km in that single test, so I won't have time to try other things.

Please suggest other data to collect if you wish, I will try and collect it for you guys.

 

Professor Sauce at it again.

 

When you ran your best mileage at 19.2 gallons, Was that drained of gas until it stopped completly? I only used about 14 gallons ever fill up.

 

take some pics of them French Canadian hotties please

 

Matelot, I have the privilege of living with one of them..

 

How about run the tests with the Hondata reflash?

 

Oooh that would be soo interesting!. Unfortunately, I am funelling all my money towards my brother's wedding as of late, so I can't really afford it. Under Hondata would like to throw me a freebie for the sake of R&D!

 

I would like to know how many thousands of bugs end up on your windshield on this roadtrip.
Man, that's some crazy territory up there. I've flown over it a few times, and there's not much but lakes, trees, rock and the occasional road.
Have fun!

 

there may be a few beavers up there in that neck of the woods....

 

I've pretty much accepted the fact that I get 550 to 600km's per 55L of fuel which works out to be ~23.8 to 25.8MPG in a 70% City and 30 Hwy driving enviroment.

I'm pretty happy with those numbers.

Can't wait to see the results though mansauce.

 

Someone change that mans name to Gasman

Thanks for the effort Sauce

 

sorry to bring this back, but i was thinking today while filling up at the station, what difference 89 octane would do. when i first got the car the dealer said if i took care of it and did the matience right on time i could use 89. so i did that for a few months then gave it up n put in 93 ever sine. maybe u can do a test with 89 n see if theres really a difference.

 

Yeah. I will be getting numbers out for 87 octane. But 89 would mean I would have to test another 20L that day. I will already be travelling for about 900 miles to perform the test. Adding another 20L that day would be just impossible IMO.

It has to be something that can be tested within those types of fuel and speeds I will already be travelling.

I will also be collecting data such as air temperature, tire pressure, and oil consumption, btw.

 

Best speed for minimum fuel?

From my experience, there is a big difference between 90km/h to 115, where I used to cruise.

As I has been told, high fuel economy figures from Transport Canada are established at an average speed of 77km/h..

However, back in unversity 18 yrs ago, we had a lab to test on small NA engines what was the best ratio effort consumption. And it was a rule og thumb (as we demonstrated) that it was at 3000-3100rpm.

Before you ask, my best fuel economy to date is 11.1L/100lm (25.5 mpg Imp).

 

I wouldn't be surprised by your 77km/h figure. I expect my test to show just that.

Unfortunately though, if 3000 is ideal, it must be done on wheelstands, because real life figures would never show that for most any cars.

You need to improve teh fuel mileage on your Bimmer man.

 

Hi Sauce,

What tire pressures will you be running?

 

I'm currently at 35PSI.

Do you think I should be trying stock settings, 35PSI is fine, or would I even be better off trying 38PSI?

 

Stock settings are 32F/30R. That's probably a little low if you want to maximize fuel economy. I would, however, try to keep the rear tires 2 PSI higher than the fronts. I'd try 38F/36R. The stock tires are 41PSI max so I'd probably not go any higher than 38PSI on any tire just in case tire temperatures force the pressures higher.

It would be an interesting test to see the economy difference between 32/30 and 38/36. But, since you are already varying one variable every 20L there is probably no room for this test on your trip. Maybe next time.

I really look forward to seeing your results for 87 octane fuel.

 

38F, 36R it is.

I am also looking for the ultimate gas mileage, which I believe to be 40mpg for a 6MT.