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800+ Mile ECO MT Tank Range

62K views 220 replies 23 participants last post by  2013LT 
#1 ·
I filled up today and seriously topped off the tank, I have been running about 51 MPG for the last 2+ tanks of gas so I decided to see if I can get to 800 miles. I had put 243 miles on the tank and the range estimate was 397 miles for an estimated range of 640 miles.

First Click: 3.828 Gallons => 63.5 MPG
DIC: 4.6 Gallons => 52.8 MPG

When I finished filling the tank I had put 9.794 gallons for 24.8 MPG. The car say I have 650 miles to empty, but I know this is wrong simply because the tank is so full the fuel level sender is pressed against the top of the tank. If everything goes well I won't have an accurate range estimate for 200 miles.

My wife says if I run out of gas she's not coming to pick me up. :)
 
#4 ·
Trunk's not big enough. :)
 
#3 ·
I hope to see you make it because then I will try it also.

Sent From An Antique,
My Original Droid.
 
#6 · (Edited)
What kind of roads, traffic hills and speed do you drive on to get this kind of mileage. It seems roads around me are always too crowded with stop and go traffic so using cruise control is typically out of the question because of 2/3 lane hilly highways with a typical obstacle course for traffic that requires weaving in an out of because people typically bunch up and are afraid to spread apart from each other and create rolling roadblocks or obstacle courses @ 65 MPH.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I'm somewhat fortunate that my daily commute is moderate speeds. It's half a mile to the main street which is 45 MPH for another half mile. Then the speed boosts to 50 for a ways. Then I hit a 55 zone for a few miles followed by 18 miles of 65 MPH freeway followed by about a mile and a half at 45 or slower. In the mornings I drive 60 on the freeway, which still means I'm passing on occasion. I tried 55 one morning and was a rolling road hazard - I'm not doing that again. Mornings are a net 200 ft downhill and I have actually seen 59 MPG by the time I get to work. Coming home I reverse this and have to deal with traffic. I-25 through the Denver Tech Center is a 5+ lane highway in each direction and the right two lanes are usually moving at 55 or slower in the afternoon. I stay in the lane at 55. Then I hit C-470 and it's stop and go for 9 miles. I can manage 48-49 MPG in stop and go traffic when there are no stop lights that make you sit. Then it's back to the 55 zone followed by the 50 and then 45 zones. It is not a super hilly route but it sufficient that I have to pay attention to my gear to ensure I take advantage of DFCO. Fortunately 50 MPH is fast enough for the car to enter DFCO in 6th gear. I don't coast with the clutch in or with the engine off.

The only performance mods I've done is to set the plug gap at 0.035" and I run my tires at 45 PSI cold. Driving tricks that I use, especially since I have hills near where I need to change speed is to use gravity to accelerate down hills or slow down going up hill. This way I avoid the throttle and I can also avoid throwing away momentum by braking. End of shift targets on level ground is 1400 RPM or lower while accelerating and 1600 or higher when decelerating. This keeps the car out of boost during acceleration and immediately reengages DFCO during deceleration.

Today I left my house at 52.5 MPG and when I got to the gas station a mile from home this afternoon I was at 52.6 MPG. The final mile would have brought it back down to 52.5. I wouldn't even be attempting this if I hadn't just spent the last full month running at 50+ MPG as measured at the gas pump.

Here's the elevation profile. The morning drive is left to right and the afternoon is right to left.

Blue Line
 
#8 ·
800 miles that's crazy. Do you have the fuel tank mod so that you can fill up with more gas? My Scangauge always tells me I can go ~ 200kms further than what the DIC tells me. DIC is always conservative.

Good luck!
 
#96 ·
My DIC tells lies. I was running my fuel tank down to E yesterday so that I could start out fresh with 93 octane, and when the fuel light came on, it told me that I still had a 73 mile range. But when I filled up the tank (13.2 gallons when the pump clicked - I never fill past the auto shut off) my DIC said that I had a 642 mile range.

I can't tell what's wrong or what's right here! LOL
 
#9 · (Edited)
No fuel tank mod. The complete mod list for my car is:

Spark Plugs from 0.023/0.025" to 0.035"
OEM Goodyear FuelMax Assurance running at 45PSI cold
Bluetooth PDIM for streaming music
VG SharkFin
"Chrome" covers for my fog lights
GM Spare Tire stack, which I left in even though I have the original trunk floor in my garage.
[URL="http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/11-appearance-body/6499-korean-gm-sunglass-holder-install-north-american-cruze.html]Korean Cruze Sunglasses Holder[/URL]

Even with the fuel tank mod this would be dicey because it will require I maintain 51+ MPG (52+ on the DIC) for the entire tank and I will be driving the car down into the "Low Fuel" warning, at which point the car won't give me a range to empty estimate. I'll have to watch when the low fuel warning light comes on and also when the range estimate goes away to know how much further I can really drive. Prior to my learning to drive 50+ MPG these numbers were 60 and 40 miles. However, at 50+ MPG the light comes on at 67 miles and I haven't seen the text warning.

