249, 250/365 - Some Car Thoughts

Guess what's for breakfast this weekend!

This was Martina a month or so before she turned one last 2011.

Last March 1, 2014 I was on my way back home from Batangas when I topped up my car at the Shell station along SLEX. I decided to give their Fuel Save fuel a try. Since that filling, I did notice my consumption was better. At least, based on the fuel indicator in the Rav4.

Well today I went back to my original fuel, Petron's XCS. I want to see how this affects fuel consumption in the car. When I topped up earlier tonight, my consumption was 7.89km/L. I haven't gotten that great consumption ever.

How do I compute consumption? I subtract the previous odometer reading from the current odometer reading when filling up. Then I divide the difference by how many liters it took to fill up now.

The past few months I've been averaging about 6.5km/L, so 7.89km/L is awesome. If I notice the needle going down faster I may try going back to Shell's Fuel Save again to see if it does give better mileage.

I do have one theory why consumption is better. I drove to and from Batangas before filling up last March 1. I ran my Rav4 at relatively higher speeds for a prolonged period of time (let's say 100kph for at least fifteen minutes at a time) when I was driving along SLEX and Star Tollway. That could have cleaned the engine of whatever gunk there was inside, helping to improve fuel economy as well.

So these next few weeks will help me determine what fuel to use moving forward. Also, I plan on driving my car along SLEX once every two months. Maybe take my family out one Sunday for breakfast in Sta. Rosa, budget permitting. This will make sure the engine gets a decent work out once in a while.

And on a final note, I do plan on giving my car a car wash once a month. After having it serviced at ARC Automotive I noticed the windshield doesn't have that oily film when I use the wiper when it rains. Must be with what they used to clean the car. This will be very helpful once the rainy season arrives. It will give me better visibility.

Out.