Once at a cruising speed higher than 35mph and in 3rd or 4th gear, the torque converter locks up and forms a direct linkage to the tranny. There's no slippage therefore no power loss. It's pretty much like a manual transmission at that point. At 75mph I'm at 3000rpms with my 5 speed where as I think the auto is spinning at 2400rpms. I've got instant passing power, but the auto is cruising at a lower rpm therefore consuming less fuel.

You're right out the "rated" mpgs, but they're using a very old system of 55mph for highway.


Dave

 

You know, I had been talking friends about how hilly my area is (central Alabama) and how it really works brakes hard. My family from Chicago and Indianapolis always talk about the hills when they visit. Even other parts of my state have pretty flat land. So these hills are probably what limit my gas mileage. I try to let the car coast when I approach the crest of the hill and let the hill push me down and up the next somewhat, but I guess it ain't helpin too much. It would be nice if conservation of energy applied going up and down the hills, but alas...Maybe if I did not do any of this stuff I would be getting even less than 20 mpg. Maybe everyone should start describing their terrain when they give their gas mileage?

 

Little o/t but do u have pics of ur ride with those SSRs on? Man i want those.

 

I WILL NOW PUT ALL COMPLAINTS ASIDE....

I have 1 95 SE with 122K I get 250 miles AT MOST

Doing 80% city drving !!!

 

You would think its my knock sensor, but my ECU shows an 0505 code meaning no problems decteted. I HATE losing $30 every week. Any ideas?

 

I just hit a new record for fuel economy last week...I got 305 miles on about half a tank (8.9 gallons)! That's 34.3 MPG!

That was with cruise control set to 74mph on Interstate 80 from western PA to northern NJ...a few spurts as high as 90mph for passing, but mostly constant speed. My car hit 183,000 miles on the way back, too!

 

bump... trying to solve my problem...

 

driving to and from work (maybe 10min city) i get about 300 miles per tank. last weekend i had to drive to biloxi mississippi from asheville nc due to an emergency, i drove anywhere between 85-105mph. i left aheville w/ a liitle less than a half tank of gas....i filled the tank in atlanta which is about 210 miles away. then drove to biloxi, 400miles away from atl. i did not fill up again until after we were in biloxi (gas light was not on). my car has 142,000 miles on it, 96 gxe..automatic.

 

330-370 miles in city
390-420 miles mixed
450+ Pure highway

Based on every one else numbers I'd say I'm doing pretty good. Only "mod" I have is I replaced the honeycomb 15's with the 97-99 16' SE wheels (which have slightly wider tires). Most I've ever got is 480 (28.2 mpg) pure highway. Lowest I've got is 330 (19.4 mpg) city. I drive a 95 GLE Auto with 126k miles. I have a rediculously heavy lead foot and accelerate harder then anyone I know (floor it all the time too). Usually most cars have to floor it to just to match my normal acceleration in the max (first shift at 3.5-4k, second shift 3-3.5k). I usually fill up about 10-20 miles after the gas light comes on. I always put in premium. Last fill up was mixed driving, 405.3 miles on 17.3 gallons. That comes out to 23.4 mpg.

 

I get about 325 miles per tank, 50% city, 50% highway . . . I can probably push for 350 if I wait for the light to come on.

I realize this is pretty low, but I do drive hard, my car sees 5k RPM many times a day. Im satisfied with my gas milage . . I have yet to see if I can do 400 a tank all highway, perhaps in the summer if I travel somewhere with my car I will find out.

 

OMG i want like 400 mpg, i filled up half my tank and drove 30 miles, the needle moved 2 cm. I got so ****ed, i dont drive to fast. How do some of you guys get 350-450 mpg, what do you guys use, like additives to get more miles. I only get 300 mpg on 91 octane, and my car was well taken care of before i got it and it only has 49,000 miles....

 

ok, i'm gonna try an experiment this coming weekend guys. I posted in this post previously about how I was getting around 200-250 miles per tank on my '97 GLE Auto. I do about 60/40 City/Highway driving, not really hilly or anything, but lots of lights. Use heat/AC when necessary, not on blast all the time. I have abour 88k miles.

I have done:

-New Fuel Filter
-New Platinum NGK's
-Oil Change
-New Tires, with repeated pressure checks
-New Air Filter
-Tuneup
-Throttle Body Cleaning
and I am COMPLETELY stock

I think I should use my car as the "control" test subject because after all those things I did to my car, there was no discernable increase in mileage.

