Is there such a thing as a "fuel efficiency gauge" or something along those lines that can be purchased and installed on our New Edge's? I imagine it would plug into the OBDII port and collect data from the PCM, but maybe I am way off.

I'm referring something that will give an instant MPG rating so I can see how my driving habits are effecting my mileage right then, instead of the next time I fill up.

I'm just curious, lately I have been on the road a lot and I get these ideas when left alone inside my car for long periods of time. Go figure lol.

Thanks for any input!

 

http://streetperformanceusa.com/i-95...FSmCQgodA2UA-A

 

If you have a smart phone there is an app called 'Torque' that costs 5 bucks and has an MPG function on it that is pretty damn accurate as far as I have been able to tell. It requires an OBDII adapter for your car. I bought one for 10 bucks off Ebay and it works.

It does instant mpg and average mpg along with a lot of other information. A lot of the Ford mibs don't work with this app but a lot of them do. It's worth the 15 bucks.

 

The OBD2 mpg monitors all work by monitoring vehicle speed, MAF airflow values, by assuming that most driving will be done in closed loop mode and the AFR is 14.7:1, and some weighting factors.

The math is easy.

assume:

• speed = 60 mph;
• MAF = 220 lb/h (air);
• AFR = 14.7:1 AFR;
• one gallon gasoline weighs 6.1 lb (87/89 octane, 93 is 6.2 lb/gal);

calculations:

• fuel consumption = 220 lb/h of air / 14.7 AFR = 15.0 lb/h;
• 15 lb/h of fuel = 2.45 gal/h (15.0 lb/h / 6.1 lb/gal);
• 60 mph / 2.45 lb/h = 24.5 mpg;

It's the assumption of AFR that makes this calculation inaccurate, however there is no other way to determine fuel consumption on our cars.

 

Old school vacuum mpg guage, not an instant read in mpg but can help with driving habits even though they are obvious. Accelerate hard and mpg drops, cruise 80 down the highway mpg drops...

 

I found a really neat period ('60s) vacuum gauge in a boneyard years ago that was in a car next in line for the crusher. It was actually marked as a "Mileage Minder".
I snagged it and it still works perfectly. It has the relative MPG that you should expect when running at such and such in. hg. I had it hooked up in my fastback for a while and it's REAL relative, as in, not even close to what I actually observed but still a very cool vacuum gauge.

 

Those were very common in the 60's, the goal is to keep the vacuum as high as possible at all times:

high manifold vacuum = closed/partial throttle = less air = less fuel = best possible fuel economy;

And of course the least possible amount of power...

 

Observation: I believe that an analog vacuum gauge still will tell you more about how your engine is running than any other single gauge.


Discuss.

 

This does a whole lot more than just gas mileage: http://www.autoanything.com/brands/1...FSPhQgodQTIAXw

Rick

 

Seriously, check out Torque.

http://torque-bhp.com/software/torqu...obd2-adapters/