vr4Legacy's Forum Comments
Showing all comments by vr4Legacy.
iOS App Crashing!!
Here is the post
http://www.fuelly.com/forum/1162/Fuelly-Apps-Are-Coming
posted by vr4Legacy May 7 at 12:13 PM
I've given up on the app. I recall a post on this site stating Fuelly had purchased the app (or the app purchased Fuelly). Either way it implied that the 2 were correlated.
Nonetheless, it crashes all the time and just takes longer to get into than using the mobile links I created on my home screen. Also it doesn't report back your MPG stats at the fill up. Something the mobile site does.
I've sent a few feedback suggestions too, but I haven't received any feedback or seen any updates.
posted by vr4Legacy May 7 at 12:11 PM
Fuelly Apps Are Coming!
GREAT!
I'll download this today.
How do you prefer feedback? Post here or e-mail?
Add me as a possible beta tester.
One request I'll throw out, which may not be feasible, is using OCR to snap a pic of the pump and import Gallons/Price and a pic of the odo for miles.
posted by vr4Legacy January 30 at 10:24 AM
Fuelly Mobile Shortcut on iPhone 5 not full screen.
That worked!
Thanks!
posted by vr4Legacy October 4, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Option of Total or Unit Price
+1, I understand the possible confusion, but I think adding it as an option in the profile might be the easiest. Then one would have to consciously change it to work.
Also it seems you have pretty good filters in place to catch if someone accidentally keyed $56.93 for unit price (/gal) and vice versa. Maybe save the data and send an e-mail saying the numbers look off?
posted by vr4Legacy October 4, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Almost 100 MPG!
It's a diesel... so it probably won't come to America. For one, the emissions are different (which should change shortly). Second, for some reason, American distributers don't seem to think American Consumers want diesels... Most vehicles are available outside the US in diesel variants, sadly the US misses out. Also I believe the diesel/gas price difference is more significant (in favor of diesel) in foreign countries.
posted by vr4Legacy February 20, 2012 at 8:54 AM
Still don't understand "partial fuel-ups"
That's not really a flaw with the theory. MPG (L/km or whatever you use) is determined by using known quantities, distance and volume (miles and gallons for me). Without filling the tank between two fill ups, it's impossible to know how many gallons have been used in between. Putting in 2 gallons today and adding 4 next week doesn't mean you used 4 gallons. Filling your tank today (regardless of volume) and driving then adding X gallons to reach full again does mean you've used X gallons.
The theory still applies, whether you can afford to fill up or not. As Draigflag mentioned, you're not saving anything by NOT filling up. You'll use the fuel either way.
posted by vr4Legacy December 16, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Numberpad on iPhone
I see. It's actually a telephone keypad and as such doesn't have a decimal. Yeah, it wouldn't be much better to have to switch just to add the decimal. And I can understand not forcing the decimal.
Thanks for looking into it.
posted by vr4Legacy December 12, 2011 at 5:25 PM
lol, yeah I just noticed the decimal is missing.... In gasbuddy it uses the last two digits as your cents and it natively adds the .009 marker (I've never seen a gas station that didn't price gas that way lol)
So if you enter 325, it will insert the decimal as 3.25
But I am fairly certain I have used other apps that have a decimal on the keypad, maybe gasbuddy edited it out. It's in the bottom left, where the blank spot is.
Nonetheless, it can't be done. Unless you guys want to roll out an actual app ;)
Thanks for the response though.
posted by vr4Legacy December 12, 2011 at 3:03 PM
Jetta Owners: Question About MPG
Comparing your consumption against over vehicles on this site is rather tough and irrelevant. As many have mentioned all models are lumped together irregardless of engine type. A turbo 4 cylinder motor is going to get much different mileage than a non turbo and the same goes for a diesel or even a hybrid model, yet they are all lumped together in the same model. It would probably be better to check the EPA website and find out what the mileage should be for your exact car (they actually take into consideration engine differences) then use that as a comparison point.
Of course all the other points above (type of driving, sensors etc) will play a part.
posted by vr4Legacy October 6, 2011 at 2:01 PM
Fuelly Requests
it seems this question comes up ALOT in the forum... it seems to me there is more demand that you may think for this data. I know I have chimed in before ;)
I understand wanting to keep it simple and not wanting to alienate others, but you are somewhat alienating those that WANT these features. Honestly I would most likley visit the site more, as I don't use the compare function at all, as the data is irrelevant and no comparative.
Perhaps you could add an "advanced specs" tab that is initially unexpanded. This would allow users who just want to input barebones info to do so, but for the many many people that want more detailed info, they could simply expand the option and choose away. The same goes for the research section. Start with all the models lumped together, then let us refine if we desire.
posted by vr4Legacy October 6, 2011 at 1:50 PM
A/C Impact on MPG
I beleive Mythbusters concluded the same thing that BigDog stated. At slower speeds windows down helps, higher speeds, the parasitic drag caused by windows down is greater than that caused by the AC.
