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I seem to have hit a plateau in my mileage efforts. The last four tanks have all been above 35 MPG, but my last one has dropped back below 36. Progress is retrograde.

I am going to have to try different strategies, I suppose. For this tank, I will try pulsing to 2500 RPM instead of 2000 RPM for my P&Gs. Since I don't have an SG-compatible car, I will have to try to be consistent for the whole tank and see what kind of difference I can see.

On the good side, I got a FAS glide of almost a mile shortly after filling my tank this weekend. :Banane01: (OK, it was probably more like 1/2 mile, but it sure felt longer!)

The tires are up to >ahem< "slightly" above the recommended max, the engine has a very recent tune-up (new plugs and such). I guess I just have to keep plugging away at it...

-soD

Don't give up! You'll see several plateaus on my mileage graph for the Elantra -- but I managed to keep pushing it up!

Is there anyone in your area who could give you a clinic?

I'd say the pusle to 2500 sounds like a good idea. I pulse somewhere in that area and that seems to work pretty well. You're consumption increases a little more during the pulse but you get up to the max faster. Over the course of a long trip, those shorter pulse times will mean a lot less time on the gas.

I've found if I can't P&G consistently, if there is a lot of traffic for example, I seem to get as much as 15-20% lower FE. An easy 46 mpg trip could endup being a 37.5 with traffic (as I saw today :(). If I can't consistenly P&G during a trip it'll be difficult to get "high" FE.

You're probably doing fairly well on some trips and then not so well on others. Without instrumentation it's really hard to tell how well you do on a certain trip. But, you know you can get high numbers because you've seen them yourself. Just keep trying and be consistent as you possibly can.

UPDATE:

Filled up yesterday. 44.x MPG!! A big jump over the previous tanks, so I must be doing something right!

I also picked up the relay I'm going to use for my FAS switch; the switch itself is already installed. I just have to run the wires, and cut (ulp!) my fuel injector power wire...

-soD

UPDATE:

Filled up yesterday. 44.x MPG!! A big jump over the previous tanks, so I must be doing something right!

I also picked up the relay I'm going to use for my FAS switch; the switch itself is already installed. I just have to run the wires, and cut (ulp!) my fuel injector power wire...

-soD

Be sure to look for a fuse first. That would be easier. Just pull the fuse, get a separate fuse holder and some spade-connectors

I have scrapped my FAS switch idea. I barely have to touch the ignition switch towards acc and the engine stops nicely, and I'm getting very relaxed about it.

Be sure to look for a fuse first. That would be easier. Just pull the fuse, get a separate fuse holder and some spade-connectors

I have scrapped my FAS switch idea. I barely have to touch the ignition switch towards acc and the engine stops nicely, and I'm getting very relaxed about it.

Dave, congrats on you 44 mpg tank! Keep up the good work.

Shrek, are you saying you just use the car-key to fas? or did you come up with a different way to switch off:confused:

I think Shrek is just noting that you do not have to turn the key all the way to ACC position in his car to cause the ignition to stop. I've found I can do the same in both of my cars but you still have to hold it in that position for a moment to be sure the engine doesn't diesel back on. The advantage of a FAS switch is that you can hit it without turning off the rest of the car. All of your electronics will stay active -- including the odometer and the ECU will continue sending correct info to the SG (so no distance lost :)). If you use relays, you can even avoid having to hold the button for a while waiting to be sure the engine won't diesel back to life.

I am concerned that this may be a filling anomaly. I was expecting better FE from the previous tank, and not as much from this one. So it is possible that my previous fill was "short", and this was run on a "longer" to make that up.

Time will tell; I need to run another tank and see what happens. One major drawback of having a non-SG-compatible car; I can only really do tank-to-tank comparisons. :( At this rate, I'll have more results sime time near the end of the month... :D

I am a little concerned about the health of my ignition switch; since I have 200K miles (about) on the car, the switch has recieved its share of wear. And often I can kill the motor by turning the key part-way from "run" to "accessory", which makes me nervous about the switch. A FAS button will make the life of the switch a little easier. And it should be easy, except for that minor detail of cutting the wire. (I may be able to de-pin the connector; that would make it much simpler.)

I will look into putting the relay by the fuses, but that depends on which fuse feeds the injectors.

-soD