srellim234's Forum Comments
Showing all comments by srellim234.
Most Miles Logged
Must be.
I was just browsing around the site and did find a 2001 Toyota Prius belonging to bryanunder that was tracked for 568 fills and 216,287 miles. Looks like the car was retired in November of 2009.
posted by srellim234 July 19, 2011 at 8:32 PM
Running wast veggie oil 40+ miles per gal.
Gas is over 300 dollars a gallon in NC????? I thought we had the most expensive gas on the continent here in So. Cal.
(Just getting in a dig. Your decimal point is in the wrong place. lol)
posted by srellim234 July 13, 2011 at 10:31 PM
Most Miles Logged
muati's Accord is no longer active, though. You might have the longest current one.
posted by srellim234 July 10, 2011 at 8:36 PM
I was just browsing around and saw that muati has 129,363 miles and 359 fills, also on an Accord. Well done, both of you!
posted by srellim234 July 10, 2011 at 8:33 PM
A preview of our new site for Earth Day!
Very nice look. For those of us who are getting older and don't have the eyesight we used to, though, would it be possible to use the same darker shade of blue that you currently use? The contrast between the lighter blue and the white background on the beta page is a little tougher to read than the current version.
posted by srellim234 April 24, 2011 at 12:28 PM
Total Cost of a Fill Up
I always carry a pen and notepad in the car to take notes in case of emergency. I use the pen to write the odometer reading on the receipt when I purchase fuel. Perhaps you could just develop the routine (habit) of writing the price per litre on your receipt at the fueling station, much the same as I do with the odometer reading.
posted by srellim234 February 6, 2011 at 12:19 PM
Just a quick question about how fuelly calculates my mpg
While all fuel is pulled from the bottom of the tank, overall agitation of the sediment is more likely to occur and be picked up by the system when the fuel level is so low it increases said agitation. Same way as when you pull the plug on a bathtub. Dirt laying at the perimeter of the tub begin moving and increased levels of dirt go down the drain at the end of the draining.
You are absolutely right about the fuel pump cooling and failure.
From http://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-fuel-pump-works
"Some causes of fuel pump failure can include rust or dirt because they can get past the inlet filter sock, which is designed to filter these sediments. When this occurs the fuel pump will break down because of contaminants that have infiltrated the pump and cause it to jam. This will result in having the motor overheat and burn out. Sometimes a fuel pump will not work properly if it is not given the proper amount of fuel needed to run adequately. Your vehicle’s fuel pump relies on fuel running through it to cool and lubricate it. Starving your fuel pump for fuel can cause your vehicle's fuel pump to fail prematurely. Mechanical fuel pumps usually rupture the diaphragm that is used as the pump, and will leak a small amount of fuel externally (from the weep hole) or just not have pressure."
posted by srellim234 January 7, 2011 at 3:26 PM
From what I understand reading various automotive magazines and forums, running the fuel that low also doesn't do the fuel injectors any favors. Contaminants that settle to the bottom of the tank are much more likely to get pulled into the system and clog the injectors. Not worth the risk for the little you save on fuel by filling that way. Repairing the fuel injection system on a car will cost more than you saved on fuel.
Better idea might be to put your limited amount of fuel in when the tank hits 1/4 instead of running it as low as you do. You'd still not be carrying the weight of a full tank but it would be better for the car.
posted by srellim234 January 6, 2011 at 6:25 PM
New 2nd gen Yaris/Vitz hypermiles 4U @42-53mpg+mpg
If there is a real need (repair bills, wear and tear, etc.) to replace your 5 year old Scion it's great but otherwise the gas mileage doesn't justify it. You can put another 90,000 miles on the Scion for the difference in value/price.
In the meantime, maybe more improvements will come down the line. There may be a reasonably priced 100 mpg option by then. We just don't know.
posted by srellim234 December 24, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Can you flag a fuel-up to disregard it?
Yes. My wife happens to be a deputy sheriff.
The service manager is reviewing the security tapes as the car happened to be left in an area with cameras. Apparently it's an inside job since someone left the window down overnight so they could gain access to the fuel door release without the key.
Thanks, pb. I key in each individual fill using odometer so I'll think about doing that. After 164 fuel-ups it only affected overall mileage by less than 1/10 of a mile so I might just leave it alone with a notation on it.
posted by srellim234 December 23, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Fabia RS - Wrong!
Looking at the Skoda website they don't list a vRS. Only the RS and the Combi RS with the picture gallery showing the external lettering as "vRS" while the license plate shows "RS" on the same vehicle.
