Fuel Consumption Averages

[AntelopeSpyder]

I use Gas Cubby app on my iPhone have recorded every fill up since I got my RS. I had an vaccuum leak problem when I first bought it and the milage was about 15mpg. But after it was fixed milage went up. Here is the stats for the past 6 months.

Avg MPG 28.74
Max MPG 33.52
Min MPG 24.25
Total Miles 1889
Total Gallons 65.74

I use 87 octane.

[BajaRon]

Well, have to go against the grain... Again, I guess.

On my East Tennessee to California and back trip 2 years ago I did a fuel mileage test (5,600 miles). I kept a running record of every fuel up. I would run 4-5 tanks of one grade and then switch to another grade of fuel for 4-5 tanks. (Discounting the switch-over tank because of the mix of fuel grades) We stopped for fuel every 120 ~ 150 miles so that was a lot of tanks of fuel giving me, I think, a pretty good measure.

Not scientific because we covered different terrains, weather, etc., but I have done subsequent tests on shorter trips (like last year to Canada, 2,500 miles) with similar results.

87 octane average – 32~34 mpg
89 octane average – 32~34 mpg
91~93 octane average – 34-37 mpg

I have a free flow air filter, Yoshimura exhaust and a Juice Box. But as you can see, I’ve done consistently better with premium fuel.

This was mostly hot (90~105 degree) weather. And I think that makes a real difference. In colder weather, my suspicion is that premium fuel would not make much, if any difference in mileage. Based on how the anti-knock feature functions on our Spyders, this would make sense.

We are going to take a short jaunt to California again this year to start the ‘Take’n-it-Easy’ Guts & Glory ride later this year. I plan to do the fuel test again. It gives me something to look forward to at the end of each run.

[Dudley]

Wow, how MUCH higher? At an average of $2.809 a gal. and an average of 25.06 mpg, my cost is 11.2 cents per mile!



89 oct. is just 87 and 93 (or 91) mixed at the pump. Stations don't have 3 different grades, just 2. The third is a mix. Do you really think they put more or different detergents in their "premium"????

Last fuel-up was $4.19 for premium. Station close to home is $4.39 for premium. The cents per gallon doesn't bother me. What does, is the dollar per gallon difference we have had to swallow in such a short time.

[MouthPiece]

Although a necessary institution, it's the speculators.

Chris PE # 0004

[BajaRon]

Last fuel-up was $4.19 for premium. Station close to home is $4.39 for premium. The cents per gallon doesn't bother me. What does, is the dollar per gallon difference we have had to swallow in such a short time.

The real shame is, we have all we need right here in the Good Old US of A. But "Can't Touch That!".

We have done this to ourselves at the ballot box folks. You reap what you sow....

[Dudley]

The real shame is, we have all we need right here in the Good Old US of A. But "Can't Touch That!".

We have done this to ourselves at the ballot box folks. You reap what you sow....

It's a shame that those of us that didn't sow for this crap have to help the rest that did, to reap.

[BajaRon]

It's a shame that those of us that didn't sow for this crap have to help the rest that did, to reap.

I might tend to agree with you Dudley. But promises always seem to get more votes than reality.

[effgjamis]

I just finished a 5826 mile trip from Ohio to California (Corbin seat) then to Chicago (Spyder event) and back to Ohio. I pulled a trailer for the entire distance. I kept good records of my fuel consumption using "GasHog" app on my iPhone. I documented EVERY fill-up for the entire trip. The stats are summarized below.

Distance 5826 mi
Total Fuel 212 gal
Average MPG 27.81 mpg
27.43 mpg using 91 Octane
28.64 mpg using 85/87 Octane
Average Fuel Cost
91 Octane $3.04/gal
85/87 Octane $2.81/gal

NOTES: Fuel consumption was essentially the same no matter what Octane was used. Actually 85/87 Octane was a little better though probably not significant. Cost difference at $0.23/gal IS significant. Standard Deviation was 3.55 mpg.
According to BRP (at the Tech tent) the ECU adjusts for lower Octane but he says that the fuel consumption should be about 15% higher. Such is NOT the case.
Max Distance is therefore about 171 miles on 6 gal.
Average MPG before the trip, without the trailer, was 28.72 mpg. so there was a slight increase (28.72mpg > 27.43mpg) in fuel consumption with the trailer.

Hope some of you find this info useful.

]
RT
or
RS

What was your average speed??
all around?
Express way ??

[Capt Ron]

When I got my RT-S SE5, I was getting 29-32 mpg. After I had the recall done on the clutch my mpg dropped now I am 23-26 mpg/city-hwy. I have for the most part used only Texco premium, (on the corner). Riding two up most of the time. There is one other change that happend at about the time the clutch was done. That is ethanol is now in all of the premium gas here. As for 87 vs 91 octane. Let me share a story, I had a sports car a few years back that required by manufactor recommendation 91 octane. The car had a major engine issue. It was under warranty, the first thing that was done when it got to the dealer was they pulled a gas sample. Fortunately, I had only used premium, they were trying to get out of the fix. The end result the car at 4000 miles was replaced. My point being BRP recommends 91octane for the RT. While under warranty I would stick to the 91 octane.

[BajaRon]

When I got my RT-S SE5, I was getting 29-32 mpg. After I had the recall done on the clutch my mpg dropped now I am 23-26 mpg/city-hwy. I have for the most part used only Texco premium, (on the corner). Riding two up most of the time. There is one other change that happend at about the time the clutch was done. That is ethanol is now in all of the premium gas here. As for 87 vs 91 octane. Let me share a story, I had a sports car a few years back that required by manufactor recommendation 91 octane. The car had a major engine issue. It was under warranty, the first thing that was done when it got to the dealer was they pulled a gas sample. Fortunately, I had only used premium, they were trying to get out of the fix. The end result the car at 4000 miles was replaced. My point being BRP recommends 91octane for the RT. While under warranty I would stick to the 91 octane.

Or, at least put a tank of premium in it before asking BRP to replace the motor!