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These cars arent 4 cyl accords or camrys so not getting the best mileage in the city is something you will have to live with. The TL isnt known for great city mileage.

Why does it make you nervous. When it goes on and you fill up you should know exactly how much is left (usually 3 gallons) That doesnt mean you run out in 2 blocks

 

Agree with Kris

Low Fuel light not NO FUEL light
Just casually make you way to a gas station within the next 50 miles and you are fine

A van or suv has way different (none) aero than our cars. The windows up make a huge differance. Mythbusters are not scientist- just two goober special effects guys who dont know what is combustible!!!

 

I understand that the TL doesn't get good gas mileage in the city, but it doesn't mean that we have to just live with it. We may not be able to drastically increase our gas mileage, but even a 1 or 2 mile per gallon increase would be nice, at least in my eyes.

Don't get me wrong. When the low fuel light turns on, I don't freak out and drive to the closest gas station. I do know that it lights up when there's approximately 3 gallons left and to be on the safe side, I give myself about 25 more miles after it does turn on. It's a psychological thing and it doesn't pertain to only me. Any alert will obviously raise the level of attention to itself. It could be the low fuel light, the maintenance light, or the person on the Home Shopping Network saying that there's only 25 left of a particular item and you were thinking about purchasing it.

 

The way I see it, the Zero aerodinamic box has nothing to loose with the windows down , while the more aerodinamic car has a lot to loose with the windows down. Drag coefficient could double or triple I don't know. I know C& D did the a/c windows up & down test with an Ford Escort (not the most aerodinamic car) and found it more efficient with the a/c on and windows up than with the a/c off and windows down, I believe it was 1-2 more mpg. As you can tell by the test car, the test was a few decades ago . Maybe the a/c compressor on the TL/TSX/MDX,XXX is more efficient than the FOMOCO a/c, after all is a Honda compressor. .

 

how the hell do you guys get 400 plus miles on a tank of gas, i just get like 330. It could be that 6 speed

 

right, i just drove to newport then providence RI, and ended up with bout 360. prbly coulda pulled off another 20 miles tho. thats a full tank of 93. mostly highway, and some city. lol ahh well

 

That made me laugh because it's so true.

That the same approach that I use.

Bob

 

I was kinda wondering the same thing. The best I ever got with my 4 speed is 26.03 mpg.

 

By the way,.. you guys should read this article. Granted,.. it mainly refers to hybrids, but this is an amazing read.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feat...permilers.html

 

Well if you wanted to leave a gallon in the tank, you could reach 400+ miles on a tank at 26 MPG.

26 MPG x 16 gallons = 416 miles.

Bob

 

Well yeah,.. but that was my very best over the course of two years. My average is actually 22.4

(yes, I measure in decimals and I have all the numbers to back it up. I have too much time on my hands,.. I know)

I was pretty damn close to hitting 400 once, but I chickened out because I was too afraid of running out of gas.

Point being,.. I've never come close to braking the 30 mpg mark.

 

I understand. I've never hit 30 MPG either. My 1999 TL with the 4-speed tranny typically dances between 25 and 26 MPG. Probably 80% of my driving is at continuous highway speeds. I'm very happy with that level of fuel economy given the size and V6 power of the TL.

My low fuel light typically comes on between 300 and 310 miles and I usually fill up before reaching 350 miles.

Bob

 

^^ werd same here, all the same.

 

No cause i got it before the 6 speed as well. I just dont baby the car. i think thats the key.

 

first of all you really cant believe what the T.V. says anymore BUT you do prove a strong point, i would say you would need some more research in the A.C versus Window rolled down theory
trust me the T.V can say they seen Osama Bin Laden partying with 50 Cent, and 99.7% of the world would actually believe it

 

^^^^^HAHAHAHA I would So wanna Fucking be a part of that party.

 

wow my gas light came on on the way back from work this morning and i always reset the trip when i fill my tank, im at 412 miles. the funny thing is i like to floor it way to often to be getting that kinda milage, but im not complainin . 50/50 hwy city and on the highway i set it 80mph cruise control.

