I have never checked fuel milage with any of my vehicles,it is what it is,we drive the vehicles we drive because these are the vehicles we wan't to drive,I don't buy vehicles based on fuel milage I buy them for the intended purpose.
05 sunline 267 sr(younger family with a sunline almost unheard of)
2001 F-250 lariat 4x4 supercab shortbed automatic V-10 4:30LS
1200# drawtite hitch friction sway control,prodigy
with a 600+ mile a week commute mpgs was important but the most important was if the mpgs dropped. As other posters say keeping up with mpgs can head off a very expensive problem with the engine down the road.
My wife Buick just had a 2-4 mpg drop and it was a injector solinoid only working on partial voltage. Continued use might have burnt a piston. Glad she keeps up with her mpgs.
'03 2500 Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs
'97 Park Avanue 28' with two slides
mainetom wrote: Am I alone in not being obsessed with my gas mileage? My TV is a 2004 F-350, V-10, and I know people are just making conversation, but almost everyone, the first thing they say, is: "What kind of mileage you get with that thing?" My response is always the same: "I don't know, never once have checked. It's not good, that much I know, but exactly how bad it is I don't want to know." And that's the truth I knew its thirsty reputation when I bought it, and I know what owners of similar trucks are getting for mileage. I bought it to tow, and it does an admirable job at that. That's good enough for me.
Oh, btw, my daily driver is a Honda Fit, which gets us around quite nicely, but don't ask what kind of mileage it gets either; it's good, but exactly how good I have no idea, nor will I ever know. Calculating MPG and fussing over the results is not something I do. Do you?
I check mine very close not for the mpg itself, but to determine if something might be wrong that is effecting the mpg and look for the reason. I only calculate my mpg when freeway towing and only between full fillups when towing and it's really consistent to within a couple of tenths and if it were to suddenly drop like .5mpg, I would be looking for a reason.
Larry
I have had my Superduty soo long I know what the mileage is by the miles driven without checking it, but I don't care it was bought to tow. As far as consistent that doesn't exsist under towing or traveling conditions head winds, speed, mountains etc,at least where I travel in the western states. I would think 2-3 miles per gallon would be more like it depending on conditions.
I guess if you were on flat highway with no wind or whatever and kept your speed exact no slowing down and having to speed up you might see a couple tenths difference.
There is a major variable in checking mileage from one fill-up to the next, and that is the point that the nozzle "clicks off." I know you are not supposed to "top off" the gas tank, but one time when I found a really low price and wanted to put as much in the tank as I could, I kept trickling more in until it was nearly over-flowing. That was nearly 5 gallons of additional gas beyond the initial click-off. That would have really knocked my MPG into a tailspin had I been checking.
Some nozzles are more sensitive than others and click off much sooner. Over many miles and a number of fill-ups, it would seem the resulting MPG figure at the end would be more meaningful.
I don't fuss over the milage, but I do occasionally check mine. IF for no other reason to make sure the vehicle is running as well as it can. Fuel cost too much to waste these days, at least in my household.
My 08 F250 has a mpg computer on it. When I first got the truck I watched it all the time. Finally realized it doesn't matter I didn't buy it for mpg and it does what I bought it for very well. Now I set the computer to show trip distance and don't pay attention to mpg.
I check mine every tank for the last 4 years. I'm kind of a nerd that way .
I made a spreadsheet on the computer where I enter distance driven and fuel used, and it calculates the mpg for me. I got in the habit of doing it early to see what my truck (and van) would do for mpg, and just continued. I even stand there and dribble fuel in until it's full in the filler neck (provided there is no line up behind me, which there usually isn't).
My BIL is the same as most of you folks. If you ask him what kind of mileage he gets, he says: "I don't know, when it's gettin empty, I fill it". I'm one that likes to know. It's a good diagnostic tool, and it helps when vehicle shopping to know the guzzlers from the non-guzzlers that will do the same job.
I keep an idea in my head but no the exact figure. I know that mileage when I fill up and the gallons and as long as it hovers around 17 winter and 19 summer I am happy. I track it soley to know if and when it drops that I might have a problem.
Scott & Karen
2004 Fleetwood Monterey
2003 Ford Ranger Edge in Very, Very Red
up2nogood wrote: As far as consistent that doesn't exsist under towing or traveling conditions head winds, speed, mountains etc,at least where I travel in the western states. I would think 2-3 miles per gallon would be more like it depending on conditions.
I guess if you were on flat highway with no wind or whatever and kept your speed exact no slowing down and having to speed up you might see a couple tenths difference.
You might be surprised especially for the 7.3L PSD. I've towed all over the U.S. from just outside of D.C. to San Diego and up to Stockton, Ca. over the Cascades on I-80 thru Wy back east on I-80/I-70 with several trips down I-95 to Fla. (800 miles each way two trips), with multiple round trips to State College, Pa. (355 miles RT between fuel stops close to 50 RTs) and to Chicago, Il. (900 miles one way, 6 RTs and always over the Cumberland Mtns on I-68) and have never seen more than a 1 mpg delta due to mtns and or headwinds. I do tow at a consistent speed and drive in the mtns the same whether its the Cascades, Rockies, Cumberland, or the Pa. "Large Hills". I always fill up to the cap for consistency and always travel 50 to 60 miles after filling up and keep track of where I filled up.
Larry
* This post was
edited 06/23/08 03:33pm by LarryJM *
2001 standard box 7.3L E-350 PSD Van with 4.10 rear and 2007 Holiday Rambler Aluma-Lite 8306S Been RV'ing since 1974. TRAILER MODS
up2nogood wrote: As far as consistent that doesn't exsist under towing or traveling conditions head winds, speed, mountains etc,at least where I travel in the western states. I would think 2-3 miles per gallon would be more like it depending on conditions.
I guess if you were on flat highway with no wind or whatever and kept your speed exact no slowing down and having to speed up you might see a couple tenths difference.
You might be surprised especially for the 7.3L PSD. I've towed all over the U.S. from just outside of D.C. to San Diego and up to Stockton, Ca. over the Cascades on I-80 thru Wy back east on I-80/I-70 with several trips down I-95 to Fla. (800 miles each way two trips), with multiple round trips to State College, Pa. (355 miles RT between fuel stops close to 50 RTs) and to Chicago, Il. (900 miles one way, 6 RTs and always over the Cumberland Mtns on I-68) and have never seen more than a 1 mpg delta due to mtns and or headwinds. I do tow at a consistent speed and drive in the mtns the same whether its the Cascades, Rockies, Cumberland, or the Pa. "Large Hills". I always fill up to the cap for consistency and always travel 50 to 60 miles after filling up and keep track of where I filled up.
Larry
I wish I could agree, but I can't. I also tow with a 7.3, and if a head wind is getting me there will be no 1 mile difference. I have been between Cheyenne and Evanston Wyoming with a head wind. I will guarantee you that I have lost more than 1 mile per gal.When the wind is strong enough that the truck will not shift into overdrive you are pushing pretty hard, granted a 5ver probably has more wind resistance than a TT .
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