Register Now
 Register Now


You must sign in to add / modify vehicles in the EM garage
Fuel log graph
Efficiency log for: Little Blue - 1998 Ford Escort ZX2 Cool
  • Lifetime Fuel Economy: 40.52
  • 90-day Fuel Economy: 42.85
  • 3-tank Fuel Economy: 43.37
  • EPA Rating (% over): 25 (71.4%)
  • Total fills: 51
  • Average cost per gallon: $2.14
  • Average cost per fill: $22.52
  • Average cost per mile: $0.05Total gallons used: 537.05
  • Total miles traveled: 21761.1
  • Total cost: $1149.29
  • Total saved: 333.39 gallons
  • Total saved: $713.45
  • Average tank distance: 426.69
Fill date Distance Fill amount Price MPG Details
2009-11-06 587.6 mi. 13.48 US gal $2.659 43.59 US SG said 44.7mpg and 13.1 gallons, it's not to far off, but enough so to make me give up this gas station and the full to the top fills and go back to NJ and the one click fills. I'm really unsure if 13.48 gallons is possible to be put into this tank, I guess so??? The pump even had a certification sticker from Oct.09. Never the less, it's some good mpg for this time of the year. Traffic was normal, with morning temps it the mid 30's to low 40's and evening temps in the low 50's. I don't think it will get any better than this, unless ....
2009-10-27 483.2 mi. 11.24 US gal $2.639 42.99 US Better than I thought because this is the tank that I drove 100 miles on a broken O2 sensor getting terrible mpgs. SG said 39.8mpg and 12.1 gallons used, I'm not surprised it's off this time. Also, the pumps in Phila. that I was saying might need calibrated, just got calibrated by the state Did all but one trip to work with the vacuum line conected. Of course I noticed a big jump in mpg by disconecting it. Skirts are working, but just have had too many issue to make any tangilble observations. We'll see what the next tank holds.
2009-10-25 398.7 mi. 9.161 US gal $2.439 43.52 US This is one day of commuting plus the trip down to VA Beach. Into the wind the whole way and possibly the PCM went into Open loop because of the vacuum leak I made. Also killed the O2 sensor by bottoming out and got really really bad city mpg after that. Whole trip was taken with the rear skirts on. They do seem to help although the circumstances did not allow it to show.
SG said 9.2 gallons, so the calibration seems to back in order.
2009-10-22 484.6 mi. 12.14 US gal $2.539 39.92 US Not a very good result, but good for the hand that was delt me. Did lots of city driving in the end of the Noreaster, that left me with 171 miles at 36mpg. Not a good start to the week. Then my parent in laws borrowed the car, another 36mpg segment, then my wife borrowed it and got a 29mpg segment (I think she did some street racing ) Commute mpgs have been in the 45-47 range which is very very good. So the results will start to show soon. Also got some mods coming for the next tank or two. Weather has been coooold low 40's in the morning and low 60's in the evenings, if even that.
SG was right on at 12.1 gallons.
2009-10-16 421 mi. 10.06 US gal $2.339 41.85 US This was an outstanding tank until the Noreaster hit. Was sitting at 43.9 on the SG, then had a hard time pulling even 40mpg in the rain, wind and traffic. Only got 36.4 mpg on the way home tonight Anyhow, the SG seems to be accurate again, it said 9.8 gallons, so only 0.2 off. Not really sure what was happening with those other tanks being so far off. Anyhow, this whole tank was with the vacuum leak and it is definatly helping signficantly. I'd say by at least 3mpg. I'm getting a Lean code now and the system is probably going in closed loop. We'll see if I can get this sort out a bit more. Sure wish I figured this out in the summer....
2009-10-09 514.4 mi. 12.21 US gal $2.339 42.13 US The first three days of this tank were done with the vacuum line connected and the PCM reset. The average was 40mpg, reported by SG. The last 2-3days was with it disconcected (vacuum leak) and the intake cap plugged to eliminate the potential un-metered air leak, the average climbed to 42 after a couple days of 45+mpg. This is a nice change....
I also changed the oil, at 256,000 to Mobil1 0w20 and did the coil on plug conversion. I saw no change in mpg from either of these.
