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Old 02-09-2009, 06:06 PM   #2 (permalink)
mobilerik
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 108

rik's prerunner - '03 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner Double Cab TRD 4A
90 day: 29.68 mpg (US)
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If you wanna get right to the "finer points" and aren't afraid of some high school math, take a look at this party-killer I posted a few months back.

The gist is that if you have a gauge that'll give you your instantaneous GPH, you can easily calculate your break-even pulse-to-glide ratio for different scenarios.

Quote:
For those who want to see how to compute this:

* P&G Gas Used = PulseRate x PulseTime + GlideRate x GlideTime
* DWL Gas Used = DWLrate x DWLtime


Plug in your averages:
You'll need to choose a cycle time to compare, ex. 5 second pulse and 10 second glide = 15 total seconds.

* P&G gas used = 4.0 gph x 5 sec + .4 gph x 10 sec = 20 + 4 = 24
* DWL Gas Used = 1.3 gph x 15 sec = 19.5

So you can see that using a 5 to 10 pulse-to-glide ratio (or 1 to 2) is not fuel-efficient for me.
In the final analysis, all you're really aiming for is to use less gas in a certain amount of time than you would cruising. Since every car is different, the best approach IMO is to get a gauge and do the observation/calculation. Good luck!
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