Some MPG results.

[Confused]

Fitted my new HKS panel filter yesterday, to replace a fairly dirty OEM one!


Went up to Japan North today, and was going a fairly reasonable average of about Mach 8, as well as a few periods of WOT, and then some idling at the show (showing off the CarPC etc).

Trip up there - 3/4 of a tank of fuel!

Then went to fill up on the way back, after a total of 193 miles - average of 23.58mpg.

Then on the way back, got held in some queues, so the average speed was around Mach 6 (60), I then carried on at that speed the rest of the way.

Filled up again when I got home - 164.9 miles, 2 notches ABOVE the half-way mark, 23.36 litres... an amazing

32.09 MPG

Yes -that's from a PFL tiptronic!

And the time difference between Mazz driving at 70 and me at 60 across that distance? 15 minutes. That's nearly 9mpg extra for just driving a touch slower, and adding on just 15 minutes to a 165 mile journey!


Garry

[nuster100]

Arnt we off-boost at 60mph in 5th??

Jay

[Confused]

Yes.

However - I've done similar before and managed to get 26mpg.

[AlanDITD]

Your never well off boost with a Vr4.... Tap the pedal and i see positive pressure. Frightening how quick it comes on sometimes.

[mesobitchy]

Your never well off boost with a Vr4.... Tap the pedal and i see positive pressure. Frightening how quick it comes on sometimes.

and at what speeds you get to as well!!!

[pitslayer]

best I ever got was 230 miles to around half a tank out of the car, 60mph for 5 hours though

[Davezj]

100 miles at 60 is about my max. i just can't do it for any longer than that.

the only way i could do 60 for long wold be to keep the tyre i have at the moment as the need balancing and anything above 70 it is jelly on a plate time.

good job i have just refurbed my proper wheels and got new tyres for them.

ooooh they are going to look good when they are finshed.

[Dom B]

Not taking the piss, just asking. How did you measure the fuel, did you brim the tank then brim it again? My gauge is hopeless for measuring fuel quantity. The above full lasts for about 50 miles the next quarter is gone after another 10 miles and the gauge reads 1/4full when i have covered about 100 miles the last quarter seems to last almost another 100 and seems to last ages before the fuel light comes on. Every time i go to the fuel station i am surprised at how much there is left in the tank when i thought it was empty. Nevertheless i have only ever managed 24mpg. I have done some testing at different speeds and i always found 70-75 to be the best and 60 to be more thirsty the engine and exhaust note doesn't sound 100% smooth at this speed either, there is a little sweet spot at about 75 where the engine is really quiet. And if you cruise at 80-85 it starts to drink heavily.

[mesobitchy]

always brim the tank we dose
we have been working on this for both our cars.
im trying to get into the 40s in mine, the best we have had so far is somehting like 38/39mpg

the gauge in the car is a rough guide line as we have found the same problem, it can be very missleading at times, so we go on miles and round it that way.
i know round town i can get about 170miles before i know its close to fill up time in the vr4.
i cant remember what it is for my v6.... its been that long since i ran the tank down round town! lol

[Confused]

I always brim the tank. I can't stand putting in £10 at a time etc. Or those who say "oh, I get 50 miles to a tenner" because it's simply unreliable!

So, I filled the tank, reset the trip counter, drove some miles, filled the tank, and noted the miles Then worked it out from there.

The gauge on the Galants really isn't accurate in the slightest - and it will adjust based on how you're driving, too!

[Turbo_Steve]

I think the gauge alters according the the pressure at the fuel return: it upsets the float. The fuel gauge is a total joke on these cars! Not sure what it's like on the V6 etc but on the VR4 it's just a load of nonsense: the last quarter seems to sometimes last ages and sometimes no time at all. I now just fill up when I get to the halfway point. It's the same journey everytime anyway, so I have a fair idea of how fuel efficient it (and I) are being.


60mph for 100miles is a reason to buy a diesel.

What infuriates me most is that there really is no reason that I can ascertain for these cars to be this thirsty! I just think they're not designed for non-JDM use: they're specced to sit in traffic all day, go for a mountain pass-blast down some rural roads, then sit in traffic again.

[Dom B]

I know you can totally understand the obscene fuel usage when hammering it, after all power is totally based on fuel and air in. But i agree there is no logical reason why when driving normally they don't do better. I am really impressed at the results you guys are getting. The more fuel we save the more there is left for hammering lol.

I am seriously considering turning the car into megasquirt to be able to control the lower end of the map and make the car run at reasonable mpg. My friends bmw 540 4.4l v8 gets 35mpg standard all the time. figure that out.

I also had an idea about making a little box to correct the fuel gauge to make it more linear. the gauge can get you into trouble sometimes as you start guessing how much fuel you have left.