I'd say that winter gas is here and rearing it's head. Time to fight back!
2009-10-01 500.7 mi. 12.4 US gal $2.379 40.38 US This is a bit frustrating, the scan gauge was off by one gallon this time??? How can this be? SG said 43.1 mpg for the tank and 11.5 gallons. The SG was real close on the last tank. I really think the gas station I'm filling at is not very good. Changed my oil during this tank, at 256,000, to 0w20 Mobil 1, and reset my ECM because intake air line being diconected. Resetting seemed to bring the expected mpg back to normal for the remained of the tank. I gotta find a more consistant place to fill...
2009-09-17 457.8 mi. 11.62 US gal $2.539 39.4 US Took a huuuuggggeee hit this week from the worst traffic I've encountered since tracking my mpg here. Too much rain and too many accidents left me way behind after the first three segments. Tempatures drops came with the rain and the front end noise is getting worse. My mpg at 50mpg and 21tps is off by about 3-5mpg. Maybe winter gas is here??? It's no fun getting stuck in such bad traffic soo many times. This was definatly a bad week for getting good mpg. It is what it is and it really isn't that bad.
Maybe it's time to start fighting back against the weather...
2009-09-10 545.1 mi. 12.99 US gal $2.579 41.96 US Not exactly sure why this tanks mpg is low??? SG said 44.5mpg and it was real close the last few times. I did fill up in philly again, I did have to replace the battery on this tank, had some really good days when the vacuum hose was off then had some horrible days after it was hooked back up. Just confusing, so I'll ignore this....
2009-08-28 560.1 mi. 12.85 US gal $2.679 43.59 US I filled up in Philly so I could pump my own gas and top the tank off and see if the SG was still reporting acuratly. I was surprised that my 12.7 gallon tank took 12.851, SG said it should take 12.6 and I would believe that to be true. I think this station is ripping people off. Either way, it's only 1 mpg difference. I need to find another station for next week to make sure the SG is right on. Once I get several stations confirming what the SG says, then I'll be satisfied that it is perfectly calibrated. Either way, the DWL trip to SC has helped me refine my commute even further. The tank started out with the remainder of the SC trip, which was completed at high speeds and the mpg was 41. So I started out behind where I normally would start. Each day's avg. was 45 or greater, with one segment at 49.5. I think that I can squeeze one 45mpg tank in before the weather changes and the winter gas comes....I hope
2009-08-23 516.5 mi. 12.18 US gal $2.499 42.41 US Drove the first 200 miles like I should and was getting 50.3 mpg. Then decided I needed to get home to help out my wife and see the kids, so I drove the last 300 miles pretty much flat out, SG reported exactly the right fuel used 12.2 gallons and the right mpg, 42.4mpg. The SG is finally calibrated perfectly! Not too bad for going flat out, the first segment of the next tank is also flat out and was 41mpg, but I'll use the rest of it for commuting...
2009-08-22 653.3 mi. 12.6 US gal $2.349 51.85 US Not as good as I hoped for the trip to SC. Learned that significant hills are needed to really get the mpg up. Only small gently rolling hills on this trip, and they hurt the mpg over flat ground cruising. Still a good tank, learned a lot. SG reported 50.0mpg.
2009-08-21 407.6 mi. 9.532 US gal $2.359 42.76 US Usual commute plus a bunch more city driving that really put a damper on the mpg. Had three segments of 49mpg, so I know that if traffic conditions are better, then the mpg will be better.
SG reported 43mpg, so the calibration is real close now. Now off to South Carolina
2009-08-13 321.1 mi. 7.438 US gal $2.389 43.17 US Kinda just doing what I've been pracitcing. DWL, keeping speeds at 50mph on the highway with the TPS at 21. SG reported 44.7, so I offset it down a bit.
Need more mods....

Possibly Coil On Plug and rear undertray coming soon....
2009-08-07 415.1 mi. 9.303 US gal $2.419 44.62 US This doesn't really seem right??? I thought this was not going to be a good tank because there was a lot of bad traffic on the commute and I did a lot of short runs in the city. We'll see what the next fill gives? SG reported 42.4mpg and 9.7 gallons. I calibrated to the numbers reported by the pump, maybe it shut off early?...we'll see what happens next week. Otherwise, this is the best tank yet for the commute.
