Lately I've been keeping a logbook of my fuel purchases, cost of fuel, and my miles per gallon for our Hyundai Santa Fe. Then I've plugged that data into an Excel spreadsheet where the computer automatically calculates my average miles per gallon among other figures. In my month of calculations (so far), I have made these observations:

- The SF 2.7-liter gets peak efficiency running on 76 (Conoco-Phillips) gasoline but their customer service is absolutely horrible. Rude attendants, high prices, rude clerks, the list goes on. Hence, I do not patronize their stations.

- Chevron customer service is far superior however their gasoline does not deliver the MPG the 76 fuel does. I usually fill up at Chevron stations.

My worst tank so far was the one I just filled up where I went 227.5 miles and used a whopping 13.6 gallons. That tallies out to 16.7 miles per gallon! The station responsible for that tank was a Shell and I have a hunch the pump shut off way too early because the gauge started dropping four miles from the station. I can usually go 30 or so miles before the needle leaves the extreme top of the gauge. It hit a half at 110 miles, at which point I can usually hit 150-160 miles.

Up until that tank, my average was a respectable 19.2 but that bad tank brought it down to 18.9. I'm wondering how the Santa Fe will do on winter blend gasoline.

And for those number geeks out there, these are the figures. Since August 22nd:

Gallons Purchased: 108.737 US gallons
Miles Driven: 2,057.3 miles
Average MPG: 18.92
Total Cost of Gasoline Purchased: US$298.71
Average Cost Per Gallon: $2.74

 

Cool... I'm glad other people do this... I thought I was the only one crazy enough to keep a log book.

I can account for every gallon of gas I've put in my car since it was new (5 years, 66K miles). I log the gallons, mileage, vendor, date, and cost.

I really should put the data in an excel spreadsheet at least...

 

that sounds like a good idea. i have been keepin track of the gallons and $. now i am going to start doing what you mentioned. thanks guys!

 

Good job keeping track of your gas purchases. I always reset my trip odo when I fill up and then when I refill I figure out what my mpg was. Keeping track of which station you filled up and the gas mileage obtained while using their gas is impressive.

I have just a couple of comments from your post. If the attendants at the 76 station are rude, can't you just pay at the pump? I honestly have not stepped into a station in years. I have even driven past a gas station if you can't pay at the pump.

Also, for clarification, are you reasoning that your mileage dropped to 16.7 mpg because the gas station did not allow you to put as much fuel into your tank as you could at other stations? If so, your mileage should not drop because the miles driven on that tank full would determine the mpg.

 

Does your driving not vary from tank to tank? IMHO the differences in fuel economy from tank to tank have more to do with what type of driving you were doing than where you bought your gas.

 

If you aren't putting the data into a spreadsheet, then whats the point? Seems a little nutty to me :P

 

+1

 

In my case I would have added:
Total Credit Card Cash Back: $8.96

Anyways, I stopped counting when I found out that the average MPG of my wifes car doesn't go over 17 MPG and mine stays at 20 MPG. My gas expenses are ridiculous.

 

Oregon does not allow self-service gasoline. It's my #1 gripe about this place.

 

I'll grab the book from time to time to calculate the gas mileage over the last 1000 miles or so... If I notice a significant drop in mileage, I know there's something wrong with the car...

It's also nice to be able to see that we were paying under $2 a gallon only a couple of years ago...

On my old VW bus, the gas guage was broken, so knowing at what mileage and how much gas you put in was kinda critical. Since I had a log book in the van, I figured I'd do the same with the CL.

I've also got a binder with every receipt for maintenance/warranty work/parts for the car...

 

It's nice to see that a few people also log their fuel consumptions. I've been doing this for a little over 2 months now. And because of the logging, I've changed my driving style a little bit to try to get the most out of the fuel. Here is a pic of my spreadsheet.

 

I always calculate my mpg after filling up each tank. I just like to know the mileage I guess. I just made a trip from NJ to Baltimore, MD and back, and got 31.43 mpg on the tank. I drove mostly 75 mph on the way down, and closer to 80 on the way back home today.

I've thought about keeping a spreadsheet, but never got around to it.

 

My logbook as of 9.24.07 for my '97 TL



3749.76 gallons purchased
88457 miles driven
23.59 MPG on average

I dont keep track of the cost for fuel.

Highest MPG on a full tank = 31.57 MPG
Lowest MPG on a full tank = 17.2 MPG

 

It's probably better that you haven't

For some reason I started witting down the brand and cost back in early 2003... Back on 4/7/03 I paid $1.77 for premium at Hess. Yesterday I paid $2.79 for premium at Hess. It actually isn't that bad, since the price of EVERYTHING, had been going up lately. I don't know how many times I've said "I remember when I paid XXX for < insert product here > ". I'm starting to sound like my father

I also like the fact that I can flip quickly thru the notebook and see the historical ups and downs on the prices... Spikes when Katrina hit, and the lows are interesting to see...

 

Quote 40-Year Old Virgin: "Dude...teach me."

That is what I want my graph to look like!

 

How the heck are you consistently getting 15+ gallon fills in your tsx? My friggin gas light comes on ~ 13 gallons and I can't make myself drive more than a day with the gas light on without filling up.

Must be the power of the logbook.....

 

The navi has the info screen which tells you the range. Normally, when the light comes on, it usually has at least another 60 or so miles left in the range. I usually start thinking about filling up when the range reads 20 miles. Oftentimes, I went very close to 0 (sometimes below 0) in range.

 

great spreadsheet! can you post a generic .xls version so we can emulate you.

thanks.

 

Agree totally. I can't believe you'd find regular, consistent mileage differences just by varying gas brands. I keep my eye on the mileage, but this thread has some people that might need to be medicated I think. And the thread could possibly be renamed: "Anyone out there that needs a life, feel free to contribute".

 

I dont think i would have the patience to log all my gas, mileage, price etc with having to fill up often, every day

 

Yeah, that would be a drag... I only fill up once a week (usually on the weekend).