750 Mile R/T Highway Miles @ 70 MPH

Report on a recent road trip.

For those interested in highway MPG. I recently took a road trip from Baltimore, MD to Cleveland, OH in my new '06. I traveled with a passenger & a bunch of luggage in the back seat and in the hatch. Tire pressure was 40F/38R.

The '06 had about 3300 miles on it when we started. Lifetime MPG was 47.2 before we left, as calculated from 7 tank fillups (display showed 48.6). We took I-70 to Breezewood and then the Penna and Ohio turnpikes. Kept it at 70 mph the whole time, mostly with cruise control. I was surprised that MPG going west (into the wind, I thought) went up a little as shown by display (up to 48.8), thus I assume about 47.4 MPG actual. Coming back the display MPG dropped back to 48.6. Thus, we achieved around 47.2 MPG for a highway trip @ 70 MPH. Not too bad.

I thought the car was very quiet on the highway. I can't say I heard the engine much, even on the hills. I did notice that sitting in the passenger seat the car seemed louder, with some road noise from the passenger side wheel well abd even engine noise occassionally. Don't know if it's just the difference in driving versus being a passenger.

We both agreed that the trip was as comfortable as in our '01 Camry, with almost as much useable space. The only drawback is that to really fill the hatch you'd block the view. No other complaints. Great car!

--WJP