 

oh and i should prolly mention, i NEVER use AC..because its broken so its windows cracked and sunroof tilted for me

 

Has anyone here heard of a product called Fuel Wize that is supposed to increase your gas mileage? They claim a 10-20% increase, but I really don't see how that is possible, especially with our Acuras (maybe on old beater cars...I don't know). Are there any other products out there that can do what they claim?

 

Thats the way i drive and i always get great gas mileage. Im the believer that teh TL doesnt like to be babied to get good mileage

 

lol give up already.

What is it? Is it like the tornado? any links? Sounds like another gimmic

 

Its all BS

 

Recently overheard two wrench benders talking about the use of "Pure Acetone" giving a positive improvement in gas mileage. Adding 1 once
per ten gallons being very careful not to get any on your paint.

Has anyone heard of this additive as an improvement in mileage ??

 

If you use un-branded gas ie Costco etc....my wrench friends recommned the BG product every 10-15,000 miles...to clean out carbon on valves and injectors...

Slowing down from 75 to 65 reduces your cost per gallon by about 10 to 20 cents....based on improved mpg....As coefficient of drag is exponential as speed goes up..esp after 55 mph...

 

Bad Stuff, all this crap is gimmicks. There is NO Miracle substance to pour in your tank to improve mileage.

 

nobody has answered my question I asked before.

I go to a gas station (Petro Express) by where i work that supply the regular octane fuels but also supply 100 octane racing fuel at the pump. Will I notice an increase in performance and better gas mileage if I mix that with 93? Im not gonna fill it up with it cause its like 5.xx per gallon. Or maybe I should just wait till I get my LOW fuel light and just fill up with like a quarter tank of gas.

 

The only aftermarket, performance gaining parts that can definitively increase gas mileage are a cold air intake and the Thermoblok spacers?

 

AC vs Window rolled down, depends on the speed and how wide the windows were opened. The faster you go the more resistant you get depending on how wide the widows were open. if windows were wide open and the car is not moving, meaning there is no air resistant; in this case of course having AC on will cause more stress on the engine. And of couse if the front two windows were wide opened, going at 80mph, it is better to close windows and turn on AC.

 

Check out the following thread:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...octane+booster

 

I have a side question,.. I'm looking for a real-time fuel calculator that I can mount to my dash. In the past, people have used vacuum gauges (and I suppose you still could), but I want something digital that will figure it real-time and calculate overall mpg.

The best I could find so far is the ScanGuage II that plugs into the OBD 2 port. Not sure if this is the best option though. Any thoughts?
www.scangauge.com

Anyone using something like this? What is it and where did you get it.

 

you guys are lucky...i floor it alot from getting on to highways and off from redlights and i only get around 300 mpg...400 is rediculous...
Anyone know exactly how many gallons of gas are in the tank when the Fuel light goes on?

 

Here's a tip from the Canadian gov't website - Fast starts and hard braking only reduce travel time by 2.5 minutes for the average hour–long trip. You also use 39% more fuel, and produce as much as 5 times more exhaust emissions.

I participated in a study group in Vancouver last summer where my driving habits (and other subjects) were analyzed over a week long period. I was given a 2007 VW Jetta TDI (running on bio-diesel/diesel mix) to drive around for that week so long as I drove the car at least 30kms/day (avg. drive for most city-dwellers). Suffice to say I drove that baby about 200-300kms a day since I was visiting family/friends from the Yukon and I love driving around the Lower Mainland.

So, the 2007 Jetta has an onboard computer that tracks your fuel economy and other analytics that I didn't really get into but the main part was recording the L/100km readout at the end of the day's drive. I was averaging 9-14L/100km with the higher numbers because I was tooling around the city during the day which means fighting traffic on the main arteries.

When I was done with the car, I was taken out by one of the researchers for a drive around the city on a designated route. She let me drive normally the 1st go around (2pm weekday, moderate traffic) and I was getting around 10L/100km.