2009-07-30 384.8 mi. 8.85 US gal $2.299 43.48 US Much better results than I thought. I did at least three WOT runs this tank plus some really bad traffic. I believe the info learned from the SG is helping, doing more DWL than before. This tank includes putting in a new High Flow Cat, new struts, lowering the car 1", and new front brakes because I had some siezed bushings. Maybe fixing this stuff helped? Also had the state inspection this tank, passed with no problems
This tank does not include the 90% city drive return from work on friday, no doubt this helped the average a bit.
2009-07-23 327.5 mi. 7.74 US gal $2.199 42.31 US Not too bad considering the crazy bad traffic encounter on this tank. Rain, fire trucks, accidents, congestion....this week had it all. Just one day of nice traffic. Second tank with the ScanGauge, I've been alternating between DWL and Coasting. It seems that some of my coasts were not benefiting, just breaking even, and DWL is better in those instances. Lord willing, I'll keep learning Didn't get a reading from the SG because I was messing around with setting the gas used to calibrate it while the lady behind me was honking, so I forgot to reset and check the AVG MPG, but I think it was around 47mpg reported. Either way I adjusted the gallons used and the mph so the next tank should be closer....
Also, I park the car to change the struts, put on lowering springs, install the high flow cat and fix a sticking slider bushing on the front calipers. Hopefully these things help
2009-07-17 402.8 mi. 9.305 US gal $2.219 43.29 US First tank using the SGII, it definatly helped because this is the best tank yet, even with worse traffic than last week. The SG said I was at 49mpg when I left work Friday, but the commute home in the crazy shore traffic left me at 38mpg on the trip home, that Friday commute hurts more than I thought....
2009-07-10 409.8 mi. 9.572 US gal $2.359 42.81 US Not too bad of traffic this week and the warmest weather so far this year. Focusing much more on the coasting this week vs. last.
Scan gauge should be here soon, then I can really start to push the limits
2009-06-27 441.9 mi. 11.01 US gal $2.439 40.14 US My wife drove a bit of this tank, other car is down for a little while. Otherwise, getting back into the groove.

Need more mods.....
2009-06-20 427.9 mi. 7.912 US gal $2.689 54.08 US This is nearly pure highway miles. From Columbus to somewhere near Philly. Very hilly/mountainous. I was trying very hard to get good mpg because knew this car was capable of alot, but I had no idea this was hiding in there. Same changes as at the begining of the trip but without the flat tire and no rain. I think that in warmer weather and on flat ground the mpg could be better...
2009-06-19 809.1 mi. 18.84 US gal $2.789 42.95 US This is two tanks combined. The 8 gallon one was a partial fill so I could get to Columbus and do some drag racing, that didn't work out thought. This tank also represents the trip from Indy to Vandellia which was driven at 60-65mph. Then from Vandellia to Washington which was driven at 50mph, then from Washington to Indy which was driven at 70-75mph and quite aggressily. This was 8.001 gallons at $2.789. The next partial tank was from Indy to Columbus at 70-80mph, 10.841 gallons at $2.639. The leg from Vandellia to Washington revealed just how good of mpg the car was capable of by starting out 20 miles less than the 47mpg tank and ending up 40 miles ahead of the 47mpg tank. And this leads us to the next tank
2009-06-18 602.1 mi. 12.74 US gal $2.599 47.26 US First tank of gas for the trip to Illinois. Travel from Philadelphia to Indianapolis on one tank. However 300miles of that was on a flat tire, I didn't notice because of the intense rain and wind. I couldn't believe how much less throttle it took once I put on the spare. I was really trying to get good mpg and coasted at every opertunity. Average speed was probably around 50mph.
Before the trip I aired the tires up to 47psi, put in new Motorcraft plugs, gaped to .057, cleaned the MAF and TB.
2009-06-16 386.4 mi. 9.419 US gal $2.479 41.02 US Definatly overfilled on the last tank, just a little though. This tank is closer to what I'm expecting right now. It was a normal week with a bit of rain and a bit of traffic. Not really pushing the coasting, just doing the routine coasts. I think there is something a little out of whack with the tune. I need to clean the MAP, TB and check the plugs and tire psi. to make sure they are all right. This little stumble I've been feeling and the slight surge may be hurting mpg's because I'm expecting better than this. Otherwise, 41mpg doesn't seem as good as it once did.
