Fuel Economy
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,067
Likes: 5
From: MILFORD,CT
E36M3 race car/Ferrari F355 GTS/1973 Mini 1275GT/Fiat Abarth/ML63/SLK55
finally drove my car after awhile...put snows on....inflated to 40 psi. this am, for the highway portion i kept right lane and ~60 mph or so. (instead of left lane and ~80)
did 28 miles- 25.9 mpg, avg speed for trip 60 mph. i did draft a truck or 2.
but, i can't do it long trem. it's nerve wracking as everyone is going pretty quickly plus lots of car merge in to left lane.
tomorrow i'll try middle lane and 70 mph.....
did 28 miles- 25.9 mpg, avg speed for trip 60 mph. i did draft a truck or 2.
but, i can't do it long trem. it's nerve wracking as everyone is going pretty quickly plus lots of car merge in to left lane.
tomorrow i'll try middle lane and 70 mph.....
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,067
Likes: 5
From: MILFORD,CT
E36M3 race car/Ferrari F355 GTS/1973 Mini 1275GT/Fiat Abarth/ML63/SLK55
todays avgs were 30 miles/ 23.9 mpg/ 69 mph.
not bad for a 430 hp car.........above figures include 2 brief WOT runs....darn this car loves cold air...........
not bad for a 430 hp car.........above figures include 2 brief WOT runs....darn this car loves cold air...........
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,342
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From: PA
S600, GL450, GLC 43
With my new pullies, and only about 60 miles of tire shredding fun, my lifetime was reset when I disconnected the battery. It now reads 11.6, however these were VERY fun miles
See yeah
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 9,137
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From: California, USA
E63 P30, CL500 Sport
W mode does always start in 2nd gear, but that's not all. It also "relaxes" your shift points (makes the shift time much slower), and tends to keep the car in the low-rpm range, which means the car would go into higher gears very quickly. So for example, in W mode, my car will shift to 5th gear by the time I reach 36 mph
In S mode, the car will shift faster and will hold gear to higher rpm because it assumes you want more performance.
So it seems that W mode should in fact result in a slightly increased mpg, and that is what I'm experiencing in my car with S vs C
Super Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 636
Likes: 0
From: Oakland, California
07 E550, 02 C32, 91 300E
Just another question on this...
Have any of you guys noticed when you turn off the engine the fuel needle is at wherever on the scale and then after a while you get back in the car and start it up the fuel needle is quite a bit lower???
Or is my car hemorrhaging petrol?
I've checked under the car when I reverse and can't see much but it's raining all the time here at this time of the year so is hard to tell properly?
Thanks!!!
Have any of you guys noticed when you turn off the engine the fuel needle is at wherever on the scale and then after a while you get back in the car and start it up the fuel needle is quite a bit lower???
Or is my car hemorrhaging petrol?
I've checked under the car when I reverse and can't see much but it's raining all the time here at this time of the year so is hard to tell properly?
Thanks!!!
I get about 23-24mpg cruising ~65-75mph (got 22mpg with a full car going over 80 when I moved back down to school driving highway 5). In the city, I get a much lower 17-18, especially since my commute is only 3 miles and our engines are horribly inefficient when cold. So I fill up only once a month or so. It's also why I've only got 36k on the clock.
It really is nice not having to commute far. It lets you have a musclecar and use less gas and pollute less than the guy driving 45min each way in a hybrid.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
C32
Good Point Xerox - It could well be that - I actually kept my eye on the fuel indicator and it definatly does drop after the car has stood for a while. But... I have now noticed that when I start back up again and drive for a mile or so the fuel indicator goes up a bit - so it could well be the ambient temperature - Northern England Winter - says it all :-)
Oh and fantastic point about the muscle cars and less gas than a hybrid - will they never understand :-)
Oh and fantastic point about the muscle cars and less gas than a hybrid - will they never understand :-)
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
C32
Let me shed some more light on W mode....
W mode does always start in 2nd gear, but that's not all. It also "relaxes" your shift points (makes the shift time much slower), and tends to keep the car in the low-rpm range, which means the car would go into higher gears very quickly. So for example, in W mode, my car will shift to 5th gear by the time I reach 36 mph
In S mode, the car will shift faster and will hold gear to higher rpm because it assumes you want more performance.
So it seems that W mode should in fact result in a slightly increased mpg, and that is what I'm experiencing in my car with S vs C
W mode does always start in 2nd gear, but that's not all. It also "relaxes" your shift points (makes the shift time much slower), and tends to keep the car in the low-rpm range, which means the car would go into higher gears very quickly. So for example, in W mode, my car will shift to 5th gear by the time I reach 36 mph
In S mode, the car will shift faster and will hold gear to higher rpm because it assumes you want more performance.
So it seems that W mode should in fact result in a slightly increased mpg, and that is what I'm experiencing in my car with S vs C
If anyone else can confirm all this to be true that would also help - not that I don't believe you MB, just interested in all persepctives...
Thanks to all - Good forum btw...
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,052
Likes: 1
CLS55 Designo 030
I had tried both ways and the key factor is basically AWDman's point - drive without engaging the SC. W just makes it easier b/c the shifting points are earlier.
I've gotten up to 22.3 mpg in a 20 miles highway commute with mild traffic.
I'm going to change the fuel filter and the spark plugs to see if I improve it.
I've gotten up to 22.3 mpg in a 20 miles highway commute with mild traffic.
I'm going to change the fuel filter and the spark plugs to see if I improve it.
