You're focusing on the wrong pedal: the brake is what kills your mileage. When you know you're going to have to slow or stop, get off the gas ahead of time. If you're going to stop anyway, don't burn extra gas just to turn it into brake dust.

If you want to save gas with the gas pedal, accelerate harder. Don't go crazy with it, especially if you've got an automatic or a CVT- those things will downshift on you. Getting up to your cruising speed sooner will get you off the gas sooner.

"Just" taking the trip odo and the pump receipt is a good way to go. I went outside and checked my odometer; it's at 26,145. Minus the 95.5 on the current tank, that's 26,049.5 miles, only 1.6 miles off from the 26,047.9 miles in my log- plus or minus half a mile because the main odometer doesn't report past the decimal. Driving more than once around the Earth, having 62 fill-ups and not being sure if you're off by one mile or two is close enough to give me some confidence in my mpg numbers.

 

You know, this actually inspires me to strive to be a hypermiler every time I drive. It is a nice little dynamic challenge to try to use the least gas while not completely annoying my fellow drivers and/or compromising safety. Today was my 6th fuel-up and I averaged 40.58MPG, which so far it is my personal best with my Fit (method used was trip miles divided by the gallons pumped).
And a little help: For those who use Fuelly - which URL do you use for your signature so it updates automatically?? I had to repaste mine in order for it to show the latest fuel-up. Thanks.

 

You're right, there is something wrong with your Fuelly badge. Anyone should be able to click on your badge and see your details, unless you turned that feature off. Not sure how you set it up, but going by memory (which might not be perfect), here is what I believe I did:

-Logon to Fuelly.com (it should take you to your "Dashboard", if it doesn't, get there)
-Click on the large Fuelly icon at the top (the one that shows your MPG)
-scroll to bottom and select the "Badges" link
-copy and paste the "BBCode" url (as opposed to the HTML code) to your FF signature (most select the large banner); you may have to use the "Insert Link" icon in the FF signature, I'm not exactly sure anymore

Good luck, let me know if it works, and I hope I didn't forget anything.

 

Thanks. I just figured out what I did wrong. I had only copied the part of the code after "IMG" and had pasted it in the "Edit Signature Picture" box instead of the "Edit Signature" box. I just copied the entire BBCode and pasted it in the "Edit Signature" box and now it works - I tested it out and it did change the numbers on the fly.

 

new owner here I've had it just about a month and have roughly 1300 miles. I've noticed a drastic increase in mileage in the past two weeks. I didn't have the patience to read through this entire thread, but here is what I've noticed. First I've seen much better MPG on the highway by turning the eco button off. Also I've seen better MPG while driving faster, go figure. From my house to my office is roughly 33 miles one way, probably 2/3 is on the freeway. The first few weeks I was taking it easy, not going much over 65 with the eco button on no AC my trip would average on the computer at 40 mpg. I started turning off the eco and averaging more along the lines of 70 and my mpg averages have been more in the 45 mpg range typically the computer reads 46.5 or so when I get off the hwy and by the time I get home after hitting 3 or 4 lights it will drop to mid 45 mpg. Even if the computer is +/- 5% I'm happy as can be. I bought the new Fit so I wouldn't be putting 400 miles a week on my Silverado that averages 17 mpg. This thing will pay for itself in gas savings in a few years! Oh I have the CVT by the way.

 

Welcome Andy. Just to make you aware, your increase is definitely not due to you driving faster or turning the ECO button off. You will notice a pretty nice bump in mpg as it warms up (which it has in the last 2 weeks). Additionally, wind direction will play a pretty large role in mileage. Sounds like your off to a great start, and your long commute could become your best friend if you're trying to increase your mpg.

 

I have about 600 miles on my 6 speed, my self calculated MPG was 38.1 on the last tank. I had 2 bars left on the gauge and about 2.5 gallons left. I drive around 55 miles each way to work (Sonoma CA - San Francisco Airport) and its mostly highway with a few miles of city stop & go.

I am satisfied with the mileage, what baffles me having driven manuals nearly all my life is why this car has a 5th gear or a 6th....(I know it has been discussed here at nauseam)....I skip 5th most days or sometimes forget to shift from 5th - 6th.

BP

 

Ha! This is universal I'm sure. With my 5-spd VW and I can't remember the last time I used fourth gear in everyday traffic.

 

Good point. It's amazing how far you can go with your foot off the gas, especially if you plan ahead and don't have traffic behind you.

Also, when going up a hill, try to keep steady pressure on the gas pedal rather than trying to maintain speed. If there's a downhill before the uphill, I pick up a bit of speed. Again, the traffic behind you is the main concern.

 

The cold weather definitely kills mileage but so doesn't 10% ethanol. I only fill with top tier now and mileage has recovered some. The warmer weather should bring the rest back.

 

Yes, ethanol does hurt mileage, but as the weather gets warmer, your MPG will increase. I've seen it already.

 

Absolutely, but unfortunately its back down to 30 degrees here, and coupled with a stiff headwind, the mileage was not so good driving in this morning.

 

Heh. I'm the exact opposite- I've never had a car that I didn't want a higher top gear for, so the engine could loaf while cruising on the highway. My last car annoyed me to no end, making me have the revs up in the turbo while in a crowded road full of cars just putting along at 70 in a coma. The turbo is for fun time, not brain-dead commuting! Give me a higher gear!

It can help you avoid stops, too. My 8 year old watches for red lights and cheerfully calls out "Slow down, Daddy, maybe we won't have to stop!" Rolling through a green at 20 is a lot better than racing to the red and then having to come up from a dead stop.

 

I remember the old days when 3500 was a typical RPM.

 

and just like that my MPG is at 36.5 now from 30-31 this winter. its all about the distance driven per trip. i do think i see better economy when hiway runs are longer than 15 miles.

 

Sounds like your 8 yr old is well on his/her way to becoming a hypermiler. Keep it up.

 

This is absolutely correct. My avg mpg climbs during my entire commute and peaks when I arrive at either work or home. If I didn't have such a long commute, I'm sure I would be looking at mpg numbers in the 30's.

 

Three fillups so far on my Fit and my Fuelly account is showing an average of 7.5L/100km or 31.2 MPG. While not as high as some of the numbers on this thread, this is excellent for me considering I primarily (80%+) do heavy city driving, short trips, and I don't baby the car at all. Last tank I left it on Sport mode most of the time so I think this is quite good and I'm very pleased so far!

 

That was pretty typical for cars with fewer than 90 ponies on tap…

My '64 Beetle (40hp 1200cc) was screaming at 4K any time I was on the highway trying to stay out of everyone else's way…

es

 

Yep! The tank I am on now will probably be 2-3 mpg better!