2009-06-10 400.2 mi. 10.05 US gal $2.379 39.82 US Not exactly sure why this drop in mpg...possibly an overfill, but I did exactly the same thing as last time, but at a different gas station.... I'll know by tonight, if the gas gauge doesn't move as much as it did last time....I really thought this tank would be outstanding because I hit 400 miles and the fuel light had not come on yet. Oh well, still good mpg
2009-06-04 376.4 mi. 8.844 US gal $2.319 42.56 US Wasn't able to strech out this tank to Friday because of an extra trip to a friends house that was mostly highway. However there was crazy bad traffic cause of some hard rain, so it is probably a wash on the highway gain and idling in traffic loss. Also because I didn't take my usually 90% city drive on the Friday commute home, that helped a bit also. Otherwise the temps were a little lower 50's in the mornings and 60's in the evening from the rain.
Also, I've started to do the one click thing at the pump to eliminate the inconsistancy's caused by the gas pump jockey.
2009-05-29 378.7 mi. 9.438 US gal $2.239 40.13 US I'm surprised this tank was as good as it was. This tank includes a rediculous commute home in shore traffic over Memorial Day weekend, I actually had to turn off the car a couple times cause traffic was utterly stoped. It also includes another Friday commute which means a 95% city ride home and lot's of idling while waiting in line to get to the stop light.
2009-05-21 433.8 mi. 10.49 US gal $2.169 41.35 US Changed oil at 246,000 from 5W20 Castrol to 0W30 Castrol Syn. Also re-set computer after changing oil. Pretty cold temps in the morning again. From 34 up to 45 in the morning, evening temps in the 70's -80's. Also put on a new intake tube and did a bunch of idling trying to find a vacuum leak. Also put on a 30% alternator overdrive pulley to compensate for the big crankshaft underdrive pulley that was not alowing my battery to charge at idle. I'm thinking that the last tank was overfilled more than I thought and probably a little high.
2009-05-16 386.4 mi. 9.419 US gal $2.479 41.02 US Definatly overfilled a little on the last tank, just a little though. I'm wondering if I'm having some problems with the state of tune. We'll check that out soon to make sure the MAF, TB, plugs, tire psi. etc... are all where they should be. I guess 41mpg doesn't seem that good anymore
2009-05-14 461.3 mi. 10.82 US gal $2.079 42.63 US This is the tank I was hoping for a couple weeks ago. The Parent In Laws only drove 54 miles on this tank. It might have been overfilled a bit at the last fill up, however, it was a little overfilled this fill up also. Summer gas is definatly here and the warmer temps are helping. Traffic is still not that good the temps have been volitale. Starting temps in the moring ranging from 38-58 degrees. I also didn't use the engine heaters for three of the mornings. We'll see if this was a freak tank or the real deal next week...
2009-05-06 380.8 mi. 10.31 US gal $1.899 36.94 US Parent-in-laws drove quite a bit of this tank with defrost blasting cause of the crazy rain and humidity. Rain also stopped the use of the engine heaters. Rained every day the car was driven. Not a good tank at all. I was hopinng this tank would last until Saturday, so I might do a short fill to reset after the folks leave.
2009-04-30 369.4 mi. 9.789 US gal $1.839 37.74 US Parent-in-laws used the car for most of this tank, I just drove it two days into work and those two days had some pretty bad traffic due to some crazy construction and the time that I left work. They had the A/C maxed out and enjoyed themselves driving Little Blue, so it's good to see the milage wasn't hurt too bad, but it did make me cringe to see that A/C cranked If it had just been me commuting, it should have been around 40 mpg juding from the fuel needle movement I saw. Oh, well? One more week of them driving the car and then I'll be back to the routine. Summer gas should be here very soon, can't wait to see if there is a noticable increase in mpg's.
