ROI: Do you drive farther (and maybe use more fuel) to get higher MPG numbers?
 

I'm going to set myself up here (and possibly offend some) but I just can't stop myself. I am able to laugh at myself in the ecomodding area and hope others can too. Here goes (deep breath) ...
PAR32R.. Just the opposite is true!
It is all about the numbers (mpg), not the fuel actually consumed or saved. We are not saving the planet (or our wallet) by using a teaspoon less gas on each trip. But a teaspoon less might bump our tank average .01 mpg, now that is noteworthy. The 20 mile route you described (at more distance but an increase of 5mpg) is absolutly worth it. 5mpg increase is huge! most (of the nuts on here including me) would do it for .5! Don't forget ecomodders put very little (if any) concern on ROI (return on investment). It doesn't matter if a mod ever actually pays for its self in gas savings. If mpg goes up, it was worth the effort and cost.
Am I wrong here guys? This isn't just me is it?

I think you'll find it's not possible to generalize quite like that.

Sure, yes, there are definitely others who are "all about the MPG number". But you'll just as easily find members who only want to save money, so ROI is critical. And yet others whose primary concern is energy security. Etc.

Members' motivation for learning to eco-drive & modify varies pretty widely.

I'd say many of the folks on here are in for the money - i.e. using less gas as a means to pay less for gas.

For them, ROI is certainly a direct concern.

As for ROI, my own new CNG car is expected to pay for itself in 10 years, through reduced fuel costs.
@ current prices, the reduced cost of CNG offsets the investment for 100% compared to my earlier diesel car.
I expect maintenance and repairs to be less expensive, despite more frequent service intervals.
Reduced taxes will more than offset the slightly higher insurance cost.


In addition, it's burning the cleanest fossil fuel available, and opening the way for renewable fuel (synthetic gas or biogas, which I tank whenever I can).

Win-Win as far as I'm concerned.

For me it is a hobby. A serious hobby; it needs to be effective, and ROI is an instrument to measure that.
I do not really care for the savings as such (it won't affect my diet), but they need to be there or I'm just fooling around.
I'm prepared to take risks. If it works, fine! If it doesn't hey it is my hobby, I can take pride in trying.

(I see now that this was a little off topic. Suffice to say I'll use the route that suits me best based on minimal absolute fuel usage; time, safety, comfort all may affect my route choice, best FE rating does not.)

I try to reach a balance on that issue. If I can take a longer route with higher mpg, but at least come out equal on fuel usage, I will. Did I save fuel? No. Did I use extra fuel? No. But I got better numbers, which to me is worth the extra time.

It is tempting to drive lots of extra miles and get amazing numbers. I struggle with that. Getting a new high score is a great feeling of accomplishment.

Also tempting is to take the other vehicle on challenging drives with low mpg, to save my high numbers in this car. That one burns a lot more fuel, so it's a loss if I do. I have an event like that coming just this weekend. I'll take my car, even at 15% less mpg than my average, because it's double what the van would do.

So true.
On bad days or for bad trips I could take the I10 that otherwise only gets used by my wife for the school run and shopping.
That would improve the FE average on both cars.
And just waste fuel, as the I10 will never equal the economy of my Insight.

Tempting... but no.

(Admin note... split this discussion about ROI and driving farther to get better MPG into a new thread...)

For me I wasted a lot of fuel on testing new lean burn mods that I made. Sometimes driving around in a 10 mile circle for several hours just to get the data. I needed to do this to keep the test as close to the last test for modification changes.

But now that I have reach the max I can get out of my system, its more about saving $$$ and using the Talon as a normal part of my life. So the ROI is just starting to get payed off.

Now ROI for mods that I have made. It's going to take a few years to get there.lol

I don't do any extra driving to merely improve the numbers.

I sometimes do take a slightly (3.4 km) shorter, but much slower and more fuel efficient route after filling up, but it takes forever.
If I were to take this route for an entire tank, I'd beat the car's NEDC FC figures ... and do so using CNG that has over 20% less energy than what VW used during testing.

The - somewhat unexpected, I should say ! - shortest route, means going through a toll-tunnel twice/day, negating any advantage despite being 25% shorter (Toll 1 way costs as much as driving to work and back ...)

Why should it be? It is to some extent a hobby, and don't most people expect to spend money on their hobbies? Not to mention that I have an adequate supply of money, and can always get more :-)

But I don't take longer routes just to increase my mpg number, though sometimes it has that effect. As for instance one trip I often make offers a choice of about 10 miles of dead-straight 70 mph freeway, or 11 miles of 50 mph country road running through open fields. 9 times out of 10, I take the latter. Doing so does boost my mpg number, but that's not why I go that way.