I recently found out my car was throwing a Ghost code so i'm gonna be purchasing a new Knock Sensor from my mechanic as well as getting my Ignition coils tested to see if any of them are failing. I highly doubt that the KS can cause THAT much loss in mileage, and am guessing that it's possible a combination of the KS and ignition coils, since I can't recall ever getting ignition coils checked or replaced. I'm probably going to replace both this weekend at the same time and hopefully have something positive for all you "Under 300" MPT'ers.

one question, after I replace my KS and possibly Ignition coils, will I have to replace my ECU?

 

So have you done the fill up, drive, refill thing and then divide the amount of miles driven since previous fillup by the number of gallons it took to fill up the last time? Do this way exactly. I was getting less than 300 before my needle got to the point where I used to want to go ahead and get more gas. But the needle lies sometimes. Sometimes over sometimes under. Now that I am confident I get around twenty, though, I'll drive with the light on when I know 3 gallons should get me 60 miles at 20 mpg. I don't go by the gas meter, I go by the odometer. BUt anyway, 20 is what I got after monitoring for 6 months.

 

havent done that yet, but i always reset my odometer when i refill my tank and just see how many miles i get before the light turns on, so i should fill up my tank, and divide it by the amount of gallons i put in it?

 

My average is around 360-380, but i've already gone OVER 400 somewhere around 418. On average I drive about 65-75mph on the GSP,NY THWY, Taconic.

 

cant believe most people are getting over 350 +

 

i avg 325-350 with 90% city driving.

 

i get about 440 to 450 to a tank i thought i was gonig to get 500 one time but once i got under a 1/4 it shot down quick i like to add i only use synthetic oil and i have the cheap mans CAI took off the bottem of my intake and replaced with a K&N filter and i fliped it oh yeah i rarly ever drive under 90 valintine one is a amazing thing one time my car got a hickup and it redlined to 7800 rpm i was like WOOH but other then that she has been my baby i have 112K miles 90% are highway miles since I75 is on my back door step i've taken her on 18 hour trips and she gettes GREAT millage in goriga 468 was my best at 85 to 110 mph my friend in the car was completely shocked that i was getting that kind of milage at that speed he is a lower performance tech oh yeah if you want your max to get up in RPM's faster at 85+ feather the overdrive butten do it 3 or 4 times and you will raise 2k rpm in an instant and then keep it off till you hit 135

 

Man guys, you need to put your foot onto a diet

 

I do an average of 280 mpt...dunno what's wrong but I'm sure there's something wrong...

 

Yeah man. Start off with the odometer at 0 with a full tank of gas. Fill it until it stops. You know, don't try to put in the last little bit that you can, just stop pumping when the pump kicks off. Then drive around for 2- or 300 miles. Then the very next time you get gas, fill it all the way up again the same way. Take the odometer reading you have (the 2- or 300 miles you just drove) and divide that by the number of gallons it takes you to fill up the second time. I usually end up putting around 15.5 gallons in after 320 miles or so. Usually the light has been on for a few miles at that point for me. Do tell what you get. Oh and 450 and 460 miles on a tank is like dreaming for me too. I don't know how these guys do it.

 

I average 445 miles at 17.75 gallons each fill-up, around 25 mpg since I've owned the car. I fill-up with 93 octane most of the time, but 89 seems to give the same results also. I set the cruise at 2250 rpm (+-) @ 68 mph on the freeway and I set the cruise for the speed limit for in town driving.

My brother owned a '97 SE that he claimed consistently returned 500 miles per tank while driving over 85 mph.

 

aight thanks man, ill get back to u in like 2 weeks lol, hopefully i get over 300 cause this week i filled it up half way and i only got 80 miles on it till the light went on

 

Hey man I see that you live in Fort Worth. That's pretty flat right? I live in Birmingham, AL. The southern extreme of the Appalachians is at about the center of Alabama. Birmingham sits in a valley and has hills all around and in between. So I'm thinking the hills are what hurt my mileage. Once when I was driving around the south of Alabama (LA, for Lower Alabama, as they're calling it nowadays) I drove around 85 or 90 for a good bit and had to do some slowing and speeding up because of the traffic and I got 24.5 to 25 mpg. It just sucks that premium fuel is almost 2 bucks. I know it sucks for guys in the big cities and along travel or tourist routes. How expensive is it for you guys? 1.93 for 93 octane is the most I've seen the past few months.

 

i got 31-33 mpg while driving only on the freeway when i took a trip to the Grand Canyon in my 96 5 speed. I remember not having to pull over for gas untill i was around 400 + miles. I love my Max.

