As requested I'm starting this thread to openly test the "miracle" fuel additive CA40G. I've stated I've gotten 25MPG. Some have scoffed, some have asked how. Let this thread bare out the truth of the matter.
Test 1 - Start 07-25-08
I filled up my tank and drove from my house to work, however I had a few errands to run before going in and therefore I did not accurately track the mileage. This morning I drove from work about 4 miles to shop for my quiet tires (Thanks for the advice on those by the way) When I finished I stopped and topped of my tank and went to my 2nd home (about 1 mile away from gas station)for some shuteye, just 5 blocks from work. Before going inside I zeroed the trip odometer and took the attached picture this morning. As you can see, It only took 4.40 gallons to top off. Remember, I drove 74mi. to work, then another hour of city driving, uptown to get my sister-in-law, then downtown to drop her off and then uptown to pathmark supermarket and then to work (about 15mi.) and then another 4 miles this AM shopping for tires at Sam's Club in Secaucus(going with the Good Year Silent Armor Wranglers at $162 each + $12 for balance, install and old tire throw away, but probably not until November since I still have decent tread left). So all told, about 93 miles. Divided by the top off 4.40 gallons...
BREAKDOWN
71 Highway miles 22 City miles
93 total miles
21.13mpg using my CA40G
Now remember, I'm topped off, I'm driving 5 blocks to work about an hour from now, in the morning lies a direct trip home where I'll stop and have the tank topped off again 5 blocks from home and I'll upload another image with the receipt showing how much gas was used on the return trip.
My trip home consists of about 3 city miles and about 71 highway miles give or take a mile or two. Either way the trip odometer is set at zero and will include the full actual miles traveled.
Check back tomorrow around noon for the update.
Going by the H3's analog gauge and the odometer vs. how much gas the attendant squeezed into your tank (and filler neck) is not an accurate way to calculate fuel ecomomy and leaves a lot of margin of error.
How do you know your tank was absolutely full prior to the trip? Because the pump shut off? How can you verify that when you refilled your tank was top-offed? Unless you weigh the volume of the gas in the tank theres no possible method to insure that you are returning to that same volume. Plus you only drove the hummer on your one way trip with the additive. Theres no data about the same trip without for comparison. Depending on driving conditions you might have got the stated MPG regardless.
You really need something like a Scanguage II that hooks to the OBD to read acccurate MPG directly from the CPU.
I have used one, and I can tell you my H3 can get 97.2 MPG!...with a tailwind, coasting at 65 miles per hour down a 6-degree decline. I'm apparently also heavy with the foot off the line at redlights resulting in a measly 4.2 MPG. Good thing I'm not constantly accelerating. I guess thats why they use averages...
I know the tank is filled to the max because the places I go they keep tapping the handle til the gas spits back out at them. Maybe thats a Jersey thing? I don't know.
This test is going to be one way door to door each time I go direct to and from work and its the first in a series. I will do this for a couple of weeks. The trip odometer will do its thing, the gas station attendant will do his thing and the receipt I get will be demonstrative of my mpg. And while it isnt being scan guaged, it will be accurate enough to tell us if there is obvious gains. Accurate enough for me anyways. I've read here people getting 15-17mpg, and without the additive my first tank got me just 16mpg. My additive is getting me 21mpg minimum to me thats an obvious gain imho. Still I'm game for a challenge so here's an idea, howabout you buy a quart and do the test along side of mine. That way we can test the accuracy of H3s analog equipment and the productivity of the additive at the same time and as a bonus, you get to do all the sciency stuff you like to do!
Also, if you visit the website, they've done all the scientific tests and have the results posted there. That would give you an opportunity to compare your results with their scientific studies. Then you can report back here with your findings as well. That'd be ideal.
If you're not interested in participating thats okay to, but lets keep in mind though that on my end its just a test to see how well the additive works with my H3 and my driving habits. If someone else is more leadfooted, or launches off the line routinely with their H3, I'd expect the results to vary from mine, but I'd still bet they see an overall gain.
I hope you do do it though, its an excellent opportunity. Let us all know. Thanks!
Edit:
You may not be aware that this thread is more a continuation of a conversation in another thread where I stated I had made the same trip without the additive and with the needle starting in the same "fill" state and also that my ride to and from work is virtually all flat, all highway with only two small hills in either direction. That trip is where I got the initial 16mpg and it was a normal everyday trip for me travelling at posted speed limits ranging 55mph to 65mph. I travel at off peak hours and dont idle at all in traffic as a result unless of course there is an accident or other emergency causing it. For testing purposes I will not count those trips.
OK its 12 noon as I begin to write this and I'm running a little behind schedule with the post because my daughter's French Toast breakfast waits for no one, you eat it hot or not at all.
OK I tried taking pictures of my trip, and was successful until the camera battery died. Then I switched to my blackberry cam and it also was dying. Still I managed by charging it so I could snap a couple pics on arrival at the gas station here at home.
The first 6 pics show my H3 parked in the lot across from my home away from home and the surrounding area including NYC skyline across the river. The lot is about 5 blocks from the firehouse I work at.
After that begins pics of my trip home on the turnpike and parkway south in the morning after work.
Final pics are me stopped for gas. And after I charged the camera battery for a half an hour I went out to my driveway and took pictures of the trip odometer, fill guage and the receipt.
I learned a couple of things along the way. First of all my total trip was 73.3 miles, not quite the 74 that I thought it was. My city driving was closer to 5 miles than 3 miles. And my highway miles were more like 68 miles than 71 miles, as I previously suggested.
The results were as follows:
73.3 total miles
This included a 5 block drive to work and a 5 block drive to my house after topping off.
The top off took a little more than 3 gallons. 3.30 gallons to be exact. Note that the pump clicked off a 2.88 gallons and the attendant squeezed it up to 3.30 gallons. See H, its a Jersey thing!
OK so here's the math:
73.3 miles divided by 3.3 gallons equals 22.21 mpg.
Not quite 25 mpg, but certainly still shows significant gains over what others are reporting. And more than the manufacturer is suggesting is even possible.
Bottom line I'm satisfied the product is working as promised and I'll continue to do the testing to ensure its as accurate as it can be without specialized equipment.
I go back to work on Tuesday so that'll be the next test. And by the by, the trip may yield slightly different mileage as some of the streets are One Way only traffic. But it shouldn't be far off.
In future posts I'll just put up the before and afters. Taking pics while driving aint as easy as it looks.
Edit:
I added 001.jpg late because I thought I already added it. Start with it and then go to 002 and then down from there. over all, the pics are boring shots of the road I travel. Of intrest; 005 is a shot from my window showing the World Trade Center site, 006 Empire State Building. 014-approaching the Parkway when camera beeped it was dying. 018-the money shot of the receipt.
07-25-2008, 09:59 PM
Jersey's H3 and the Tale of 25MPG
Posting Rules
That's pretty good!!!!!!!
Hybrid Mode