How do you calculate how much gas mileage you get?

Question

I have a 1999 Ford Explorer. I fill up the tank and don't even drive 50 miles and the indicator is already moving down. I am getting so sick of going to the gas station so often. I would also like to know is there is a "fuel additive" I can use to help? It's a 4x4/6 cylinder. I don't drive it "hard" and I get all the service done on it. It seems like I don't even get 14 mpg. Am I expecting too much out of this vehicle or is this the way they are. I have spoken to other "Explorer" owners and they say they get about 400 miles on a tank full of gas.

Answer 1

None of the additives out there really do any good for improving fuel economy. To calculate your fuel mileage fill your tank right up and ether mark down the current mileage or reset the trip odometer to zero. Drive till the tank is down below 1/4 full. Fill it back up again and record how many gallons it took to refill the tank and the amount of miles driven. Divide the amount of fuel into the distance driven to determine how many miles per gallon you are getting. Do this about 3 or 4 times to get an average of what your miles per gallon are.

Answer 2

To calculate your fuel mileage, completely fill your tank, reset your trip odometer so it reads "0" and drive your vehicle as you normally do. When you fill up next time, note how many gallons you used and divide that number into the total miles travelled as shown on your trip odometer.

To assure accuracy, you will need to do this 3 or 4 times and average them together.

The speed at which an indicator drops initially is not necessarily an indication that you're getting poor mileage. It could be that your Explorer has a small gas tank, or it's shape or the design of the fuel level sensor causes this to happen. Only a true mileage test as I've described above will tell you what you're actually getting.

The Explorer had an optional larger 21.0 gallon fuel tank which your model should have being a 4x4. However these had a smaller area at the top which will empty more quickly than the rest of the tank. The fact that your vehicle has the larger 6-cylinder engine and the heavier 4x4 options which create more rolling resistance on the road can definitely impact your gas mileage negatively. In addition the Explorer is not a lightweight nor aerodynamic vehicle and I wouldn't say that 14 is extremely bad in your case. If you check out the EPA rating for your vehicle, remember that the government estimates are very optimistic and are rarely accurate.

Fuel additives will not affect your fuel mileage however they will effectively empty your wallet. Modern gasolines already contain detergent additives which will help clean injectors and minimize carbon deposits.

You can improve your mileage by making sure your oil is changed frequently, your air filter is clean, your tires are filled up at the proper pressure indicated on the driver's door frame and that your front end is aligned and brakes are adjusted and working properly. You can also increase mileage by turning off your A/C, which includes minimizing defroster use which automatically runs the A/C unit even when it's set on warm.

Test your gas mileage a few times and see if you have a legitimate problem or if it's just perception... Good luck!

Answer 3

The mileage will vary depending on how you drive. If it is a lot of short distance and stop and go driving your mileage will be lower and about 14mpg is about right.
If you do a lot of long distance highway driving at a reasonable speed, your mileage will rise.
Some of those guys getting 400 mi. per tank full, may have 2 wheel drive too.

To measure your mileage, fill the tank up and reset the trip odometer to zero and drive a tank full out of the SUV. When you refill the gas note the mileage and the gallons of fuel it took to refill the tank. Divide the mileage by the number of gallons of gas and that will give you your MPG. Keep a log of your MPG and see if it changes. That can be a good indicator if something is going bad, your MPG will decrease.

Good luck

Answer 4

Put in exactly 10 gallons in your gas tank. Before you drive off, set a trip odometer to 0. Drive until your gas tank runs dry. Take the odometer reading, move the decimal point one spot to the left, and that's your mpg.

Don't worry about filling up until the orange need fuel light lights up. I can go 2-3 days in my camry (I drive 10-20 miles per day) before I get scared and put in more gas.

By the way my 98 camry gets about 23mpg with about 40% highway driving (it's supposed to get 23city/30highway according to the EPA's inherently flawed numbers) so I wouldn't be surprised if you get less than 14mpg. By the way my car is a 4cylinder.

Answer 5

To calculate the gas mileage, fill the vehicle full of gas, record the current mileage on the odometer, then the next time you fill up, divide the number of gallons used to refill, into the number of miles driven. That number would give you the number of miles per gallon used...

Answer 6

14 seems low, but it is a 4WD which hurts fuel economy. My wife has a Hyundai Sante Fe with 4WD and it gets 19 to 20 Mpg. That is a smaller and lighter truck than yours.

There is no additive that you can use to improve fuel milage. All; you can do is make sure that the vehicle is properly maintained and that the tires are properly inflated.

Answer 7

Start with a full tank of fuel. The distance traveled was 220 miles and you required 17 gallons to refill the tank. divide the miles traveled [220] by the gallons used [17] and you get your miles per gallon The tank capacity and remaining fuel in tank are not a factor in the calculation.

Answer 8

Your Cars Fuel Tank Might Be Leaking Like A tinsy hole might be the problem, if its not an all time 4 X 4 switch it to 2 X2 , if it is then it doesnt matter, well this trick helps you save gas. or try getting your Tabbots losened, adjusting them tightly makes your engine burn more fuel......

Answer 9

SUVs get really bad gas mileage, thats why they're called "gas guzzlers"...anyway to answer your question:
divide the number of gallons used to refill to full, lets say it took you 14.493 gallons to fill up, into the number of miles driven, lets say you drove 312.7 miles.

312.7 divided by 14.493 gallons is (roughly) 22 miles per gallon.

Answer 10

well i have a 17 gal tank on my car...and i get on average 400 miles to that tank of gas