MPG observations

[hectik1]

Just got back from my first road trip with my MS3. Started at 6600 miles on the clock. 600 miles from my door in IL to Harrisburg, PA. 32 MPG home to Ohio. 29 MPG from Ohio to Pennsylvania (this included some mountain/hill driving). On the way back, 29 MPG Pennsylvania to Ohio. 30 MPG Ohio to Indiana. The way back couldn't use the cruise as much due to the additional traffic. MPG definitely go up on the highway using the cruise control at every chance. That seems to be the major factor.

Just thought I would share.

[oaklandopen]

bleh, im averaging 25.5 to and from school. in all actuality it's around 23 up and 27 back due to the uphill downhill factor. not only that, there are a lot of lights and traffic, no hwy here. but im glad to see that ppl are getting to the 30's at some point

[lestat13]

Pretty consistent 22 mpg city or short highway trips (under 20 miles), 24-26 long highway (about 25+ miles at a time)

[mrjoshyman]

Pretty consistent 22 mpg city or short highway trips (under 20 miles), 24-26 long highway (about 25+ miles at a time)


i would have to say that is pretty much where i'm @ right now. my car is still relatively new ....less than 2k miles so I guess i'm enjoying the novelty of having a quick car, so driving spiritedly often gives me that type of mileage...prolly a lil worse. the best i've gotten so far was 25 mpg for a tank with a mix of highway & city prolly about 60/40 -- that was babying it like crazy and using cruise all the time (just wanted to test out what i could get)

[hectik1]

Mixed driving (sometimes hitting full boost) I average about 25 MPG.

[FrequentFlyer]

Speed, or lack there of, has a lot to do with good highway mileage. If you keep it to 60-65mph, I bet you can get 32+ mpg, but since the norm seems to be in the 75+ range these days just to keep up with traffic, everyone is burning a good 10-15% more gas then they would if they drove the speed limit. We did a road trip with our MDX yesterday, kept the cruise control on 60-65mph the entire way and averaged near 27mpg with an SUV. Not shabby. Of course everyone was flying around us doing 80, but that's ok. They can get to the gas station before I do. Since it's costing me $70+ to fill the freaking tank on that thing, I'll leave the house 10 minutes earlier to get where I'm going without having to drive like I'm on the Autobahn.

[JimsSpeed3]

I'll get a good gauge on the MPG my MS3 can get. Going from Concord, CA (SF bay area) to Grand Junction, CO., it's right at 1,000 miles each way. HWY 80 is a pretty fast road and pretty straight when you get past Reno, NV all the way to Salt Lake City, UT. A long stretch of HWY 80 is posted 75 mph through NV, still only do 79 mph. I figure anything about 80 mph and you're looking for a ticket. I've been told since they give you 75 mph already, they don't let you do a lot above that. I usually do about 72 mph in the 65 mph zones around here, never had a problem. It's about 16 hours to make the run, probably won't do it all in one day, getting to old for that. Will report on my MPG, not going until 8/2.
Jim

[hectik1]

Speed, or lack there of, has a lot to do with good highway mileage. If you keep it to 60-65mph, I bet you can get 32+ mpg, but since the norm seems to be in the 75+ range these days just to keep up with traffic, everyone is burning a good 10-15% more gas then they would if they drove the speed limit. We did a road trip with our MDX yesterday, kept the cruise control on 60-65mph the entire way and averaged near 27mpg with an SUV. Not shabby. Of course everyone was flying around us doing 80, but that's ok. They can get to the gas station before I do. Since it's costing me $70+ to fill the freaking tank on that thing, I'll leave the house 10 minutes earlier to get where I'm going without having to drive like I'm on the Autobahn.
I got the 32 MPG averaging between 70-75 MPH.

[MikeHTally]

Round trip to Baton Rouge last weekend. Trip over was still breaking her in, so much varying of speed. As slow as 55 with many top-gear accelerations to 75, 85, 90 or so. Max speed 98.6 according to the GPS. 30.4 mpg, hand calculated. Return trip was more my style, since she now had over 2 kilomiles. That mileage was 28.8. Absolutely satisfied with her road manners. Really cool to be running around 80 in 6th and get 100 with just a nudge of the loud pedal.

[Smokin08]

Speed, or lack there of, has a lot to do with good highway mileage. If you keep it to 60-65mph, I bet you can get 32+ mpg, but since the norm seems to be in the 75+ range these days just to keep up with traffic, everyone is burning a good 10-15% more gas then they would if they drove the speed limit. We did a road trip with our MDX yesterday, kept the cruise control on 60-65mph the entire way and averaged near 27mpg with an SUV. Not shabby. Of course everyone was flying around us doing 80, but that's ok. They can get to the gas station before I do. Since it's costing me $70+ to fill the freaking tank on that thing, I'll leave the house 10 minutes earlier to get where I'm going without having to drive like I'm on the Autobahn.