I did park my car facing downhill on my driveway last night to help keep the fill pipe and evap system at the highest points in the car (don't know if it helped the car but it helped me). I won't need to do that today as I will have burned slightly more than a gallon of gas when I get home and there won't be any gas in the fill pipe.

When I got to work this morning the car read 57 MPG and the range had increased from 647 to 673 miles. Estimated total range is currently at 704 miles but until the fuel level in the tank starts to drop I won't have an accurate distance to empty estimate. The needle hasn't moved.
 
#112 ·
I'll have to watch when the low fuel warning light comes on and also when the range estimate goes away to know how much further I can really drive.
In my Cruze, I can press the button on the end of the turn signal handle to clear the text warning and bring back my digital speedometer/range/economy. Don't know if it works for yours or not.
 
#10 ·
I'd make sure you at least start carrying a gallon or two in a red can when you start getting low. Just in case.

Had a fuel pump die as I was merging on to I81 in front of a bunch of trucks once. That was enough to sufficiently scare the crap out of me.
 
#11 ·
I have gas stations about every 2 miles until I get off C-470 on the way home. When I hit the "LOW FUEL" range warning I take the last known range and halve it and then add this to my odometer to give me my target.
 
#12 ·
obermd,

Can't wait to see your results! I'm sure your wife will come and get you, it's the conversation to the gas station and later on I would be nervous about. LOL. If it was me, I would be expecting a new pair of shoes.

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care
 
#13 ·
Erica, I already have a 715 mile tank with this car and my tank MPG was about 46. I've been averaging 51 MPG since mid July and will need this get to 800. Why should the diesels have all the fun with full bladders? :)
 
#14 ·
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#16 ·
Slightly over 16 gallons. In the US the official tank size never includes the fill pipe. In Europe, Cruzen are advertised with 60 liters, which is 15.9 gallons and is probably the fill pipe to the evap recovery vent. It's the same tank and fill pipe.
 
#22 ·
Post 7 describes my route and speeds. Since I've been driving this route for the past 15+ years I know exactly when to let off the gas as I approach intersections and stop lights, so yes, I can spend a lot of time in DFCO.
 
#23 ·
As I complete each day I'll post updates. Once the needle starts moving I'll include pictures.
 
#25 ·
What are you driving? The US Diesels should easily be able to hit 800 miles. It's only 11.5% over the EPA highway estimate for range. I'm looking at 20% over the EPA highway estimate.
 
#27 ·
What's interesting is that both my Pontiac mini-vans had 500+ mile ranges also. I think I would have a problem with some of the short ranges people are reporting.
 
#30 · (Edited)
I have gotten above 600 miles on a tank once, but probably will never do that again. Not that I ran the tank super low even(still had above 2 gallons left), its just how long of a time frame that distance ends up being I would need to stop for some other reason so I might as well fill up sooner.

500miles by even 65mph average speed is almost 8 hours of driving, however my average speed is usually around 40mph so that 500 miles is 12.5hours of driving. In that 12+ hours I sure would need to stop for something and will have driven by hundreds of gas stations. 400-500miles is when I fill up now, usually that's only slightly below 1/4 tank with my 1LT.
 
#31 ·
I make stops about once a week going home and I've still managed 51 MPG. For the weekends we'll go topless in my wife's convertible.
 
#33 ·
Final report for today:

Afternoon traffic stunk. Normally I don't see this type of traffic except on Fridays and I actually bailed off the freeways.

60.2 miles on the tank
50.9 MPG (DIC) - this needs to be higher or I won't make 800.
Estimated Range: 644 miles
Estimated Tank: 704 miles
To Go: 740

This morning I had an estimated 96 mile deficit. Now it's estimated at 36 miles. As expected the gas needle hasn't moved.
 
#37 ·
I personally don't pay much attention to the estimated range unless I'm parked on a level surface... it seems to vary when I'm parked in my inclined driveway.


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When you first park it stays were it was. After you turn the car off and then restart it is when it changes. My driveway is steep enough that I've seen as much as a 0.2 MPG drop with the car sitting overnight.
 
#36 ·
~16 gallons. Somewhere near the top of the fill pipe is the tubing for the fuel evaporation control system however, so don't assume you can safely fill to the top of the fill pipe. The tank itself is 15.6 gallons. There is a shroud on the fuel fill indicator that prevents easily filling the top three gallons of the tank.
 
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