Shown below are gas consumption numbers for one of my daily drivers since I bought the car new in May '84.
(Its mostly 3 season's driving to avoid wet salty winter conditions.)

This car has taken me to every job since I left college. Commutes have ranged from 15 min to 55 min one way.
The traditional head bolt fracture & accompanying steam cloud happened on the way to an interview at Ford in '86.
(It was the only Fiero in the Ford parking lot at the Oakville plant while I worked there...)

I've kept track in a little notebook; tallying each page & running totals. I always fill up and it only takes a few seconds to write it down.

362,904 kilometers
30,862.5 litres
8.5 litres/100 kilometers

or
225498.5 miles
6,788.8 Imperial gals
33.2 MPG Imperial

or
8153.0 US gals
27.7 MPG US

Interesting. Have you had periods of lower mileage when repairs were needed, or has it been pretty consistent the whole time?

Pretty cool to have such long term real world data. Thanks for posting that!

quote Originally posted by CowsPatoot: Interesting. Have you had periods of lower mileage when repairs were needed, or has it been pretty consistent the whole time?

Interesting that you should ask; that's one of the primary reasons I've kept track in all my vehicles. In my experience, claims by auto service providers that regular tune-ups etc. will improve your mileage 10 to 15% are wildly optimistic. My mileage records don't support that improvement hypothesis. The only way to know is to do what I've done & few people can be bothered.

If your mileage is suffering due to a problem, you'll likely notice a performance issue before a gas consumption change.

Fill-up by fill-up variation is evident throughout the log; different pumps and car angles affect the amount of gas put in. I actually scan the lot for a location that will allow the right front tire to be lower than the other tires so the little tank can be filled the same amount. The length & type of driving have more effect. The longer work commutes yielded better mileage than the shorter ones. I suspect there's more variation there than, for example a 1 tank before & 1 tank after tune-up service comparison.

The log consistently shows better mileage in the summer than the colder months. Some cold weather driving is included as I use the car if the roads are dry & not white with salt in the winter. (Some winters in the Niagara region are pretty favourable for Fiero use, which can be better than it sitting for 4-5 months.)


Stop & go city driving has been minimal; probably 75% or so has been highway or secondary roads; the rest in low congestion areas.

[This message has been edited by David Hambleton (edited 11-19-2013).]

Id be afriad I forgot to write it down a few times.

I used to write down the mileage and gallons at every fill up, but now I use an app on my phone to track all of our vehicles. It only takes a minute to enter the mileage, amount of fuel and price per gallon. It gives me mileage for that tank instantly and it also gives long term mileage, cost per mile, total fuel costs for a specific time period and other data. It also tracks service and can be used as a service reminder at set dates or mileage.

It's called Mileage and is available for Android on Google Play.