700 Miles!

Odometer: 19683.3
Tank Mileage: 700.0
Gallons Added: 16.508
Long-Term Average: 42.0
Short-Term Average: 43.3
Calculated Average: 42.4

I hit a few milestones with this tank. I finally drove the 700 miles mentioned in the advertisements for this vehicle. I broke 42 mpg for the tank mileage. I broke 41 mpg for the 5-tank average mileage. During this tank, I drove home from Ohio, drove my normal commute for 4 days (I took Friday off), drove to Lansing and back, and drove back down to Dayton before filling the tank. I love the flexibility this provides. (During this trip, it made a huge difference as there was a large price spike that I avoided by being able to delay my fill-up.)

One little annoyance that continues is the reset of the Fuel Economy history that is occurring with more frequency. I'll mention it to the dealer, but I have no expectation that they have heard of this any more then the total reset of the SmartGauge I reported to them last time.

[Posted 2010-09-22]

Riding high

Odometer: 18342.2
Tank Mileage: 686.1
Gallons Added: 16.419
Long-Term Average: 41.6
Short-Term Average: 41.6
Calculated Average: 41.7

Just a touch further than the last miles driven record. More exciting is a new tank mileage record. While I truncate the values in the summary, I do record them in a more detail personal log. My new record tank average is 41.79 mpg. This includes an Interstate trip to Dayton for the the weekend, running around base while there and my normal commute on either side.

There was one exceptional leg. I had to go into work early Monday morning after I drove home from Dayton. I averaged 54.7 mpg over 25 miles on the short route that minimizes Interstate travel. Having almost no other traffic and most traffic lights flashing yellow really helped.

The 3-tank and 5-tank averages were also records, but I don't have them handy at the moment.

Now Beating the EPA

Odometer: 16324.1
Tank Mileage: 680.0
Gallons Added: 16.293
Long-Term Average: 40.7
Short-Term Average: 40.7
Calculated Average: 41.7

With this tank, my life-time average (calculated as all miles driven divided by all gallon bought) exceeds the combined EPA estimated mileage. (41 city/36 hwy for 38.5 combined) My lifetime average is now 38.52.

This tank set several other records: miles driven (680), tank mpg (41.7), 3 tank trailing average mpg (40.67). I also had a commute into work with an average of 47.6 mpg over 25.5 miles including 20 miles of highway. Finally, the estimated "Miles to Empty" after the fill was 711 miles. This was the first time I've seen over 700 miles displayed.

[Posted 2010-07-30]

Round Trip

Odometer: 12058.7
Tank Mileage: 676.2
Gallons Added: 16.358
Long-Term Average: 40.7
Short-Term Average: 41.0
Calculated Average: 41.3

This was a great tank. For the first time, I was able to complete my monthly trip to Ohio (~400 miles) without having to stop for gas. I did a day of work on either end and even did a side trip to Lansing before I had to stop for gas. There are several records:

1. Calculated average, this is the best ever for a fill-up.
2. Tank miles, just a bit more than my previous best and only 14 miles after E.
   
3. Miles to E range, 662 miles were on the tank when the Miles to E hit zero.

A/C is used all the time. There were times when the load of accessories (which includes A/C) was 5/7 of full scale. The A/C is very effective. I'm still getting used to the controls. Currently, my issue is change the volume when I want to change the speed on the cruise control. Finally, I think either I'm getting better, or the car is hitting another wear-in point as I'm getting >40 mpg even into significant headwinds.

A Couple Records

Odometer: 10806.7
Tank Mileage: 672.2
Gallons Added: 16.371
Long-Term Average: 40.3
Short-Term Average: 40.9
Calculated Average: 41.1

Part of this tank was the final drive home. This was about 400 miles all Interstate running between 65 and 70 mph. The balance of the tank was my normal commute during the remainder of the work week.

First record is the distance driven between fill-ups. This beats the previous best by over 30 miles. The second record is the calculated average for this tank. This beats the previous best by over .5 mpg.

The other event was the 10,000 mile service point. I learned that the local dealer I went to doesn't appear to understand "give me the 10,000 service". The book calls for tire rotation, oil & filter change. Apparently, I have to specifically ask for each part of the service. All I got was the oil and filter change. I got it for free, so I can't complain too much. I also mentioned the display reset, but they were unable to find any information on this from Ford. They had never heard of it. Sounds like the same that everyone else online is hearing. I hope they are willing and able to pass my report back to Ford. I may give a dealer closer to where I work a chance at my service points when 20,000 rolls around.

I broke 40

Odometer: 8159.9
Tank Mileage: 584.1
Gallons Added: 14.447
Long-Term Average: 40.6
Short-Term Average: 40.2
Calculated Average: 40.4

While it might be a slightly short fill, I am still happy to have finally had a tank with over 40 mpg. This tank was almost entirely Interstate with just a touch of highway and minimal city driving. About half of the miles where through a hilly part of Missouri.

New Best Tank

Odometer: 6938.0
Tank Mileage: 572.8
Gallons Added: 14.516
Long-Term Average: 39.1
Short-Term Average: 38.6
Calculated Average: 39.4

The Calculated MPG for this tank is the best yet.

This tank included a round-trip to the Dayton, OH area for a funeral. This was 400 miles of Interstate driving without an advantageous wind. The rest was mostly commute to work.

I also discovered that there is not enough metal on the roof to reliably hold a magnetic mount antenna at even low (~55) highway speeds. Luckily, there wasn't any significant damage caused when I discovered this. I will likely be adding a permanent mount in the near future.

New bests

Odometer: 4672.3
Tank Mileage: 634.5
Gallons Added: 16.157
Long-Term Average: 39.4
Short-Term Average: 39.4
Calculated Average: 39.3

I miscalculated my route to the Green Grand Prix and ended up driving beyond "E". I now know that there is an audio warning at zero in addition to the already discovered warnings at 50, 25, and 10 "miles to E".

I set new records in miles driven on a tank, gallons added during a fill-up, and calculated MPG for the tank.

I reset the Short-Term Average as part of the Green Grand Prix Fuel Economy Run. More on this later, but I did get 46.6 mpg for best in my class (and there was at least one other car, a Camry Hybrid, in my class).

First Month

Odometer: 4037.7
Tank Mileage: 598.9
Gallons Added: 15.924
Long-Term Average: 38.9
Short-Term Average: 38.9
Calculated Average: 37.6

The nearly 16 gallons added to this tank represents the largest amount of fuel added in a fill-up. As I had only 4 "miles to E", this agrees with the suggestion that "E" is reached with about 1.5 gallons in the tank. I don't plan to deliberately test that theory (or find out how much of that I can actually use), but it is good that there is some consistency between theory and practice.

I am filling with "miles to E" left having driven more than 50 miles since the 50 mile warning. I'm real happy that this is case and I hope this stays reliable. I will likely do some work on getting a feel for the "real" distance to E at 100 "miles to E".

So far the first estimate after a fill-up seems to be a bit high versus the calculated range (miles driven plus final "miles to E"). I've not determined what value the car is using to calculate "miles to E". I need more data and the reset earlier may have added an additional unknown into the system.

Finally, I drove just over 4000 miles in the first month. At 3 weeks, I was still over 1000 miles a week. Last weekend was the first without significant driving. I actually went eight days before I had to fill the tank. I really like being able to easily cover over 500 miles between gas station visits.