Fuelly is full of hypermilers and that skews results?

Not a chance that generalization is totally accurate. depends entirely on the class of car. Ive been on fuelly for years, and i have had several gas guzzling work vans on there as well as my various benzes. Great tool for deducting work mileage and calculating vehicle costs with average work use. I port the info right into my tax deduction paperwork

imo, the only downside to fuelly averages which are generally accurate for class types, is when someone has a VO conversion on their car and posts BS data comparing mileage run on alt fuels plus diesel, to only the diesel tank. When i had my mk2 VW on there there were a couple records where people were posting 150mpg ect, throwing off the class accuracy. These are pretty easy to weed out though.

__________________
This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Joe - I do it for two reasons:

1. I want to make sure the numbers aren't way off maybe alerting me to an issue.

2. I'm REALLY anal!!!

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

I think old guys like us would have to be pretty bored to continue to do it after 15-years with the same car. If the mpg is off that badly, you'd know it by the car's evidencing it in other ways you'd notice long before putting fuel in it. Experience is a wonderful thing.

__________________
'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Number 1 is super useful. I notice my 240 was getting poor economy compared to other 4 speed 240s. Led me to tinkering ,solving fuel weeping issues, other maintenance, ect until i was at the upper end of the scale for 240 mileage.

Extremely useful. Also sobering to see how much fuel money you spend layed out like that per year, with all the graphing and charts automatically updated.

__________________
This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Well put. I also use it to keep track of oil change intervals and other repairs in the notes section.

__________________
CENSORED due to not family friendly words

Those speeds seem low...

You must be a safer driver than me.

Exactly! I have watched my fuel gauge so much that I have a clear idea of how many miles I should get per fraction. Generally, for everyday mixed driving, I can expect to get 125-150 miles per 1/4 tank. Anything else and I will start looking for a problem. Of course, I tinker with my car often so I'm likely to create a leak or mess something else up in the process.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

I was not driving to make a deadline and I spent a LOT of time stopped in traffic. I never exceeded 55 MPH on the rural highways except for passing so the majority of the driving was around 45 or less because of all the small towns and 'burg's along the way.

Not sure what killed my average speed on the way back, being 95% interstate. I was traveling from Philly to NC and much of the speed limits seem to be 55 and I stuck pretty close to it. Other areas 65-70 MPH.

I can go back and check my numbers again but I think they're pretty good.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Mileage can vary dramatically based on a wide variety of factors. Here's a chart showing the results of my last coast-to-coast road trip. Obviously almost all interstate, cruising at about the same speed and with pretty much the same temperature range.



Note: the raw mileage column is just that. This was at a time when my odometer was reading 10% high so to get at corrected I adjusted mileage with a .91 correction factor.

So factoring in things like altitude and wind begin to give a picture of some of the variation. Here, for example is the altitude profile for the trip.



Phoenix to Albequerque is uphill (29.3) while Albuquerque to Oklahoma City is downhill (35.1). The 5k mile average of 31.2 is a pretty representative example of mileage with wind, terrain and other factors averaged out. The extremes are pretty interesting and shed light into where CL mileage claims might arise.

And wind plays a huge factor. On the last leg of the trip where I would expect 30 or a little more mpg, all things being equal, I had a very strong headwind that just killed the mileage (26.7).

For anyone interested in monitoring the winds on a long trip, here is an amazing site to book mark - Wind Map

__________________
Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

I don't doubt you went the speeds you said, that the trip was stop and go and you still managed good mileage is impressive. If you had been traveling those speeds on flat ground rarely stopping for traffic or intersections I can only assume you would do even better.

w201 1984-1993
w202 1994-2000
w203 2001-2006
w204 2007-2014
w205 2015-?


The last USA sold diesel C-class was the 1989 year model 190D.
It's time we demanded a USA C-class diesel, and more importantly a manual transmission option. Why 25 years without a USA diesel small car from Mercedes, and why longer without a manual transmission?

The new w205 C-class taking advantage of the latest 4th generation CDI engines, manual transmissions with 2 overdrive gears, and the efficiency improvements in the new MRA(Mercedes Rearwheeldrive Architecture) is showing city mpgs in the 50s, highway mpgs in the 70s, and a top speed on the C250 (2.2 liter OM651) of 153mph. Soon we will also see successor to the OM651 make the debut with 5th generation CDI technology. Mercedes is claiming another 20% improvement in efficiency and performance numbers out of this new engine; which will be the OM654.................maybe 90mpg? 550nm? 160mph? all from a 4-banger?

Pretty much spanks a Prius, while improving on longevity, lower maintenance costs, fuel economy, performance, safety, and cheaper to buy new.


In the image the numbers in brackets indicate with an automatic transmission.

