Where did my 26km go?
I’ve lost 26km! At least, that is what the on-board computer is now telling me.
OK, here’s what happened: I filled up on Friday with bio-ethanol before I went away for the weekend. With a full tank, the computer calculated that I had 448km remaining, and no longer 474km.
Now, I know this is only a rough estimate and averaged over my usage, but that’s still quite a leap.
Whilst out over the weekend, I think I may have found the answer: whenever I start car, the air-conditioning automatically switches on. I compared the fuel consumption figures and turning off the air-conditioning saves about 2 litres per 100km, so if I don’t turn it off every time I start the car, I am using more fuel than necessary.
I wonder if there is a way to turn it off permanently, at least until I want it on. Or is there a reason to have it on all the time?

November 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am
On a per unit volume volume basis ethonal releaces less energy when burned than gasoline. (something like 6%-7% less)
November 27th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Yes, but I have only ever put bio-ethanol on the tank, so both estimates were based on E85-ethanol.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
[...] year I noticed that the air-conditioning was turning itself on every time I started the engine. Â I thought this [...]
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
[...] year I noticed that the air-conditioning was turning itself on every time I started the engine. I thought this [...]
August 31st, 2008 at 12:53 am
[...] the whole situation did make me conscious of the restrictions of the bio-ethanol fuel. After all, I don’t get as many kilometres out of a tank as I used to with normal petrol. I quick check of the list of [...]
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 am
[...] I’ll forget that I get a discount from my dealer on that price. I remember working out a long time ago that I need about 20% more bio-ethanol to drive the same distance than normal petrol, and at a [...]