What the hell is the MPG gauge for if you can reset it?

I'm driving down the road and accidentally hit the reset button on the steering wheel. All of a sudden I got all kinds of crazy ass readings from 11mpg to 213mpg then it ticked back down to 11mpg and worked its way back up to an average of 21mpg. I don't give a damn what reason Chrysler/Jeep has for designing the MPG gauge that way. Either it works or it doesn't--there should be no need to reset the damn thing. Next issue concerning gas mileage. All of a sudden my ECO gauge has disappeared. What the hell? Yes I'm sure some Jeep manual covers this but all I got was the DVD.

Traction Control.

What the fuqu is the traction control off switch good for if the system overrides the off switch in adverse conditions. I got stuck in a friggin' mud hole because the traction control killed my wheel spin. I can't even do doughnuts without this damn thing overriding the off switch and causing all kinds of noise.

 

The MPG guage is for an average. If you reset it, it will give you an instant reading, and the longer you drive it, it will average it out. It is made so you can reset it when you get a new tank of gas and know what your miles per gallon are for each tank. Virtually every MPG guage on most cars are deisgned like that.

The ECO guage can also be cut on or off by the menu. It is in your personal settings. You can also adjust the language, metric or standard and if you want the hill assist on.

 

Like HornetJK said. I figured this out the first 2 minutes in the '12. I'm a dumbass too when it comes to stuff like this sometimes.
When in doubt, consult the manual and your dealer, (but I know, sometimes that doesn't help)

 

I understand the concept as it was explained. And I did figure out what it was doing (recalibrating) but what's the point of having to recalibrate the mpg gauge when miles are ticking by as it recalibrates? Yes, I know. Calibrate before you drive. But what about when you accidently hit the reset button?

Obviously, if I have 60mph locked in on cruise control (averaging 21.9mpg) and I hit the reset button, then it's going to drop down to 11.0 and tick up from there. Then what also pisses me off is when I'm cruising down the highway and I'm reading 23.2mpg when I'm obviously not averaging that. That's agrivating.

IMO there's no need to have to recalibrate for every trip you take. People are intelligent enough to know that factors such as driving style, tempurature, altitude, etc. will affect mpg's.

BMW had a better mpg gauge back in the day. It simply fluctuated according to driving style. There was no lag time waiting for a digital gauge to recalibrate.

 

you aren't really waiting for it to recalibrate. It's the MPG average that you've gotten between the time you reset it and the time/mileage you've driven. It's a simple calculation and not Chrysler's fault. What BMW probably had was an instantaneous MPG gauge, which doesn't average anything. It just tells you the MPG you're getting at that very moment (with a little buffer of course).

 

Okay, so what's going on between the time a recalibrating mpg gauge is slowly ticking up to a true average and when it finally reaches a true reading (and vis versa)?

The reason why I'm asking is if my total distance traveled is 40 miles but it takes 29 miles before it gives a true reading, then what's the point?

The point with and instantaneous gauge is once you locked in on cruise control you're going to get an instantaneous reading from that point on. There's no way I'm going to be averaging 21mpg's if I've been traveling at 80mph for 30 miles.

 

It's an average and not a recalibration.

And yeah, my old M3 had a needle gauge that showed current MPG. But it also had an AVERAGE MPG stat in the trip computer that I would reset with each fill-up.

My biggest gripe is the ESC/TCS/BLD. There are three different ways to change its settings? Just press it once, which doesn't appear to do anything whatsoever except give you a tiny bit more wiggle room before the systems kick in. Or, in 4WD, press and hold it for 7 seconds which appears to remove ESC but leaves BLD on(is this correct?). And then there's the steering wheel dance which I have yet to successfully do in my 2012. I've followed the instructions in the CD manual to a T. I just want a god damn button that turns it all off but leaves the ABS on in 2WD OR 4WD!

I installed a fun-switch, but I don't like that it kills the ABS.

Another gripe is the lane assist turn signal switch. I don't want it to go off three times if I just tap the turn signal stalk. I only want it to blink when I ACTUALLY move the stalk firmly in one position or the other. There are many times where I'll start to press the turn signals as I look over my shoulder. I see that it is not clear and I therefore stop pressing the turn signals. BUT NO, it has to make sure to blink three full times. Does anybody know how to make it stop doing this?

 

I think you may have something wrong. Mine takes a couple seconds before it displays its first value, but it seems to be accurate for an average the whole time. It never jumps around. If I reset it at the gas station, it's low at first because I'm accelerating away from a stop. But if I reset it on the highway, it starts at a normal level for highway driving.

 

It's not recalibrating, it is calculating your Average mpg from scratch again. Its a fantastic little gadget and lets your analyze your driving style to get the best.

Its intended for you to reset before you go on a trip or before you begin your work week. Then you see your AVG MPG from when you last reset it. If you are coming down a hill and you shift your transmission into neutral or push in the clutch, then reset the gauge you will probably show 100mpg until you put your foot on the gas again.

My old BMW had the same silly gauge and to me, the jeep's is far more useful.

 

My 02' 5 series was the same. I just like the instantaneous reading. Relying only on a digital tripmeter just doesn't float my boat but that's just me.

As far as the traction control or ESC or whatever you want to call it, at least with my 07' Sahara once you turned it off it STAYED off. the traction control actually overrides the ESC kill switch on the 12'. Stupid. ESC is okay for eliminating too much wheel spin like when you're in slimy mud but when you're in thick, clay-like mud it's useless.