The product specification page of the company's catalog only lists the RS and the Combi RS as well.
http://new.skoda-auto.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Catalogue/NewFabia/FL/20_FabiaRS_Catalogue_ENG.pdf
http://new.skoda-auto.com/com/model/newfabia/look/Pages/look.aspx
What sets the vRS apart from the manufacturer's RS?
posted by srellim234 October 21, 2010 at 1:23 PM
More lists?
I agree with you, pb. Too much gaming attempting to skew numbers. That's one of the reasons I would like to see the last reporting date next to each vehicle when "browsing vehicles." It just makes it a little easier to dismiss those who jumped in, reported artificially high or low numbers and then left. If someone is reporting ongoing high or low mileage it would be nice to be able to easily identify and interact with them.
I also go ahead and report my mileage at more than one site to offset some of the gaming that goes on at other sites like fueleconomy.gov.
posted by srellim234 October 19, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Making Fuelly more "Shoping" friendly
People may not know a trim level but everyone knows whether they have a manual, automatic or continuously variable transmission. Perhaps only putting in only one parameter asking which transmission someone has wouldn't be too complicated or sour them to the site.
posted by srellim234 July 15, 2010 at 10:55 PM
MPG dropping - hot weather?
In the past I've always noticed an increase in mpg as it got warmer but that is not the case with my current car, a 2007 Nissan Versa with CV transmission. Mileage goes up in the spring and fall but drops in the cold of winter and the heat of the southern California summer. Running without the a/c on is not an option since I have my elderly parents and/or my two little girls in the car all the time. Temperature was 106* and humid here today.
Mileage drops a good 10% when the a/c is on.
posted by srellim234 July 15, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Average MPG stuck?
You are absolutely right. It can take a long time to raise that average. My car was averaging 27.8 mpg, which was rounded up from the true average of around 27.76. Over the last 4,000 miles the car has averaged 29.3, raising the true average to 27.83 but it still rounds out to that same figure of 27.8. It's going to take another couple of tanks to finally change that rounded number to 27.9.
The larger the number of tanks keyed in the harder it is to change the overall average as well.
posted by srellim234 May 16, 2010 at 9:32 PM
A request
No, in many cases those "one tank wonders" are not valid and should be ignored. I find, looking at sites like fueleconomy.gov, that many people will post stellar mileage early in their cars' lives and not continue to report honestly as fuel economy normalizes. For example, one 2007 Nissan Versa owner reported one tank at the end of 2006 at 36.6 miles per gallon and then he disappeared. Was his mileage mis-reported and he failed to report the 25 mpg he probably got on tank #2 or was he a plant from Nissan? We'll never know, but knowing that date gives us a good reason to ignore that figure.
Comparing to similar cars that are still being reported is very useful as our cars age and things gradually change.
posted by srellim234 May 16, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Highest mpg?
Another thing is to look at the person's history to see if their entries are consistent. I have seen quite a few entries lately where it's obvious they missed keying one in. If a person keys @350 miles and 29-30 mpg for a while and all of a sudden there is one tank at 700 miles and 59 mpg, that's a very obvious mistake.
It is nice to be able to communicate with others getting better mileage out of the same models of car. It would be easier if cars were seperated by transmission type, though.
posted by srellim234 April 2, 2010 at 8:56 AM
Which gas brand is the best?
It's a tossup and can be determined what's best for your particular vehicle by trial and error, using a particular brand of gas consecutively over multiple tanks to find out. This dilutes out or flushes out any residual additives you have remaining in your tank from the previous gas company.
In reality, certain vehicles will run better on a particular brand, certain driving styles will get better mileage out of a particular brand. But probably not much.
As documented i this article, even Consumer Reports dropped a formal test because the day to day air temperature and humidity changes accounted for more mpg change than the gasoline brand.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/travel/driving-my-gasoline-beats-yours-doesn-t-it.html
posted by srellim234 March 27, 2010 at 9:36 AM
Total gallons used?
Thank you.
posted by srellim234 March 20, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Running average
Please disregard my comment above. I see it's already done on an individual car basis.
Thank you for the great effort at this site.
posted by srellim234 February 4, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Filter Options
I included my transmission type in my car name.
"Versa SL with CVT"
For older cars on the site, perhaps some owners could edit their vehicle names to do the same?
For example,
"(my car here), manual trans"
"(my car here), 6-speed auto"
etc.
posted by srellim234 February 4, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Running average
It might be easier to work the math on the monthly mileage average figure and draw the graph based on the monthly mpg figure, extending the graph to include the last 12 months. That would allow people to see how their vehicles are affected by changes such as the winter formulations in gasoline.
I'm not sure how you are working the graph so I just figured I'd throw out a possible solution based on fixed numbers.
posted by srellim234 February 4, 2009 at 8:53 AM