"I want to tinker with my Mercedes Sprinter to improve MPG."--friend

[Vman455]

What went wrong? Nothing. But his record-keeping probably sucks. If he can't produce a record of every tank of gas, his claim that it "got" 8L/100km intially but somehow "gets" 11L/100km now is dubious.

Even then, it doesn't really tell us anything. If you look at my fuel log, the first summer I had the Prius I had several tanks in a row over 60mpg; since then, 60mpg tanks have been infrequent. The car didn't change; my driving did. That summer I had a 56 mile commute (one way) on a 55 mph highway, ideal conditions for good fuel economy. Now, my daily commute is less than 5 miles and longer trips are almost exclusively interstate at 65+ mph. My driving profile changed, and this had a profound effect on the fuel economy my car returned.

So, before we can diagnose anything we need to ascertain if his claim is legitimate in the first place. And we can't do that without a LOT more information.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Xist

My friend [...] works in Germany on U.S. military bases, so he gets American fuel prices in Germany.

Originally Posted by JSH

My question: Is you friend actually using E0 fuel in Germany?

Hold on, let me book a flight and supervise him filling up!

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

Hold on, let me book a flight and supervise him filling up!

I was curious how he knows he is getting E0. Do they have ethanol labeling laws like the USA? I haven't gassed up a car in Germany for about a decade I didn't see any reference to ethanol in more recent trips to southeastern Europe.

[Xist]

American bases have American pumps. I am confident he goes out of his way to avoid filling up off-post.

[MeteorGray]

As noted above, it is hard to believe the military ships fuel from the US for their bases in Germany. Surely it is local fuel that is sold on base.

On the other hand, it is a government bureaucracy in charge and thus there are unlimited taxpayer dollars involved. Perhaps they are using air tankers from the US to fly in gasoline for those soldiers, a legacy from the 1947 Berlin airlift crisis that they never bothered to stop :-)

[Fat Charlie]

A unit supply room ordering ballpoints and AAA batteries through the normal supply chain will order by NSN and get them shipped from higher, which eventually gets them from the States. But I'm sure AAFES sources the gas locally.

But because I know what goes into mileage, I always assume that anyone complaining about mileage is talking out his ass.

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by MeteorGray

As noted above, it is hard to believe the military ships fuel from the US for their bases in Germany. Surely it is local fuel that is sold on base.

Better Quality control They just go out of the way so they don't get sabotaged/tampered with fuel duh.. E0 has a longer shelve life as well..


I'm sure they test the fuel as well before putting it in the main fuel tanks as well as a lab test. for water contamination .


or they got onsite inspectors when it gets loaded onto a fuel truck if it's locally sourced...


it mostly comes down to sabotage

[Fat Charlie]

You've never been in, have you?