Gas mileage is an important issue for many car buyers. It’s getting to be even more crucial of an issue as years go by, what with all the hoopla of carbon credits, green living and sustainability. Your car’s mileage is important because it affects both the environment and, on a more personal level, the pocketbook.
The first place to look is the automaker’s official information. They will provide two figures for pretty much any car. If you’re shopping or a new car they’ll be readily available, but in some cases you might have to head to the company’s website or another site to find the EPA estimates. One number, the city mileage, will be considerably lower than the other. That’s normal. The highway mileage will be higher, because a car is much more efficient when cruising on the freeway at a steady speed. Urban driving, with all of the frequent turns, stops and acceleration, uses more fuel to go a shorter distance.
Bear in mind, however, that the official numbers are really no more than an estimate, and you can be sure that automakers strive to show the most attractive numbers possible to the car-buying public. Even if a car does consistently achieve the promised mileage, there will still be some amount of fluctuation due to a lot of factors that can affect a car’s gas mileage.
A driver in Alaska, where air conditioning is often unnecessary, might get better overall mileage than someone driving through the Deep South with the compressor going full blast. Everyone knows that a large, powerful truck with towing capability will have a low mpg rating, but the same goes for cars if they’re frequently loaded with a lot of passengers or cargo.
And you may wonder how, twenty years ago, Honda was able to make a CRX that could get up to 50 or 60 mpg, yet today’s advanced hybrid can barely exceed that. It’s partially because of more extensive emissions standards, and different emissions components like a performance muffler or a faulty catalytic converter can also affect your mileage.
Many drivers keep accurate logs of automotive performance and maintenance, and gas mileage is a part of this. A decrease in actual mileage, whether sudden or gradual, can be a sign that some component of the car needs to be repaired. As components degrade, the engine loses efficiency, and most cars will experience worsening gas mileage as they age.
Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to keep track of the mileage you’re actually getting. You can measure it every once in a while, or you can record it in the car’s manual. It probably has a “Notes” section. Just fill the gas tank completely and reset the trip meter. If you don’t have one just note the number on the odometer. The next time you get gas, fill the tank all the way up and note the trip meter. Divide that number by the number of gallons you just pumped, and that’s your average for that period.
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