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Car mileage started at 9450, ended at 11202 for a total of 1752 miles. 47.11 gallons of fuel used, nearly all regular.
37.1 mpg.
The only differences in the car between this trip and my last big space shuttle trip was an oil change to a lighter oil ( 5w-20 ) and a tire rotation. The first two tanks were in the 34-35mpg range, the big mileage gains were evident on back roads, I cracked 42 mpg on one half tank which was exclusively slower driving.
The slower speeds bring up the mileage quite dramatically, the 42 mpg tank was quite a surprise, I knew these cars were efficient but thats quite an eyeful. 300 miles of range right at the half tank marker on the fuel gauge is becoming a common interstate driving marker, when I was hitting 330 at the same spot I knew something was going on good, but not exactly what.
I should note that the run from Page Arizona to my front door in Denver was 608 miles, which I did on 15.78 gallons, for a 38.5 mpg tank.
The slower backroads in Arizona and Utah being offset by steady 80mph driving on I-70 as well as climbing the Continental Divide. If I assume a 50/50 split of driving styles, then I was getting a steady 41.5 mpg on backroads, and 35 mpg on the interstate on this tank.
This car rules. I still plan on a summer time experiment to see if I can get an entire tank above 40mpg like Caz can.
Later Caaz
Some states blend in 5% to 22% ethanol, and at 20%, it will cut mileage by about 6% from EPA ratings for 100% "gas", or drop a 30 mpg (of gas) highway car to 28 mpg of ethanol blend.
Lately, ethanol has been cheaper per gallon than gas, so blenders make more money if that put more ethanol in than the minimum even though it lowers your mileage. It would be helpful to consumers if the gas pumps indicated not only guaranteed octane numbers, but also BTU/gallon too so consumers knew what energy value they were getting per gallon.
i have an 07 camry xle v-6 .bought new and now have 32,000 miles on it. I am consistantly getting 27- 30 mpg hiway driving and slightly less in town. I am very please with both performance and mpg!!
Overall mileage 28.4 mpg. This was .9 mpg better than my last long trip which I think was probably due to slightly slower speeds.
One interesting note: my GPS said the mileage was almost 2% more than the odometer reading. If I used the GPS miles, then the mileage was 28.9 mpg.
In the interests of science, I have decided to absolutely HAMMER my Camry to see if I can FORCE the mileage into the <30mpg range. I didn't have the time on this trip to putter along and try for the BEST mileage, so I went the other way instead.
The trip will be over by Wednesday night, when I shall add up all the tanks and get the total.
For anyone who does much Western driving and is interested, 3800rpm on a 2007 CE 5 speed manual in top gear coughs up triple digit cruising speeds. No speeding tickets yet...the beauties of backroads in North and South Dakota. The car does it quite well, even with a solid 20-25mph headwind.
My 05 LE AT did 24 around town, and I've got a decent 33mpg listed somewhere here for a big trip.
I never paid that much attention during slower trips in the 05 AT, I have paid attention on the 07. The speed really does make a difference, so does a decent headwind. Right now I've got a single tank point above 40mpg, and on my most recent trip I was able to get a single tank point below 30mpg. That required both a GOOD headwind and supra-legal speeds.
Mostly, MPG is dependant on the driver and the conditions, not a mechanical problem with the car. In any forum about MPG, no matter who made the car, someone is always complaining that their MPG is bad.
The numbers:
1631 miles, 51.08 gallons, 31.9mpg.
The first 3 tanks were right in the 29-31 range, but the last day, without a headwind and no high speeds, was something like 36mpg, which is pretty normal. Unfortunately, it also brought the average back up.
You sure do put a ton of miles on your Camry. How many miles now?
I also have an '07 CE 5 speed manual. My MPG is good (average around 30, which is good, considering my commute). I am anxious to take it on a really long trip to see how good my MPG will be.
I drive off peak hours (10:30AM and 6:30PM) to and from Philly ~25 miles each way. I do not use cruise control but I use a steady foot. I find that cruise control accelerates too rapidly during hills. I try to maintain a steady load for the engine. Since most of the roads are flat here, I drive between 55 and 65 MPH depending on if I'm going slightly uphill or downhill. I never do a hard accelerate and I break in order to coast past stop lights.
Some general trends I see are the following:
70MPH cruise control gets 38MPG
65MPH cruise control gets 41MPG
60MPH cruise control gets 43MPG
55MPH cruise control gets 43MPG
55-65 steady foot gets 47MPG
52-62 steady foot gets 50MPG
These numbers are from 20 mile stretches.
Local driving is too variable to quantify. The steady foot method requires extreme patience and dodging and I don't recommend it to anyone. I do it probably because I have some sort of OCD. However, 40MPG should easily attainable under highway driving conditions for anyone. My tires are somewhat deflated so even higher numbers are possible.
Some tips in getting higher milage include: keep windows up, overinflate tires a bit, slow accelerations, prebrake if there's a stop light so you maintain maximum speed, drive less than 65MPH, minimize rapid braking accelerating then breaking. I know this sounds like advice the government is giving out on their website but it is true.
