miles off a tank

[kingal3]

How do you guys hit 500 miles with one tank? Driving like a granny at 40 mph on the highway? In 1 direct drive?

My best was 350 miles. Driving like my mom.

I average 290-300 miles. I drive the little PO5 the way it was meant to.

So far, no one has claimed 500 MPT, but I suspect it can be done. Yes, in order to attain those high numbers, one must drive continuously at or near the above mentioned "granny" speed. On a highway. I'm afraid these bragging rights aren't fueled by high levels of testosterone.

I propose a challenge: If someone has not yet cracked the 500 mile barrier, then it should be a goal.

According to google maps, a stretch along I-5 from here to here equals 499 miles. According to google, there is a gas station near each end point. Starting at point A in mountainous to semi-mountainous areas, you'd be heading primarily and steadily downhill. Once past Redding, CA, the trip would flatten out for the remainder. There may be a very low angle incline approaching point B, but should be negligible. Certainly, it would be wise to carry a 5 gallon container of extra fuel for emergency.

 

[bazooka joe]

389 and had almost 2 gals in the tank...so in theory i could have gone almost another 60ish miles = 450+-(yes)

 

[RABID_MP5]

I don't doubt the aformentioned 45mpg. I'm thinking with drafting even 50 might be possible. Speed has a great effect on efficiency. At last summer's gas prices I played with running the old national speed limit that Nixon mandated. At 55ish I broke 40 on several occasions, averaging about 39 on a dozen tankfuls (yeah w/ a 5-speed of course). I also saw numerous semis on I80 in my rear view mirror that apparently wanted to draft me. I still granny it at maybe 63mph now, but have only hit 40mpg once, averaging 37. I do run 195/65R15s which are almost 7% "overdrive", which gets mulitplied on the odometer reading. I verified the odometer & speedo over 10 miles using interstate mile markers. Over the winter mileage, even on long trips, was only about 33 overall. I'm running with a blocked-off EGR, tho I doubt that has much effect. The fairly skinny tires have almost the 44 psi sidewall max. pressure in them. Running sans luggage rack. O2 and MAF sensors are recent. Plus headers and freeflow exhaust don't hurt. I'm thinking the CAI is minimal effect on mileage. Plugs are Denso OEMs - need to try NGK long reach maybe. My gf is a 540 mile round trip away, so I'm trying any tweak I can. If I could pull that on one tankful, now THAT would be way cool.

 

[shadow191]

I've cleaned the egr valve, no real difference. I haven't seafoamed yet; I have always used Valvoline fuel injector cleaner. I used to be sponsored by them, so I have cases of it in the garage. Maybe I'll try the seafoam when I get a chance.

Have you seafoamed your engine//cleaned your egr valve? This increased my mpg by about 3

 

[pasadena_commut]

I understand your skepticism, however, note my qualifying remark: "45 to 55 mph". This was during a cross country move where we were unable to drive much faster with a loaded U-Haul in the lead.

How big a U-Haul and how far in the lead? If you were close enough to get some drafting assist, at that low speed, that sort of MPG is possible. Also possible if you drove most of the tank with a tail wind or downhill, or all of the above. (This wasn't by any chance the tank coming down out of the Rockies?).

 

[C!LLY]

The best I ever got was roughly 410 when I first got it in AZ. Now I'm around 300-350 mpt.

 

[kingal3]

How big a U-Haul and how far in the lead? If you were close enough to get some drafting assist, at that low speed, that sort of MPG is possible. Also possible if you drove most of the tank with a tail wind or downhill, or all of the above. (This wasn't by any chance the tank coming down out of the Rockies?).

U-Haul, as previously mentioned, was approximately 20 to 24 feet pulling a Pick-up truck on a trailer. Drafting at any speed in this situation would have been supremely unwise and unsafe. Safe distances were maintained throughout - likely between 3 and 5 seconds. It is certainly possible that slope played a role in this leg of that journey. The Rockies were not in play.

 

[quietflow]

For those who dont believe 400 every tank is doable, you need to get your foot out of it alittle. These cars are not fast! But they do look nice and will get good mileage if not driven like you stole it! 500 maybe doable on a tank but id definatley bring some gas with me for when i ran out

 

[quietflow]

Oh and i think a 5 speed is the only one that would get close to that 500 mile mark!

