jstaneff

Here are two shots of my "since start" display on a recent commute. Look carefully, the full trip got 31.5 mpg and the highest I saw was 32.4 mpg, 1 mile and a long hill from home.

31.5 MPG on the commute! The other pertinent data: 48 miles, .56 hour, 52 mpg average speed.

Um ...

How? Well, driving like an old lady, gas pedal used gently, very slow acceleration, and keeping it to the 60 mph speed limit. Yikes. Talk about being the (almost) slowest car on the road! But maybe the mileage is worth that?

Hey, driving a Mercedes, you don't have to drive fast. But what do you do while you're waiting for the world to come (slowly) to you? Simple, you watch all those other cars zooming by!

mac911

Pretty cool. How many miles on your car? 29.2 or so was the most I ever got.

One thing I don't like about going slow though people passing you who cut right in front of you, throwing rocks and whatnot.

ShoremNJ

29mpg was the most i did, slowly crawling along on 50 mile commute.

jstaneff

6910 miles on the car after parking in the garage tonight. It's odd, sometimes it gets really good mileage, then sometimes I get careless and .... stomp on the loud pedal. All H##l breaks loose, the car goes very fast, and the MPG drops straight to the bottom ;-)

On an earlier stop-n-go drive that day, I also got 26.7 MPG for 22 miles that took 44 minutes (30 mph). Great mileage for very bad driving conditions.

I agree, though, that driving slow makes you susceptible for rock spray, etc. It also makes you a target!

e1000

narky

How the hell?

Am I doing something wrong? The best I've gotten so far is 22 MPG, and I usually get 16~18 MPG with normal driving. And I've only begun very very recently to open her up because I like to break cars in like a grandma for the first 500~750 miles and gradually increase max RPMs in increments.

How are you guys getting 30+ MPG? OMGWTF? I pay $3.87/gallon here at my local gas station. Tell me the secret(s)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quinni

I am a quick driver and I get 30.3 mixed mode. Pretty damn pleased with that!! ALso the anti whel spin works the best Ive had on ANY car. It just firken grunts away like amd in the wet like its dry!!!

Magic car!!

(Still fixing the rattles in the dash!!! :-() (Nearly gottem all)

Bobby204

I get around 20 on commute (local). a little better on hwy but not much.

micropower99

I get 21-22 tops, 18-19 on average and I don't push hard.

JimPap

This doesn't make any sense, but turn your headlight switch to the totally off position and see if your milage calculation changes. I'm not convinced that you are actually improving mileage, but rather something electronic is affecting the way the milage is calculated.

Every weekend, I have this same 100 mile trip (200 miles total) and I can change the miles per gallon by changing where the headlamp switch is positioned. Driving most the way on 70 miles per hour, with the headlamp switch in the off position, I can get 30.5. In even the automatic position, it'll drop to 26.5-27.5. Go figure and please verify.

I'm driving a C300.

vcruiser

All i know, is that my mpg are probably horrible.
i havent checked tho.

But i accelerate quick and always drive around 140-150 km/h on the highway.

Everyone i see driving a 204 is always in the right lane. or is always a lame driver.

So, being young, I gotta give the 204 a better reputation

tanktube67

The first 1500 (breaking period) the cars use more gas, and then you'll see the difference.
I'm getting between 19-24 mls per gallon.
Please do not remind us how expensive the gas is
Drive and enjoy the ride

SeeKlasse

up until about a year ago, georgia had the lowest gas prices in the country by half. i remember in 2002 i was paying 93 cents per gallong of premium! now its like the rest of the country, though not as bad as some californians, its about 3 dollars for premium...

