cee's Forum Comments
Showing all comments by cee.
fuel economy question
..someone in another thread (ok, sorry to be so vague) stated that engine warm-up was a thing of the 70's-mid 90s..cars now can deal with cold engine climates without any warm-up needed (well, non-extreme climates)..
..hopefully that sage will chime-in here.. but i (personally) work off the theory of crank-&-go..i don't even use the accelerator the 1st couple of blocks, but within 10 blocks my engine is heating up (on the guage, as well as in my car cabin)..
..i think pre-heating/warming your engine is mostly a waste..the engine will warm faster while moving anyhow..so if you're waiting for a warm interior (unless you REQUIRE it to be warm when you sit down), it's faster to get on the road..
imho>>
--c.
posted by cee February 8, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Fuelly Mail idea
..fair enough..if i ever get a bunch of Outback-ers to friend-up, i'll just use copy-paste..
as always, appreciate the site & the quick response!..
--c.
posted by cee January 11, 2009 at 2:13 PM
Pulse and Glide?
..Pete: i think in modern vehicles, the fuel injection system is advanced enough that, when you reach optimal speed for a given stretch of road and you then "glide" (ie. use no acceleration), you're essentially using very little gas on the "glide" portion of the ride..
..i have an automatic transmission, and i use this kind of tactic a lot on minor hills & inclines..for ex: i'll accelerate to speed coming up on a mild downhill slope & then coast just prior to cresting the hill, using gravity to maintain (or even increase) speed on the down side..
..or maybe that's not what "pulse & glide" is actually about (i dunno, being basically a car Dunce..heh!)..
..but it makes sense that if you accelerate modestly to speed and then let off the gas pedal & coast, you're basically running at idle speed during the coasting..and idle speed burns less gas even than trying to keep a steady speed using cruise control or manual foot adjustments (for the most part)..
..just my pennies for thought..others will have better, i'm sure..
l8r!
--c.
[owner of T'Pal; 2002 Subaru Legacy Outback]
posted by cee January 10, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Gas Prices down along with Mileage?
..say bates: maybe the increase in commute speeds has something to do with the downturn in car/gas usage that's being reported in the news..seems like we, as a nation, are reducing our car traveling ever since the $4.50/gal gas prices..and it hasn't slowed down, even with the recent lower-cost gas prices, is what i understand..
..maybe Cali drivers are driving less, resulting in better commute-ability..??
just a thought, there..
--c.
[owner of T'Pal; 2k2 Subaru Legacy Outback]
posted by cee January 2, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Happy New Year!
..[fireworks go off--!!]..a happy New Year to y'all & yours..let's hope Fuelly helps us (& others soon to join) be better drivers & get better results from our rides..
cheers!..
--c.
(owner of T'Pal; 2k2 Subaru Outback]
posted by cee January 2, 2009 at 4:56 PM
..are my Tips THAT bad (lol)..
..hmm, i see the greater/less than symbol messes up the posts too..my 2nd paragraph should read:
"....maybe y'all could feedback on Tips that don't pass the smell-test?..(well, that might be too time-intensive to do for all of them, if less than 1/2 are seriously considered)..but it'd be helpful to overly excited Tipsters like me to know why a Tip was rejected and/or how to better explain our Tips to make them viable.."
ah, another formatting miscue!..sorry
--c.
posted by cee December 11, 2008 at 4:08 PM
..hey cool that you responded so quick-like..and all apologies for the formatting stuff..i am an oddball on that (i'll try to input Tips in more eye-ball friendly & succinct format)..
..maybe y'all could feedback on Tips that don't pass the smell-test?..(well, that might be too time-intensive to do for all of them, if <1>
..oh, & on the "younger than you" thing..i'll betcha a tank of gas yer wrong on that--! (lol)..
thx again for the (quick!) reply..love the site, even if none of my Tips make the grade--!
--c.
posted by cee December 11, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Warm Up or No?
..a garage is a definite plus (moreso a clean garage..i'm in the same boat as VWJunky minus the kids..just my junk in there..hehe)..but i'm definitely working myself up to a garage cleanup/toss-out, especially since it eliminates ice/defrost, which we get even down here in TEXus (a couple-a times a year, at least!)..
..the garaging thingy should be posted on the Tips portion of Fuelly, which for whatever reason i'm not able to add to (maybe `cause my ideas are all bad, i'll admit the possibility..heh!)..
l8r, all!
--c.
posted by cee December 11, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Mileage trends with amount remaining in tank
..g2gsr93: i think the morning/night fuel-up theory was proven inconsequential (check snopes.com, i think they have something on that there)..
