How do you figure gas mileage?

Question

How do you figure gas mileage?

Answer 1

start a trip meter once uve topped it off with fuel. Figure out the size of your gas tank. probly in the owners manual. Divide ur gas tank size by 4, once uve hit 3 quarters of a tank, divide the mileage by the gallons consumed. example, my dodge caliber has a 13.5 gallon tank. Ive traveled 100 miles at 3 quarters of a tank to go. 13.5/= 3.375 gallons used. 100/3.375= mpg

Answer 2

20 to 30 miles is hardly going to give you an accurate reading, IMHO.  Road trips are best...

My Suburban averaged 19 mpg on a long trip to Texas from Champaign, Il.  I 'bout ****!!  That was fully loaded, with 5 folks and a full cooler, etc.

I will never buy another mini-van, based on average mpg. of my Windstar vs. my suburban.

Answer 3

(a) fill the tank to the max

(b) get on the HWY - late night / no traffic hour

(c) drive about 20 to 30 miles (at 55 MPH)

(d) use cruise control - very important

(e) note the EXACT MILES

(f) get off and immediately get gas

(g) note the EXACT GALLONS

Now you can calculate the MPG by

MPG = MILES (step e) / GALLONS (step g).

The reason you start out with full tank is that is the "repeatable" condition.  You want to avoid traffic so you don't use the brakes on the HWY.  Braking will negatively affect the MPG calculation.  You use the cruise control so you and eliminate your driving habit as a factor.

Without a good MPG calculation you might be wasting your money chasing ghosts.  Also you can repeat this test anytime you feel like you car is not running right.  You can also try the same thing but off the cruise control to check how much your driving habit affect the MPG.  etc.

Good Luck...

Answer 4

If you really want to know what your mileage is, under normal conditions, then you need to drive as you normally do, UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS.  This means that you should drive however you normally drive, whether it is in the city, on the highway, fast, slow, or any combination of these.

With that in mind, here's how to determine your normal gas mileage:

1) Fill you tank to Full and record the mileage on the odometer. This is your Beginning Mileage.

2) Drive as you normally would, the more the merrier, using up most of the tank.

3) Refill the tank to Full, as in step 1, record the amount of gas you added - say in gallons for the U.S.  This is your volume of gas consumed, let's call it Gallons on Refill.

4) And again record the mileage on the odometer - this is your Ending Mileage.

5) Subtract your ending mileage (from step 4) , from your beginning mileage (from step 1).  This is your total mileage driven, traveling under normal driving conditions.

6) Divide your total mileage driven by the volume of gas consumed.  This gives you your average MPG.

or, if you like equations:

MPG = (Ending Mileage - Beginning Mileage) / (Gallons on Refill)

Once you've determined your mpg, and find out you hate it, then go to the listed website below to learn how making changes in how you drive will improve you mpg and reduce the amount you feed the pump.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Make a record of how many gallons you have put in and the number of miles you have driven.  Divide miles by gallon to get mileage.  You should do this over a long period of time, like a month (or over a long distance, say 1,000 miles) to get a more accurate value of your car's mileage.

Answer 6

Let's say it's an experiment with mathematical application.

1. fully fill up your tank

2. use your car on a regular basis (i suggest you measure the mpg in city and hi-way driving separately).

3. before the tank runs empty, fully fill it up again

4. note the amount of fuel (gallons = 3.79liters) and the distance you travelled for that period (miles = 1.609kms)

5. divide the distance (miles) over amount (gallons)

6. repeat this process at least 3 times to obtain an average

Answer 7

It's the miles, per gallon.  So you need miles and gallons.  

The odometer gives you miles.  The trick is gallons.  Best way to get a reference is when you fill up.  Fill it up til it clicks - once!   How much you put in equals how much you used since the last fillup.  That's the gallons.

The odometer gives you miles.  Divide.  Done!