Now here's where things got better, she got me to change my driving style from stopping at lights and with traffic to instead watching the flow of traffic ahead and also checking the pedestrian lights ahead if they were amber(hand flashing) meaning the light was going to change soonish (depending on the light's avg. traffic throughput). Anyhow, soon I was coasting along to each light without stopping maintaining my speed around the limit or 10km/h below. It was difficult to adjust because your normal reaction is to follow the car ahead of you (most people tailgate in the city so they can possibly get through more intersections) but i just kept my eyes scanning the intersections ahead for possible stops and keeping about 2-3 car lengths distance from the car in front of mine.

Maintaining that space allowed me to travel at the speed I needed to maintain my momentum, low rpms, safety etc... Sure a few agro drivers darted around me but 90% of those who did I caught up to because they hit the light I was coasting to 1/2 block away or jammed up tailgating the 2nd car ahead of me, inevitably hitting a light as well.

So anywho, I found and still find driving this way in the city is akin to tai chi, allowing the traffic to flow past you so they can rush to the stop you've already anticipated. I found my stress levels from driving extended periods >2hrs within the city have dropped significantly.

Well after 2 circuits around the route using this driving method, my fuel economy improved from 11L/100km to 5.5-6.5L/100km. I was pretty amazed and even more so when I was told they've seen averages in the low 4s/100km. Especially since on average hwy driving economy was about 5-7L/100km travelling around 120KM/hr.

Although I was driving a car with 11000kms and running on diesel/biodiesel I'm certain you can see similar results and a markedly improved driving experience with changing your driving habits when tooling around the town in traffic.

Oh also I noticed a couple other cars behind me and one in front that started to adopt my driving technique of coasting, tapping brakes when a stop was inevitable etc.. I bet if more people on the road drove like this, there'd be less accidents, calmer drivers and more cash in people's pockets.

Meh I don't want to come off as being preachy, I just wanted to share my experience (albeit a long post) of improving my fuel efficiency and sanity whilst driving with the mindless automatons (bad jk) in Vancouver's congestion.

Thanks for reading!

 

The concept sounds truly good; but if everyone drives like you, traffic will be jammed and I think walking could be faster route. You were able to coast at a constant speed because other traffics left you behind. I have two examples for you:
1. Lets say you are doing good at 35mph, now I am using the same concept as your and drive 30mph in front of you, that means you will be braking constantly, and your time travel will increased.

2. On freeway, if there were 4 lanes, if there were 4 cars driving in parallel at the same speed, which is good in your concept, do you think all traffic will flow in a good manner, or that would cause a major traffic jammed and accidents.

On the other hands, accidents happen more when traffic are jammed, speeding causes accident easily in a crowded traffic but not in open space. If that speeding car is the only car in the traffic, do you think he will get into an accident? assuming he is not DUI. That is clearly said, more cars in the traffic will create more accidents; and your concept is one way to cause traffic jammed and accidents. You must balance concept and reality in a way to adapt your environtment condition.

Lets say Highway traffic is moving 65mph; with your concept, I will get on highway and set my cruise at 60 for my trip of 600 miles, do you think that is a good ideal? conceptually, yes; but realitily, it is not wise. Not to mention going uphill, you are losing momentum. Now, another driver also uses your concept, and find the lowest traffic speed before he decides to set his cruise speed and found that I am going 60, so he decided to go in front of me and set his speed at 55mph, and another car is doing the same thing, set his cruise speed at 50, then another at 45, then 40, then 35, than 30. Now tell me if that concept is really working in reality.

 

No.

 

Well fuel tank size is rated at 17 gallons. When YOUR light comes on fill it up and subtract that # from 17. Every ones car`is slightly different. the norm is about 3 gallons

 

That's not what he said, though. He said pay attention to what is ahead of the car in front of you, and slow down early if you know you are going to have to stop, and you avoid the brakes-gas-brakes cycle. If everyone did it, traffic would move better, because fewer people have come to a complete stop and have to get started again. It's also safer, because you are not relying on the guy in front of you to be your eyes.

