Ecu Adapts To New Driving Conditions?

[mrbutz1]

For two years I only drove my '94 ES around town in Chicago, averaging about 16 mpg. Four months ago I took a new job which requires a daily round trip of 30 miles, 24 of which are on Lake Shore Drive moving either about 5-10 mph in the morning or a steady 50 mph going home. I don't drive in the city stop and go traffic light/stop sign anymore and my mpg have steadily risen. I used to get about 200 miles before my empty light would come on (requiring about 15.5 gallons at each fill up), then I got 225, then 250, then 275, then 300 and last tank was 325 -- all on about 15-16 gallons.

What's going on here? Does the ECU learn a new driving style and adapt the engine to it? Or did God step in to prevent my wife from forcing me to sell this massive V6 when we've got the highest gas prices in the US?

[SW03ES]

Cars get better mileage on the highway than they do in the city, at least normal internal combustion cars (Hybrids get better mileage in the city). Whats happened is your daily driving has become more highway than city thus your mileage is increasing.

Has nothing to do with the ECU ;)

[mrbutz1]

Cars get better mileage on the highway than they do in the city, at least normal internal combustion cars (Hybrids get better mileage in the city). Whats happened is your daily driving has become more highway than city thus your mileage is increasing.

Has nothing to do with the ECU ;)

Thanks. I guess I should have mentioned that I know this about highway vs city driving...my Lexi gets nearly 28 on straight highway in general.

But for four months since I started the new job my commute has been the same...30 miles 5 days a week in the same conditions as mentioned previously. But the mpg have steadily increased even though I started four months ago doing the same thing I've been doing ever since...i.e. the highway percentage of the miles is the same as it was, yet the miles per tank keep going up. That's the [happy] mystery. It's no biggie, I was just curious if the car's brain can adapt over time to new driving conditions.

[SW03ES]

Ah I gotcha. I wasn't going to say anything but I hoped you knew that ;)

It could have to do with the weather getting warmer too.