Fuel consensus?

[KmndntKlink]

Originally Posted by Harpua

So...... Ethanol good? Bad? Neither, go with highest octane? Seriously, why are people choosing one grade/brand over the other?


BTW, the other day during some inclement weather I was forced to drive along rural highways keeping speeds between 80-~90kph -- My L/100km over the 80km drive was under 10! What's all this about gas guzzling M3s, hmm?

Ya that's why I get such low numbers, I drive almost exclusively highway which gets me 10-11. Our car is most efficient @ 65-70 where I get 7-8L/100k

[Irishace]

Originally Posted by Harpua

So...... Ethanol good? Bad? Neither, go with highest octane? Seriously, why are people choosing one grade/brand over the other?

I choose Octane, that means I have one choice and that is Ultra 94 from Petro.

[Lazardm3]

I use Shell Vpower almost exclusively. I think regular use us ethanol is not a problem in a modern car but I just don't like the fact it burns dirtier. I plan on keeping my car for many years. So maximising longevity is important to me. That said I actually do notice a huge difference in power when I occasionally use 94 octane.

LoneWolf - not being asinine but have you cleared/reset the trip computer? If you clear it you may get a better sense of your mileage. When I bought my car in November I was averaging 17l/100. I'm down to 14.7l. Conservative driving style and mostly city with the occasional highway jaunt. It's funny but it really is subtle changes I made which improved the mileage... Downside is I shift frequently and keeps revs down generally.

[Lone Wolf Pack]

Originally Posted by ldinadis

LoneWolf - not being asinine but have you cleared/reset the trip computer? If you clear it you may get a better sense of your mileage. When I bought my car in November I was averaging 17l/100. I'm down to 14.7l. Conservative driving style and mostly city with the occasional highway jaunt. It's funny but it really is subtle changes I made which improved the mileage... Downside is I shift frequently and keeps revs down generally.

Yes I have many times. My fuel consumption has stabilized in the last month. I'm now down to 15l/100km, but I do most of it on highway. However, I noticed that even when I'm in the city my guage doesn't fluctuate as much anymore. My driving style is like yours, keep the revs low, so I usually drive at a higher gear than I probably should. The other thing I do is use the Power button for greater throttle response. Not sure if it gets me better mileage.

On another note, I recently saw a Youtube video where this guy filmed his console while he did various speeds with cruise control. His fuel consumption guage was going all over the place. At 80km/hr the guage would drop to 8-9l/100km, then as he sped up to 100km/hr, you can see the guage jump up to ~10l/100km. At 110km/hr it went to ~11l/100km all the way up to about 14-15l/100km at 160km/hr. I don't ever see my guage adjusting that rapidly to changes in speed so I'm not sure how his car does that. He had the same make and model year too.

Right now I'm resetting my trip odometer on each refuel to get a sense of what my actual mileage is per tank. That way I can calculate exactly what I'm getting per litre.

I always wondered if there was some sensor in the car that determines how much fuel is burned. Or whether it is strictly determined by my driving style.

[AR155]

With regard to instant l/100 read - I think this can be (re)coded. Many of my previous vehicles had this and it can be an eye opener with respect to driving style and economy. I recall having a bit of a laugh at 50 l/100 being displayed when I used to give the Alfa a quick nudge up to motorway speed on the on-ramp.

Also, just get an app to manage fuel data - it makes life simple and easy to track all your vehicles, and is significantly more accurate than what is displayed. When filling just fill the tank until the pump stops at the first 'click', then record the volume, Km's etc.

As for economy, I'm a little less inclined to let this be the dominant factor in my driving style. After all, just look at the effort and nanny-driving that is required to sustain that extra 0.2 l/100 in economy for example, then work that against the Km's you are likely to drive in any given year etc. Run some numbers - really, you maybe only looking at a couple of hundred dollars annually in fuel, maybe only $5 or so a week for enjoyment - which all things considered is pretty cheap.

[Lazardm3]

Yeah that is the one feature that didn't seem to make it into the M... the instant fuel mileage gauge. My e46 non-m had that and I used it to manage my driving style. Ar155... that is good to know that it can be coded into the cars computer.

LoneWolf...I agree with the post above. It probably isn't worth stressing it too much. I find myself managing the drive to minimise consumption. part of my reasoning is to not speed too much. I find at low revs it is so behaved psychologically I feel like I'm driving a lower powered 3 series. Honestly I keep it there to avoid pinning it. When I can the induction noise past 3000rpm it is addictive. Problem is your well past speed limits in all but first gear if your winding out the tach.

[beats]

You can code in the instantaneous fuel economy pretty easily, but it's not as accurate as the old needle meter in the e46 imo. Plus, it's an M, you aren't supposed to stare at the (lack of) fuel economy anyway...

[beats]

Originally Posted by KmndntKlink

Ya that's why I get such low numbers, I drive almost exclusively highway which gets me 10-11. Our car is most efficient @ 65-70 where I get 7-8L/100k

I've never come anywhere close to your 65-70 figures.. Were you going down a hill the entire time?

