Fuel range dramatic change

[Ghost10]

So I took a trip to Arizona from California my 18 premium hoe drove excellent! However I noticed something very interesting.

Here in California just 20mi North of Los Angeles when I fill up my tank to fill the highest fuel range I get is 350 +/- Mi

However in Arizona I was seeing 470+/- Mi.

What is going on ? Is it a elevation thing, is it the gas ?

Mind you I have an account with chevron so only use chevron gas.

 

[Big Mama]

Are you putting in the same amount? Same grade? I’m guessing 18 ish gallons? That’s 6+ mpg better/worse. If you figure it out I’d love to know. I just drove cross country and back in my motor home and got roughly the same mpg both ways so I don’t think elevation would affect it that much. Maybe it’s time to move to AZ…

 

[MobileHomie]

My '17 Great North American Gas Hog loves premium also, and shows different milage range at fill up based on previous driving patterns. So around town 350~370 miles vs road trips pushing 500 mile range.

 

[Ghost10]

Same octane 89.

No tune and my tank is 26 gallons.

 

[Sparksalot]

It’s the California additives. My dad lives out there and notes the same thing every time he gets past the guard towers at the state line.

 

[swathdiver]

It’s the California additives. My dad lives out there and notes the same thing every time he gets past the guard towers at the state line.

It's a Kalifornia thing!

 

[Jeff_]

If you’re referencing what the information center says as far as your range, then it’s predicting that range based off your previous miles driven.
So likely after a long road trip on interstate 10, you were getting good mileage. So then when you filled up, it was predicting if you continued to drive only on the highway, you’ll get 470 miles.
If you had done a lot of city driving before filling up, it’ll predict 350 miles for the range, based off what your previous miles to the fill up had been.
Hook up a trailer and drive a few miles getting 15mpg and the estimate will quickly drop. Basically saying “at this rate you’ll only get this many miles range”

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Ghost10]

If you’re referencing what the information center says as far as your range, then it’s predicting that range based off your previous miles driven.
So likely after a long road trip on interstate 10, you were getting good mileage. So then when you filled up, it was predicting if you continued to drive only on the highway, you’ll get 470 miles.
If you had done a lot of city driving before filling up, it’ll predict 350 miles for the range, based off what your previous miles to the fill up had been.
Hook up a trailer and drive a few miles getting 15mpg and the estimate will quickly drop. Basically saying “at this rate you’ll only get this many miles range”

Hope that makes sense.

Heck yeah it does.
So it's safe to say additives have nothing to do with this ? Because I'm pretty sure the petrol at a station in Arizona is going to be the same as California.

 

[Jeff_]

Heck yeah it does.
So it's safe to say additives have nothing to do with this ? Because I'm pretty sure the petrol at a station in Arizona is going to be the same as California.

Yeah that's safe to say. I drive quite often from socal to scottsdale and I can do it on one tank (little more than 500 miles per tank). Only difference in the gas is the price lol

 

[swathdiver]

So I took a trip to Arizona from California my 18 premium hoe drove excellent! However I noticed something very interesting.

Here in California just 20mi North of Los Angeles when I fill up my tank to fill the highest fuel range I get is 350 +/- Mi

However in Arizona I was seeing 470+/- Mi.

What is going on ? Is it a elevation thing, is it the gas ?

Mind you I have an account with chevron so only use chevron gas.

Clarification, did you only get 350 miles to that tank driving from LA to AZ? Did you get 470 miles to that tank of fuel driving from AZ to LA? Or are we talking about the range shown on the DIC right after refueling?

 

[Big Mama]

I think it’s the DIC info. At first I thought it was miles too.

 

[avalonandl]

California fuel and readings on Lie o meter

 

[Gmfm]

It’s pretty dramatic change. How’s your tire pressure. I’m not sure about az or ca since it’s warmer. We are in winter blend gas season and the mpg drop a bit.

