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Old 08-18-2013, 03:04 PM   #97 (permalink)
jamesqf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler View Post
Why would you be so surprised to find that the computer read out in the Insight would be wrong? My computer says 58 mpg when the tank fill says 55.5. It is just a computation based on samples of engine load via the MAP sensor.
Why do you think that? That's pretty much the way the (quite inaccurate) ScanGauge does the computation, but why would Honda engineers not use the much more accurate injector time/volume method?

Further, as I said before, I checked the accuracy of the Insight's fuel consumption gauge back when I first got it. There is a measured 5 mile stretch of flat highway near here, with markers set up specifically so drivers can check speedometer & odometer accuracy. My Insight was dead on - less than 1/10 mile off over the stretch. (It also matches map distances over ~250 mile trips, etc.) I recorded fillups over several months, compared mpg computed from gallons & miles with what the gauge said, and they were the same to within the 0.2-0.3 mpg accuracy of the gauge's display.

Further, as IamIan points out, even if the gauge is only accurate to 5%, that's not a heck of a lot of difference.
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