My C43 gets on average 24-25mpg, if i chipped it maybe more. i used to have a i-6 c280 (1997) with the 5spd auto (with OD gear which the 4spd did not have) i got 31.06mpg on a 297 mile drive from gas station to gas station (from atlanta to savannah... georgia) i was very pleased but not surprised, the guy who chipped my c280 told me not to be surprised when i notice an increase in fuel economy if i drive the car gingerly.

unfortunately for you warranty guys a chip is not right up your alley

Derspeed

Having a manual makes it even easier to regulate mpg. I did an experiment shifting before the tach reached 3,000 rpms in may last car and was able to get in the 40s mpg range. I can't wait to see what my C will do.

mac911

30.3 that is wild. I don't know how you do it. Maybe it is something different about the cars or gasoline there?

jstaneff

Remember: better mileage at about 80% of max torque. So I try to keep the car running at about 2100 rpm. That's actually above the speed limit.

For running at 55-60, the rpm is below 2000.

The much maligned 7-speed is actually a boon for mileage, if you watch the tach and accelerate s-l-o-w-l-y.

My normal driving gets me about 27-28 mpg, and I'm happy with that, and it's fair to say that one of the biggest reasons it's only 27-28 is that I'm a wee bit happy with the loud pedal ;-)

tanktube67

$3.85 per gallon
The problem is the gasoline we use in California is special made for Californians; the gas has to met CA EPA standars and has some extra additives and detergents.


$4+ per gallon
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03...al-california/

tanktube67

$5.40 PER GALLON

http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Gasoline_S..._5_40_A_Gallon

pgaduane

After taking several long distance trips averaging 80MPH+, I'm getting in the 26 - 27 MPG range.

I tell you this car is awesome. Great looks, ride, performance (could always be better though) and great MPG. Doesn't get better than that!

Coming from a HUMMER it's so nice to fill up the tank for less than $50 and get 350 miles range per tank. Beats $100+ a tank and MAYBE 300 miles a tank. I'm loving it.....

narky

Good news! I have 2000 miles now, but the number is skewed a bit because I had to do a 1000-mile roundtrip to LA right around 930 miles. I'll try to pay attention to changes as I rack up more miles.

But you're right, tanktube. I try not to think about the rising costs and increasing mileage. I bought the car to enjoy it, not to worry about paint chips and tree sap and brake dust and pollen and hit-n-runs and break-ins and paint yellowing and rubber fading and... Well I still do worry about those, but try not to.

jstaneff

Has anyone noticed that the accelerator works "odd" at times. If you're deliberately driving slow and you push it slowly to go faster, it seems like it "sticks" and does not respond. You have to push it harder (too hard?) to get it to decide to go. (That's the opposite of what you want if you're trying to conserve gas.)

Two, when you've been on cruise control and you tap the brakes, the accelerator is nearly unresponsive. It has to be coaxed (bulled) into reacting. It's an odd feeling, pressing on the gas and the car slowing down.

I'm thinking the 'drive by wire' system leaves lots to be desired ;-)

Finally, try this: while running downhill on cruise, press the accelerator to speed up. Whoops, the brakes catch the car to compensate for the additional speed. The cruise control WILL NOT be overridden by driver input. (Most other cars will allow you to "speed up" while under cruise and then drop back to the cruise levels.)


- - - -

I've found that using the dump stalk to adjust speed is more effective and immediate than the accelerator. Dumb. Why??

mac911

I've noticed issues too. Floor the car when from a stop, and it takes off.

However, be going 25-40 MPH and floor it, and it does nothing! ha-ha. I was trying to pass out in the middle of nowhere some kind of equipment one day, and I was flooring it, and it was doing nothing.

It's a bit strange indeed.

JimPap

....are we related?

melbourne tim

For a "sensible" driver like you, it's a pity you can't get 4 cylinder models, particularly the diesel. You'll be in MPG nirvana and probably wouldn't miss the power, especially with the diesel. And save some money!

narky

Why, did you sleep in your car on the first night you took it home? I did that with my first new car, fresh out of college. If you did something similar in your past, we might be related. Don't worry. We're everywhere.

And in regards to the discussion on various threads about the M-B computer gettin in the way of people's driving, a manual transmission would solve that issue right away.