EM Sticker contest #2: guess Mom's MPG! ('97 Camry 4-cyl auto) ends Sun., Feb. 3
 

The contest, in a nutshell:

This is the sequel to contest #1, where my dad's driving in his '06 Corolla was scrutinized.

After seeing his ugly results (22.4 mpg - sub/urban driving only, in a decidedly non-hypermiling fashion), my mom stepped up to the plate and asked if I'd put a ScanGauge in her car. I double checked with her on the weekend, and she's a go. Set it up Sunday evening.

(Note: it's out of sight.)

So, you've got until next Sunday evening. As with last time, the person whose guess is closest to the actual fuel economy after a week of driving wins a free Ecomodder window cling.

The car:

It's a '97 Toyota Camry, 2.2 L, 4-cyl., automatic transmission with oh, let's say 180,000 km (112,000 miles) on it.

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/1....camry.500.jpg

FE specs:

EPA city/hwy ... 20 / 28 mpg (US) (new figures)
NRCan city/hwy ... 10.5 L/100 km (22 mpg US) / 7.2 L/100 km (33 mpg US)

What's it capable of?

I haven't driven the car much, so I can't provide numbers. (But I will when it's over, just for kicks.)

fueleconomy.gov lists 14 owners' data for the same car, with an average of 26.4 and a range of 22 - 37.

What kind of driver his she?

She's a grandma.... literally! :) Modest acceleration, no hard braking, inhabits the lower 50% of the average speed of traffic.

Besides those things, I wouldn't say she consciously uses any particular efficiency tactics.

Her biggest FE hurdle is the fact that she mostly does short trips.

She says all of her driving this week will be local (sub/urban). If anything changes, I'll report back so guesses can be adjusted.

Note the weather forecast is calling for wet / light snowy weather for the next few days, temps generally around freezing or a bit below for the week.

Contest ends sometime next Sunday (Feb 3/08).

Post your guesses!

Lets get this started.

24

I'll go with 19

22.7

22.8 MPG city-since she only does short trips, then i guess you're not taking hwy EPA ratings.

25

Hrmmmm -- All short trips? 13.4 LHK / 17½ MPG

aw man, they took 19, I'm gonna go with 18 combined then.

Remember, it's not combined - it's just "city" use. There likely won't be any highway driving in there. (And if there is, I'll let you know so you can re-jig your guesses.)

18.5 :)

She's got a SG and she's motivated. She's gonna beat 22.4 for sure.

Remember: she can't see the ScanGauge.

EDIT: but I can't deny she sounded motivated.

Is the scan gauge calibrated for the Camry already? why not just compute at fill up if it is hidden.
Not trying to mess up your contest in any way, just trying to determine methods.

The engine size is set in the ScanGauge, but it's not calibrated against any past fills.

The reason for using the SG is to enable a one week contest and accomodate my short attention span! (Otherwise it would probably take most of a month to drain the entire tank.)

Roger that
17 in that case
My friends Camry(96 5 speed 2.2) with Scangauge uses 29% on the FCF Hence my low Ball.

Can you clarify FCF?

Fuel Correction factor, it is what you adjust when you fill up.
If memory serves the Gallons is on top (which you adjust) and the Fuel correction factor is at the bottom.
A FCF of 29% indicates that the engine is injecting 29% less fuel than it is reporting via OBDII.

Again if memory serves that would make the SGII mpg appear Lower than actual mileage.
Could just that his car has plugged injectors, I don't know, but I'm gambling on the Idea that those cars are alike . . . .

I'm guessing 23.

24.5 mpg

Here we go again. 23.1516171819..................................... ...........................adinfinitum.
S.

26mpg. Im optimistic

changing my answer, short trips and cold weather... =16.75mpg When I say combined, I mean at the end of it all when you take calculations of all the driving done.

How'd mom do?

Mom didn't drive very far last week, which may complicate things a little.

But first to the guesstastic summary:

26 - jazzie604
24.5 - Doofus McFancypants
23.1516171819 - metroschultz
22.4 - tasdrouille
24 - igo
23 - UfoTofU
22.8 - WaxyChicken
22.7 - GenKreton
19 - Laz
18.5 - Chris D.
18 - DPoV
17.5 - Who
17 - dremd
16.75 - DPoV (revised) - our winner!

And the ScanGauge results:

24.7 miles driven ... 13 mph average ... 14.7 mpg (US)

:eek:

So, dremd's tactics worked, and to the tactician goes the EM window cling!.

dremd - PM your name & mailing address to Ben (SVOboy).

Whether her actual fuel economy is that far off the ScanGauge, I can't say. Out of curiosity however, I'm going to ask her to record her next fill-up and do a gas receipt calculation.

If I reduce the fuel consumed by 29% (dremd's example from his friend's Camry), she would have had 20.7 mpg. But 17 wins as the closest guess, because those were the ground rules, and everybody had equal information!

Wow that's bad. Was there a lot of short trips with cold starts or something?

Congradulations, dremd :D

17.75

bestmapman - you're late to the party!

Exactly. I would guess that 24.x mile distance represents about 6 short trips in total, all cold starts. Brutal, eh?

So much for the killer competitive spirit. I thought she was going to bring it.

HOLY CRAP THAT"S AWFUL.

Anyway, dremd, send me a pm with your info!

So I'm gonna take this as definitive proof that FE is not a trait that is genetically passed down.

Know what would be the most fair thing to do? Ask her to drive my dad's car for a week. Then we could see apples to apples.

wait, If you look above I changed my answer before the deadline on the 31st. Just as a reminder.

Sounds like your mom is a perfect candidate for a forkenswift. :turtle:

Laz: yes! Yes she is. If Ontario permitted NEV/LSV's she'd be a prime candidate.

----

DPoV - Whoops! Sorry I missed that. You're the rightful winner!

Send Ben a PM with your name & mailing address to claim your prize.

Dremd - you can keep yours. Ben, take it out of my pay :-P