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How do you measure real fuel consumption?

Most of the fuel consumption figures given by the public and your reporters are taken from the fuel consumption gauge. On all the cars I have own this gauge varies between 4 and 8% optimistic when compared to figures obtained from the fill-up to fill-up method. I feel therefore that you should state what method you use when reviewing cars.

Asked on 18 November 2014 by GeoPlay

Answered by Honest John
When I review a car and drive it a reasonable distance I fill it at the start and note the mileage, then note the mileages each time I re-brim it, then calculate the real mpg. I do a regular run which is +/- 300 miles, so take 300 miles as the median and if a car records more or less I adjust the mileage figure by that. Of course drivers contributing to Real mpg may do it accurately or may simply read off the dash meter, but Real mpg is an average of an average of an average of all accuracies of measurement and all types of use so becomes a median and is therefore the most relevant figure.
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