Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2006 11:49:41 -0800
Reply-To: monte merrick <montemerrick@SPEAKEASY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: monte merrick <montemerrick@SPEAKEASY.NET>
Subject: Re: MPG measurement issues
In-Reply-To: <MX881Np7vXee4fDGCl90000549e@mx.africa-online.net>
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hi there
thought i'd weigh in on this - everyone else has and one need not be a
vanagon devotee or expert for this particular topic.
most interstates in the united states have those five mile segments
called odometer tests - surely we've all seen them and matched our own
odometerrs against them and discovered whatever degree of discrepancy
was there to find, yes?
certainly we all are well aware of the fact that equations yield
figures that are only as accurate as the values plugged in to them.
certainly we know that one mile is traveled in one minute at 60 miles
an hour. certainly we know that the metric system must be converted to
u.s. or vice-versa - i mean really - i think it is safe to assumke that
all of us here have completed grade school math and pedantry, erudition
and expert opinion should begin after these have been acknowledged - so
that our discussion may begin at the point where common knowledge ends
-
and without rancor or name calling or wide-eyed disbelief or what have
you -
On Apr 1, 2006, at 11:24 AM, Joy Hecht wrote:
I've noticed that when I drive past one of those sensors that tells you
your
mph, my speedometer is consistently 4 mph higher.
My figure of around 18 (and I'm not looking at my records when I give
that
figure) is based on what the odometer says.
Joy
****************************************************************
Joy Hecht
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://www.joyhecht.net
****************************************************************:::-----
Orig
inal Message-----
:::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On
Behalf
:::Of mark drillock
:::Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 5:54 PM
:::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
:::Subject: MPG measurement issues
:::
:::Most of us have never tried to accurately assess the degree of error
in
:::our speedos at highway speeds. I do this for every vehicle I own and
use
:::for long trips. Every Vanagon I have owned was optimistic, some by
more
:::than 10 miles per hour at indicated 70. Speedo says 70, real speed
58,
:::which number should I use when talking about MPG for that vehicle? I
use
:::the real numbers.
"I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and am still
on their trail. Many are the travelers I have spoken to concerning
them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have
met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and
even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious
to recover them as if they had lost them themselves." - henry thoreau
