who cares ! did you buy the cover for gas savings ?
Dick
"willshak" <willshak@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:fdGdnfbREb4_uY7VnZ2dnUVZ_q-jnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> on 4/25/2008 8:13 PM Paul said the following:
>> willshak wrote:
>>> The beginning of this month I bought a soft tonneau cover for my 97
>>> Nissan PU, 2.4 l, 4 cyl FI, 62,500 miles. He's a good old boy and
looks
>>> almost as good as when he was new. I buy him a present every once in a
>>> while. Last time it was a cat-back dual exhaust, and the time before
>>> that, a keyless entry system.
>>> When I installed the cover, I had about 3/4ths of a tank of gas left.
>>> Since driving it with the cover on, it seemed that my trip odometer
was
>>> getting a higher reading compared to my gas gauge than before. I
usually
>>> traveled 50 miles between the 1/4 markings on the gas gauge, winding
up
>>> with about 190 miles with about an 1/8th tank of gas left when I
refill
>>> it. I got to 212 miles with about an 1/8th tank left. When I filled
the
>>> tank yesterday and made the MPG calculations from my last fill up, it
>>> seems that I was getting 18.34 MPG. I rarely put more than 11-12
gallons
>>> in the 15-7/8 gallon tank. This time, it was 11.595 gallons.
>>> Before the cover was installed, I was averaging around 16.5 MPG. The
>>> last time I filled up before the cover, I got 16.62 MPG. I haven't
>>> changed my driving habits despite the rising gas prices, or made any
>>> long trips, so it may be aerodynamics.
>>> The next time I fill up, the MPG will be calculated with having the
>>> cover on for the entire period between fill ups, so we'll see what
>>> develops.
>>> Watch the mpg drop and burst my balloon! :-)
>>
>> Some mpg savings is to be expected.
>> You have eliminated the rolling low pressure drag zone in the bed and
>> created a boundary layer.
>> The worst thing you can do is drive with the tailgate down, or off, or
>> with one of those air gate things.
>> However, to accurately determine the mpg, you will have to fill up the
>> tank.
>> "About" 1/8 tank is not good enough. Your gas gauge is not linear,
>> either.
>>
>
> I 'fill up' when the gauge gets 'down' to about 1/8th of a tank, not
just
> put 1/8ths of gas in the tank.
>
> --
>
> Bill
> In Hamptonburgh, NY
> To email, remove the double zeroes after @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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