 

I can get over 400mpt when I'm on a road trip or something. Otherwise, it get from between 310 and 330 city driving.

 

I can get up to about 440-450miles (710-724km) on a full tank, usually after driving for about 24miles with the light on. This is with a faulty knock sensor and 96 octane petrol.

91 octane doesn't give such good results, and my car hates it, it idles at 1500 when cold while running 91, compare to 750-800 on 96.

 

i wish i could get 300 mpg. I get 250 if im lucky. Im at 220 right now with a 1/4 tank left

 

I have kind of lead foot and I have been consistently been getting 20-21.5 mpg in town and highway mixed. I don't take it easy on the gas because I have too much fun while driving everyday. I usually get about 350-365 miles on a tank.

 

yeh, i guess i've got a lead foot too, i do 40 in the city, 80 on the highway, but still. i wish i could reach 290...300 would make my day. I know I've got my egr malfunctioning, but someone said it doesnt affect gas mileage...is that true?

 

got 31 mpg driving to NY last weekend, set the cruise to a calm speed of 74, I was pretty excited about that. I get like 27 if I am doing 80-90mph. I normally get about 350 miles around town, 400+ highway.

 

i just got 345 miles, without the gas light coming on. im gonna wait til it comes before i refill the tank. first time my trip has gone over 300 since i've had the car. i took a trip to chicago, so 90% highway driving

 

Minimalmaxima-
You say $1.93 for gas by you huh. I wish! I paid $2.49 in Los Angeles at my local 76 for 91 octane and I did good since it was the cheapest around (I would never go to Arco) and saw $2.99 in Beverly Hills. I hate LA, I should move back to Chicago. And I get 20-22 mpg in 100% city driving. My girlfriend commutes 3 miles each way nearly every day too. The car never warms up! But my Nighthawk gets 50 mpg!

 

im in chicago right now, and i saw premium for as much as 2.19 per gallon!!! back home in little sheboygan wisconsin, its 1.85 per gallon for premium. I'll be puttin 5-7 bucks in my tank until i reach wisconsin

 

No, I'm pretty sure the ratings for 4th gens are 21/28 automatic and 22/27 manual, so they rate the manual at a lower average MPG for highways.

On this subject, what's the deal with engine RPMS/load and fuel efficiency? I always assumed that lower RPMS (to a point) resulted in better fuel efficiency, but I remember someone saying that the engine is most efficient at its torque peak, which is 4K or something???

If you're going uphill at 20 MPH, it seems 5th gear won't be the most fuel efficient because there's too much load for that gearing... Someone help me out here, I'm trying to understand this complicated topic.

 

I once got 500 on a trip to Colorado. With 3 people, bags and AC running.
Lately th mileage got to be pretty bad. I once ran out after 350 miles on a freeway. From than on I started noticing a weird thing. I get about identical mileage in the city and on highway! Mind you, I don't stomp the gas after every green light to see how far I can get ahead of the car behind me, but I am not a grandma either and do use the available power when needed. I got a code for KS, so I thought that affected it, but last fillup I got 22.4 MPG with 75% city driving. I don't get it

 

i filled my gas tank up to 17.6 gallons and i drove 317.6 miles, like 10 miles more after the light went on so i guess im getting 18mpg, 70% of it was on highways, and 30% city driving. I wish i could get more miles. Is my cai and y pipe causing my mpg to go down?

 

I've gotten 400 before but that was on road trips. never ever in the city. just recently i averaged 16mpg. this is with a replaced KS and 2 brand new front O2 sensors. problem is I just hacked my airbox and I can't help but floor it everynow and then because it sounds so good. and thank goodness i live in atl and have a costco to get gas from. $1.67 for premium.

 

i was just wondering when is the last time everyone cleaned their feul system and did a throtle body cleaning and did some reconditioning of their seals???? after i did some of that my car boosted its mpg for about 2 weeks i was starting to get 250 to 300 mpt i was like hmmmmm so i did all this and now i get 350 to 400 with most city driving and 400+ highway driving <road trips>

 

I just did a round-trip that went 480 miles. I did not drive anywhere once I got to my destination. The avg. mpg's were 28. The car is a 1998 SE 5-spd with 91k. I have NEVER cleaned any throttle body or seals or fuel system. Maybe the filter about 30k ago. K&N cleaned and reoiled about 4000 miles ago. There were 80 mph bursts on I-295 and the NJ turnpike.

Those who get highway miles below 20 I really have no clue what is up with your cars. But since most people are not the original owners, who knows what the previous owners did.