Pulse & Glide / EOC: Anyone rated their gallons per hour @ 0mph?

[Ford Man]

Originally Posted by NH Titan

I experimented today on the way to work with just doing EOC when the opportunity arose and no Pulse and Glide. Yesterday I did Pulse and Glide when ever I could along with EOC. This is the same 32.3 miles route both days.

My findings:

EOC only without Pulse and Glide= 50.2 mpg
EOC and Pulse and Glide =52.8 (it was raining and cooler this day)

My route to work is always better then going home. The best on the way home was also with EOC and Pulse and Glide and was 41.3 mpg. Without Pulse and Glide its just 36-38 mpg.

My homework now is to just dial in the correct acceleration needed to regain my top target speed.

That will be quite a savings in a years time.

[The Atomic Ass]

Originally Posted by gascort

Sadly, it's pretty dangerous to do this in most of those bigger cars - no power steering and brakes are fine on a small car, but on a big car... it can be a beast. Most of the people who freak out about EOC have experienced trying to steer a heavy car with no power steering - you can't swerve quickly if needed in them.
I actually tore up the steering shaft joint (rag joint) in my mustang from turning the wheel too much while the car was off.

This is why people need to work out at the gym. Buncha pansies that can't steer a 4,000+ lb vehicle without power steering.

Why back in my day, we used rope tied to the front wheels instead of a fancy steering wheel, and power steering was something that happened when the spark plug wires shot off the engine and caught you in the leg.

[FastPlastic]

For comparison. My Jeep warmed up at idle burns around .70 gallons per hour. So I try not to stop at all.

[comptiger5000]

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but I think it's still relevant. From what FastPlastic gave as a fuel consumption, I guess my worst fears are confirmed. I probably do burn about a full gallon per hour at idle (extrapolated). No wonder Jeeps get crappy city MPG...

[ShadeTreeMech]

I burn .6 gph at idle with the a/c on in a hot day with the tranny in gear, so I'm now feeling lucky!

Can you back the idle down a bit? I managed to back mine down to ~600 rpms which trimmed down the idle consumption rate to ~.45-.48 gph according to the SG. Before it was about .55 gph. But if i kick on the AC or steer or cause the fan to turn on, the idle jumps up to close to 1k rpms.

[Old Mechanic]

On my (now sold) Insight CVT, I coasted in neutral until the instant fuel economy bar dropped below 150 MPG. The reading was consistently 16 MPH, so I just use 16/150 for idle fuel consumption.

Works out to just under .12 GPH at idle.

I think but cant prove the VX is very close to that becasue it idles at about 450 RPM, lowest idle speed of any car I have owned except my 37 Ford flathead V8 which idled at 350 RPM.

The Insight will average 40 mph on the same fuel an average V8 consumes idling with no electrical accessory loads.

I once tried to measure idle consumption on my brothers 90 Civic, with a DVOM on the fuel tank sending unit. When the tank level actually read that it had INCREASED, I realized that the heat conducted by the fuel and the ambient temperature increase had made the fuel in the tank expand, which was the cause of his magic Honda that made fuel while running .

regards
Mech

[comptiger5000]

The Jeep only idles at about 650 rpm anyway, and it can only be adjusted via the computer. It doesn't raise the idle at all under load, just throttles up a little to maintain speed. My fuel use at idle is simply the product of having a 5.9 liter V8 under the hood. Not a whole lot I can do for it, except minimize idling. In gear with A/C on, 1.2 gph wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

Can you back the idle down a bit? I managed to back mine down to ~600 rpms which trimmed down the idle consumption rate to ~.45-.48 gph according to the SG. Before it was about .55 gph. But if i kick on the AC or steer or cause the fan to turn on, the idle jumps up to close to 1k rpms.

Maybe the engine jumps to 1000 rpms because that's what the A/C compressor needs and can't function at a slower speed?

Here's some more idle talk:
How's your idle? (Just some idle blabbing)