2009-04-24 497.4 mi. 13.19 US gal $1.839 37.71 US Crazy tank, actually took two weeks and a top off. Started off with a holy radiator stranding me at work, 6 gallons of antifreeze several stops later I made it home while only overheating it baddly three times
Anyhow that first segment was terrible mpg, plus the attendent reallllly overfilled me. 103.7 miles and 4.487 gallons, at least two gallons more than normal, anyhow, the second segment was 393.7 miles and 8.704. So I'm just putting them together to get a somewhat acurate number. The actually from the second segment was probably around 40mpg. Although it was a bad week for MPG, cold mornings followed by some pretty bad days of stop and go. It is what it is and here it is...
2009-04-10 421.2 mi. 10.51 US gal $1.759 40.08 US Weather in the mid thirtys in the mornings and mid fifties in the evening. No car pooling this week so I really focused on driving good and getting the coasting thing down. It worked, first 40 mpg tank ever. Also turned 244,000 miles this week.
2009-03-26 424.7 mi. 11.24 US gal $1.779 37.78 US Not as good as I had hoped, did a little more city driving than usual because of the carpool thing now, also had some really cold weather this week, first three days were 25 degrees in the morning, I also didn't concentrate as much on driving well because of some good conversation about Ecomodding. I think I've inspired him to try some mods out. Should be warmer this coming week, hopefully the first 40mpg tank.....
2009-03-19 374.2 mi. 9.563 US gal $1.699 39.13 US Pretty good weather, week started in low 40's and is now in the 50's. Probably would have been a slightly better mpg number, but I've been picking up another fella to ride work, this has added a bunch more city driving to my commute. That should end next week. Still using the heaters

Why was I at 38-39 mpg in colder weather and then dropped the mpg's into the 36's, only now to regain again in warmer weather. I was driving only 50mph and accelerating reallllly slow to get the 38-39mpg. It was really getting on the nerves of those impatient Philly drivers and causing some problems. I sped up the acceleration to moderate and increased my speed to 55mph. This has stopped their horns from honking
2009-03-13 487.5 mi. 13.08 US gal $1.679 37.27 US Finally drag raced, ran the tank down to nearly empty and put in 2 gallons of 92 ocatane. Otherwise I was having a really good tank, probably mid 38-39mpg. Never the less, three wot runs down the 1/4 didn't hurt it as bad as I thought it would. Best time was 15.783 @88.37 mph, not my best et. but the best mph by over 1 mph. I attribute that to the aero mods. Changed the oil this tank, same 5-20 castrol, also gapped the plugs from 0.062 to 0.065. This was also the warmest week yet, 40's almost all week. Also the first week running the heaters.
2009-03-06 427.8 mi. 11.25 US gal $1.699 38.03 US First tank using the oil pan and transmission pan heaters. Sunday night we got about a foot of snow, so I didn't use the heaters Monday morning. The first four days of the week started with 10 degree weather, so this has been the coldest week so far. However, today, Friday it got up to 60 degrees, so a big warm up Thursday night and all day Friday. Only used the heaters for three of the five days of this tank. They seem to be working well and the motor reached full temp. about 1-1.5 miles sooner than normal. This tank should have been worse, but I "assume" the heaters helped a bit and I really focused on driving better because Monday and Tuesday in the snow really hurt the mpgs. Anyhow, the next tank ought to have the block heater in and more consistant temps so we'll see where this goes...
2009-02-27 393.9 mi. 10.68 US gal $1.639 36.88 US Not sure why the mpg is only 36.8, possibly overfilled? Possibly the really cold, 20 degrees, for the first three days of the week? We'll see.....Oh, rained so no drag racing
2009-02-23 196.6 mi. 5.362 US gal $1.679 36.67 US Half tank this time because I need to be on empty by Friday to go drag racing. This tank was on track to be very good, but a couple WOT runs to impress a buddy killed it, never the less it is quite good.
Wont' log the next tank because I will add two gallons of high octane at the track to get a better time slip. It's a shame because I'm pushing to get the block heater in and won't be able to see the results for a while. Oh well, at least I'll get my fix of speed for a while.
2009-02-18 407.4 mi. 11.18 US gal $1.699 36.44 US The attendent definitly overfilled a little. Otherwise it would have been around 37.5mpg. Exteme gusty winds for the first day of this tank, news said up to 60mph. I could tell it killed the mpg's that day. I usually don't see the needle move until past 50 miles, it moved just past 20 miles.
