Fuel Mileage - Display versus Calculated?

[MayhemMike]

I always wondered if the calculation made by the vehicle uses the odometer mileage or gps collected mileage. I noticed when at a Bronco Off Rodeo the vehicles being driven in 4L all day would show a full tank distance expectation of around 100 miles.

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[Headsong]

Mine consistently reads 1 mpg or so better than actual. No biggie. It's not measuring, it's guessing/calculating....

 

[userdude]

There's multiple ways (and reasons) you can "calculate" mileage, some of which make more "sense" than others.

For instance, the main mileage calculation appears to show a weighted average showing a recent period weighted against an overall period (you can reset this).

This looks "bad" because it oftentimes doesn't feel like it comports to travel over a period the person contemplates (such as since you last gassed up). Longer travel mileage changes less as well, so what's stable tends to skew towards mileage that may also not feel accurate, hence rebalancing with a weighted average over a more recent period (like last 200 miles).

Trip mileage can be more realistic, if you reset at each gas up. However, the first 100-150 miles are untrustworthy due to up/down hill (I've seen 3mgp and 47mpg in the first 50 miles, for example).

If you're looking at the mileage calculations, I would use the trip, reset at gas ups or at least before a longer trip, and discount 1.5-2mpgs to get a more realistic number (based on my experience against gas pump readings). My experience is that I've rarely outdone the manual calculation, although it has happened (and we have to trust the pumps are always right, which I doubt is true).

If you're just trying to get the best gas mileage, stay at or below 65mpg, preferably closer to 50-55mpg if you can, avoid goosing the gas and run higher octane. Also, use your cruise control (this is big, even do it around town on stretches of road). The trip calculation can give you a decent ballpark at a glance, and show if you're being too heavy or climbing a lot, if it starts to trend lower after a couple hundred miles.

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