keeping track of mileage

[Slowpoke]

Today was my first day off in over one month - lots of air travel and working 7 days a week...

so today I took the day off!

Had my oil changed at the dealer (Castrol Synthetic 5W30) and put gas in the car.

One thing I do that many of you may want to also do is to keep track of miles per gallon. I use Excel since I am familiar with it. Atttached is a screen shot of the worsksheet I use to keep track of my miles. I have thought about adding to the worksheet the brand to see if, for example Mobil gets me better milage than Amoco, but have not done that.

I keep kicking myself in the rear that I did not start keeping track at the odometer which I bought the car (8 miles) but at least I am doing it now.

Note that my mileage is lower than most because: 1] slowpoke has a heavy foot, and, 2] I live in downtown Chicago and almost all my driving is stop & go city driving and short trips.

[SergntMac]

Filled up this afternoon, paid 1.90 per gal., Citgo 93 oct.

Wish I could sync the cost of gasoline with my "no drive" weather days.

Welcome back, Crafty, hope all is well.

[Mark McQuaide]

Here's mine:

[LincMercLover]

LMAO! Deer damage on the sig! I love it! (Not laughing at the incident itself BTW...)

[merc406]

Filled her up Friday morning, then again Friday night. Miles per gallon -- who care's we had a ton of Fun!!!!!


63 Marauder 406 3x2-- Fire breathing dragon, that loves gas stations!

[SergntMac]

Mark...

Suggest you bump tires to 36 pounds. BFGs are notorious as a soft compound and not as sticky as they should be. What I'm turning here feels a lot like my TA radials from the '80s, and in MHO, severly underinflated at deliver to "soften the ride," despite their width and footprint. 36# may show improvement in MPG, try a "one tank" experiment if you can, and see what happens?

This is VERY helpful, thanks.

[LincMercLover]

Sidney,

I'm moving your post because it has nothing to do with this thread. You want to know about alarms, or any other topic, search the site or start your own thread.

Can't catch 'em all like this, but this was the first post to go off-topic, so it was manageable...

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Suggest you bump tires to 36 pounds. BFGs are notorious as a soft compound and not as sticky as they should be.

Sarge: Can you elaborate a little on this? Are you referring to the O.E. tires? There's a huge :argue: going on over at CVN about tire pressures, but I'm not sure who to listen to over there...I set mine at 32 all around, as the door sticker says, and it feels good, but you think 3-4 more pounds is better for over-all mileage and tire wear? etc, etc, etc...

Thanks...

[Fourth Horseman]

Been running mine at 35 psi for a few weeks and have not noticed any appreciable increase in gas milage. Got a bit of an increase in ride harshness, but handling and performance feel good. Will probably drop back down to 32 psi at some point.

[WolfeBros]

Running 32 all around here as well. Might sacrifice some tire wear but I do not want the extra ride harshness. I will keep an eye on the wear patterns.

[Donald]

More numbers. About 110 miles a day. 90% highway.

[martyo]

Mark or Todd:

Can you e-mail me your spread sheet for my use? I am no wiz at Excel and I don't want to have to ask my girlfriend for help. Shoot, I can't even ask for directions when I am lost.......

"Tanks" a lot!

[TAF]

I run 32 in all 4 as well. Yes this could cause (possibly) more wear on the tires...but...My thoughts are:

1)rotation/side swap of tires is not feasable or recommended...
2) @ $86 each from TireRack, replacement is very reasonable

Now, if we were at $200-$250 each on the tires...different story.

[Mark McQuaide]

Hey Sarge, will try 36psi. Thanks.

I'll change the sig on Thursday when I pick the car up!

[SergntMac]

Sorry, didn't mean to start something on this, it was just IMHO.

My thoughts are limited to the OEM BFGs on the MM. This may not be a good "general rule of thumb" for everyone, however, I've always gotten good results from higher PSI, and old habits dies hard.

Yes, increasing tire pressure will change the ride, you may be comfortable with this or not, that's up to your butt. Adhesion improves, but what I'm trying to reduce is the drag, and the car clearly rolls easier with slightly more PSI.

I started out at 40 PSI, and it was like skating on ice. Backed down a pound at a time to 30, and it was very sluggish on the low end and drifted all over the place on the highway. Working my way back up again, I find 36# a comfortable region for best handling and MPG. Could a pound ot two make a difference? I think it does, but can't prove it.

The recommended pressure is for comfort, and I think that can be improved upon for better performance and MPG. I'm buying gas at 1.90 a gal., and I want my monies worth from both the tires and gasoline. As Todd point out, replacement tires are (today) 86. each. Since I won't be seeing 30K miles on these tires anyway, wearing them out sooner really isn't a consideration for me.

I think it's great that we all share the same car and don't have to debate tire brands or suspension age, and so on. I'd like to ask my Excel empowered friends here to try a one week experiment with 36#. These guys know how to keep details, and if one of them could chart the changes, we would all learn something. I'd consider that "dyno" quality 411 for us all.

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Sorry, didn't mean to start something on this, it was just IMHO.

Sarge, please don't be sorry. Your posts are always well thought out, and well written. Coupled with the experience you alluded to in the K&N post, I think most of us here value your opinion. We're all here to learn more about our black beauties and make them not only personally special, but also better than the factory made them...I am willing to sacrifice a little ride comfort for better fuel economy and longer tire wear.

[russ in VA]

I've found running 36psi Front and 30 psi rear helps keep the car from being such an understeering pig at the limit of adhesion, not to mention increased steering response. With that setup, and with it locked in 2nd on my favorite decreasing radius offramp, I can actually induce a little trailing throttle oversteer! Still need to get rid of the staggered tire sizes to make it right though. ** Disclaimer: Professional Driver, Closed Course .... Do Not Try This At Home**