'96 V6 Y87 fuel efficiency question

[lostatlantis]

I have a '96 V6 firebird with about 43000 miles on it, and I was wondering how are you guys calculating the miles per gallon figure? I get about 23.5 to 24.5 mpg driving at speeds from 30 ~45mph (in town) to 65mph (highway). I always use cruise control whenever i can. It's automatic transmission. I think my mpg figure is a bit low, so I was wondering if I can get some feedbacks regarding the correct methods of calculating mpg and other people's mpg numbers, whether you have V6 or V8.


My method of calculating mpg is to set my odometer to zero everytime i refuel. Then, with the number of miles recorded, I divde how many gallons I put in my firebird into that total number of miles. In my experience, I think the highest i've got is high 24s and maybe 25 once or twice. I usually have my radio on but A/C is used sparingly. Also, I drive most of the time with windows up. It just kills me when I hear about 30+ mpg on people's v6! Is there anything wrong with my car?

[99Camaro99]

be glad you get that...I run w/o AC and get 18-21MPG...and that 21MPG is if I'm lucky

[JVT007]

Where in north carolina are you getting fuel and how are you using so little of it [img]smile.gif[/img]


Maybe there is something wrong with my car but I drive around with my AC on all the time and the radio and I have to fill up around 200 miles on the trip thing.... what's wrong that's like 12 mpg?!?!!?!?!

[W68Firebird97]

I get an average of 24/25 mpg. Ive seen a high of 34 mpg :eek: I was so amazed that it could do that good. Also another big factor in mpg is how yourself drives the car. When i am on the throttle alot i get about 17 mpg. But when im concervitive i can hit the mid to high 20s mpg.
I thought that the faster i made my car in 1/4 mile, my mpg would go down alot?? Guess not.

[ToddBoe]

I Bigh determing factor is probly how your drive the car for me i abverage in the 23/26 mpg area thats city and highway driving my lowests has been in the 18 area when i was just around town and giving it alotta hell but i have seen 32 on nothing but a highway cruise at 80 mph for the full tank mind you though otherwise most highway is 29/30. I also have the 3.08 gears so that helps me some with your y87 package you probly have the 3.42's so that should be close i would think your car is quicker then mine but i think around town you can get better milage then me mine more of a over the highway kinda car which is just fine by me i travel a minimum of 200 miles on the high way in a weekend if not alot more and mabey 100 miles of city at the most so i guess in short it really depends on your driving habits and mabey the level octane fuel you put in i fill with a 94 octane rated fuel that supposedly 10% ethonal added. that all i can figure anyways and i cacluate my economy the same way as you hope this helps ya some [img]graemlins/fluffy.gif[/img]

[Seal]

i run 3.08s and still make 19mpg :rolleyes:

[Dojo2000]

I get 21 city/ 27 highway almost always. I usually fill up every 300 mi and put in about 14 gallons. I've also got a '96 Y87 so sounds like the numbers are pretty accurate, but I do have an M5 [img]tongue.gif[/img] and 113k mi :(

[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[sped214]

I drive the p!ss out of my car, and get around 380 miles per tank. Maybe it's the altitude or maybe I just got lucky...

[Brad96V6]

Since I started keeping track (since Sept '99), my Camaro has averaged just over 23 MPG during a mixture of city & highway driving...

Here is my Gas Mileage Log:
http://v6camaro.homestead.com/files/gas_log.htm

BTW...My Camaro is a 96, A4, w/ 3.08s.

Later.

[Insane Malice]

I jus made a almost seven hundred mile trip. I was running with the air conditioning on the second to lowest setting. I am not sure which gears i am running, but i was doing anwhere between 75-100 mph. i think i mostly cruised around three grand or so and got about 24 mpg. Is that any good?

[defrag]

why do you guys keep sayin i drive with AC on AND the radio? like the radio has nething to do with MPG

just thought id point that out

[Jason S]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by sped214:
I drive the p!ss out of my car, and get around 380 miles per tank. Maybe it's the altitude or maybe I just got lucky...<hr></blockquote>

lol same as you. I usually shift at about 4000-5500 in first, and 3500 in 2nd or so. Thats sparingly for me [img]smile.gif[/img] I usually race it to the speed limit than keep it in a high gear (got an M5), but i still get over 300 miles to my tank, and i dont always fill up fully. Crazyiness. Its a 96 rs 5 spd, base, and AC is sparingly. Dunno, maybe i got a factory freak, seems faster than most 3.8s too

[strange_trp]

you gotta remember that the fuel level sending unit and its corresponding gauge on the instrument panel are not really all that accurate. you can't really trust any one of those needles to give you accurate measurements, and due to the nature of the fuel level sensor itself, you especially cannot trust the fuel gauge to be accurate.

how many of us can get like 175 miles and the needle is still sitting on 1/2 and then 50 miles later its sitting on 1/4, even though your driving habits have stayed the same?

i think actual mpg numbers posted by others have been estimates and not really all that absolutely accurate.

[99Camaro99]

strange trp...MPG is a simple calculation

tank = 16.8 gal (don't bi*ch and moan I know others have 15.5)

I reset the trip meter when I fuel up. Drive the piss out of it.

Hit the gas station, fill up with "x" amount of gallons and then I look at the "y" mileage on the trip meter.

y divided by x gives me a rather accurate (not 100% accurate, but real close) to real world MPG. I can't get better than 22MPG and I drive it rough and it's mostly highway driving...triple digit style. :D

[ July 01, 2002: Message edited by: 99Camaro99 ]</p>

[lostatlantis]

99Camaro99, yep that's exactly how I calculate my MPG. And yes, I think my '96 firebird has a 15.5 gallon tank [img]smile.gif[/img]

And guys, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the fuel gauge needles on our cars are skewed so that when the needle hits 1/2, there's really only 1/3 fuel left. That's why the needle seems to go so fast after it passes the half way point.


I have an automatic, and I guess I baby my car (and kinda cares about the environment in addition to my love for F-bodies), I usually don't go past 3500RPM when driving. Of course, when I need to I am not hessitant to rev her up [img]smile.gif[/img]