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MPG with an ETA
Depending on how the car is driven, but also the condition of the injectors,
gasoline, and other factors, the milage on every car can vary. This is no
news for most drivers. However, some of the numbers that the dealers quote
are based on EPA's transient cycles. These cycles are done under certain
conditions on a dynamometer. Different controls ensure a certain driving
cycle that corresponds to "city", "highway", or "combined" driving conditions.
While these cycles may not necessarily be representative for most BMW drivers,
they are meant to be an average for everybody. Above all, they are a means of
evaluating the performance (that part of it) of any model/make car sold in the
US. These procedures ensure "a baseline" (comparison if you prefer) test that
can be used to compare different cars. It is nothing but an indicator.
In my case, I was getting 22-25 mpg with my '86 eta engine, which is within the
dealers specifications (at least the mechanic was not surprized). After
using Techron, and tunning the car a little bit, the average mpg was about 30
for a while, and then it dropped again to about 27 or 28 (highway miles). This
is actually not too bad, considering that I have a hard time staying below
certain speeds ("My car can't go that slow..."). Besides, that was in the
Summer, when I had the A/C on, there were two people and some light baggage in
the car. In the winter, well - that's a different story.
- --
Cornelius.
BMW 325 '86