The Mental Effects of a Gas Mileage Computer in Your Car
How many of you have a gas mileage computer in your car? It’s that little readout somewhere on your dash that says you’re only getting 3 mpg in the Hummer H2 every time you floor the gas.
We have one in our Chevy Malibu, and every time I drive the car, I seem to have a competition.
Man vs Machine…who will win?
I’m not a competitive person by nature. It’s too much work to be competitive. However, when I drive the Malibu, I constantly monitor the screen to see how my driving patterns affect the gas mileage. One time that we were coming back from Pennsylvania, I was yelling at my wife to not go more than 5 over the speed limit. Why? We were getting 40 mpg. For a mid-size American car, that’s pretty darn good, right?
By nature, I’m a lead-foot. I go too fast. You may have read my Tip for Aggressive Drivers article earlier this year. Although I’m not competitive, I do have a temper.
But when I’m in that Malibu, I can’t help but drive the speed limit (or just above it). I try not to over-gas at lights and stop signs (aka “rabbit jumps”), and I stop accelerating far in advance of a red light. I’ve even tried shutting off the car at long lights (too scary for me though).
That mileage meter is just too tempting of a competition for me.
Any of you have the same habit? Or do you ignore the mileage meter? What about those of you who don’t have a mileage computer?
We don’t have a mileage computer, but I find myself calculating our mileage on long trips (I need something to occupy myself on 7-8 hour drives). I also like to play a game where I see how far I can go on a tank of gas. It scares my wife when the gas light is on, the needle’s under the E and I pass the exit to see if I can make it to the next one.
However, your comment about shutting off the car: Doesn’t the car use less fuel idling than in the start up process?
One other thing, I use my trip odometer to see how far I’ve gone on a tank, and I hate it when my wife fills the tank because she never remembers to reset the odometer.
Regarding shutting of your car, some studies show that if you’re going to wait for 30+ seconds at a light, that the gas savings on shutting off your car is more than the cost of starting the car.
But, like I said, it’s a bit scary to turn off your car. You can only do it at lights you’re familiar with, and definitely not in the bad parts of town.
Yeah I just got a new car and I’m still on my first tank of gas and I’ve been watching my driving to see what kind of mileage I can eek out. It’s manual transmission which I love because then I have even more control over the gas mileage via shifting and coasting. I bet I coast a good 2 miles on my way to work coming down hills on the way to stop signs.
If you haven’t already inflate your tires to the maximum recommended pressure – this makes coasting that much better. When I throw it in neutral my car takes a long time to decelerate.
I use my tip odometer to keep track of my fuel consumption as well, and am constantly trying to beat my record. Especially because I drive an incredibly fuel efficient vehicle (Toyota Yaris Hatchback), I’m always trying to beat the incredible consumption that my fellow Yaris drivers get!
I track all of my gas consumption with my trip odometer, which always seems to work out pretty well. I can’t stand getting crappy gas mileage though, my jeep cherokee is such a hog! Ahh!
I bought a little computer that plugs into the OBDII port (all modern cars have them) that can provide instantaneous and trip-mileage information (along with other useful information)
I think that the fuel savings nationwide would be substantial if more cars had these installed. It’s one thing to be *told* that a lead foot wastes gas. It’s another thing entirely to see yourself get 320 miles on one tank of gas, and 250 miles on the next tank.
I, like Shawn, use my odometer to calculate my mileage. I drive a small car so I get pretty good mileage, therefore I never worry about it.
confused i am,
if you don’t like the gas mileage your car/trucks/huge gas guzzling terrorist providing SUV, then get something more economical.
a good tuneup, better tires, and just simple taking care of your car can solve a lot with mpg’s.
Get a stick shift and drive open clutch when you can. That works best for me. I don’t have an onboard computer. (The car is too downmarket and old for one.)
I used to have an automatic with a mileage computer on it. I didn’t find it very accurate for me. I was better off just looking at the tank and seeing how much gas I had left and then keeping track of mileage by filling up and calculating by hand, which is the way I still do it.
Comment #9: Realist, know the facts before you spout and stop being so judgmental. He was comment about mileage on a long road trip. I know for a fact that CleverDude rides the Metro every day for work. Do you do the same?
I rode with a lead-foot guy once in a Honda Accord and was suprised when we filled it up and it only got about 28 MPG. Man what a gas hog. On the return trip, I took over with the driving and was especially careful to go easy on the gas peddle to see if it made any noticable difference. Holy cats! I got 42 per gallon on that return run and I didn’t really have any tail wind advantage or anything.
A while back our brain-dead congress was trying to save the planet by mandating better mileage for cars, but far off in the future. I wrote my elected officials telling them if they had car makers put mileage computers in ALL cars they could save 20% overnight. I think the instant feedback would be really effective. Unfortunately our leaders are a bunch of pea-brains who can’t seem to listen.
Don Kamp
Flat Creek, NY