Just got Ultra Gauge today! - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Fat Charlie · 08-09-2011, 07:18 PM

I'm due for a fill up in a couple days, and tonight I saw that I don't have to wait another tankful to get a better gas consumption reading. I had reset mileage readings and all, but I still have the "Fuel Level" displaying. I ain't no mathemutishen, but I can still make a guess as to how much gas the Ultra Gague thinks I've burned and compare it with the pump.

I did my mileage again this morning and I'm happy with how accurate it is now. As always, I'll be monitoring them all for accuracy, but I'm happy with mileage now and I expect to be happy with gas sooner rather than later.

Fat Charlie · 08-10-2011, 12:05 PM

Wow, third post in a row! It looks like the calibration worked. This morning I was toggling from the car's A trip (tank) to the B trip to check that against the UG's mileage since calibrating it. Unfortunately my habit of paying more attention to my driving than to things inside the car bit me- I zeroed out my tank mileage. I did not pass Go, but went directly to the gas station. Adding one mile to what I remembered seeing brought my pump math to 30.18 mpg, Which was believable based on the 30.6 that my car showed last night- starting up this morning and driving cold to the gas station would have dropped the display to 30.3, satisfyingly close to the pump and my best distance guess.

Using the fuel remaining number worked well, too. The UG felt that I had burned 9.25 gallons since the last fill up, while I pupmped 9.608. It felt that I had burned 5.080 gallons since I had last zeroed out all the numbers on the UG, so I just took the difference in the tank/pump numbers and multiplied the 5.08 by that. The car display doesn't do average mpg until after one mile and it takes a while to get realistic but after a few miles the two displays were agreeably close, given the car display's only moving in 0.3 increments and the UG's average climbing quite rapidly during glides. Now I'll bump the numbers on my next few tanks and then periodically after that.

pletby · 08-12-2011, 07:00 PM

Good save Fat Charlie.

The downside of instantaneous feedback is when your car is all messed up you can see what crappy mileage you're getting. Dangit.

I calibrated my mileage and that really helped. Pretty much lines right up with reality now.

SoobieOut · 08-12-2011, 07:10 PM

Here's an option to avoid using the a/c. But the added drag may be a wash.

I have seen these at Old car shows. Only usefull in dry climates.

Congrats on your recent UG purchase!!!

gone-ot · 08-12-2011, 08:00 PM

...great minds think alike (ha,ha): http://ecomodder.com/forum/251838-post35.html

Fat Charlie · 08-13-2011, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pletby

I calibrated my mileage and that really helped. Pretty much lines right up with reality now.

Check it over time. The manual wants you to roll against mile markers and says the more (and the straighter) the merrier. It mentions 3 miles. Riiiight. If I'm calculating the mileage with my odometer, I'm going to calibrate the UG to the odometer. The current calibration used a little over half a tank. A little over a half a tank later, the UG is reporting 0.5 miles and 1.5 mpg more than the car. I'll refine it over the next few tanks and then I'll be really happy with it.

pletby · 08-13-2011, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

If I'm calculating the mileage with my odometer, I'm going to calibrate the UG to the odometer.

That makes sense. Never thought of that. I think I'll do the same. That way the two methods of finding mileage should line up if the gauge is properly calibrated.

SentraSE-R · 08-13-2011, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Check it over time. The manual wants you to roll against mile markers and says the more (and the straighter) the merrier. It mentions 3 miles. Riiiight. If I'm calculating the mileage with my odometer, I'm going to calibrate the UG to the odometer. The current calibration used a little over half a tank. A little over a half a tank later, the UG is reporting 0.5 miles and 1.5 mpg more than the car. I'll refine it over the next few tanks and then I'll be really happy with it.

No, no. Calibrate your UG distance and odometer against a GPS. I've done it over 40, 60, 80, and 100 mile distances with three different sizes of tires on my xB. The OEM tires were off 3.3%, set A were off 9.9%, and set C were off 9%. When I'd driven 10 miles per the odometer on the OEM tires, I'd actually traveled 10.33 miles per the GPS. When I'd driven 10 miles per the odometer on the A set of tires, I'd actually traveled 10.99 miles per the GPS. The UG will show you whatever you tell it to show you, based on the distance calibration you set in your vehicle setup option.

euromodder · 08-13-2011, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

If I'm calculating the mileage with my odometer, I'm going to calibrate the UG to the odometer.

Check wether the odometer is correct then, using GPS or many mile-markers along the road (like 20 , 30 or so instead of 3) on a longer trip.

euromodder · 08-13-2011, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

starting up this morning and driving cold to the gas station would have dropped the display to 30.3

That's bad for your mileage - see the 100+ Hypermiling Tips.
Longest trips first, errands, tanking etc. on the way back with warm engine so the engine doesn't really cool down again and thus needs no cold restart