My 72 MPG wild ride

I drove 55 miles and got 72.0 MPG today!

We have a route through our downtown that I've always thought was well suited for this car. The lights are all synchronized, and the speed limit is 30-35 MPH. When I first came to town, I drove this route every day. I thought it would be interesting to drive 50 miles or so over this route to see what kind of MPG I would average. That's about 2 hours of driving.

Now, mind you, I didn't try to set a record. I didn't try to optimize my mileage by "dead banding" or pulsing and gliding. I simply drove, about half the time on cruise. Although the lights are synchronized, there were still lots of stops. The route is only about 3-1/2 miles long, after which I had to stop and turn around. I often had to stop to get back in sync with the lights as well. Obviously I wasn't going for a Prius record, or I would have used a test track. I was just curious what kind of MPG I might get driving an everyday route like this.

Temperatures ranged from 70-79 degrees, and it rained most of the time. My lifetime average on my car (9,400 miles in Fall, Winter, and Spring in cold Northern Indiana, over mostly short trips) has been 45.47 MPG.

After doing this test, I think I might move back to where I have to drive through downtown to get to work! (heh-heh)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jul 2 2006, 05:16 PM) [snapback]280218[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, I was just curious about how routes can affect economy, and thought I would share where someone might appreciate the info...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Jul 3 2006, 09:21 AM) [snapback]280471[/snapback]</div>

My intent when I started this thread was to show for some people the car is capable of much more than the EPA says it is, and without doing anything special. My car also averages 45 MPG, but that's because there are a lot of factors that come into play, and living in cold weather and going on short trips are two of the things that work against me.

I really didn't do anything that had to be learned here, I simply drove a favorable route as a demonstration of the car's capabilities. For those that think 55 miles wasn't far enough to get out of the initial averaging error, I say you're crazy. That's more than far enough!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drift Motion @ Jul 14 2006, 02:15 AM) [snapback]286106[/snapback]</div>

That says 4 miles, Drift, not 55, nor even your original 20 claim... Try again!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pcflorida @ Jul 14 2006, 07:56 AM) [snapback]286150[/snapback]</div>

There you go! Good run, pcflorida!