58 mpg On First Tank

No, I've heard too many stories of folks "topping off" their tanks which can risk getting gasoline inside the charcoal canister...and it's not cheap getting that replaced.

I estimate the amount of gas she needs (like 7 gallons) and will turn the auto-fill level from "fast" to "slow" at around 5 gallons to finish it up. Once it clicks, that's it.

 

Just a one time thing to see how much gas there is from auto shutoff to overflowing.

Do you know? If so you can save me the trouble.

 

@VelvetFoot - a thought just occurred to me - you seem to be getting what I consider to be stellar (at or above EPA estimates) fuel efficiency all things considered (winter in New York). I also remember seeing posts from you mentioning removing the plastic wheel covers and installing wheel center caps sourced from Amazon.

So - the mpg's you've observed to date - are all those with the plastic aero-wheel covers off? And I "assume" some mix of city/hwy driving?

I ask because, my daughter in southern California is in the camp of those that don't like the looks of the plastic wheel covers (her comment is "makes it look like a Tesla"), and she prefers the look of the alloy wheels 'hidden' under the wheel covers. I earlier told her that after I drive her LE from Louisiana to Socal I could remove her wheel covers if she wanted but that she might experience a slight drop in overall mpg's. [I shamelessly stole your idea and ordered the exact same wheel center caps off Amazon that you did and also verified they fit, so ready for exposing the alloys].

So I'd love to be able to tell her it's at least possible from your experience to get at/close to EPA mpg's even with the wheel covers off - but want to make sure that's what you're actually doing.

 

I think similarly about the oil weight, who knows if it alls add up. During my first 10k I think I was averaging about 62.8 mpg , will find out - possibly - next oil change, going to make sure it's 0W8.

Edit: went back and looked and for the first 4k miles it's was 63.9, sheesh.

 

Thanks for the clarification, I'll reiterate the potential downside and let her decide if form or function is more important.

I'll find out in a week or so if her local dealer uses 0w-8 or 0w-16, 1st task after my trip is getting a smog test (for the title transfer), 2nd task is oil/filter change, 3rd task is enduring the joys of California DMV antics.

 

That’s a good number. What tire pressure are you running?

I finished my Louisiana-California trip a couple weeks ago. Overall was happy with the cumulative mpg (hand-calc 51.6 mpg over 2125 miles before hand-over to daughter). ‘Course I had a lot more temperate weather than you’ve seen.

Negatives affecting my mpg:

• In addition to my weight, about 200 lbs of ‘extra’ payload (luggage, tools/other stuff for my daughter, spare tire solution, steel cat converter shield, Torklift EcoHitch receiver).
• Some (not major) headwinds/cross-winds most of the trip.
• Almost all interstate highway driving (I-12, I-10), except for short traffic backups in El Paso, Tucson, Phoenix, AZ-CA border.
• Majority of trip “uphill” (320 miles pre-trip driving around Covington LA @ ~12 ft above SL, ~1200 miles to Continental Divide on I-10 in NM (~4585 ft), downhill ~600 miles to Indio CA (below SL)(last place I gassed up).

MPG positives:

• Around 37-38 psi in the stock P195/60R17 tires.
• Drove around 5 mph under the 80 mph speed limit in west TX (drove the posted speed most other times). Like all vehicles I’ve ever owned, speeds above 70 mph give noticeable mpg reductions.
• Temperate weather (except for white-knuckle driving in rain storm outside Indio CA, that was nasty).

Pre-trip, I had 57.9 mpg over the 320 miles I spent putting around Covington, I loved that.