..the fuel-loop was interesting, as it implies (just to further my original theory) that a fuller tank can absorb heat more readily than a less-full one..and since gasoline tends to evaporate (at any temp) or go less dense (at hotter conditions), it makes sense that running towards Empty means you've got less fuel to cool the gas returned to your tank..
..granted this is a not-an-expert opinion squared (since i'm less expert than anybody & using it as a consideration point), but it's something to think on..
fun to ponder, at the least
posted by cee December 4, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Fuelly for Maintenance?
..might have to use your (personal) email calendar to send you a reminder on this, brandiniman..it is a great idea, but it seems a bit beyond the (current) scope of Fuelly, especially since it would vary so much from model-to-model & year-to-year..
..of course (as it'd be a great help to me, too), we can always hope for enhancements that add stuff like that..if there was a setup section under our Garage/vehicle profile where we could input the Mfr recommendations for service times, all owners would have the opportunity to note that stuff (& maybe get an automated email from Fuelly, who knows?)..
..with enough owner participation, some general "norms" would be established for given makes & models, so that even newcomers would have a guesstimate of when they need to go for a tune-up, oil change, etc...
..again a good idea, but maybe difficult to implement right now..
i'm rooting fer it, though!
posted by cee December 4, 2008 at 5:28 PM
100,000 fuel-ups!
..for some ideas on engine warm-up, here's a link to the Fuelly Fuel Talk Forum related post:
http://www.fuelly.com/forum/258/Warm-Up-or-No#974
..basically, it's cool to drive with a cold engine, so long as you're not gunning things..go at a slow crawl until the temp gauge hits normal operating range (between C & H somewheres)..
..just a (hopefully) helpful hint.
posted by cee December 4, 2008 at 5:19 PM
Warm Up or No?
..cool info & much thx to all..i'll continue to coast T'Pal from a cold start, per y'all's recommendations..i'm here to get good mpg, but i was worried this might be at the expense of my engine..nice to know that's less likely..
..and i'm sure it'll help others (in both sun belt & northerly climes (heh!)..
'preciate the feedback!
posted by cee December 4, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Mileage trends with amount remaining in tank
..sensible, E, but is it truly more "accurate" to take it to Empty?..if you opt to refill at 1/4 tank regularly, and you see a mpg boost, why not refill early whenever possible?..the gal.s used & miles traveled still calc to better performance, no?..
..maybe something screwy like gasoline being more likely to vaporize to fill the emptier gas tank is going on (or somesuch oddball theory)..whatever the case, if i'm netting better mpg, i think i'd refill earlier rather than wait..
just more thoughts to ponder
posted by cee November 30, 2008 at 4:31 PM
100,000 fuel-ups!
..so we're averaging 262.71 miles per fuel-up..wonder what our mpg stats are..even better: what are our collective +/- mpg compared to EPA estimates..that'd be proof positive that Fuelly is helping its membership improve on gov't averages--!..
..kudos to the site, from a new member (3 fuel-ups to date)!...
posted by cee November 30, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Coasting down hill
..i've noticed it's mostly a factor of the grade of the incline..at even 15-20degrees, the weight of most vehicles will cause them to accelerate downhill without any need for pedal-pushing..
..i have an automatic, and on my normal commute there are stretches of 1/2-mile or more where i know the terrain & can accelerate to about 30mph at the start & then coast the entire length..and on some of those routes there are even minor inclines that i coast over easily without losing my initial momentum..
..i don't shift into neutral, but my big concern is that i might accidentally over-shift (under-shift?) & put my car into reverse..that'd be a catastrophic & transmission-ending event..not worth the risk for even 5mpg better performance..just coasting (in gear) on decent hills is enough..
..oh, a side-note (for highway driving with its numerous dips & rises due to overpasses): it's better to increase speed going downhill (even on a very minor gradient) & then try to maintain RPM, even at the loss of MPH, on the uphill side..i've seen that i can get nearly 5mph faster (sometimes more) by nudging the accelerator on a down slope, and then just maintain RPM on the upturn (it does result in lower MPH, but less gas used, i think)..or maybe i'm over-thinking (heh!)..
posted by cee November 27, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Mileage trends with amount remaining in tank
..i've noticed this effect too..basically, everybody's saying "fill up before you hit the 1/4 tank mark to improve fuel economy"..but at the same time, this is a 'phantom' MPG improvement..looks good on paper (or in Fuelly..heh!), but in actuality there's no actual increase in MPG..it's all based on fuel tank design (and/or poor fuel gauge design)..
..then again, this is saying the #s lie..when you refuel earlier it's a false reading..but i can't grok how that works, since the refueling obviously means less gallons needed & the calculations show better economy..
..still confused (personally)
posted by cee November 27, 2008 at 3:10 PM