damquick1

Good points from everyone on this topic....however as my dear old dad still reminds me (and I'm 41)....
"Pushin the pedal to the floor will cost you more".... the honest truth no matter what, no arguing that point.

Ken Rogers

p51mstg, are you a pilot, by any chance?

Ken

p51mstg

Yup, but I just fly little planes. The P-51 Mustang is just a fantasy I've had pretty much my entire life. The hottest plane I've ever flown was probably a retractable Piper Arrow that trimmed out to an air speed of about 160 knots (about 180 mph). With the wind, I saw over 200 mph (ground speed) one day in a Cessna 182. That was kinda cool, but as long as I'm flying, I really don't care how fast I go.

Ken Rogers

I fly too, although not as much as I'd like. I might be buying 1/2 a C150 (80kts cruise!! Gotta love that).

spuddogg

Good point.
The most significant thing that affects my mileage?
My right foot.

There's some great info here regarding air temp/oxygen density in relation to fuel efficiency and performance.
One point about ethanol blends - most are 'up to 10% ethanol'; so you may see quite a bit of variablity from one tank to the next and between different brands/octanes (some are more 'consistant' in their blends than others).
Another factor regarding air quality is relative humidity - higher % means more water vapor molecules/x volume of air and can decrease burn efficiency.
One of the (very few) good things about drive-by-wire computer ignition systems is the ability to adapt to environment variances ... at least to some degree.

damquick1

and the other issue with ethanol is it burns slower, causing slower combustion, in turn causing cats to foul/fail quicker, and slower plug detonation, thus leading to more maintenance.......I still say no to corn!

Sancho805

interesting point was brought up earlier that oil companies are recording record setting profit gains with the outrageous gas prices we're experiencing right now. government has not done much to control this and the justification has been lower supplies and whatnot. also, the move to ethanol is becoming closer to reality than ever before so this gave me this theory:

is the government "allowing" the oil companies to rake in major profits on fossil fuel to sord of compensate them a bit for when we make the potential switch to ethanol, which we would think would hurt the oil companies? maybe all this profit the oil companies are gaining is to help them develop new fuel alternatives to maintain their place in the economy OR just retire like kings. this is all just a thought that developed in my head as i read through this thread. any other theories are more than welcome .

Sancho805

i doubt all this would actually occur. i'm sure special ethanol blends will be developed to prevent this and allow the creation of a fuel that is even more effecient than our current options. I'm all for ethanol and alternative fuels. Innovation is key in industrial evolution. maybe more jobs will be available, who knows .

elroyjetson_1978

My personal favorite mpg affecting factorbeing a 300lb big man and loving to take off like a bat outta he\\...what can I say I like to hear my car roar

bluest@ng

very informative post. of course the most obvious reason for less mpg is taking off fast at every light. saves gas if you drive like a grandma. I've learned to just take it easy and only gun it once in a while. I love to drive off like a bat out of hell though.

LOL @ elroyjetson_1978's post.