highway vs. city mpg

[snomaker321]

Does anyone else seem to notice a huge difference between highway and city mpg? Maybe its just my fuel gauge being inconsistent, but i seem to run about 13mpg straight city and up around 25mpg straight highway. Right now im averaging about 16mpg or so on this current tank. For example ive gone 120 miles on the highway and only dropped 1/4 of a tank but then drove city the rest and only got around 300 miles out of the tank. And this highway driving is pretty inconsistent averaging 70+mph. Am i just crazy, or is this really how it is?

 

[Rearanger]

Using fuel gauge to judge MPG is pretty inaccurate. Why don't you actually calculate MPG after each fill?

 

[snomaker321]

I do, which is where I get the 13mpg city. I dont drive alot of highway, so i try to use the gauge to estimate highway mpg.

 

[Airmaster]

The gauge kinda lies...

I'm not sure if your MPG is abnormal but to compare, I get 17 in the city and 23 on the highway. Though, my engine only has 40k on it.

 

[flyingbrick]

I find i get about 20 city, and 21-22 highway.

 

[ccrunner1]

before i switched to an underdrive pulley i would get anywhere from 14-15 pure city mostly trips under 3 miles at at time(not good for it but its my school commute) my best highway was 24.4

this is on a 94 auto with 73,xxx

 

[LBCaterson]

I average 20 all the time about 19 city and sometimes up to 23 highway. ive got about 81K on it and a 5spd. you sure there's not a leak somewhere in the lines or your gauge screwed up? a range THAT different means that either you can't drive to save your life, or there's something wrong.

 

[TinyBear]

2008 2wd ex cab with a auto averages 17-18mpg city and 23-24mpg highway. Truck only has 12,000kms (7456.45miles) on it though.

 

[snomaker321]

well my city driving consists on like 2.5 miles to school and 1 mile to work daily. It often takes me a month to go through a tank. Plus i have 125,000 on the tank which could have something to do with it. And i have an exhaust leak if that would affect anything.
I also figure i should point out thats its an automatic and my highway mpg is an estimate based on my fuel gauge.

 

[WNY964x4]

i average about 12-14 city and 17-19 highway , this is with a 00 Auto 4x4 with 3.73 gears and 31" tires , my best highway was pure stock i got 24.6 going out to ohio

btw the truck has just about 170k miles on it


and the fact that you are getting such difference sounds normal , city driving is alot of stop and go and extended idling , which kills fuel mileage , highway driving tends to do much better

righ now i tend to get about 13 - 15 average from a tank , i commute to work everyday and it is only about 10 miles each way

 

[Donnie strickland]

i figure i should point out my highway mpg is an estimate based on my fuel gauge.

As you suspect, you can't go by that. Your tank is not the same shape from top to bottom, especially in a Supercab. The fuel gauge needle will drop much more quickly after it gets below ¾ tank. My gauge does the same thing. You must :

1. Fill your tank, being sure it's filled all the way.

2. Reset your trip meter, or make a note of your current odometer reading.

2. Drive at least 150-200 miles; a whole tankful would be better.

3. Fill up as in step 1, then divide the miles driven by the gallons used.

 

[snomaker321]

As you suspect, you can't go by that. Your tank is not the same shape from top to bottom, especially in a Supercab. The fuel gauge needle will drop much more quickly after it gets below ¾ tank. My gauge does the same thing. You must :

1. Fill your tank, being sure it's filled all the way.

2. Reset your trip meter, or make a note of your current odometer reading.

2. Drive at least 150-200 miles; a whole tankful would be better.

3. Fill up as in step 1, then divide the miles driven by the gallons used.

I do that every tank, I just dont drive alot of highway which is partly why I dont have an accurate measurement for it. Next time i take a longish trip on the highway ill be sure to do this so i can see whats really going on.

that needle dropping fast after 3/4 bothers the heck out of me. I watch it and think im getting really good gas mileage and then i end up getting crap on the tank.

On another note, I have a 20 gallon tank. Is it really 20 gallons? One time I filled up and it took 20.1 gallons. woops

 

[dorman68]

I averaged about 15-16 city & 22-26 highway.

 

[laser3kw]

I get 23~24 MPG. I drive to work and back, 46 mile round trip. I fill up at the same pump, same time every Monday. It is in city driving, but most lights are 3 to 4 blocks and there is a few good 3 to 5 mile spots. The roads are pretty much flat -really flat. I also verify this with a Scangauge, I monitor tps, mpg, water temp and ignition. The Scan gauge taught me to drive with a very light foot.
I also just got new tires, which boosted my MPG by 1 MPG.