 

[kingal3]

For those who dont believe 400 every tank is doable, you need to get your foot out of it alittle. These cars are not fast! But they do look nice and will get good mileage if not driven like you stole it! 500 maybe doable on a tank but id definatley bring some gas with me for when i ran out

I haven't decided yet, but I am seriously considering making a go at the 500 mile mark. This would be my most likely route traveling clockwise. Anticipate setting the cruise control at 55 on Hwy 99 and 60 on I-5. Hopefully I can get by with making only one stop near the midpoint. Total drive time (not including stops) would be around 8.5 hrs so it would be wise to have a co-pilot. Would bring a 5 gallon fuel reserve. Am considering driving until I run out of gas. Starting point "A" is at a gas station and would serve as the initial fill up location.

I suspect this would be foolish undertaking, but I am genuinely curious to know how far my car could go.

 

[pasadena_commut]

Am considering driving until I run out of gas.

Car dogma has it that running until the tank is completely dry is not a good idea because the crud on the bottom of the tank is sucked into the fuel system and motor.

A safer way of doing this would be to fill up at a specific pump at the gas station of your choice, drive a 300 mile loop back to this station, fill up again at the exact same pump, and then calculate from the observed MPG and the tank's fuel capacity the car's maximum range under those driving conditions. If the answer turns out to be 470 miles, you will have saved yourself the "pleasure" of running out of gas on the I5.

 

[Dparks7]

ive hit 492, on 95 octane, no ethonal. thats with a fresh oil change, new spark plugs (long reach), new coil packs, with the tires at 55 psi. i averaged 60 mph. then i filled the car up with 14.2 gallons

 

[Lord_Zath]

45.51 mpg! Sorry man, I'm not buying it.

Got 45 mpg at a mazda meet this last weekend. went for a cruise.

I attribute the jump in mpg to doing the intake mod, removing the maf screen, and resetting the ecu and driving hard for 150 miles prior.

 

[BoostedPR5]

I got between 25-30mpg....

Highway btw, between where I live and Pittsburgh.

 

[SocialStealth]

I got between 25-30mpg....

Highway btw, between where I live and Pittsburgh.

Yeah..I average between 25 and 30 mpg. To get 45 is....just crazy....

45 mpg on a 5+ year old car?

Thats hard to believe, considering even the new, super efficient cars coming out today hardly even get that much mpg.


...if you seriously got 45 mpg, you should call the government. As I think you've just made history.

 

[kingal3]

ive hit 492, on 95 octane, no ethonal. thats with a fresh oil change, new spark plugs (long reach), new coil packs, with the tires at 55 psi. i averaged 60 mph. then i filled the car up with 14.2 gallons

Nice work. Tire pressure does play an important role in fuel economy. 55 psi would allow for some serious gains.

450 or more MPT leader board becomes:

492 Dparks7
460+ Mike R.
452.6 kingal3
450 (approximate) slavrenz

 

[BoostedPR5]

55 psi will also wear your tires out prematurely, compromise the safety as it's probably over the maximum allowed in said tires, severely reduce the handling of the vehicle, and give you an awful ride.

Be careful like that, I've seen tires go kaboom from excessive pressure.
Or stems, they don't like that either(unless you have bolt ins).

 

[carter1551]

my best MPT = 452.6

related:
best MPG = 45.51 (during cross country trip traveling between 45 and 55 mph)
most gallons filled: 13.437

each of these were on separate occasions.

That number definitely seems high but I can get 40mpg when cruising at 40-45mph. so maybe its possible. Verified by my scangauge

 

[carter1551]

side note, do any of you use cruise? whenever i use it the car cant hold a certain speed very well, the rpms will jump up to gain back that mile per hour it lost and then the rpms will drop for a few seconds, it does not seem efficient and i feel its more efficient to just hold a constant speed with your foot since cruise cant get it right. anyone else have this issue with cruise in our cars?

 

[Dparks7]

but see i was the stupid one that actually drove till my car stalled. and i could have done some wrong calculations...but i think thats what i got... also no one has seen my car. there is no interrior, rear seats, anything in the trunk, ac or cruse. i stripped it down and im going to redo the whole interrior. i would say the car prob weighs about 2300 lbs right now (without me in it)