gas mileage
 

went from our home in PA to atlantic city new jersey . 264 mile round trip .
i used half a tank of gas . 5 gallons ......maybe 6 at most (being generous)

at 5 gallons that would be 52 mpg
at 6 gallons it would be 44 mpg

is this possible?was mostly all turnpike/highway driving .

tank was full when we left (just filled it ) its only a 10 gallon tank .came home with half tank .

thats some great mpg`s .

2002 sc2 1.9 liter dohc

The only way to know for sure is when you go fill it up again. Then, just divide the mileage by the gallons used. That's more accurate.

true ,but we are home now and will add on city driving . i was looking at the mpg we got on the highway.
hard to believe we went 264 miles on a half tank . will check gauge again this morning .

yep reads half tank .looked at the trip odometer ...265 miles . :eek:

I'd suggest you keep that car as long as you can.

thats what i told the wife .its our daily driver .we barely drive our suv anymore .

mystery solved . put 8.5 gallons of gas back in . car at 271 miles on trip odometer .
almost 32 mpg .still not too shabby

Sounds more like it. Gas gauges are just an estimate for you.

The best I have gotten in my 2000 SL1 was 41 mpg. But that was driving flat rural roads at a speed of around 60mph the entire tank. Driving the interstate at 80 mph, I average 34-37 mpg.

yeah i was doing 70-80 alot on the trip .and mine burns a little oil .

When these cars were newer and more of them around I knew a few people who owned them. MY 94 SL2 coupe would get 33mpg on a road trip from my home in Phoenix AZ to L.A. Calif down I-10 if I used cruise control. If I drove it my self about 30 that was good enough for me and my favorite gas stop was just about 1 tank of gas away. A close friend had a later model sedan with a 4 speed and on the same trip he would average over 40 mpg.
The car would get good fuel economy in it's day. And still can if it is in good shape and reliable.
I think thought the 4 speed did in general get better gas mileage on a road trip.
I never checked it in town. It was and still is way too much fun to drive to get good fuel economy.

I've yet to do any highway trips with my '96 SL2 sedan. My work commute is 23 miles, round trip. Along with other local errands the first three tank fills have returned 31 to 32 MPG.

Since the late eighties I've kept a small note pad and pencil in each of my cars and written down the miles and gallons at each fill up and periodically done the math.

The most variable car has been my 1993 Mustang 5.0. 5 speed. When I bought it in '08 it averaged 22-23 MPG. Better on a longer commute. Some changes in the running gear, including gear ratio, speedo gears and intake manifold have reduced that to 20-21. The new transmission has a higher geared overdrive, and different speedo drive/driven gear combination. I'm curious what the new numbers will be. Better because of the higher overdrive or lower because I can't shift into OD as soon.

Your 30 to 33 mpg numbers seem quite good. In theory,, a manual transmission should get better mileage than an automatic, but I think driving habits can give the edge to the automatic for some drivers. Holding the speed at 65-70 with the cruise may net nearer 35. Fantastic numbers by the standards of a generation that grew up when 15 MPG was average.