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Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article >, > wrote: > > >>I get 46 overall, with 50+ at 70mph on the freeway. >>2003 CVT. 50,000 miles. > > > Wow. > > A buddy of mine, on a complete lark, went and bought a used Beetle > diesel. 47K miles on it. > > His first full tank, in town, with the AC blowing hard, was 47mpg. > > I have yet to hear what his first highway drive did. you know, this whole economy thing has really gotten me interested. especially as you mention the diesel thing. on the one hand, diesel is more thermodynamically efficient, so it's going to give better economy anyway, but diesel fuel also doesn't offer the same degree of latitude for, er, "variance" that gasoline does because it can become smoky, hard to start, or worse, ruin injection equipment. since that recent octane thread we had, i've been doing a little more reading around on the subject of calorific content for gasoline, and there really is a /huge/ reluctance by anyone [in the california market at least] to quote figures for the energy content of their fuel. i find this interesting because all other consumer goods are subject to performance standards, not least of which is natural gas which is sold by the therm, not the cubic foot. even gasoline is subject to rigorous weights & measures inspection with state inspectors certifying pump calibration at regular intervals. but, think about it, if you're selling energy not by actual calories [therms in the case of natural gas] but by volume [gallons], the relevance of the volume measurement is somewhat questionable if the energy content is variable. so, what do we have here? http://api-ec.api.org/about/index.cf...02001000000000 and to repeat the most interesting paragraph in the whole page: "Conventional gasolines also can contain oxygenates. They are added to help meet octane number specifications and/or to extend the product volume." extending product volume??? if using ethanol "volume extender", it has about half the calorific content of gasoline meaning you need to burn /more/ gas gallons to travel the same journey. hopefully, the cost impact of this is obvious, but in case it's not, consider this. imagine you're flying to tokyo from san francisco, [about 1000 miles] against the jet-stream all the way. the pilot & engineer carefully calculate their fuel requirement for the journey based on their payload, known winds, distance, etc. imagine now that they were buying fuel in gallons and that unknown to them, the energy content of their fuel had been reduced by 10%. that could leave them stranded in the ocean by nearly 100 miles. so, while i don't know this for fact, you have to assume that either there is a base minimum energy content for aviation fuel, /or/ that the energy content is known at the time fuel calcs are done. if there is a base energy content for aviation fuel, why not for cars? it affects the amount of money i spend at the pump each week. if the energy content is known, why not for cars? it affects the amount of money i spend at the pump each week!!! i'm now /definitely/ interested in this whole oxygenation thing. fwiu, oxygenates are irrelevant for modern closed loop injection systems, so could it be that the emphasis on oxygenates are actually the result of the opportunity to use "volume extenders"??? > > I'd think a Toyota Corolla could come close enough to that 46 overall > number, and that without having any black magic software/hardware that > no one but the dealer can fix. > |
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