My new Subaru gasser has a MPG indicator driven by the engine computer. It indicates instantaneous MPG (which is useless because it jumps with every twitch of the gas pedal) or average MPG since last reset. It consistently reads about 1/2 to 1 MPG high based on manual calculations at each fillup. It is interesting to watch especially right after a fillup.
The worst mileage (low teens) is with a cold engine. So short trips with long stops (like shopping downtown) are a real MPG killer. In-town stop and go driving with a warm engine deliver high teens. Freeway driving (70 MPH) gives about 30 MPG and country roads (55 MPH) are even a little better but that's offset if there are frequent stop signs. I guess this car has a lot of aero drag. I live in the country so usually get about 25 MPG average unless I'm on a trip when it's bit better. So in my experience, driving conditions produce a huge variation in MPG. This, by the way, is also the rationale for the hybrid cars where regenerative breaking recovers part of the energy when stopping. But hybrids only make sense (IMO) if most of your driving is stop-and-go city driving. My Diesels seemed to deliver consistent mileage despite conditions (25 MPG for the 300SD turbo and 21 MPG for the 300TD non-turbo) but maybe that's just because I didn't have continuous MPG readout. Scott Ritchey _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
