Fuel range when topped off has lowered significantly

[1pt21gw]

Take a long trip, say 4 tanks and go about 65mph. You'll see that pattern and enjoy the extra miles.

I filled up once at the top of the Sierras, went almost 150 miles and the expected mileage changed maybe 10 miles.

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[Motorpsychology]

I cheat to make myself feel good. I reset at the top of the first 70 mph hill. Usually high 20's at the bottom to start with a decent average. But it always averages to what it is after 90 miles.

Yeah I do that around home. Where I fill up usually, is on the top of a hill and I live 1 1/2 miles almost all downhill ~5% grade, 45mph posted. I reset at the pump and get up to 50mph before the start of the grade, and my personal best is 35.4 avg mpg to my driveway

 

[enginebuzzing]

the DTE reading is based on history. What are you getting for actual miles on a tank?

20-21 mpg is what the truck is telling me.

 

[Grandaccess]

keeping track of MPG is smart, winter summer mix, station quality of gas and grade level like 87 or 93 Non-Eth
I have two trips set one I reset every Jan. and one I use for shits and grins testing, the mileage is averaged out by total trip mileage, over the last 2k miles I have averaged 18.2 every few days it goes up another .1
yesterday I went to NYC 175 there 175 back and had 50 to E when I got back, plus the 40 past E you would get and 400+ per tank is pretty damn good for a Truck thats over 21 MPG (summer gas mix) it cost about $65 to fill from 0 to E or about .20 cents a mile
now this is gonna sound like Bean Counting but I want to know what any job or trip cost, business colleges have formulas (as well as triple AAA national averages) you can use because you have to stay within averages to make money, it may sound stupid but when you are running on a 10% profit margin, believe it or not Kraft Cheese runs on a 1% margin! but look at the quantity they sell just to walfart, they have 36,000 employees so if they all demand a .10 cent raise they would become unprofitable! or any one black swan event ie: someone slips on the ice out front and sues you or equipment failure
so for the most part including replacing the truck every 150k miles (its useful life error free)
dont even touch something worth less than $40 an hour clean
to make $85k a year at a minimum you need to average, good luck living on less?
+/- 10% taxes, insurance or if you are in a trade you buy your own tools you are just adding Debt!
.01 per Second
.75 Cents Per Min
$40 Per Hour
$84000 Per Year
If Not put it down walk away or toss it out!

Cost: to break EVEN per mile
Truck .25
Insurance .03
Gas .23
oil changes/filters .04
Tires .04
General repair, Brakes, Wipers .07
.67 cents a mile, plus unexpected like damage is more
With trailer add .08
or you are not in business you are in a Hobby!

 

[Colo_Ranger]

20-21 mpg is what the truck is telling me.

That's your first problem, you can't rely on the truck being honest. Do a mile/gallons hand calculation, then you can start to see where things are going.

 

[got3fords]

keeping track of MPG is smart, winter summer mix, station quality of gas and grade level like 87 or 93 Non-Eth
I have two trips set one I reset every Jan. and one I use for shits and grins testing, the mileage is averaged out by total trip mileage, over the last 2k miles I have averaged 18.2 every few days it goes up another .1

I have been keeping a spreadsheet logging every fill up on my vehicles for several years. It has gallons per fill, computer displayed MPG, calculated MPG, fuel brand, octane, price per gallon, odometer reading, trip odometer reading, and notes with anything done to the vehicle. Also keeps track of mileage on the tires.

 

[harringtondav]

I have been keeping a spreadsheet logging every fill up on my vehicles for several years. It has gallons per fill, computer displayed MPG, calculated MPG, fuel brand, octane, price per gallon, odometer reading, trip odometer reading, and notes with anything done to the vehicle. Also keeps track of mileage on the tires.

I did nearly the same from 1985 with six vehicles. Two went to my kids and they farted it off immediately. I used it to track unusual changes in mileage and as a diary of trips, plus maintenance events.
4-5 years ago I realized I wasn't using the data for anything useful, so now the notebooks just record maintenance. I'm the only one of the four of us who resets the trip odo to check mileage.
Simplification is good as one ages.

 

[SymChris]

Have you tried looking at the instant mileage display? It is real-time and doesn't average. I forget where it is, Fuel Economy maybe. It's really interesting, it can be single digits accelerating, and 99.9 coasting.

I have that display pretty well full time, and make a game of it to keep it under (or over for the MPG’ers) the graph thingy.

Always trying to beat my “low score” ?

went from 11.3 litres per 100 in winter on snows to 10.8 currently (June 2025 for the archives). My target is 10.5/10.6 by fall before we get into winter gas again.

P.S. When I go to the US of A, which happens about 3-4 times a year, I switch my settings so it goes to MPG versus my usual liters per 100 kilometers. That’s always an eye opener.

PPS. I love my 2019 Hot Pepper baby!

PPPS: Sorry OP, I can’t help you. Maybe your baby is in need of a tune up?

 

[TJC]

FWIW, 27K miles on my 2020 Ranger 4x4 Sport. 425 miles per tank. That's regular driving on 2 lane roads in the country. Anywhere from 45-60mph, with stop lights and stop signs along the way. On winter gas the mpg is much lower.

It dropped to 21 mpg a couple of years ago. Changed the plugs and EGR pressure sensor, and changed the trannie fluid with LubeGard Platinum, and this year I'm back to well over 400 miles per tank. Not sure (and don't care) what corrected the lower gas mileage, just happy that it did.

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