Can't get back over 50 MPG - driving me crazy

Hello All,

I know you will probably tell me I'm obsessing and you will probably be correct, but ever since my stupid trip a week and a half ago, I've been around 48-49 MPGs. I was averaging 52 and I can't stand being below 50. Really. :shocked: It's bugging me. No matter what I do, it persists at 48.something or 49. If it's the hargin, flargin, shlargin ethanol gas, I can't wait until it is gone. I am just over a quarter of a tank, so it is almost time to fill up. I hope that is what it is. I've adjusted the tire pressure (it had dropped a tad), but that did not get me back up to my pre-trip average.

I do actually have a few questions, too. I do very well with 30-40 mph driving because I can stealth/pulse & glide. Speeds above 45 mpg are more challenging, as far as gas mileage is concerned. I tried the stealth driving techniques provided here, but I am far from mastering them. Seems like the speed drops so fast that it isn't efficient because I have to turn around and hit the gas to get back up to the speed at which I want to stay. Not a comfortable way to drive, either(up...down...up...down). On my trip, I tried to stealth some, but ended up just settling for between 45-50 mpg driving - all ICE, except for a little coasting here and there. What is the best, most efficient way to drive above 45? What is the best MPG I can expect at those speeds? (It's probably 48 mpg...hee hee...) I have the base model, so I do not have cruise control.

Also, are there any tips for climbing hills and bridges? I coast down, of course, but the engine seems to wail a bit going up. There is a new bridge in town and it is mighty steep. I get about 17 MPH going up it (at about 40 mph). Since my car is still new (just passed 2000 miles), I worry about it - don't want to damage it in any way ever.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

 

Very impressive. I would like to achieve those results.

Can you further explain "instantaneous mpg" for me, please? Is that when you get up to the desired speed (or a little higher), then let off the gas for a moment, then back on? That is how I was able to get mine up to an average of 47-49 mpg (where it has stayed even since I've returned from the trip and to my daily route). I would accelerate up, then find a place on the gas pedal where my mpg number was dropping fairly slowly and my speed was dropping slowly, but I would not accelerate until the MPGs dropped to around 60. If I'm interpreting "instantaneous mpg" correctly, I should accelerate instead when MPGs are around 70, right? I was trying to maintain around 70 MPH. I had a hard time keeping my speed steady and doing this.

When I tried to just relax and drive, my MPGs would plummet down to the low 30s. I wish I could just relax and drive, but I can't live with MPGs in the 30s because I know my car can do better than that. Honestly, I thoroughly enjoy my town driving, but I have not enjoyed my highway driving at all. I drive highway on the weekends a lot because I'm out and about. I often find myself wishing I could just relax, but I can't seem to do that when the MPGs are way down like that. I would like to learn how to do both - relax and get my MPGs up without having to think about it so much. Tell me, are your trips, like the one you provided the snapshot for above, relaxing to you or do you have to worry with watching the MPGs the whole time? I love the car and I want to eventually be able to enjoy my road trips, you know?

I still am not sure if I even understand warp stealth yet or if I ever will. The only times I have been able to do that have been on exit ramps or similar situations of reducing speed gradually for a longer distance.

Thanks for all your input.

 

I must be totally screwing up because my weather is warm (70-80 degrees) and I can't get my mpg back up over 50. I stealth whenever I can, just like I did before my long trip (the first one in this car), but I have not been able to get the same results that I had before that trip. I wish I didn't care.

 

Thank you SO much. This is so helpful. I was starting to use these techniques, but didn't know how to perfect them or the proper way to apply them. The information you posted above, along with step-by-step intructions in the links, will really help. Thanks again!

 

Cool...I'll be filling it up today with regular old gasoline. Thanks!

BTW, my tire pressure is at 42/40.

 

You were given incorrect information, I guess. Mine came right off the boat from Japan. I had cruise control on my last two cars and didn't use it very much, so I didn't think it would matter much. Wish I'd gotten it now, based on what I've read in these forums. Maybe I'll add it down the road a ways. I read somewhere (probably in here) that it has cruise control on it, but it just isn't set up, or something to that effect. I will have to call the dealer and check on it...

 

Well, it has been my first day on my new ethanol-free tank. I've been practicing the driving techniques linked in this thread by SpartanScott (thanks again!) for the over-45-MPH part of my daily route. My MPG average is up to 54! Much better! Thanks for all the tips and advice.

 

Definitely not! That would defeat the purpose. I got the ethanol gas coming home from a trip. The car gets such good mileage that it took a while to get rid of it. My normal gas station (a couple of blocks from my house) is where I got the new, no-ethanol gas. My MPG average is now up to 55.4 (as of this morning). That is my all-time-high! I've driven about 70 miles on this tank, so far.

It is a combination of returning to the normal gas and the improved Pruis-driving skills I've learned from this forum that has given me the MPG boost.