Ideas Needed: Why sudden drop in mpg?
I always seem to average right around 8.5 mpg however the return leg of this last trip I saw averages around 7.5 and that concerned me. I'm looking for reasons this could have happened. 1) The ret...
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It's the ethanol. Forget the government's propaganda about a 1 or 2% decrease in mpg due to 10% ethanol. Most people who actually keep track will confirm an actual real-world decrease of about 8-10%. On our rig, my mileage will magically increase from around 7 mpg to near 8 mpg when I get the rare opportunity to put real gas in the tank. You can see it on the in dash display and the Scan Gauge display. And I've noticed about the same on each of our cars as well. Here in the northeast, it's pretty tough to find the good stuff.
When we first got our rig, I would occasionally see as high as 9 mpg not towing the Odyessey on mostly level roads in the Spring/Fall with no dash AC or generator running. Towing, with dash AC and generator, it would dip down to between 7.5 - 8 mpg. Now that the only choice here is ethanol, all of those numbers are down consistently just about one 1 mpg.
So, yes, it's the ethanol.
~Rick
When we first got our rig, I would occasionally see as high as 9 mpg not towing the Odyessey on mostly level roads in the Spring/Fall with no dash AC or generator running. Towing, with dash AC and generator, it would dip down to between 7.5 - 8 mpg. Now that the only choice here is ethanol, all of those numbers are down consistently just about one 1 mpg.
So, yes, it's the ethanol.
~Rick
