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Just got back from a trip in the Forester.

 

Went about 350 miles and got 25.5 miles per gallon.

(doing 85mph windy with the A/C on)

I was kinda suprised by how short the range was.

 

I never checked the EPA or Factory specks on this vehicle but

I was wondering if this is about what everybody else was getting?

 

Glenn,

82 Hatch, great off-road car.

01 Forester, great on-road car.

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Guest lothar34

That's about what I get on the highway. I usually keep it under 75 though.

 

I think EPA for the 5-speed is 21/27

 

I've never done better than 25.5 or worse than 21.5

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Just remember.. you live in Utah. Lots of evil things happen in Utah....

 

 

Also I have found with my trips back and forth to Wyoming... I have found that octane levels differ with places... I was tricked into 85 instead of the regular 87... BBAAAADDD idea. Ping + Ping + Ping = 24 mpg instead of my 28-30.

 

Also, driving Parley's canyon from Salt Lake to Park City does nothing for mileage... guess it comes down to the driving style.

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True!

 

85 octane is standard gas here. The funny thing is nothing pings?

They must tune the cars for the 5k elevation?

 

I can do 85mph UP Parleys Canyon with 4 people and a load @ 3/4 throttle!

 

These things have power! My 82 will only do 55 over the pass.

 

I hope to do 90mph over the pass just to see if it is possible?

Probably won't help milage any though?

 

Maybe I should try the mid-grade gas?

 

For what it's worth,

Glenn,

82 Hatch, transforming.....:temper:

01 Forester, jealous but powerful..:burnout:

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We do mostly highway driving in our 2003. I just tabulated the mileages over the first year. We are getting 26 to 28 MPG usually. I made an average of 29 mpg between Reno and Albuquerque.

 

Mileage goes down to less than 25 mpg with the bikes on top. So get a reciever hitch.

 

 

The dealer put in this 0w 20 oil on our comp oil change. I used mobil 1 5W 30 when I did it with no real change in mileage.

 

-M

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Don't worry.. You can't control everything. The elevation sucks power and mileage. Its not completely your fault. :D Move to the Northwest... away from the salt.. away from the elevation... away from the missionaries.. ops! (No offense to anyone of or in the predominant religion of the Salt Lake Valley)

Maybe I just had/have sensitive Subarus. My 88 GL did ok on regular (85) but had a bit more power on 87. It also was picky about the kind of gas. Sure it would take the Maverick gas and the Chevron but didn't seem to care AT ALL for Sinclair or Flying J. As long was I understood him, he did ok. (still topped Parleys at 50 mph -darn automatics)

I haven't tried Parleys in my 03 yet. Buy again, my auto. Legacy... uggg.. couldn't get it to top at faster than 60/65. I usually had a load full but oh well.

Check out the higher octane

it couldn't hurt.

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I've noticed that octane has an impact on gas mileage.

 

I usually use 87 octane and get 20mpg in mixed driving.

 

Recently I accidentally filled my tank with 93 octane. Or rather, I BEGAN filling it with 93 octane and when I noticed a few gallons later I decided to just fill the whole thing with 93.

 

The very next time I filled I decided to use 89 just for the hell of it.

 

When I got done topping off I found that my mileage had gone up to 23 in the same mixed driving.

 

On the next fillup I discovered the 89 octane got me 22mpg.

 

 

I'm going to test this with different octanes for a while and see what kind of results I get, but it SEEMS to have an impact.

 

 

I'm guessing that like most modern engine control systems, ours modifies the spark advance based on the octane of the gas available by running it forward until it senses knock, then backing it off.

 

If that's true then basically it's worth running the higher octane gas because the mileage goes up enough to recover the extra cost.

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Josh, Legacy 777 said something on a previous thread that made some good sense about the 4AT transmissions: furt gear locked up converter actually slips between 5 & 95% depending upon demand. This I did not know until I read this MB. I always thought lock-up was, well, LOCKED UP!

 

As far as octane at elevations, you get 85 above 3000 feet because for the same engine performance you do not REQUIRE a higher octane rating. You generally get better milage at higher elevations because there is less air the higher you go and the ECU leans out the mixture to compensate.

 

There is total fallacy in using higher octane in an engine that is rated for a lower octane. You may THINK you are getting more power but that may be power of suggestion. The fact is that higher octane fuel burns slower and produces less pressure all other factors being the same. The slower burn rate is what precludes ping, or detonation. Superchargers and turbochargers generally require a higher octane or A LOWER INITIAL COMPRESSION RATIO. A typical geared supercharged aircraft (Pratt & Whitney 985) engine will have an initial CR of 7.5:1 and burn 80/86 octane. This system will allow up to 36 in Hg boost with no detonation. Higher octane fuels may be used as long as the pilot understands he will get a NOTICEABLE REDUCTION IN POWER AND WILL AFFECT TAKE-OFF ROLL ADVERSELY. This stuff was figured out in the 30's and was used effectively by both auto and aviation industries successfully proving it was correct.

 

The other facts of life are the gasoline people are famous for mix and match at the in-ground tanks. You can bet that you are more likely to get 87 or 85 octane when you buy the higher octane fuel. Sure, it is fraud. Are we gonna catch 'em? We do not have the time to stake 'em out and so on.

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Originally posted by CROSSTBOLT

There is total fallacy in using higher octane in an engine that is rated for a lower octane.

 

Except for one thing...

 

Most cars these days have an anti-kock sensor that backs off your timing if it senses detonation.

 

THAT is how higher compression engines can run on relatively low octane in modern cars.

 

Just because a car CAN run on (is rated for) 87, doesn't mean that it SHOULD be run on 87.

 

You bring up a valid point about the psychological impact of using higher octane gas, but if you run several tanks of 87, then run it almost dry and start using 93 octane, and then your mileage goes up, it means you should be using higher octane gas.

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