Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 19:54:42 -0600 (CDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: dunham@mpd.tandem.com (Jerry Dunham)
Subject: Re: thread on underpowered?
]From vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu Sat Apr 16 09:41:18 1994
]From: Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
]
]On Sat, 16 Apr 94 07:32:31 CDT S.Smith said:
]>Power?? You havent seen underpowered until you try get a diesel
]>vanagon up a hill - 48 HP clak clak clak
]>Might have to so some work though - last tank only got 30 mpg
]
]now THEM'S fighting words!!! ;) the only way i can get 30 mpg is to lasso
]the bumper of an 18-wheeler!!
]
]well, actually, i have gotten 1200 mpg several times ... i have this little
]driving computer in my 88 vanagon, and it 'counts' the pulses to one of the
]injectors and uses that to calculate average AND instantaneous mpg. well,
]the digifant fuel injection shuts the injectors OFF when you take your foot
]off the pedal at speed ... like pulling into an off-ramp from the interestate.
]
]if i have the computer set to instantaneous mpg, you ought to see that fuel
]economy climb!! just imagine 50 mph at zero gallons per minute. :) ...sigh.
]only trouble is, it's 'instantaneous' mpg, not average for the whole tank.
]best single tank average i ever got was 23 mpg, and that was because i was
]following someone who refused to go over 55 mph in the rain ... in a honda. :)
I genuinely don't understand this. My '84 wasserboxer is stock, except for
being kinda ragged out and running like crap just off idle part of the time
(not consistent enough for the guys at MotorMania to find it). I figure it
to be anything but optimum.
Because my youngest goes to school in Galveston and drives a 200SX with no
packing room, I get to make the round trip from Austin everytime he needs
to move anything, in addition to going down there whenever we want to visit
him. When I'm in a hurry (which is usually) I run an indicated 85 mpg most
of the way; when I'm not I usually run an indicated 75 mpg most of the way.
Some of these trips involve running loaded one way (and all his aquarium
gear amounts to a real load) and many involve running the A/C all the way.
I can no longer recall which trips I've measured the mileage on to match up
with the conditions I just described (I've not checked the past few trips),
but I have measured it at least three times and have always been over 24
mpg.
For comparison, the last time I checked fuel usage around town I got around
19 mpg, but then I tend to drive boxer VWs with the pedal to the floor just
about all the time, a habit I developed with my old '58 bug.
So what gives? Why am I getting better fuel economy than Joel? If the
best Joel can get is 23 mpg, I ought to be getting 13.
--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jerry Dunham, MSE (512)244-8598
Tandem Computers, Inc. dunham@mpd.tandem.com
Integrity Systems Division dunham_jerry@tandem.com
Computium Ergo Sum Foodium
(I am programming therefore I am hungry)
