my milage graph

[cell]

in case anyone is interested:



I use gnumeric (the linux equivalent of excel) to keep track of the numbers and generate the graph.

[WorkinLonghorn]

Interesting.How did you manage to get 13 MPH then a few weeks later get 5?
I had to read your website to figure out that you bought a C-10 with a 250 str8 6. What engine are you running now?

[WorkinLonghorn]

BTW my MPG is always the same whether I haul 3 tons or ride empty,It's always pretty close to 11.5.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Wow, your MPG is all over the place???

When tooling around Greenville mine only varies from about 12.5 to 13.2. I've gotten 15+ on straight interstate trips....

I am going to chart this too for the heck of it when I get more tanks in. I have about 10 tanks worth of info so far

[cell]

the big spike in mileage was a single tank where I drove from austin to houston at about 55 miles per hour.

the week(s) after that, I working on something which involved lots of idling in the driveway and lots of starts and stops (I can't remember what it was though), which killed my mileage. oh yeah, I was missing on one cylinder, and it took me about a month to figure out that the problem was that my dwell was way off, and one of the little lumps on my dizzy just happened to be a little bit lower than the others, which caused that cylinder to die first (had it gotten any further out of adjustment, none of them would have fired!).

the more recent drop down to 5 MPG for a single tank I cannot explain. oh wait, now I remember. Just after topping off the tank, I parked with one side of the truck on the curb while visiting my parents house. The next morning, I walk outside to see gasoline dribbling out of the filler neck down the side of the body. It appears the hot sun beating down on it was enough to cause the pressure to build up, and because it was parked at an angle, the filler tube was no longer the highest point of the tank, so the pressure pushed liquid out past the gas cap (I guess it normally would have just vented fumes off?).

recently, something feels "off" with my engine. it lacks power until about 2500 rpm, at which point it "wakes up". perhaps my vacuum advance isn't working...

I am still running the 292 straight 6. In the coming weeks I am going to swap my points for an HEI, so I am curious to see how that changes the graph.

[mrein3]

OOoooo. Can I play?
I always keep track of mileage. It is a good way to keep an eye on things. I have discovered things like BP always gives me better miles per gallon than Holiday. A new air filter WILL give you a touch better mileage. Not keeping track of your gas mileage and not using the data is silly.

Some interesting stuff from my graphs:
I paid 0.949/gallon on 1-11-00.
I get 3-5 mpg ice fishing. When I ice fish I start the truck, load my gear, drive 1/4 mile across the ice, shut off the truck, fish, start the truck, load the gear, and drive the truck 1/4 mile back to the shed. I should be measuring gallons per hour for that duty.

The 18.1 mpg point has a note in my log that says "not full". Which means I forgot my credit card at home and only had a $20, or was in a hurry and didn't want to stare at the pump. That isn't a real mpg number.

It used to cost $20-$30 to fill up. That was when I only had a 20 gallon tank and gas was $1/gallon. Now it is $2.50 - $3 and I have a 17 saddle in addition to the 20 gallon seat tank.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I might have to go home tonight and play with excel

Anyone else notice that fuel is going down? 2.39 here... but for how long?

[Select]

Gas here is 2.50 at Albertson's with the card but at the local Texaco it's 2.69. Where are you buying your gas from 67ChevyRedneck?

[OldCreek]

So......over this period of time......

You're getting an average of just under 9mpg, paying $2.60/gallon, and cost of operation is $.30/mile.

The cost of operation is most interesting.... I wonder what other high MPG cars would get...... actually, to be equal we'd have to add in maintainance, repairs, etc.

[cell]

its a good thing i bike to work!

[Brad]

This seems like a very cool idea. Can someone point me in the direction of an quick and easy tutorial on how to track expenses and graph them using Excel? I'd like to start doing this.

[mrein3]

Originally Posted by Brad

This seems like a very cool idea. Can someone point me in the direction of an quick and easy tutorial on how to track expenses and graph them using Excel? I'd like to start doing this.

Its simple.
Just write down the date (column A), odometer reading (B), gallons (C), amount (D), and price per gallon (E) in a row.
Just keep adding rows.

For example: (I added "." to space things out)
...A............B...........C...........D...........E..............F
15-Oct...60344.6...16.115...$24.00.....$1.489....11.36829041
17-Oct...60502.8...17.732...$28.00.....$1.579......8.921723438
20-Oct...60722.1...20.263...$32.00.....$1.579....10.82268174
27-Oct...60909.4...19.56.....$30.10.....$1.539......9.575664622


After your 2nd entry, in the mpg column (column F), make a formula. "=(B2-B1)/C2"
If you copy and paste the formula down the "F" column, it automagically increments the Bs and Cs for you.

To graph, you highlight the data you want to graph and click the chart wizard button. It walks you through the chart making steps.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by Select

Gas here is 2.50 at Albertson's with the card but at the local Texaco it's 2.69. Where are you buying your gas from 67ChevyRedneck?

I think it's called speedway or raceway or something like that. They tend to be the cheapest around here. That's without a "card" too! I should get one, I think you get 3 cents off per gallon or something... SC has typically some of the cheapest gas because we have a relatively low cost of living (but that also comes with some of the lowest average wages).

[SacramentoJoe]

I calculate my mpg in every vehicle, every fill-up, except for my truck. I don't fill it all the way up anymore since it sloshes out of my locking gas cap when I go around a clover leaf on-ramp. I gotta get a new cap to see if it still gets the 14-16 mpg that it used to.