JerryKnight.com

Now that I don’t have a super-efficient Saturn, I’ve started to keep a watchful eye on my gas mileage, using my trusty ScanGauge. The instant mileage is nice, but it averages only over the ~1 second between readings. I’ve been keeping it on the trip average, which averages the mileage from the start of the engine (it can also keep the current day and the previous day averages for long trips). At first, it fluctuates wildly, but after a few minutes, it settles on a fairly consistent gas mileage reading. The EPA estimates for the 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe are 18 city, 26 highway. I have found this to be quite accurate. My last trip home, I decided to see how high I could get the average mileage. I began an experiment to determine if there are any long-term driving habits that can improve gas mileage on long drives. I was able to get 28 MPG on the first efficiency experiment. The only thing I tried was avoiding acceleration up hills. Amazingly, the more you push on the gas pedal, the more gas gets burned. Cruise control is not the most efficient driving. It may be annoying to other drivers, but allowing the natural slowdown going up hills saves gas, The Infiniti is not as efficient as a Saturn or equivalent car. I know that. I’ve accepted that. It has all the grin-inducing power I could want, but that doesn’t mean I go peeling out all the time or pass moderately slow cars just because I can. Bad driving habits are the biggest factor in gas mileage. A lead-foot driving my car would have gotten much lower mileage than 28 MPG on the same drive, and they’d probably get more incidents and tickets than I do. I learned several years ago that no good comes from being in a hurry, either through external circumstances or the mind-boggling tendency for people to drive fast and aggressive for no reason. Avoiding those things prevents stress, accidents, tickets, and LFGBS (lead foot gas bill syndrome). I highly recommend the ScanGauge for any lead foot who needs something to keep track and show their gas mileage. Note: The engine’s speed sensor that the ScanGauge reads is about 3% slower than the speedometer, which seems to be close to 2% slower than the speed reported by the GPS on the straight-and-level. This may affect the gas mileage reading, but it would almost certainly be an adverse affect, since the car is going faster than the ScanGauge thinks. (i.e. Actual gas mileage is better than that reported.)

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