Attached Thumbnails

     

Because not enough people are willing to pay the huge premium for the diesel engine. Getting a diesel engine through EPA and CARB emissions testing is hugely expensive. BMW charges an $8000 premium for their 3 series diesel over the equivalent gasser. Are you prepared to pay an extra $8000 for a diesel C class?
Call me when the $23,000 C class diesel shows up anywhere in the world. As for maintenance cost, I suggest you ask your friendly Mercedes dealer about the replacement cost for a CDI injector or a VNT turbo.

__________________
CENSORED due to not family friendly words

I can't see where your car model's mpg is ever to change significantly from what you normally have gotten. Face it. It's a 32 mpg car at best. BTDT - with the same car, unmodified.

If you want a significant bump up in mpg, you're either going to have to go older or newer. Your car wasn't designed for optimum mpg.

Just today, my CDI buried your car's numbers - and I wasn't even trying. I drove 76 miles in Dallas, TX gridlock with 100F ambient temps. at an average speed of 30 mph, crawling bumper to bumper for miles, and a high sustained speed of 70+ mph, and got 35.3 mpg. All recorded on the car's computer. I don't have to play guessing games with my car's fuel gauge, to learn these factual scientific data points either.

If you're looking for high 40s mpg on most any 1,000 mile run, you'll get that easy in any E320 I6 CDI. Well within the car's EPA parameters. Unlike some of the bogus short mpg claims some have posted, the CDI's mpg improves the further your run. 35+ mpg w/o even trying in Dallas, TX gridlock traffic is uncanny for a 4,000 lb car! I'd never want to go back to a sub-30 mpg car ever again.

__________________
'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

The OM651 4th generation "Vunderengine" has already been EPA'd and CARB'd. The concept of the AdBlue and exhaust after treatment with USLD was the whole plan for 50 state legal diesels. The OM651 has already been powering the E250 Blutec for 2 years now, and several model years of Sprinters in the USA.

A new turbocharger would be expensive on any vehicle including the new Ford Ecoboost engines, and the GM Ecodiesel vehicles. But I have never had to replace a Mercedes turbocharger or fuel injector due to mechanical problems. I did swap my 99 E300's fuel injectors at 300,000 miles with some lower mileage injectors from a set in an experiment, but didn't notice any drivablity difference.

There is no cost difference. A new E-class Blutec is $500 cheaper on the window sticker to an equally equiped gasoline powered E-class.

There is no $8000 gap. To make that gap you have to compare a 320i to a 328d. When a 328i is compared to a 328d then the gap is only $1,500. 320 to 328 comparisons are not equally equipped cars to compare.

People need to call and e-mail for a USA diesel C-class, and a manual transmission option. Morons keep buying whatever the dealers have on their lot. The explosion in Sprinters we see on the roads was because Benz was the only game in town in that segment. Benz has squandered a decade of competitive advantage over other luxury brands to make the sale in the USA by not having diesels.


If you are a salesman selling an SUV to a customer. They may be looking at a BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, Volvo, Infiniti, or other make competing SUV. Pull out fuel economy figures, and you blow away your competitors sales pitch. If I was a Benz salesman on commission I would be using the heck out of that advantage before it is gone.

US law requires that each engine pass emissions testing in each separate chassis. If you want to sell it in an C class it has to go through the same testing all over again and the calibrations are different based on vehicle weight. This is why they only sell it in the sedan and not the wagon E class. The testing is prohibitively expensive and not justified by the tiny volume they would sell in a C class sedan or E class wagon.

Because Mercedes is willing to lose money on one model so they can UP their CAFE numbers and claim to have a tiny slice of the US diesel market. Also the same reason the GLK250 diesel exists in the US. One small efficient SUV can offset a lot of ML63s and G63s in the CAFE tally.

Heres a fun fact: the 180hp 328d sold in America is identical to the 180hp 320d sold in Europe. If you want more power over there you buy the 325d which is a 218hp version of the same engine. Yes folks, a 325d in Europe has 38 more hp than a 328d in the US. The US market 328d is badge engineering at its best. In fact the 180hp 320i and 180hp 320d (AKA 328d) costs exactly the same in Europe. Unfortunately federalizing the diesel engine added $8000 to the bottom line which BMW tries to hide with "content". BMW can afford to pass the diesel engine cost on to consumers because they don't sell as many high power gas guzzlers as Mercedes. Yay for CAFE!

Nope, never going to happen. Theres no enough suckers willing to pay the $8000 premium for the diesel engine and MBUSA isn't stupid enough to add to its money losing models. As for the manual transmission, dream on. Manual diesels are harder to get past the feds and CARB than automatics and the market is even smaller. Besides, the vast majority of Americans are paying an extra 10-20% for diesel fuel vs gasoline. The diesel car market in this country is tiny. Whatever growth rate it can manage it will never eclipse the growth in the hybrid and EV markets. Even in Europe the diesel market has started shrinking in the last couple of years and the cost of meeting stricter emissions has increase.

__________________
CENSORED due to not family friendly words