If you think about it, even with the aerodynamics of newer cars, with the windows down, a lot of wind is blowing around in your car. If minimal aerodynamic losses were occuring, you should be able to drive with windows down and not notice any air coming in.
posted by vr4Legacy May 26, 2011 at 6:51 AM
A preview of our new site for Earth Day!
Looks great so far.
I LOVE the search feature. Thanks!!
I also noticed it is a little wide on my monitor at work. Unfortunately we use I.E. 5 and I am guessing that is why... but the current site fits right.
Not sure if that would be an issue enough people would have to address, or just something us with old browsers are stuck with.
Unfortunately I can't upgrade at work.....
posted by vr4Legacy April 26, 2011 at 2:53 PM
Average MPG graphs misleading
Subaru also offers Turbo in every class but the Tribeca... so a T4 or H4T would be a GREAT addition.... if/when it get's added. Or maybe add an option... # cylinders, then engine orientation (i.e. Hybrid, Turbo, Naturally Aspirated, Diesel, Other)
posted by vr4Legacy April 16, 2011 at 8:35 AM
Improve mobile usability by specifying number input fields
I'm not seeing a number pad on my iPhone either.
I am using m.fuelly.com and saved the input screen to my home screen, so I use it as a link. It updates my data just fine, but it shows the regular qwerty keyboard.
Just pulled up the m.fuelly.com and checked the source, it shows type="text" for all fields.
Thanks!!
posted by vr4Legacy March 31, 2011 at 7:16 AM
Is the MPG average 'weighted'?
I was curious about this too, and I like the idea of a rolling average so I can see how recent changes are affecting my MPG.
Could I suggest giving an option of rolling x days or x fuel ups? As for me I'd be more interested to see how my last month of driving has been, not necessarily a set number of fuel ups.
posted by vr4Legacy March 30, 2011 at 5:50 AM
Lowering a car for more MPG
There are ALOT of variables that go into creating an aerodynamically efficient car. I do know the new Grand Cherokee has a system that automatically lowers it at certain speeds, but I am sure that was well engineered to know what speed the coefficient of drag lowers by lowering the vehicle. But for the most part, newer vehicles are designed to get the best aerodymanics possible.
Another thing to consider is the cost in lowering a vehicle vs the actual amount of money saved. To PROPERLY lower a car so that it stays in alignment and handles properly it costs a few thousand dollars. It can be done cheaper, but the car would not handle well and you would tear through tires due to poor camber. Thus costing even more.
If you are redoing the suspension anyway, it may be something to consider, otherwise it would take years to recoupe the cost. Kind of like trading in your gas guzzling SUV to take a $5000 loss just to get better mileage. You need to calcuate the long term savings.
posted by vr4Legacy March 22, 2011 at 9:27 AM
electricity / kWh fuel type
One solution that may work would to simply calculate Miles per kWh and don't translate it to MPG or L/100km , as there really isn't any correalation.
Of course one could do that on their own, and just read their data and know it is calculating MPkWh instead of MPG.
In the end a gallon is simply a unit of measurment used to base an average off of, fortunately you can use standard calculations to convert it to metric systems, whereas it is not related to kWh.
posted by vr4Legacy March 22, 2011 at 9:15 AM
Popular Mechanics Article discusses use of Neutral Gear
I think they are dead on in the article. It makes complete sense, which is why I always laugh when people tell me they go into neutral to save fuel.
I drive a MT car and I always gear down as I decelerate. It saves on your brakes as well as saving fuel. Many argue that it shortens clutch life, but on my current car I am at or above the average life span many others report.
Unfortunately I can't compare my numbers accurately on here, but on a forum devoted to car & engine type I am on the high end of MPG when comparing numbers.
And honestly, if shifting to neutral saved that much fuel and caused no safety risk, don't you think auto manufacturers would make the car do so automatically?
I do know by using the guage on my car (which I've found to be fairly accurate comparing my calculated numbers from here) I use much less fuel coasting down a hill in gear, than when my car is idling.
posted by vr4Legacy March 22, 2011 at 8:05 AM
Text Query
Yeah, I use seperate tags to track my oil change and such, then select the links now. It's just a bit cumbersome for things that don't occur very often.
I didn't realize exporting including all that info, I'll have to export some info for fun to see.
Thanks for the workaround suggestion while you guys work on adding the feature.
Keep up the great work.
posted by vr4Legacy March 17, 2011 at 9:09 AM
More accurate detail tracking?
