Excellent MPG even w/ winter gas - why I love this car

[paycee]

Wow, is that 59 MPG for Gen II or Gen III? I couldnt even get past 50's =)

[F8L]

Originally Posted by paycee

Wow, is that 59 MPG for Gen II or Gen III? I couldnt even get past 50's =)

It's a GenII.

I don't normally get 60mpg tanks due to my commute which is comprised of 98% freeway driving at 60mpg-65mph and a steep section of road with a total of 1,200ft. elevation gain. If I could stay on flat roads 60mpg would be easy enough with a fair bit of gliding when possible. If I just drove it without thinking about efficiency I would be in the 52-55mpg range for each tank. This is with warmer temps usually associated with spring through early fall.

[bisco]

Originally Posted by F8L

Level ground with a barely discernible bump in the middle. I'll get a picture of the stretch of road today.

Glide with no regen. Due to high speed I enter the glide using very minimal HV battery energy because there is no way to turn that off until under 42mph. I believe the term to use is warp stealth for that period between 55mph and 42mph. Is that correct? If I were to lift off the throttle even just a tiny bit I would go back into regen.

after 8 years, i'm still trying to figure the terminology myself. but i know what you mean. that's amazing, i don't know if there's any place around this busy burg where i could try that. unused landing strip maybe.

[paycee]

so F8L do u mean that you can get better MPG's on highway than city driving?

[F8L]

Originally Posted by paycee

so F8L do u mean that you can get better MPG's on highway than city driving?

Depending on the conditions yes. In heavy traffic city driving conditions ith lots of stoplights it can be difficult to get great mpg. The constant stopping and accelerating is not conducive to efficiency. I have observed that traffic conditions in say Sacramento where everyone floors it from a light then slams on the brakes and cut you off whenever possible, makes it difficult to judge traffic conditions and leave enough space to glide. In contrast the traffic in Davis is light, people drive fairly slow and predictably and the lights don't change constantly which means you have a good shot and not having to stop for every single one. There are also long stretches of road between lights which makes for great gliding opportunity. So in some cities I can get much better mpg than I can on the freeway and in other cities my mpg may go down compared to the highway.

Highway mpg is less variable and you can generally achieve very good mpg as long as you keep your speeds low. You can further enhance highway mpg by using warp stealth mode when exiting the freeway (long onramps) or on hills and tall overpasses. The reason why a lot of people may get poor highway mpg is because they are speeding at 70mph+, windy or wet conditions, or they are driving aggressively with repeated speed ups and slow downs.

Without using any hypermiling techniques and despite the EPA 45mpg rating one can easily achieve 50mpg+ on the highway as long as they keep their speed at 65mph or below. This is assuming they are using OEM or other LRR tires and weather conditions are fair. Wind and rain can really tank your mpg.

[itsnicetobe]

Originally Posted by F8L

As the late great Chris LeDoux sang....



It Ain't The Years, It's The Miles
I walked behind the chute, stapped my spurs to my boots
At that big Rodeo in Cheyenne.
Feelin' tired and sore for a ride the day before,
And a thousand other rides since I began.
As I climbed up the gate I heard that young cowboy sayin',
Well, that ole man ain't gonna ride, and I had to smile.
I said son it ain't age that makes me look this way,
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
It ain't the years that I've known that have taken their toll,
'Cause they've been few.
If you took all the mashin's, the draggin's and the crashin's,
You'd probably look the same way I do.
It's the million miles of road, and gettin' snatched around and throwed,
That finally put the cramp in my style.
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
Went on and made my ride, only scored a 65.
But you know what really made my day complete,
Was when I looked up just in time to see that young cowboy goin' flyin',
And land in a pile at my feet.
And as the first aid came to haul him away, I said son you'll be
allright in a little while.
He's on his way to findin' out what it's all about.
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
It ain't the years that I've known that've taken their toll.
'Cause they've been few.
If you took all the mashin's, the draggin's, and the crashin's, you'd
probably look the same way I do.
It's the million miles of road of gettin' snatched around and throwed,
That finally put the cramp in my style.
It ain't age that made me look this way,
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
It ain't age that makes me look this way,
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.

Great picture ! ! !

[F8L]

Same trip but less traffic and I got off the freeway a few miles early to avoid the bad section of freeway that always drops my mpg.

[bisco]

wow! i'm down to 56 mpg's on winter gas, (and winter itself) although, this is the mildest winter i can remember in a while.

[F8L]

Originally Posted by bisco

wow! i'm down to 56 mpg's on winter gas, (and winter itself) although, this is the mildest winter i can remember in a while.

You have real winters and you average 56mpg in the winter whereas I only average 50-52mpg. Overall you always have better mpg numbers than I do. This is just a fun test to see what I can get on my evening commute. I'm scared to see what the morning commute looks like.

[bisco]

i'm starting to like this warmer winter weather, but when i see you sitting on the ground, all i can think of is a scorpion going up my pantleg.