[Lazardm3]

Originally Posted by skru_fase

You can code in the instantaneous fuel economy pretty easily, but it's not as accurate as the old needle meter in the e46 imo. Plus, it's an M, you aren't supposed to stare at the (lack of) fuel economy anyway...

Fair enough. I didn't exactly buy it for the mileage... But old habits die hard.lol

[bde]

Vpower 91 only

On winter tires I get around 13.5L/100 - about 400+ change km/tank

On summers I average about 14.2-.5.

I'm sure I can get it slightly lower but what's the fun of driving an M!?

[///Kayd]

Shell Vpower exclusively for me...

[KmndntKlink]

Originally Posted by skru_fase

I've never come anywhere close to your 65-70 figures.. Were you going down a hill the entire time?

Lol, anywhere outside the city? eglington is 70 west of the 427. can usually go 80.

Originally Posted by bde

Vpower 91 only

On winter tires I get around 13.5L/100 - about 400+ change km/tank

On summers I average about 14.2-.5.

I'm sure I can get it slightly lower but what's the fun of driving an M!?

This seems to be exactly what I'm getting now with my new commute. I've been caring less & less about hypermiling & more about driving like an M, so I expect to get about 13-13.5 in the summer too. I lose about 1L/100 on winter gas alone, let alone the heavier wheel/tires.

[Lone Wolf Pack]

Originally Posted by ldinadis

LoneWolf...I agree with the post above. It probably isn't worth stressing it too much. I find myself managing the drive to minimise consumption. part of my reasoning is to not speed too much. I find at low revs it is so behaved psychologically I feel like I'm driving a lower powered 3 series. Honestly I keep it there to avoid pinning it. When I can the induction noise past 3000rpm it is addictive. Problem is your well past speed limits in all but first gear if your winding out the tach.

So I just completed a tank and I after refilling 61 litres, I got exactly 400 km on the tank. This is with a lot of highway driving too. Occasional weekend city driving lumped in there. That comes to about 15.25 l/100km. My console guage was reading 14.9l/100km. So it's pretty close. However, I just don't see how anyone could hit the published numbers of 9.7l/100km on highway, or 15.3l/100km in the city. I get about 15.25l/100km on highway! In any case, I'm just interested in learning my driving style and seeing how it affects fuel consumption. I'll repeat the test again with the next tank and see if I can do better.

[Lazardm3]

Hey bud. I reset the computer just as I'm about to get on highway and have confirmed a few times it burns about 10l/100k, slightly less if you're gentle with throttle and or use cruise control. That's based on computer mind you, but computer has been pretty accurate for me this far. I believe the published figures. That's on vpower generally. I haven't run a full tank of 94 or other brands so I'm not sure.

[bde]

I wouldn't recommend leaving the gas at a very low level before refueling. Might take a toll on a fuel pump over time.

[Petros]

Originally Posted by bde

I wouldn't recommend leaving the gas at a very low level before refueling. Might take a toll on a fuel pump over time.

Hard to do given the abysmal fuel mileage and small tank. I already do a pitstop every 5-6 days. What's next? A stop every other day?

[Petros]

Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Pack

So I just completed a tank and I after refilling 61 litres, I got exactly 400 km on the tank. This is with a lot of highway driving too. Occasional weekend city driving lumped in there. That comes to about 15.25 l/100km. My console guage was reading 14.9l/100km. So it's pretty close. However, I just don't see how anyone could hit the published numbers of 9.7l/100km on highway, or 15.3l/100km in the city. I get about 15.25l/100km on highway! In any case, I'm just interested in learning my driving style and seeing how it affects fuel consumption. I'll repeat the test again with the next tank and see if I can do better.

I agree. How the heck are those guys getting 9 and 10 l/100 km?????? Do they get out and push the car?

[Lone Wolf Pack]

So an update on my fuel consumption in the last 3 tanks.

I've managed to get the reading down to 14.1l/100km driving no differently than I used to. I get a bit more than 400km per tank. Somehow, slowly but surely my console is avg down over the last few tanks. Not sure why.

My last tank I was able to get a lot more mileage. At 360km I still have a 1/4 tank full of gas. So I think this will give me over 450km if I run the tank empty. Which is much better than I've gotten in previous fill ups.

Could it be that somehow the car is learning how I drive and adjusting for how conservative I'm driving? This has been a rather interesting experiment.

[KmndntKlink]

Originally Posted by Petros

I agree. How the heck are those guys getting 9 and 10 l/100 km?????? Do they get out and push the car?

I can't average that, but I get that all the time. if you go 65-70 that's what you get as your instantaneous. I find the guage pretty accurate as I've stabilized at 13.5L/100 and I get about 450km out of the 65L. That's me tacking on what's left on the estimated range as I don't actually let it go all the way to empty & push it to the gas station

[Gearhead999s]

Just noticed that our local Esso close to work at Sheppard & Morningside now has 93 octane.

[Randal270]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

Just noticed that our local Esso close to work at Sheppard & Morningside now has 93 octane.

I just saw this at Islington and Queensway. Anyone know if it has ethanol?

[Gearhead999s]

Originally Posted by Randal270

I just saw this at Islington and Queensway. Anyone know if it has ethanol?

I would assume that it does as there is nothing about the 93 on the Esso website.