Thanks for the posts and tips to strive for.

 

43! Boohoo! Haha.

 

its not the best MPG but its also not the worse MPG

 

Just filled my car up this afternoon...

314.4 on 7.6 is 41.2, all highwya back and forth to work, and around town on the weekends

 

Good going, folks. Anything over our ~28 mpg combined EPA estimate is doing well. xBs won't win many drag races, but we do pretty well in the mpg arena.

 

I may be able to salvage this tank, after all. I reached 250 miles before the gas gauge dropped to half full. I drove two other guys to lunch down in Alameda, and only got about 43 mpg for the day - 40 mpg driving down, and 46 mpg coming back. We ran into totally stopped traffic on southbound I-880 in Oakland, and took city streets around the bottleneck. So I dropped below my average 46 mpg goal, but it couldn't be helped.

Normally, I expect to get 80 miles before dropping below Full, 150 miles at 3/4, and 250 miles at 1/2 tank.

 

I was at 390 miles when the fuel gauge dropped to the 1/4 tank level, about normal. This was my first fill-up since November 4, nearly 2 months. I drove 432 miles on 9.37 gal = 46.1 mpg. It's disappointing to me, but still above my overall average of 45.6 mpg. Considering it's winter, I should be thankful it's not well below my average.

 

i get 33 city and 33 highway

 

...So! after reading all these posts, I've come to the conclusion that driving my '06 XB at 80 plus down the interstate, getting 24-25 mpg is not going to improve! LOL However, I can get from Redding,CA to LA, CA in 8 hrs including stops for gas! Just saying, to lighten things up!!

 

But can you drive from Redding to LA on a single tank of gas?

 

Which would be faster?

 

No one could in an XB. I wasn't saying I was proud of getting 25mpg, it was a mere verification that the faster one drives will result in the mpg will taking a big hit. Personnally, I don't normally drive but 5 over speed limit. But, with my son driving...

 

Oh yes, it can be done. It's 546 miles from Redding to LA, and I've driven 552 miles on one tank, and still had 1.2 gallons unused and at least partially available.

 

That is a sure way to kill your fuel pump

My personal best was 37.5 mpgs

 

but can you get that same mileage in the snow?

 

Tell me about it. My son-in-law ran my EFI AMC GTA out of fuel. I was reduced to eyedropping fuel into the cylinders through the spark plug holes trying to get the engine started. Running an EFI engine dry is not a good thing to do.

When I made the 552 mile tank, I had a 2 gal. container of gas in the car, ready to add it if the engine started missing. I pulled into a gas station before it started missing.

No, I can't get that kind of mileage in the snow, but it hasn't snowed here in the coastal lowlands in the past 20+ years. In a month, we'll be seeing a few days of 70 degree weather again!

 

It was worth it to me. First, because it takes it out of the theoretical and puts it firmly into the realm of accomplishment. No theorizing about possibly reaching a 400 mile or a 500 mile tank. I actually drove more than 550 miles on a single tank.

Second, there was no fuel pump damage done. Not even any significant risk, since the pump never went dry. Why worry about something that didn't happen? Do we even know that a dry pump will suffer any damage?

 

Going dry is NOT the problem. The problem lies in running the tank below 1/4 tank. There isn't enough fuel left to keep the pump cool. Thus the pump heats up and shortens it's life. You won't know about the damage till the pump evenuatlly quits. But it's your car so that is all I'll say on the matter.

 

First time I've ever heard that. Opinions appear to be divided here and here, but I'm siding with the people who say it's not a problem. Newer fuel pumps have their electric motors cooled by the fuel they pump, and will not overheat until they run dry. This is supported by logic and by the fact that no auto manufacturer warns about having to refill your tank when it's 1/4 full, to avoid fuel pump damage. The worriers give no logical reason to worry that a fuel pump will overheat. They don't hang up at the 1/4 tank level. They're located low and are bathed in the fluid flow.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sh...ump/scion.html

 

Just going off personal experience. I had a ford van that went 150K and I always went low on the tank and the pump went out early. After that I kept it above 1/4 tank and never had a pump go out again. The new pump made it to 500K miles.
It only makes sense that when you have less fuel in the tank that it will heat up faster raising the temp the pump has to work in. From what I learned on the subject the o rings get toasted from repeatedly getting over heated. So basically it's cheap insurance to just avoid the issue by not going under 1/4 tank unless absolutely necessary. Especially just to get MPG numbers that could be figured out with an average over several tankfulls of fuel.