Retired old Gearhead 201 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 The indicated gas mileage varies too widely among posters with similar cars, fuel type and driving habits to be mathematically accurate. Why? Consider the following. •The DIC has a menu option for 'Units'. 1 is Imperial units, 2 is US units, and 3 is metric units. Those that have it set to #1 in units are getting their mpg readings for imperial units rather than US units. An imperial gallon is bigger than a US gallon, thus it will read a higher mpg than your actual miles per US gallon. To see the difference, look at your average mpg and now switch between 'unit 1' and 'unit 2' and you will see a difference in your average MPG. •This comparison can only be done with the vehicle in park with engine running as the 'Unit' DIC setting can only be changed while in 'Park'. An Imperial gallon is 1.2 the volume of a US gallon. Thus a true reading of 30mpg average for US Gal. would show as 36mpg if the DIC units were set to #1. The correct MPG reading for the US can only be indicated when the 'Units' is set to #2. The variance between Imperial and US units will not affect your miles per hr, but could affect your miles remaining if the computer thinks you have 10 imperial gallons remaining rather than 10 US gallons remaining. I have not tested this aspect as I am not sure if the computer measures volume based on a digital algorithm that measures a % of total volume or a Imperial/US units remaining. But most definitely your 'Unit' # selection will affect the accuracy of your MPG average display as well as the moving actual live mpg display. So, you may want to check that you are set to the #2 units if you live in an area that uses US gal. and set to the #1 units if you live in an area that uses Imperial gal. (such as England). Obviously, if you live in a country that uses the metric system (L/100) you would set it to units #3. Link to post Share on other sites
Angrybird12 61 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I just checked and mine is on units 2 which is correct. If you are still not sure if your MPG reading is incorrect you can always figure it out manually over a span of 5 tanks of gas. It should be fairly close to your DIC readout. One question... How do you turn off that damn trip timer? I started it and now I can't stop it. I can just reset it to zero but it still runs. Link to post Share on other sites
jibb3r 29 Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 One question... How do you turn off that damn trip timer? I started it and now I can't stop it. I can just reset it to zero but it still runs. lol I was wondering the same thing. I used it for the trip back from Florida, now it's always on, I guess. Link to post Share on other sites
Skids 108 Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 the unit settings in the car could be a factor, also this is a global forum so most people post what theyre getting in their country with out converting it to others i.e. canada vs. us n such.. so theres that issue. most of it is how you drive this car and the traffic, i take the same route ever day back and forth to work all city driving/surface streets. I've gotten between 28 and 42 miles per gallon per tank all depends on how you drive it. tweaks to the intake, the air filter, and the octane of the Fuel you use all affect performance, thus affecting fuel economy (ive found anyway) Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 To turn off the trip timer you have to press the reset button two or 3 times - quickly. That's how I got mine to stop, but knowing my POS, it probably just broke! Link to post Share on other sites
Angrybird12 61 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 To turn off the trip timer you have to press the reset button two or 3 times - quickly. That's how I got mine to stop, but knowing my POS, it probably just broke! I'll try that tomorrow, thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
Retired old Gearhead 201 Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Recently I have been using the higher Octane (93) fuel that contains no Ethanol. It is more expensive, but after a few tanks I calculated the xtra mileage I was getting (as well as performance) and found it actually saved me about $3 per tank due to the xtra mileage with premium gas. I think the xtra mileage is more viable on this car due to the small engine and the 10.5/1 compression ratio. 10.5/1 compression is just on the border of having to use higher Octane to avoid 'pre-combustion' (knocking), but since this engine has a 'knock' sensor it compensates for lower Octane use by advancing or retarding the ignition on the fly as needed to avoid 'pre-combustion' (knocking). Obviously done so the car can use lower Octane thus the appearance of cheaper fuel costs. There is some evidence that I have seen on older engines running 8-9/1 compression that the use of lower Octane fuel containing ±10% Ethanol results in a cleaner engine (less carbon) and lower emissions at the tail pipe (tested)...not sure about this applying to a higher compression engine but my mechanic noticed the cleaner engine and lower emissions on older cars using Ethanol blend. From the performance increase at higher speed and slightly better MPG, I will continue using the higher Octane. Link to post Share on other sites
Angrybird12 61 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 To turn off the trip timer you have to press the reset button two or 3 times - quickly. That's how I got mine to stop, but knowing my POS, it probably just broke! Didn't work for me... I tried several times pushing the reset at different speeds and number of pushes. Nothing worked:( Link to post Share on other sites
WaltK 305 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Didn't work for me... I tried several times pushing the reset at different speeds and number of pushes. Nothing worked:( I also tried to stop it, no go, can only reset it. Went through the manual, they only mention resetting the timer, nothing about shutting it off. So it seems it can't be stopped, oh well....... Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Mine is stopped. It reads all zeroes! As far as I remember (I did it when I first got the car 2 yrs ago, and I have CRS), I pushed it a bunch of times after pausing it, and it reset and stopped. Did anyone try holding it in for a few (maybe as much as 10) seconds? I'll have to check it out when I get a chance to see for sure how I did it. Then again, maybe I did break it! Link to post Share on other sites
Angrybird12 61 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) Mine is stopped. It reads all zeroes! As far as I remember (I did it when I first got the car 2 yrs ago, and I have CRS), I pushed it a bunch of times after pausing it, and it reset and stopped. Did anyone try holding it in for a few (maybe as much as 10) seconds? I'll have to check it out when I get a chance to see for sure how I did it. Then again, maybe I did break it! Yeah I did that too holding it in for 10 to 15 seconds. When I released it, it started counting again... Oh well. Edited October 8, 2014 by Angrybird12 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now