Next tank should even out this overfill and resulting loss. Darn you NJ for not letting us pump our own gas, and thank you NJ for having the nearly the cheapest fuel in the nation.
New record for miles driven on a tank. Although the fuel light came on around 390 miles, the last two tanks it didn't come on at all.
2009-02-11 394.5 mi. 9.909 US gal $1.719 39.81 US First three days on this tank were quite cold, last two days much warmer 40's then 50's. It obviously helped because up to that point I was on track for 36 mpg.
Still practicing the coasting and getting better at decision making. Although the police might not agree
I'm wondering if the drop back from high 37's to 36's is a maint issue. I hear some strut clanking and there's a slight hicup at idle sometimes. Maybe time for some joints and plugs???
I'll have to check those out at the next oil change.
Also, Block heater, oil pan heater, trans oil pan heater and radiator fan controler on the way
2009-02-04 342.1 mi. 9.379 US gal $1.679 36.48 US Not as good as I expected. Lots of stop and go traffic, snow and possibly the ECU has to relearn from last weeks indulgence.
Been expirementing with different coasting, I think I'm getting better at it, but the mpg's don't show it, we'll see next week.
2009-01-28 363.7 mi. 10.63 US gal $1.599 34.21 US I'm affectionatly calling this a "Control" tank. No coasting, no taking it easy accelerating and no driving slow on the highway. Early to work and late home left me wanting to get the commute over quick so I could be with the family. So I accelerated quickly, drove 70+ on the highway and tasted the speed limiter twice. Also blew the tranny cooler hose off which caused quite a mess. Also the first snow of the season. Anyhow, not as bad of mpg as I thought and it shows almost a 4 mpg loss because of driving techinique. During the heat of the summer I struggled to get this good of mpg's, so I'd consider the mod's done to be a big time success. Although it hurts the avg. mpg, I'm posting this up to remember how far things have gotten.
2009-01-23 400.4 mi. 10.7 US gal $1.579 37.42 US Last tank I tried coasting consistantly, ended the week being able to coast for 7% of my commute, this week I was able to coast about 25% However last weeks tank and this weeks tank are almost identacle in mpg's, hmmmm? Anyhow, this tank marks a milestone....First 400 mile tank ever and the fuel light didn't even come on, previous was 392 and I ran out of gas going for 400, that was a 34mpg tank. Also this is the first time I've been able to go 5 days of my commute without filling up. Good times
Slightly warmer this week, mid twentys all week. Car covered in salt, so maybe the aero is not so good
2009-01-16 316.6 mi. 8.337 US gal $1.559 37.98 US Shouldn't have been this good, but I've been practicing my neutral coasting and it's working quite well. I'm sure I'll get better at it though. Temps in the 20's and teens, coldest week so far.
2008-12-24 347 mi. 9.94 US gal $1.459 34.91 US Temps droped into the teens, so I took a hit on mpg's vs. last weeks 40 degree temps. No changes to the car, but I have tried some coasting, just practicing for now though.
2008-12-18 319.1 mi. 8.496 US gal $1.459 37.56 US Added HD lip, 195 degree thermostat replaced 180 degree, tires were at 32, pumped them up to 45psi, 5lb lighter rear sway bar and put pasenger side splash gaurd under the motor for the winter. Weather has been volitile, but avg. temps around 40 degrees. This is my second best tank ever. I got 37.89 in the heat of the summer this year, so the changes are making a big difference. Traffic was pretty bad this week with a lot of stop and go, so it could have been better. I hope to be over 40mpg on my commute when summer hits.
2008-12-11 328.1 mi. 9.637 US gal $1.439 34.05 US Should have been much worse of a tank, but grill block and mud flap removal seem to be working well. Week started with 20 degree weather, then got warmed and lots of rain. Also about a dozen more cold starts than normal.
2008-12-05 333.1 mi. 10.22 US gal $1.579 32.59 US Yep, the last tank did not get full. It was 50 miles by 3/4 tank when it should be closer to 90. I did take it easy driving this week though
2008-12-01 339.7 mi. 9.995 US gal $1.629 33.99 US Don't think the tank was completely full.

sig image




Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.3.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com