How to Chart Fuel Mileage, Range, Etc.

My grandfather taught me how to chart my mileage when I was a kid. He kept a little notepad in the center console of his truck. Each time he filled up, he would jot down his gallons used and trip mileage to figure his mpg and range. I thought I would share how I do it and post my data collected thus far:

1) When filling tank, set Trip A odometer to ZERO.

2) When you refill next tank, write down mileage from Trip A odometer.

ex: 370mi.

3) When pump shuts off, look at how many gallons you purchased. This is your gallons used.

ex: 18.7gal.

4) Divide your Trip A odometer # by gallons used. This is your MPG.

ex: 370 ÷ 18.7= 19.8mpg

5) For Gen 2 trucks, your tank is 21.1 gallons. Simple math here: subtract total # on gas pump from 21.1. This tells you how much fuel remains in tank.

ex: 21.1 - 18.7= 2.4gal.

6) Multiply remaining fuel # by MPG. This tells you how much farther you could have driven before running out of fuel.

ex: 2.4 x 19.8= 47.5mi.

7) Add this number to your Trip A odometer reading. This is your range.

ex: 370 + 47.5= 417.5mi.



Here's how I lay out the chart in my notebook:

Tank #/ Mileage / Fuel Used / Fuel Left / MPG / Reserve / Range / Notes

Be sure to take notes for comparison. This helps you identify outliers. Good examples are winter gas/summer gas, extreme low/high temperature, dry/humid weather, city/highway driving, tire PSI, fuel grade, etc.

I like to group my fill ups into sets of three. This way, I'm not dealing with too many numbers sets when figuring overall averages for each month. I burn three tanks a month between work, school, errands and hobbies.

Good luck fellas!

 

Here's the data for my '13 TRD Sport Prerunner:

Round 1: Stock truck

Mileage/Fuel Used/Fuel Left/Avg.mpg./Reserved/Range/Notes
318.8 / 17.8 gal. / 3.3 gal. / 17.91 / 59.1 miles / 377.9 / mostly city
307.7 / 17.4 gal. / 3.7 gal. / 17.68 / 65.4 miles / 373.1 / mostly city
360.0 / 18.3 gal. / 2.8 gal. / 19.67 / 55.1 miles / 415.1 / 3/4 tank hwy 65-75mph

Average totals:
328.8 / 17.8 gal. / 3.3 gal. / 18.42 / 60.0 miles

Round 2: CAI and catback exhaust added
Mileage/Fuel Used/Fuel Left/Avg.mpg./Reserved/Range/ Notes
319.5 / 19.1 gal / 2.0 gal / 16.72 / 33.4 miles / 352.9 / lots of WOT, hard accel


348.1 / 18.4 gal. / 2.7 gal. / 18.92 / 51.1 miles / 399.2 / low psi @ 1/2 tank


370.1 / 18.7 gal. / 2.4 gal. / 19.79 / 47.5 miles / 417.6 / 32 psi. 1/2 city, 1/2 hwy

Average totals:
345.9 / 18.7 gal. / 2.4 gal. / 18.47 / 44 miles

Round 3: Colder weather, fuel grade experiments
Mileage/Fuel Used/Fuel Left/Avg.mpg./Reserved/Range/Notes
317.7 / 19.2 / 1.9 / 16.54 / 16.5 / 334.2 / COLD 12-34º, lots of idling
335.8 / 18.1 / 3.0 / 18.55 / 55.6 / 391.4 / Mid grade 89 fuel
357.6 / 18.8 / 2.3 / 19.02 / 43.8 / 401.4 / Premium 93 fuel, 1/2 hwy, 1/2 city

Average totals:
337 / 18.7 / 2.1 / 18.03 / 38.6