New guy

[Fat Charlie]

Hello, all. I stumbled in here a week or so ago and read about pulse and coast, so I decided to give it a shot. I really can't believe how big a difference driving technique makes. My speeds haven't dropped much, but the mileage has skyrocketed.

I drive a 2005 Legacy GT that I bought new. Back then it had an EPA rating of 19/25 with a combined 21. The new EPA rating is 17/23 with a combined 19. I've always tried to keep mileage up when I wasn't leaning on the turbo, but my mileage has always been so-so. In the summer the dash computer showed me getting 23 and change for a tankful, and in the winter I was lucky to scrape into the low 22s.

My first tank using pulse & coast (it wasn't even the whole tankful) showed 27.5, a dramatic jump from the 22.8 of my previous tank. For my next tankful I ditched the roofrack that I had been too lazy to pull off and added 5 PSI to the tires. The fronts call for 35 and the sidewalls say 44, so 40 is a nice happy medium. I got 28.5 on that tank. I had been at 30.2 but there was a traffic tie-up on the last day. Still, it was the first 400+ mile tank I've had since the summer of 2006, a boring overnight drive through Quebec and Ontario that got me 25.2 for the tank.

Now that I understand how to do it effectively, I'm really excited about it.

[Fat Charlie]

Now I'm quite pleased. A record tank- 415.5 miles, and there were still 2 gallons left in the tank. If I'd had more faith I wouldn't have filled up this morning because I could have made it back home without a problem. But when the mileage remaining says 60 when you start up in the morning, you don't plan to put 90 on it before refueling.

It was also the first time in six years that I'd verified the car's computer. I did it on a couple tanks when it was new and was satisfied with its accuracy. This morning it read 28.8, but the math only came out to 28.127. I had actually been hoping that it would underestimate mileage because of all the time it spent on 99.9. I was hoping that the car simply couldn't see past that and wasn't accounting for it. Turns out not to be the case and it's just a smidgen inaccurate when driven in a way that they didn't plan on. Still, a little over 1/2 an MPG off isn't too bad and I'm still happy with that, especially as I've seen folks here reporting the same thing- not to trust the car's instruments implicitly when you're out of the car's envelope.

A good first tank, getting almost 100 extra miles from the gas burned. Considering that I can't stay out of the turbo for too long and I'm still trying to learn how to look at the road and traffic, I figure there's still a bunch of room for improvement, because the nut is nowhere near fully adjusted.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Now I'm quite pleased. A record tank- 415.5 miles, and there were still 2 gallons left in the tank.

It was also the first time in six years that I'd verified the car's computer. I did it on a couple tanks when it was new and was satisfied with its accuracy. This morning it read 28.8, but the math only came out to 28.127.

That's why you need a fuel log, and need to calculate the actual MPG.
Sure there will be some errors when filling up, but they'll even out over time.

Still, a little over 1/2 an MPG off isn't too bad and I'm still happy with that, especially as I've seen folks here reporting the same thing- not to trust the car's instruments implicitly when you're out of the car's envelope.

Yeah, same thing happening here on a bigger scale as I'm at higher average MPG. The on board computer can be over 6 mpg off.

A good first tank, getting almost 100 extra miles from the gas burned.

That's a significant improvement !

[dennyt]

Welcome! We need more Subaru drivers around here