# The Fuel Mileage thread, what's your MPG? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659 "2019-06-17T22:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/61 "2019-06-20T18:03:58Z")
This story seems relevant to this thread. Guy buys a brand new Pacer in 1976 and is disappointed to discover his new small car only gets at best 16 mpg. > **[Pacer Of A Lifetime: 1976 AMC Pacer](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/my-curbside-classic/my-exr-curbside-classic-1976-amc-pacer/)** > > (first posted 4/25/2011)    Picture this: Mid 1976. A young man just out of high school. Landing a good job that requires a 50 mile round trip every day. And he \[…\] ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/62 "2019-06-20T19:03:14Z")
**Former Vehicles:** 2002 Volkswagen GTI 1.8L inline 4 turbo - 27.4 MPG lifetime average on 133,000 miles. That was a mix of all kinds of driving. It was 4,834 gallons of gas costing $13,055.81, and releasing about 96,680 pounds of CO2. 2004 BMW R1150R 1130cc boxer twin - 44.9 MPG lifetime average on 15,527 miles. That was a mix of all kinds of driving. It was 349 gallons of gas costing $3,393.21, and releasing about 7,000 pounds of CO2. \*\* Current Vehicles:\*\* 2000 Chevrolet Suburban 5.3L V8 - 14.5 MPG on about 5000 miles I’ve put on it. That is a mix of highway and city driving, and nearly 2 years of ownership. So far it is 357 gallons of gas costing $855.59, and releasing about 7,100 pounds of CO2. 2017 Triumph Street Twin 900cc parallel twin - 62.2 MPG on about 5200 miles. That is mostly highway miles, and nearly 3 years of ownership. So far it is 85 gallons of gas costing $198.29, and releasing about 1700 pounds of CO2. 2018 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor LR - 249 Wh/Mile average on about 8100 miles. That is a mix of highway and city driving, and about 9 months of ownership. So far it is 2024.39 kWh of electricity costing $162\*, and releasing about 2710 pounds of CO2. This places the Triumph motorcycle (0.327 lbs/mile of CO2) and the Tesla (0.335 lbs/mile of CO2) as pretty close as far as carbon footprint during usage. The Tesla will easily beat the motorcycle if person mile is calculated, because the Tesla frequently has more than one occupant, while the motorcycle only ever has one rider. Number of passengers per trip is not recorded on the Tesla, so I cannot compute lbs/person-mile. \*This is the cost if I only charge at home using my lowest time-of-use rates, which is my charging behavior. The actual out of pocket expense is somewhat lower, as about 16% of my charging has been done for free at work. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/63 "2019-06-20T19:29:04Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The Big Old Fords get 8 mpg, empty or towing the Pyramid of Giza. I used to drive Ford Crown Victorias (I had a 2001 and a 2004). Terrible overall gas mileage, but I got _incredible_ mileage (for that car and engine) on the highway in that thing. I once drove down to visit my sister in Atlanta, a drive of about 640 miles from DC, and I got within the outskirts of the city on a single tank, almost 600 miles. If I started with a full tank (I did) and refueled with 1 gallon remaining in the tank, with a 19 gallon fuel tank I was getting over 33 miles/gallon. Not bad for a 4.6L V8. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/64 "2019-06-20T20:49:26Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > 2; the _SOUND_ of the internal combustion engine, it just sounds right, you’re basically being propelled by a metal box of explosions, powered by liquid dinosaurs, there’s just something visceral about the sound and feel! > > Which would sound better to you? The whine of high voltage current, or the thundering rumble of a metal box of explosions made from liquid dinosaurs? > > Yes, yes, the electric is more efficient and potentially environmentally friendly, but the ICE just _sounds_ right. I really love the inverter whine of my Volt. It sounds like a modern electric train. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/65 "2019-06-20T21:01:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And that reminds me of the worst mileage vehicle I ever drove. I’ll bet some veterans here have driven a tank to win the thread. > [@DCnDC](#): > > I used to drive Ford Crown Victorias (I had a 2001 and a 2004). Terrible overall gas mileage, but I got _incredible_ mileage (for that car and engine) on the highway in that thing. What color was it? Maybe everyone on the road aided your driving because they thought you were a cop. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/66 "2019-06-20T21:31:04Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > What color was it? Maybe everyone on the road aided your driving because they thought you were a cop. The 2001 was baby blue. The 2004 was silver. I hadn’t done anything to either of them to intentionally make them look more like police cars (remove the wheel covers, add a black honeycomb grille, install a spotlight, etc.) but almost everyone seemed to think I was a cop anyways (I did tend to drive them quite aggressively), and either immediately got out of my way (🆒) or slammed on their brakes and drove 10 mph under the limit in front of me (:mad:). Fortunately the vast majority of people were the former. More than once I had _actual_ cops just wave at me as I sped past them. That was always amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659/67 "2019-06-20T21:48:01Z")
My 2011 Scion Xb still gets 27 mpg or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fuel-mileage-thread-whats-your-mpg/835659.md?page=3)