Pulse and Coast Log for my SUV
 

This thread is going to be a log for my results of my new driving technique, the pulse and coast. I have recently bought a OBDII bluetooth adapter and I am using the Torque app on my android phone to view my live MPG's, avg MPG's, and Trip total MPG's.

SUV: 2000 GMC Jimmy SLT 4.3L V6
Driving normally I would see between 15 and 16mpg on my way to work, mixed city and rural roads.

Last week was first full tank using Torque app. I was seeing great results right away averaging 20MPG on my way to work, and 24MPG on the highway. The only problem was when I got in the city when visting so friends. All thoes lights and stop and go killed my mpgs big time.

Results from first Tank before Pulse and coast.
13.6gallons of fuel used to go 236.7 miles = a little over 17MPG.


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Start reading Ecomodder tips again, light goes off try "Pulse and Glide" AKA Pulse and coast for us non hybrid owners.

Day1. Pulse and Coast on my way home from work, 25 mile commute.
Download Torque's logs and do the maths. AVG live = 30MPG!!!!! WHAT?! This cant be right.
Re check the maths, check the Overall AVG MPG's = 30.2MPG WHAT? No flipping way, is what I am thinking. I will keep a few weeks of logs and check the data VS the tank AVG.


Day2. Car pool day only have to commute 5 miles.
Going to Park and Ride this is city/town driving dense traffic.
I do the Maths on the log Live MPG's is 22.71MPG This looks better but it was alot of stop and go. Looks like Pulse and Coast is working.
Drive home.
5 mile commute results after the maths on the live log 23.29MPG. This is looking good.

Maybe changing the nut behind the wheel will really pay off.

That size engine probably burns .4 gallon (per hour) of fuel coasting. Multiply your speed by 2.5 to get your mileage and you can see how much it can help. Coasting at 40 MPH is 100 MPG. Even for a fairly short distance glides that can add up quickly. If you have any hills see if you can coast the downhill grades as much as possible.

regards
Mech

I have been coasting down all the hills, my goal is to reach a 30 MPG tank average.

This info is good. My 2.0 V6 Honda automatic uses .43 g/h at idle (SG II). That is the reason I've found that the fuel cutoff with coasting in gear works better for me and my driving (about 26 miles one way, mostly highway).

Joggernot

I am glad someone ells is seeing great results from "pulse and coast".

This morning I had to drive the wife to work. Its going to snow 12 inches here today in Maine.

The commute was 75% highway 25% city.

Downloaded the logs from torque.

Real time MPG today was 28.23!
Average MPG total 28.41!
Trip average 27 MPG.

I was in 4wd for about 65% of the drive today. Pulse and coast even works in 4wd. This is aewsome :D

Had to pick the wife up today from work.
Torque app data for driving down to the city Live MPG = 30.11MPG Reached my GOAL! Not sure if I believe the data, so I am going to post some screen shots.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps9ef43af1.jpg

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Driving on the way back was Bad, bumper to bumper in a blizzard.
Live MPG on the was home was 21.95MPG.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psb542febb.jpg

Drive to work instant mpg average was 24.49MPG.

Drive home instant mpg average was 27.23MPG.

I don't want to put a downer on this but Torque is not exactly accurate out of the box. I have been using it for a while and to calibrate it isn't very straight forward. I use Fuelly etc to record actual mileage compared to fuel used, then compare this to what Torque has worked out then trim from there in the 'Settings' menu. Unless you have already done this I would take your results with quite a huge pinch of salt, out of the box Torque was under reading by 25% for me. Reading on the internet large variances are not uncommon in this app.

I added a thank for this

Yep it is the biggest change.

Question :
In D or N ?

TBH no instrument works well at all, the instant feedback is all you can rely on to see if you are improving or not. :thumbup:

When I used the SG2 on my Aygo in town driving it would be .1 gallons (imp) off at the worst and a lot of times dead on. When I ended up doing motorway (i.e. high speed) it was almost 1.5 gallons out. When I adjusted it for that it was 1.5 gallons out the other way when I switched back to town driving.

That tapped I'm having fun just now with the SG2 vs the on board display on my A6 Vs real tank to tank. The OBD is always optimistic for my daily MPG. However MPG2 (tank) is pretty much dead on. The SG2 is inside .3 gallons at fillup time but it's MPG is different.

I've kind of given up, and I use the SG2 MPG/AVG values to check whether I am getting better or worse on a trip and use the on board display to check the range remaining.

Question :

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joggernot View Post
My 2.0 V6 Honda automatic uses .43 g/h at idle (SG II).

In D or N ?

Answer: in N

I doubt the numbers your electronics are giving you. But don't feel defeated, even if not accurate they will most likely be consistant, just try to beat yesterdays number, and every day gets better. Tank averages will follow, but just not match.

Is that a typo, don't recall honda makinga 2.0v6, seems small, brother had a accord hybrid with 3.0v6 which I thought was stupid as it could barely better the 3.1v6 chevy malibu I had at the time.

Yep, typo...3.0

Interesting. The SG2 says .26 GPH (imp - based on recalibrating it on tank to tank) for my 27 Diesel in N when warm. Goes to 0.45 in D.

Idle consumption numbers will vary greatly depending on any accessories that are running at the time. My 02 Insight was .11 GPH. Most 4 cylinder engines will be in the .15 to .25 range, while a large V8 will be .5 GPH or even higher. I told someone once that my Insight used the same amount of fuel going 40 MPH and his V8 used just sitting there running with no accessory loads.

I drove close to 200 miles today to pick up a 2 ton AC coil to replace one that was stolen. Temps were in the low 30s. The gauge said 49.3 MPG when I got home. I used no accessories, NOT EVEN THE HEATER. The unit fit in the back of my Fiesta with less than 2 inches clearance. Saved close to $1000 and still got the same warranty as a new unit. I would have been lucky to get 2 more MPG in summertime, thanks to my grille block.

regards
Mech

Way to go making me feel guilty I haven't grille blocked the cobalt at all, saw -22f on way to work this morning and supposed to be colder tomorrow morning. Filled on Sat and was at 40mpg, down to 38mpg when I got home tonight at just under half tank.

House to garage doorr is open cause floor drains are freezing up, maybe I can rig something up tonight.

So today I purchased Torque Pro and the MPG numbers are looking way more accurate then the free version of the software. My Last tank was not as great as I was expecting, we have been in the negatives for a few weeks now. Also it keeps snowing wich I feel has been hindering my mileage.

Anyway today I made an 80 mile round trip on the highway. I decided to set my cruze control at 50mph. It felt strange to be going so slow, but my overall trip MPG was great 23MPG average. Driving slower seems to work great!

The new results are in for my last tank. Overall tank average mas 19MPG not bad considering two snow storms and sub zero temps.