Checking Your Mileage

Hello High mileage Drivers!

Since my last post, I have been driving. Unfortunately, I also have been filling my tank. The good news is gas prices have continued to decline (for now). With using some of the hypermiling techniques, I have been able to maintain fairly good gas mileage.

Being a Power Engineer, I want to know what is "good" mileage. I have been doing it the old fashioned way, using the trip odometer and the gas pump quantities. This gives me an average for that tank. However, it can vary dramatically depending on the type of trips I have made.

On a recent long distance trip through the mountains, I could average just under 43 Imperial miles per gallon. (Note: Canada uses Imperial gallons which are about 1/5 larger than US gallons). I did not use the cruise control through the mountains. Cruise control reacts to a reduction in speed and will do everything it can to maintain the set speed, even go full throttle and kick down the transmission. we do not want this.

I would still like to monitor the car's performance more closely. I purchased a handy little item called a "Scan Gauge II". This unit is designed to plug into the ODBII computer connection. It has a two line display, and will display four parameters at one time. It has the ability to display almost any information your car's computer has. I usually have mine set to display RPM, speed, water temperature, and of course mileage (in liters/100 kilometers)

When the Scan Gauge is first installed, you will have to set some of the parameters. The guide book is very easy to follow. It also give you the option of whether or not you want to save the settings. This is nice if you want to take it out of your car and test your buddy's car. just set it up for his, but don't save the settings. When you take it out, it will still have your settings in memory.

Once I put the Scan Gauge II in, I got a brutal education about driving, especially in the city. I have it set to show Liters/100 kilometers. The weight of the car shows on acceleration and inclines. Starting can be as high as 89 liters/100k, even when being gentle. I seems to take forever before it starts coming down to reasonable levels. On going up gentle hills, if I hold my breath, it will come down to about 10 L/100k. Once I get to flat land cruise at 80 kph, it settles arounf 6 - 7 L/100k.

In my opinion, the Lumina has two things going for it. It has a streamlined shape, which helps with wind resistance. It also has an overdrive transmission which seems to be set very well for the car's weight.

If you would like to find out more about the Scan Gauge II go the website:
www.scangauge.com/

I think next time I will put the Scan Gauge in my truck. It is a 2002 Ford Ranger Extended Cab with a 3.0 liter V-6 and a 5 speed manual transmission. It has a roll up box cover, so I will be able to test things like tailgate up versus tailgate down, covered box versus open box. I'll let you know next time I post. See you then.

Ken