Worst case mileage scenario
I got stuck in a traffic jam yesterday going up hill. I got to watch as my trip mileage dropped from 19mpg(cold engine) down to 14.5mpg. Unfortunately there was an accident that had shut down an intersection to just one car at a time and I had to go through it to get to where I was going.
Anybody had a worse situation? |
Traffic always causes the problems for me. More often it is traffic combined with lights that kill my mileage.
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Why do you leave your engine running when you're not moving?
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The worst tank ever in my car was the time I let my wife drive it. We went on a camping trip to Southern Utah. I took her car with the gear and kids. She drove down after work. I think she said she reached speeds I thought were unobtainable in a 1L engine.:eek:
Coincidentally I think the best tank on her car was that same weekend when I drove hers. ;) |
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From a quick search, seems a rebuilt starter might cost around $40, so the hypothetical additional wear is about 11 cents, or 0.04 gallons of gas at $2.50/gal. |
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Additionally there is work required by the alternator to recharge the battery each start and wear on the battery that also should be considered. |
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If we're doing the math and look at costs, we should figure up the other side of the equation too. How much fuel do you save? There are more variables on this side of the equation though, rate of fuel consumption at idle, and how much time with the engine off before restarting.
My car uses less than .3gal/hr at idle after warmed up if the SG2 is to be believed or .005gal/min. So if 20 starts on a $40 starter is worth .04gal, 20 restarts has to buy me atleast 8minutes of off time, or 24 seconds of off time per stop But my starter costs 3x as much, so the only time I should probably be doing it is coasting into parking spots. However that doesn't stop me, I guess I'm abusing my lifetime warranty which got me a free starter this year. If someone couldn't install it themselves it might still not make finacial sense to do. |
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