[mesobitchy]

the V6 PFL is a JOKE!!!
so we changed ours to the FL high vis.... still a joke!

sooo once a week we go fill up.... well i do..... sometimes...... depends on how iv errr if ive had the car to drive

the vr4.... now who the hell can honestly put there hands up and say they drive it sensably for an entire tanks worth????

if you stick you hand up... you LIEING!!!!

no one drives the vr4 like an angel! you just cant! its against the vr4 laws to not drive it hard!!!

[pitslayer]

the V6 PFL is a JOKE!!!
so we changed ours to the FL high vis.... still a joke!

sooo once a week we go fill up.... well i do..... sometimes...... depends on how iv errr if ive had the car to drive

the vr4.... now who the hell can honestly put there hands up and say they drive it sensably for an entire tanks worth????

if you stick you hand up... you LIEING!!!!

no one drives the vr4 like an angel! you just cant! its against the vr4 laws to not drive it hard!!!

I did, every where in France, 800 miles in France about 3 tanks of fuel if iirc

[mesobitchy]

you should not be allowed to own the car if you dont drive it hard!

right.... send the boys round!

[pitslayer]

you should not be allowed to own the car if you dont drive it hard!

right.... send the boys round!

Not really, its called not knowing how far the petrol stations are away, car doesnt read in kph in anyway shape or form, so dont want a ticket, and at E134.9 for sans plomb 98 I aint wasting it.

[mesobitchy]

known fact the french bobby has a thing for the english drivers.... uk plates = easy pickings.
since we pass throught there a few times each year to and from italy, well not this year due to ill health of our nan.

besides always make a note of were the filling stations are! one oif the first things u do wen you go to a strange land!

[Dom B]

I have a high vis in my facelift and the gauge is there for decoration really, just to let you know you have some petrol. Its really the gauge sender that is at fault. The manufacturers of the senders usually don't set the winding pattern for the resistor until the manufacturer designs the tank.

They change the spacing to correct for things like the prop going through the centre of the tank etc. If you look at a sender you can normally see the variable spacing to map the gauge as it were. However they either got it all wrong when they did the legnum or mitsi changed the tank shape after they finalised the sender design, either way it is poo.

I passed a fuel station coming back from glasgow and the sign saif 75m to next services. I thought no problem, but after about 25 miles i looked at the gauge again and thought where the hell did all that fuel go!!

A little black box that takes the gauge reading, and changes it for the signal to drive the gauge is needed. You could calibrate it by pouring 1l in at a time on a test car and pressing a mark button etc. If i have a bit of time i will try to knock something up.

The odo is more useful when knowing how much fuel you probably have. If you hoon it the amount can be hugely different. You can dump the tank in 60 miles on a trackday!!.

As for driving like an angel of course not lol, nobody can resist the temptation of that pedal for any length of time especially if there are acoustically reflective surfaces near the car like tunnels and people houses lol. But no matter how you drive on the road, you always get stuck behind some idiot in the fast lane or a truck on a back road. the average speed rarely changes on my tomtom no matter how i drive. talking about the tom tom. I am not sure what make speedo corrector i have but it reads very close to the gps unlike most cars.

[gareth001]

I think the gauge alters according the the pressure at the fuel return: it upsets the float. The fuel gauge is a total joke on these cars! Not sure what it's like on the V6 etc but on the VR4 it's just a load of nonsense: the last quarter seems to sometimes last ages and sometimes no time at all. I now just fill up when I get to the halfway point. It's the same journey everytime anyway, so I have a fair idea of how fuel efficient it (and I) are being.

Trust me, it's not as bad as a VDO gauge on a Westfield - when you are WOT the fuel gauge drops a quarter of a tank! Ok you can only squeeze about £25 of petrol in it. But when you are just about hitting a 1/4 left and you nail it, you suddenly ease off and look for the nearest petrol garage as your gauge fluctuates to empty!

[Turbo_Steve]

your gauge fluctuates to empty!

Heh heh heh.....My old mazda used to do that too! It was good for amazing passengers.

A little black box that takes the gauge reading, and changes it for the signal to drive the gauge

It's a really nice idea, but as it's not a simple mathmatical relationship between the two signals I suspect it would end up being pretty expensive: you're basically talking about a lookup table, which means we're talking a microprocessor unless one of our amazing analogue gurus wants to chip in!? (CHIP in? Geddit!?)

How about the sensor itself? We know what voltage range it operates over, presumably one could be rewound?
I've never looked at fuel level sensors before, but presumably it's just rheostate at the top and an arm to a float? If we know what resistance the wire should be, wire-wrapping isn't usually that expensive? I'd actually settle for an 8 way switch - Vr4 uses fuel quick enough that an 8th of a tank is neither here nor there anyway!

I just worked mine out: doing an average speed of 86mph, couple of hard squirts of the pedal on a 98mile journey, I return 17mpg.

This is leaving the house at 0500, and I get to work about 5 mins late. I am not getting up any earlier. To stay the night is £30. At the moment, it's the lesser of two Evos.

car doesnt read in kph

But it did when it left Japan....could've just switched the wire over for peace of mind.