If the site's main goal is to help people "think about and track their mileage", then why even ask for car details and offer the option to compare against others?
Obviously the secondary goal is to allow those tracking their mileage to be able to compare it against like models to see how they compare, hence the option to view other data and to keep that information strictly public.
As SirGCal mentioned, by not at least being specific about engine and drivetrain options, you are not giving good data for comparison. We are not asking you to cater to "car enthusiasts" per say, but at least to "fuel economy" enthusiasts.
Is the hesitation due to major infrastructure change (i.e. updating forms to include extra engine choices) or due to the fear of "alienating" non-enthusiasts?
If it is the former, I can understand the hesitation, but I sincerely doubt it is that, you guys have created a great site, and continually to update other parts that you feel need updated.
If it is the latter, how would adding an OPTIONAL field to drill down for more accurate data alienate anyone? When I fill out a form and it asks me for demographic data and it says clearly that it is optional, if I don't feel the asking party needs to know I am a white male I answer "I prefer not to answer" and move on. Surely you could have the default for engine choice "unknown" and then allow options for turbo, supercharged, et al... or even as simple as Naturally Aspirated and Forced Induction. Anyone seeking info would know well enough what type of forced induction that model came with from the factory. Same goes for drivetrain, a simple unknown, fwd, rwd, 4wd, awd would suffice.
I have seen this question asked a few times on the forums here, so apparently more users than you think want this option.
posted by vr4Legacy March 9, 2011 at 7:00 AM
Could you not do both?
As you mentioned you created the site with the idea of allowing users to track their own gas usage, period. With the intent that someone not so knowledgable about cars could simply log in, add their info and see their own stats and adjust their driving from there. I too agree that is GREAT.
However how many of those non enthusiasts are going to delve into the other parts of the site to drill down to a car year and model to see how other cars are doing compared to their own MPG?
To add to that, IF someone less knowledgable were to do so, by not sorting out AT LEAST engine differences, the list of jumbled data they find is going to be useless, because as the OP mentioned, they are going to track their 6 cyl turbo model and see they are getting 19MPG then see a list of other vehicles in the same car family, but 4cyl option, getting 30+ MPG and wonder what they are doing so wrong.
And truly if you think about it, only a car enthusiast would be so concerned as to dig into the nitty gritty to compare the numbers.
I would hope any car owner is going to at least know what type of engine they have in their car, if not you could make that an optional field, so us enthusiasts could at least compare numbers with those who know what they are driving.
I think this is a GREAT site and use it frequently, I just want to add my thought to how you could continue to make this site even better.
posted by vr4Legacy March 5, 2011 at 8:11 AM
Regional price variation
I used to use the iPhone app GasBag to track my fuel ups, it used location services to find local stations, you could then select a station from a list or enter your own if it didn't exist (kinda how foursquare works) Of course it was so limiting on other options I've since switched to Fuelly.
Would it be possible to simply allow users to create their own listings similar to how you do on foursquare, then when you use your location you could select the station you want to use. Maybe even adding an option for a "Favorite Station" would help so it would automatically select a station if you were within x distance from it, as it seems there are always 4 or 5 gas stations next to each other. Of course you could manually override that option. (i.e. I tend to fill up at a BP that is next to a Marathon, if for some reason I went to Marathon (huge gas sale??) I could just select the station and override my automatic input)
posted by vr4Legacy March 5, 2011 at 7:58 AM
AVG MPG seems too high
I can understand the complication.
Thanks for the help and quick replies!
I do like the comment feature so I can track my oil changes alot better now!
Keep up the great work!!
posted by vr4Legacy February 10, 2011 at 1:36 PM
I edited the CVS and uploaded without the fillups that did not have an odometer reading. Once I corrected the ones that needed marked as "missed fillup" my AVG is at ~24 which seems inline.
Would it be possible to add an option for "missed mileage" so that I can still track my spending via Fuelly, even if it is not included as a mileage statistic?
I thought choosing the fillups with no mileage data as "partial fillup" would do this, but it doesn't appear to.
Thanks for the help. This site really is great!
posted by vr4Legacy February 10, 2011 at 12:40 PM
Initially, I had those spots empty, because they are times that I forgot to log mileage, but did log the actual fill up.
When they were empty it did stop the import and told me I must use a numerical value, hence the zero. That's why I added those as partial fill ups and the fill up immediatially following were listed as missed fuel ups.
I can understand the complications of allowing zero fillups, but it would be nice to be able to add a fuelup without mileage for those times we forget to record the mileage at fuel up. Perhaps allow it to take your distance for the two trips and add the fuel for both trips then take the distance between those two?
I will edit the file to remove the zeros in the meantime and see how that helps.
thanks for the quick answer!
posted by vr4Legacy February 10, 2011 at 10:59 AM
