"DGD" <ddubowski.DeleteThis@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:b6a3ef3d-605f-4f9a-8855-6550772e2dee@c33g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
> Just purchased a used 2007 Subaru Legacy 2.5i wagon. The display on
> the dash has the ability to display "instantaneous fuel consumption"
> and average fuel consumption, both in liters/100 km. The average fuel
> consumption reading is tied to the trip odometer, so that is where the
> calculation gets its total distance travelled. However, how does the
> calculation get total fuel consumed, given that the fuel consumption
> rate is a continuously changing variable? How accurate would these
> fuel consumption algorithm be?
>
> Thx.
It uses the MAF sensor and the VSS (vehicle speed) and it is very accurate
as long as you know the desired A/F ratio. The car's ECU has a target for
Air/Fuel (A/F) Ratio (usually, a little less that 14.7:1 Air to Fuel by
mass). Based on how much air is coming in, the calculation is relatively
simple.
Read the MAF which gives grams of air/second
Divide that by the A/F ratio which gives grams of fuel/second
multiply that by 3600 gives grams of fuel/hour
divide that by 786 (the mass of a litre of fuel in grams) which gives
litres/hour
then take the vehicle speed (from the VSS) and divide that by the
litres/hour which gives litres/km
multiply that by 100 which gives litres/100km.
The ECU has to calculate grams of fuel anyway based on the MAF and
corrections applied based on the O2 sensors to tell the ECU whether it got
it right or not, so it is pretty accurate.
>> Stay informed about: Fuel Mileage Caluculation