 

I agree there will be a certain break-even when the ratio of cars on the road to movement in conjunction to distance you're able to walk or travel via light-rail or biking favours the alternatives to driving. Hopefully Vancouver and other metropolitan cities of it's ilk will try to avoid traffic jams like you see in Korea for example. Hopefully city councillors will start trying toying with the ideas of free mass transit or building more efficient routes and right of way lanes for busses etc...

The problem I see with this example is there are probably other cars in front and alongside that are moving faster/slower affecting our rate of speed so your cruising speed of 30 will alter variably and so will mine when driving in traffic (as is the case environment I was speaking of).

So, certainly I would be adjusting my speed to yours and probably slowing down much faster when I'm cut off by the inevitable car that see a potential gap in the 2 car distance I try to maintain when moving around the city.

But if you were doing the same this car that cuts in between us will see that riding your ass won't make you go any faster so will either get out of the lane or possibly adapt and adopt your driving style but most likely will get mad and toss you the finger I probably would have the first couple years after I got my license...

Actually I've seen (believe it or not) 1/2 as many accidents from speeding cars on open lanes daytime/nighttime that have been clipped or clipped other cars travelling >30KM/Hr slower than those that happen with moderate ->heavy lanes of traffic.

I think this is because people will sometimes check their blind spot/mirrors when changing lanes on the hwy and when they do, it's probably not a full 2 second check you did in your driving exam rather a quick glance to see if there's any bodypanels in the mirror or headlights... I think also people will mentally guage where cars are on the hwy in conjunction with their car's location based on who they've passed or seen in their mirrors when doing the occasional rear-view check, but a car speeding between say 3 cars all travelling around 120km/hr at a rate of 140 - 160 can quickly pass two cars in the span of 200 meters or say 5-10 seconds and catch the guy at the head of the 3 unawares. It's happened to me a few times, one second I have a car behind me on the fast lane 5-7 car lengths back and fading then bwam some Mustang with purple-blue-cyan-beige-red-orange headlights are glaring just aft of my tailpipes with my rear view mirror auto-blacking everything on the road to compensate... sorry bout the rant there.. and the metric system but it's what I do.


I don't think this method of driving will lead to more accidents or traffic, I think it alludes to self-correcting behaviour that moderate congestion on the roads - it's more effective on city streets during the day where everyone's going somewhere at once with half the time they wanted to. The hwys, i find when stuck in a jam, I'll give the guy ahead of me space and watch the flow of cars up and around the bend if I can and also the brake lights, when they let up, I watch how long and how far they move and I try to keep my car rolling as much as possible without braking. Sorta fun thing I worked on my trips to school right at peak hwy traffic jam periods.

*For those familiar with rush hour in the Lower Mainland, I lived in Langley and drove to BCIT for two years and left home around 5.45and got to school around 7.10ish on the #1... Who the hell thought it was a good idea to keep the onramp to the hwy 500 meters from the Portman Bridge??

Well, I haven't really tested out the gas savings with cruise control really, I'm a bit skeptical myself since I notice the pedal depresses further at say 90km/hr than what I hold it at when keeping at said speed.

I'm not sure about the wise comment, since it's also not wise to overinflate your tires but it can help with fuel efficiency, apparently using the cruise control is a good way to eliminate peaks/valleys in rpms that average out to more gas spent...

I think the situation you present is one that will almost never happen in anyone's experience with multiple cars engaging in a concerted effort of setting their cruise control slightly below the speed of the car they just passed to then change into their lane. I don't think there's that many inconsiderate people nor that many who know how to set their cruise control or rather are too afraid of setting it... "OMG what do I do now? The car is set at 100 and the car in front is driving a little slower, I'm going to crash! But I have no control, the car's driving itself!!!"

Anyhow, the crux of my initial post was to give an option to those who want to try saving gas while driving in the city and possibly lower their stress and learn how to flow with traffic patterns and become more aware of what's going on ahead of beyond the rear plates of the guy ahead. Try it, you'll look like a champ when driving around. It's a great relief and joy to watch other drivers that know how to slip around traffic than those charging to each yellow light some almost clipping pedestrians, cyclists and other cars in the process.

Thanks again to all those who read my rant

and yeah, what sandynmike said