mystikk

So for the past month and a half, I get to 60, 70 miles before I hit half-tank, which is when I fill up. Mental security and all. I say to myself it's weird obviously, because it's usually in the triple digits before I fill up at half-tank.

We have what, a 17-gallon tank? Divide that into 120 or 140 and you get anywhere from 8 to 10 MPG which raises my WTF thermometer, since we usually get twice that in the city no?

Two things I change in terms of my driving habits in the winter .. 1, warm up the car for 10 minutes, 2, none of that lead-foot crap. VTEC barely sees action in the winter unless I'm on an interstate on-ramp and it's dry out. I have a 1.5 mile commute to school every day, barely go anywhere else.

Is there any general reason and solutions as to why my MPG is suffering?

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

You CAN NOT gauge fuel consumption by just miles. The gas gauge is not liner. The only way to correctly calculate gas mileage is miles driven on X number of gallons.

It does sound like your car is sucking gas though.

Check all the normal items, Tires, air pressure, air filter.
Clean your TB & IAC out, & run a can of fuel treatment through the gas tank.

artbran

iTrader: (2)

O2 sensors
dirty fuel filter
Air filter

My $$ on the O2 sensors (since its an 01)

How many miles do you have on the car?

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

I don't doubt letting you're car run for 10 minutes everytime you start up the car isn't helping you save gas either. If you do that just even once a day in the morning, you're just letting your car run for almost an hour, sucking gas, per week (over an hour if you drive your car on the weekends doing the same routine). This time is added if you do this several times per day. All resulting in pretty piss poor gas mileage.

LukeaTron

Really short trips don't do you any favors either.

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

mystikk

Yeah I know letting the car idle and short trips can affect gas mileage, but I didn't think it would cut the gas mileage in half. Your posts make sense though, so thank you for opening my eyes a little bigger.

I will check everything the first two posts said though, couldn't hurt. It has a little over 83,000 miles btw, and tire pressures are normal, 33psi-ish.

Thanks for the input guys.

RYANGP

You're from alaska, right? Is there any difference in the gas there as opposed to the continental US?

mystikk

Born and raised in Alaska, but I'm living in Utah now. Price and quality aren't that much different. The deal breaker for gas in Alaska though, is none of the stations offer any octane higher than 90.

mpg2034

Very true, actually beat me as I was going to say the same thing. The owners manual specifically says that no matter what the temperature is outside, the engine is only required to warm up for 1-2 minutes. Anymore time beyond that, is just wasting gas, as when you drive it'll warm up much faster anyway.

LIPPSTUH

iTrader: (2)

don't let your car warm up for more than 30 seconds to a minute. it doesn't help save gas nor does it help your engine. for the first 5-10 minutes of driving, take it slow, don't go over 2000 rpm. it'll warm the engine up quicker without any sacrifice

fsttyms1

8 hrs of idling = between 1/8 and 1/4 tank of fuel used (depending on winter or summer) (dont ask how i know)

gc86

wow how the hell do you know that

mystikk

He just said don't ask him.

I really only warm the car up so the temp inside can be nice and toasty .. nothing like gripping a cold-ass steering wheel, but if it'll save my gas mileage .. time to buy some gloves ..

typeS6S

the mileage seeing my needle at half a tank is between 150-160 consistently

visuelz

You're commute is too short for the car to even warm up. Start walking.

rp_guy

my gas mileage has been pretty bad lately. i fill to the exact same spot every time (1 click), and i usually get 250 km (155miles) to half, so approx. 21mpg. lately (it's been to -40C = -40F) i've been getting very very crappy mileage, only 180km to half.. haha

nbennettksu

iTrader: (2)

ahhh... a mormon

mystikk

Nope, living in Utah for school. Non-practicing Catholic here. :o And I will definitely walk in the summer, but during the winter? HELL NO.

m1ll3n1a

Same exact problem my car has.. i get like 70 miles to half a tank and like 170 to the whole tank.. every time i put gas i avg my mpg to be around 10-12 mpg.. it's horrible.. i don't drive it hard and the rpm never pass 3k.. everything is done on my car.. clean tb, spark plugs, O2 sensors, Filter, tire pressure, fuel injector cleaner..... i brought it to the shop today and they said take it to the dealer and let them run a diagnostic on the car. Thats cost about 110 around there, but thats just finding the problem. I heard that they usually dont even find the problem. So i give up at this point and i'm sellin the car or trade it in. Its not worth it anymore. Its a great car but no other choice..

fsttyms1

Because i do it all the time. Shutting the car off and restarting it the amount of times i would have to would be much much harder on the car.

fsttyms1

If you have a very short commute its going to be bad.

m1ll3n1a

i do work 10 mins away but i drive it alot.. mostly local but still it's horrible gas milage for the car..