Neither. I25 north to nearly Douglas, WY, and then all backroads, first E to Lusk, then due N on 85 to Hatford City, then due E to Minot. From Spearfish SD north its a great place to speed.
70MPH cruise control gets 38MPG
65MPH cruise control gets 41MPG
60MPH cruise control gets 43MPG
I can backup at least some of this. I did nearly a tank, mostly 55-65mph, and got 42mpg for that tank. Quite a surprise at the time, I'm glad others are able to get these high numbers as well.
I have never driven 70mph for any length of time, usually I am either puttering around on secondaries at 55-65mph, or running a solid 75-80mph or more, where it drops to about 35-36 for me.
I find it amazing that running sustained speeds closer to 100mph rather than the speed limit, I can still count on 30mpg+, without a consistent headwind.
13,000
I only use it for traveling, I don't think I've used more than a half tank on one occasion using it as a commuter.
Its about 11 months old, and was parked in the garage under a cover for 4 of those.
That is amazing because your own data shows 2-3 mpg drop for every 5 mph speed increase (my experience with my V6 is similar). That would project to about 26 mpg at 100 mph. That would be a good experiment if you could actually run 100 miles or more at 100 mph (I'm not suggesting that you try
That is amazing because your own data shows 2-3 mpg drop for every 5 mph speed increase (my experience with my V6 is similar). That would project to about 26 mpg at 100 mph. That would be a good experiment if you could actually run 100 miles or more at 100 mph (I'm not suggesting that you try
Well, I'm not running an HONEST 100mph. My speeding routine goes like this...cresting a hill...looking along the straightaway, no oncoming traffic, ease into the throttle on the downhill, the speed usually stabilizing near 100mph on the long flat stretch, heading uphill to the next crest in the road, the speed gradually slowing even with the same throttle position so as I crest the hill, I'm back in the 10-15mph over the limit range (75-80mph). Check the following downhill run and straight, and repeat.
Sometimes, oncoming traffic might look "official", so I slow down earlier, other times, there is traffic in my lane jamming me up ( happens alot when traveling fast, versus closer to the speed limit ), and when its all said and done, it is VERY hard to do 90 actual miles in an hours time. 85 is quite doable, but 90mph for an hour long average is tough. So maybe my AVERAGE speed, even while running 100mph every chance I got, was more like 90mph. 90mph fits into a 30mpg number with an HONEST 100mph fitting into your calculated 26mpg, that all seems reasonable to me.
Plus the headwind. Do what I described above, with a headwind, and I got a single tank into the 29mpg range.
To average 100mph over an entire hour is real, real tough.One small town in there, difficult passing, heavier traffic, and you would have to run 130mph the rest of the time to make up for the slowdowns.
Of course, if you try ANY of this on an interstate you are generally dead meat because the boys in blue watch those alot closer than they do the backroads.
Later
Caaz
I did find an intersting fuel additive.... SYNCO.. im not puting it in my camry yet, i want to see my warm weather mileage 1st before i do. so i can gauge the differencce in mpg.
Bit i added it to my wifes Sienna 06 and its up 4 mpg
a bit costly 50 dollars for 20 tankfuls about 2.50 per tank in additive cost, but i think the 4 mpg increase slightly out weighs the 2.50 per tankful.
I'll soon add it to the camry and test it and report
Later
Caaz
Later
Caaz
I tried gas and engine oil additives back in the 80's, and just couldn't ever see any results. You get a 4 mpg gain for $2.50/tank and can show it, I'll consider trying again.
My next trip is scheduled for June 1, a quick 1700 miler over the weekend. All interstate, so I don't expect any record numbers, just the usual 35-37mpg.
That wouldn't surprise me, but around here we've been trying to get decent mileage for the majority of a tank, and I don't know about your patience but mine gets tried when I have to drive that way for like 10 hours and I still won't have emptied the tank.
?? You are disturbed by people driving slowly and getting good mileage perhaps? :confuse:
NO!! Just the delusional ones
I absolutely believe the mileage they get. I do just as well or even slightly better in my Accord. You have to drive slowly and carefully and the mpg will happen.
I recently did a two way trip that was an identical route both ways. I drove the first way and my wife the second. I have a scangauge so I don't have to fill up to get my mpg (and it is calibrated to be very accurate). The trip out was 39.x mpg the trip back was 25.x. I was driving 65 mph and she was driving 80 mph and flooring it every time she accelerated. Driving style is a huge factor in mpg.
NO!! Just the delusional ones
Do you have a particular delusion you wish to refute, specifically or generally? I've got every tank of fuel used in at least 2 of my Camrys written down in little notebooks, been doing it since the mid-80's with all my cars.
I tend to post multi tank trips myself, consisting of thousands of miles of driving sometimes, to minimize fillup error, and haven't seen a delusional mileage posted yet, qualified properly. 57 mph in top gear with no cross or head wind conditions and the Camry is a 40mpg+ car. I've done it myself as recently as this March, doing more like 60-65 mph.
Your experience may vary of course, but I'm on my 3rd Camry now and except for people having a tough time getting some of the better mileage numbers bantered about, which is unfortunte, and they have every right to be upset about not understanding why, it appears to be a common occurence that these cars are amazing efficient for their size.