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Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
From: Hong Kong
'02 C32; '02 M5; '08 328i (US)
My gas tank must be leaking or something, I'm like 80% city driving here, but I can only get about 11mpg (full tank will get me about 186miles...) Car's completely stock, what should I be checking? 
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Rochester, NY
'05 F150, '99 Civic Si (The non-rice variety)
Do any C55 owners have real fuel mileage data? This thread is almost exclusively C32's. The trip computers are nice as a relative gauge, but I find them inaccurate from an absolute standpoint. I prefer the old school miles-divided-by-gallons method. Anyone have some real C55 numbers to compare to the C32's?
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 95
Likes: 1
From: The Land of self-moderated Anarchy
Black on Black stock ' 03 C32
If I drive aggressively, I'll get 13.5 or so. If city driving, I get about 17. Highway cruising at 70, I'll get 23.6.
+1 on the gasoline expansion mentioned above...always fill up in the morning when the station tanks are cold.
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 95
Likes: 1
From: The Land of self-moderated Anarchy
Black on Black stock ' 03 C32
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Rochester, NY
'05 F150, '99 Civic Si (The non-rice variety)
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 95
Likes: 1
From: The Land of self-moderated Anarchy
Black on Black stock ' 03 C32
computer report:
302 miles @34 MPH, 18.7 MPG
I wasn't driving 34 mph, that's the average. Actually some city, mixed with 70-90 highway, and the occasional speed burst.
In Reality:
I consumed 16.22 gallons.
302/16.22...
That's 18.6 MPG.
302 miles @34 MPH, 18.7 MPG
I wasn't driving 34 mph, that's the average. Actually some city, mixed with 70-90 highway, and the occasional speed burst.
In Reality:
I consumed 16.22 gallons.
302/16.22...
That's 18.6 MPG.
Last edited by t1n0; Apr 14, 2008 at 11:26 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: tokyo
c55
not exactly for a performance oriented forum but for what its worth there are a bunch of guys called hypermilers that use driving techniques to maximize mileage. while some of the stuff is extreme, some can be applied without too much effort like braking and accelerating gently, minimizing time stopped at red lights by anticipation and coasting, drafting etc.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510
MBworld Guru
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 22,058
Likes: 18
From: Diamond Bar, CA
W206 PHEV AMG
with 900+ miles from last reset I'm only getting 16.8mpg avg around 30mph and this is with extremely good high way mpg at around 22-23 in my case going at around 70mph. once the valve ticking/sticking or whatever is causing that tick is fixed I'm hoping it'll once again avg 17-18mpg.
before my mods I was getting 12mpg in city driving. after the mods it actually got better to at least 14mpg.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 267
Likes: 0
From: nottingham / uk
silver 2002 c32 amg
Are the trip computers on US cars caliberated for the US gallon?
this is something I have wondered when reading about the fuel consumption figues achieved,
I myself struggle to achieve better than 19mpg overall,
I usually see about 16-17 mpg around town and up to 25-26 on a steady run, (all this according to my trip computer).
This seems to match the average that you guys achieve over in the states,
yet a US gallon works out at 3.785 litres whereas a UK gallon is 4.55 litres.
this makes me wonder if maybe I'm getting below average results or maybe the US cars aren't set to take account of the smaller gallon,
or maybe I'm just missing something
I must admit I've never checked to see how accurate a readout I'm getting and what the true figure is as I'm afraid it will be somewhat worse than is showing on my dash
this is something I have wondered when reading about the fuel consumption figues achieved,
I myself struggle to achieve better than 19mpg overall,
I usually see about 16-17 mpg around town and up to 25-26 on a steady run, (all this according to my trip computer).
This seems to match the average that you guys achieve over in the states,
yet a US gallon works out at 3.785 litres whereas a UK gallon is 4.55 litres.
this makes me wonder if maybe I'm getting below average results or maybe the US cars aren't set to take account of the smaller gallon,
or maybe I'm just missing something
I must admit I've never checked to see how accurate a readout I'm getting and what the true figure is as I'm afraid it will be somewhat worse than is showing on my dash
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: McLean, VA
08 M5, 06 X3, 05 C55
I'm with most of you c55 owners. i rarely go above 3k rpm. plenty of power down low.
sport mode
15 mpg around town
24 mpg highway
in my experience, its much harder to get good mileage out of a supercharged/turboed car.
1. its hard to get off the boost crack
2. your afr goes to **** once you're in boost.
3. the car is slow as hell with no boost. you might as well be driving a c320 or a regular impreza in my case.
sport mode
15 mpg around town
24 mpg highway
in my experience, its much harder to get good mileage out of a supercharged/turboed car.
1. its hard to get off the boost crack
2. your afr goes to **** once you're in boost.
3. the car is slow as hell with no boost. you might as well be driving a c320 or a regular impreza in my case.
Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 95
Likes: 1
From: The Land of self-moderated Anarchy
Black on Black stock ' 03 C32
If I cruise at 70 with the AC on, it will creep as high as 26.8
I tried going slower to see how much I could squeeze out of it, but an interesting thing happened...it got worse!
At 55 I get about 23!
It seems there is a "sweet spot" between 70-75 where we can get the most economy of about 26+. anything above or below, and it starts to drop off.
I can only assume it is because at less than 70, the RPM's are below 2500 and the engine efficiency drops.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 254
Likes: 0
From: Brooklyn
2009 Mini Cooper Clubman S
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 5,034
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From: Corona, CA
03 g35 coupe...........02 c32 Sold
Guess why they dont try to fix it?
i try to get my gas late a night or early in the morning as well.
