First real tank, 42 mpg- all city driving.

[Jim-Bob]

Well I finally got my baseline numbers tonight from the $250 Metro and they were better than expected. I wound up with 41.93 mpg, all of it city driving while delivering pizza. I may just reach my 50 mpg tank goal yet.

My first actual tank counted in my log was from when I found out that the fuel tank seal leaked-all over the place. That tank was 38.5 mpg or so and should not have been included in my statistics because the fuel was leaked out and not actually burned in the engine. This tank is the first one I have done with a sealed tank (and all new fuel lines).

[fairdinkumfrankies]

Awesome! Great price with an even greater result.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Jim-Bob

Well I finally got my baseline numbers tonight from the $250 Metro and they were better than expected. I wound up with 41.93 mpg, all of it city driving while delivering pizza.

With a lot of stop-and go-driving, that's quite a neat result !

[bluejoey]

Very impressive. I'm doing an all city tank now, and will be surprised if I break 32 in my '95 Tercel. 40 is far away at the moment for me, and you've already cracked it.

[UFO]

That's excellent!

[Jim-Bob]

Thanks! my current tank is being done with another mix of driving techniques as the 42mpg tank was done by hypermiling it to the extreme. This tank I am trying to drive a bit faster so as not to lose deliveries to save an extra $1 a night in fuel. So far though it seems to be at about the same place on the fuel gauge as it was last time at this mileage ( about 240 miles since I filled it on Friday night). I need to see 350 miles on roughly 8.3 gallons to meet the last tank.

The cool thing is that the car is actually in pretty good condition and not a ragged out mess like you would expect for the money. It needs minor sorting but nothing big. In fact, I just re-tested the compression and it was far better than when I first dragged it out of a guy's back yard 3 weeks ago. I got a max of 165 psi and a min of 162 so the engine will not require replacement after all. My plans have changed then to fixing this one up stock and just driving it while I build up my 92 Metro 2 door with a fuel economy improved engine, different gearing, bigger brakes, aero mods, taller tires, etc. Once it's done in a few months, the blue car will be sold off to a new owner who will get a well-sorted little Metro that should give years of reliable operation.

[Jim-Bob]

Had a 43 mpg tank today! It just gets better and better!

[Hubert Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by Jim-Bob

My first actual tank counted in my log was from when I found out that the fuel tank seal leaked-all over the place. That tank was 38.5 mpg or so and should not have been included in my statistics because the fuel was leaked out and not actually burned in the engine. This tank is the first one I have done with a sealed tank (and all new fuel lines).

Ah yes the Jeremy Clarkson defense, as seen in the 1500 gbp Porsche challenge.
He bought a rubbish 928 that could best have been described as a pile of spare parts that loosely resembled a running and failing Porsche, which had a leaky fuel tank and lines. He got about 7-8 mpguk out of the car, but his defense was the same, that it didn't go anywhere near the engine so he didn't use it. However seeing as it went into his car from the pump and didn't return to the pump when it left the car he used it, just the same as the leaking metro used all the fuel that left the fuel tank, regardless of whether or not it burned it or leaked it on the road.

[bluejoey]

^ Hah. Seriously though, I agree with Jim-Bob, having recently suffered a leaking gas tank myself. I barely made 20 mpg on my last tank because of the leak, making it by far the lowest tank I've recorded since I bought the car. In comparison, I'm currently averaging 30 on my new, fixed tank, despite using E10 gas, which seems to knock around 10% off my mileage.