Later caaz
My latest try, from orange county to Lake arrowhead. it was 84.4 miles, climbing from sealevel to approx 6,000 feet. Going 31.19 mpg...... returning 43.17 mpg.the climb is approx 16 miles and descent the same, the other 68 miles was fairly flat freeways.
Later caaz
Bottom line.... 664.6 miles on a tank.
O.K. now for the freakish unresolved issue with my 03 when i start or stop suddenly, i can hear the antifreeze swish from front to back and visa versa if i accelaerate... any suggestions why i can hear this?..... my heater hoses old and sucking in from the inside?....its fairly loud and doesnt really go away, even after its hot. I got in my neighbors old camry with 200,000 miles on it and it does the same thing. I'm open to suggestions, and NO i havnt taken it in for a diagnosis.
Later Caaz
later caaz
How do you know its antifreeze? I've heard gasoline sloshing around in the tank before in some cars ( not my Camry ) but antifreeze? I don't know that I can hear that sloshing around with the hood up and my head under it.
Later caaz
There's all sorts of error and bias in reporting particular tanks and trips, that would be avoided if there were a capability to enter continuous data on this website.
Interesting concept. Let me see if I understand it completely...I come to the web and enter my mileage and gallons....like I do my little notebook in the glovebox...and a calculator on the web...like the one I carry in my glovebox...figures up my mileage, like I do while sitting at the gas pump.
And this screens out all sorts of error?
To date, the only information or analysis I've seen supplied as to fillup error was provided by me in Post #636. The error in the example, utilizing multi-day, multi-tank, multi thousand mile trips with the same driver on 2 different generations of Camrys struck me as borderline insignificant, and thats being generous.
Did I miss a different type of error in our calculations rather than just fillup error?
If I did, let me know, I've got a quickie 1600 mile trip lined up this weekend and if I know what to look for I can accumulate the data to test any particular theories. For example, instead of doing the trip in just 3 tanks of gas I can stop 5 or 6 times to maximize the potential for error during fillup, and collect other information to better clarify the exact error. For example, what if I stop filling the first time the pump clicks? That would introduce individual pump error and uncertainty into the equation. What if I stopped pumping BEFORE the pump clicks, to simulate people just putting in what seems like "enough" rather than doing it some other way? There are probably other "gee I'm not very good at pumping gas" errors I can simulate to see if it changes my prior calculations and analysis, I'm open to all ideas, I've done this trip many times before and its boring, dreaming up interesting ways to miss-fillup the car at least gives me something to think about while droning across Kansas.
You are quite correct, and my information shows that 3 gallons of fillup error would be extraordinarily high, for me anyway. Fillup error by a driver paying attention to what they are doing can be described in ounces.
So lets quantify the errors, we can get the most precise overall mileage from the totals, and if most of the driving is under the same conditions, we assume that overall mileage is basically static ( not a perfect assumption, but reasonable ) and that error in each tank along the way is just driver fillup error.
By purposely messing around with how I fill a tank over a multi tank, multi day run, I can introduce "simulated driver fillup error" into the equation, and then we can see what is a reasonable error bar to put around someone's mileage based on this particular concept.
So the list is:
1) Fill until the pump clicks
2) Fill and stop BEFORE the pump clicks
3) OVERFILL until you literally spill gas out the top
4) ?????-Suggestions???
Its about a 1600 trip, 300 miles to the half tank gives me a decent 5 or 6 chances to mangle the fillup procedure and watch what happens.
I agree that 3 gallons would be a huge underfill/error. I was just trying to point out that the longer the trip, the less an underfill will affect the final results. I would be surprised if one could add even a gallon after the pump clicks off. My experience is maybe .2-.4 gallons max after the pump kicks off the first time.
Configure the website to accept this data and let the numbers reveal themselves. Anything else is subject to varying degrees of selectivity, and error.
no no no, thats not what I meant. See, I use the entire trip, done on the same road, both directions,its gallons and miles as the BASELINE for the mileage. That tells me what an AVERAGE mileage answer should be for this trip, all things considered.
Then by mangling the fillup routine, I can quantify how far a single tank calculation deviates from that KNOWN average on a single tank, where error, if it gets into the calculation, has the most effect for the average Joe, reporting just a single tank number.
For example, I short fill one tank ( first click of pump ) and overfill on the next ( till it spills out ) and that tank then has a mileage which will be inaccurate on a single tank fill calculation FOR CERTAIN. Since I know what the answer SHOULD be from the entire trip calculation, I can determine the actual amount of error on a single tank. Better yet, I can maximize it or minimize it, depending on the sequence of "tank fillup screwups" I do.
You mean, just like all the tanks and information I entered in Post #636?
I guess I don't see what errors are solved or minimized between listing everything like I did in Post #636 and entering the same information into a website, except for catching calculator errors. And since I used all my information for every tank in that post, anyone is free to check my math of course.
I accept that your 1600 mile trip figures are accurate representations of the mileage your car gets with your driving style. The phd guy is never going to accept their validity if he can't duplicate them. This discussion is in a do loop and we should just drop it and get back to calculated mileage reports.