Trip Report

I took a few days last week to visit my adult children and three grandchildren. The trip originated from my home in Camarillo, CA. I drove to Cottonwood, CA about 550 miles one way. This trip involved driving mostly on highway 5, going from near sea level to over 4,000 feet and back to sea level both directions. It also involved hundreds of near flat straight road miles, then some 100-200 foot hilly sections spaced about two to four miles apart.

I had the 5,000 mile service done the day before the trip at about 4,900 miles when they changed the oil. I then re-inflated the tires to 42/40 and filled the tank at the start of the trip. I was alone and had perhaps 100lbs of "stuff" in the car.

Here are the specifics:

Starting mileage 4,920.1

First fill after 418.9 miles into the trip - 5,339 on the odometer. Took 9.6 gallons which works out to 43.63mpg but the computer showed 47.1. This was the majority of the leg up to the kids house and I had a strong headwind the entire way gusting between perhaps 25-40mph. Going over the mountains the computer mpg average dropped into the high 30's. For the rest of the trip the average climbed slowly - even against the wind.

Second fill included reaching my destination, then some short hops (10 to 25 miles) on country roads over the next 4 days, usually with 2 to 4 people in the car. I used the remainder of the tank for a good bit of the return trip. On that tank the trip odometer read 449 miles. I filled the car with 8.71 gallons which worked out to 51.54mpg or 50.8 on the computer.

The last tank was awesome as the computer was averaging about 55mpg much of that tank. This leg involved a quick climb to 4,000+ feet then a descent back to sea level. Still it got GREAT mileage. The trip odometer showed 358.3 miles when I filled it with just 6.83 gallons for a computed 52.45mpg. The computer showed 55.4mpg. I had no tail wind on the return trip.

I drove the entire distance at 60mph (I was in no hurry) even though the speed limit was 70. I had the air conditioner off for the entire trip but used the fan to draw cool outside air into the car. By the way my speedometer is only off by about 0.75 miles per hour fast according to my hand held GPS. So I had the cruise set to 61mph all the way to give me an actual 60.x mph.

The entire trip totaled 1226 miles, used 25.14 gallons, and computed to 48.7 mpg or 51.1 o the computer. I spent $92.47 on gas. I'm sure if I didn't have that strong headwind on the outbound trip I would have averaged over 50mpg by the gas consumption method.

I found the car comfortable to drive on this long distance trip. The only thing I did to improve my trip was reverse the head restraint. That thing is just too far forward for me and it gives me a neck ache.

I think the car got better mileage on the small 100-200 foot hills than it did on flat land, but the flat land portion wasn't too bad either. I loved seeing 55mpg on the computer for hundreds of miles.

One last thing. The outside temp was between 39 degrees and 65 degrees for this trip. Cold in the morning and closer to northern California of course.

John