 

[ivin74]

It’s pretty dramatic change. How’s your tire pressure. I’m not sure about az or ca since it’s warmer. We are in winter blend gas season and the mpg drop a bit.

Could also be that AZ uses less ethanol. Ethanol burns faster

 

[AZRiverRunner]

If you’re referencing what the information center says as far as your range, then it’s predicting that range based off your previous miles driven.
So likely after a long road trip on interstate 10, you were getting good mileage. So then when you filled up, it was predicting if you continued to drive only on the highway, you’ll get 470 miles.
If you had done a lot of city driving before filling up, it’ll predict 350 miles for the range, based off what your previous miles to the fill up had been.
Hook up a trailer and drive a few miles getting 15mpg and the estimate will quickly drop. Basically saying “at this rate you’ll only get this many miles range”

Hope that makes sense.

Jeff is exactly right. I regularly drive between LA and Vegas. When I fill up after a long highway drive, I see my range go up and sometimes over 600 miles. When I fill up after towing or hard stop and go driving the range shows in the 380-420 mile range.

 

[AZRiverRunner]

My 2005 Hummer H2 always shows about the same after every fill-up, reading 330-340 miles, whether I fill up in California, Arizona, or Nevada... It gets about 10.5 mpg city and hwy and has a 32 gallon fuel tank.. That's too painful to drive often these days.. LOL!.. or should I "Cry Out Loud" I don't know anymore.

 

[Ghost10]

My 2005 Hummer H2 always shows about the same after every fill-up, reading 330-340 miles, whether I fill up in California, Arizona, or Nevada... It gets about 10.5 mpg city and hwy and has a 32 gallon fuel tank.. That's too painful to drive often these days.. LOL!.. or should I "Cry Out Loud" I don't know anymore.

Haha any mods? Is it tuned ? 10.5 MPG, ouch!

 

[Rygrego]

So I took a trip to Arizona from California my 18 premium hoe drove excellent! However I noticed something very interesting.

Here in California just 20mi North of Los Angeles when I fill up my tank to fill the highest fuel range I get is 350 +/- Mi

However in Arizona I was seeing 470+/- Mi.

What is going on ? Is it a elevation thing, is it the gas ?

Mind you I have an account with chevron so only use chevron gas.

Its an algorithm the ECM figures based on your last tank/drive. If you normally drive around LA with stop and go and freeway it figures an average and projects it to the next fill up. If you filled in LA and drove to Phoenix it will base your next projected amount of miles after a fill up based on your last tank which would have been all highway miles thus the elevated projected miles for your next tank. Mind you Arizona gas is far better than California, but the car would't know that.

 

[AZRiverRunner]

Haha any mods? Is it tuned ? 10.5 MPG, ouch!

My Hummer H2 is stock, about 110k miles on the odo, I'm the original owner. It was my wire's daily driver/neighborhood school bus for about 8 years, then moved to Arizona, and has been an un-official Off-Road rescue for my neighbors Jeeps, trucks, and ATV/UTVs that get stuck. It's a great vehicle, one I plan to keep. Because the tires age out before wearing out, I recently went from BFG All-Terrain KOs with E load rated to BFG Mud Terrain KM3 35 X 12.50R17 E Load rated. I didn't notice any gas mileage difference on a recent 600 mile trip.

 

[Ghost10]

My Hummer H2 is stock, about 110k miles on the odo, I'm the original owner. It was my wire's daily driver/neighborhood school bus for about 8 years, then moved to Arizona, and has been an un-official Off-Road rescue for my neighbors Jeeps, trucks, and ATV/UTVs that get stuck. It's a great vehicle, one I plan to keep. Because the tires age out before wearing out, I recently went from BFG All-Terrain KOs with E load rated to BFG Mud Terrain KM3 35 X 12.50R17 E Load rated. I didn't notice any gas mileage difference on a recent 600 mile trip.

I would’ve got a hummer H1 but the wifey said Tahoe or gtfo