$70 a tank?? that's nothing.. i'd be happy to fill up my 08 Superduty for that.. it costs a good $135 per tank in my truck... that's why i bought the speed for my daily driver!! Diesel fuel is almost $5/gal now.. But i do love my Speed!

[FrequentFlyer]

$70 a tank?? that's nothing.. i'd be happy to fill up my 08 Superduty for that.. it costs a good $135 per tank in my truck... that's why i bought the speed for my daily driver!! Diesel fuel is almost $5/gal now.. But i do love my Speed!

I hope you use that truck for work! :)

[MikeHTally]

$70 a tank?? that's nothing.. i'd be happy to fill up my 08 Superduty for that.. it costs a good $135 per tank in my truck... that's why i bought the speed for my daily driver!! Diesel fuel is almost $5/gal now.. But i do love my Speed!
Visited California last month -- saw diesel @ $5.61 If I were to fill my Ram from "fumes" here, it would be about $105 or so. Filled ('bout 12 gal) the Speed last weekend -- $52

[Smokin08]

my '08 F250 is my "pleasure" vehicle now on my insurance.. I love it and would drive it everyday if diesel was still 3.00-3.50/gal.. but she is only used to pull my 74 bronco to and from the trails now.. and the occassional trip to Lowes or Home Depot or a nursery for landscape supplies... it sucks but i'll never get rid of it!! My silver speed is a great daily driver.. and i've already put 3,000 miles on her in a little over 6 weeks.

[irnbru83]

I average 26 mpg.


Definite decrease in MPG between 60-65 and 75-80. By definite I mean the difference between averaging 26 and averaging 22 on a tank.

[ericrapp]

29.7 with mods

[Vindikacione]

I got the 32 MPG averaging between 70-75 MPH.

How are you computing that?

Do you look at your Car's computer or are you doing the Odometer and Receipt method and using your handy cellphone's calculator?

Unless you had a really good tail wind, I find 32 MPG at 70 MPH hard to believe. Seriously.

Was your A/C on?

I get the Cruise Control Method. But that's down right crazy MPG for this type of car at that speed, not that it's fast, but still. Pretty good. You're obviously a very disciplined driver. I couldn't hit 22 MPG highway to save my life.

[jwdp54]

i try not to look at that information since i bought the car to go fast lol
but it is good to know our cars can get good mpg on trips. thats honestly the only time i would worry about it.

[hectik1]

How are you computing that?

Do you look at your Car's computer or are you doing the Odometer and Receipt method and using your handy cellphone's calculator?

Unless you had a really good tail wind, I find 32 MPG at 70 MPH hard to believe. Seriously.

Was your A/C on?

I get the Cruise Control Method. But that's down right crazy MPG for this type of car at that speed, not that it's fast, but still. Pretty good. You're obviously a very disciplined driver. I couldn't hit 22 MPG highway to save my life.
Doing it the old school way with the calculator.

Well IL and IN are pretty flat. I didn't have the A/C on, and used the cruise control almost the whole time. Yes it takes discipline. I average about 25 MPG driving to and from work too.

[kneedragger241]

Just got back from my first road trip with my MS3. Started at 6600 miles on the clock. 600 miles from my door in IL to Harrisburg, PA. 32 MPG home to Ohio. 29 MPG from Ohio to Pennsylvania (this included some mountain/hill driving). On the way back, 29 MPG Pennsylvania to Ohio. 30 MPG Ohio to Indiana. The way back couldn't use the cruise as much due to the additional traffic. MPG definitely go up on the highway using the cruise control at every chance. That seems to be the major factor.

Just thought I would share.

Why would anyone drive TO Harrisburg?
I'm constantly looking for reasons to drive away from that town!

So far on my journey from Harrisburg to Miami, to Key West and then to Sarasota, the trip computer says 28.4.
I've been trying to keep the revs under 3K. I notice that the mileage suffers once the boost increases the demand for fuel.

[FrequentFlyer]

How are you computing that?

Do you look at your Car's computer or are you doing the Odometer and Receipt method and using your handy cellphone's calculator?

Unless you had a really good tail wind, I find 32 MPG at 70 MPH hard to believe. Seriously.

Was your A/C on?

I get the Cruise Control Method. But that's down right crazy MPG for this type of car at that speed, not that it's fast, but still. Pretty good. You're obviously a very disciplined driver. I couldn't hit 22 MPG highway to save my life.

I haven't done a long trip on the highway to empty a complete tank yet since I've had this car, but I drive 75% highway, 25% stop and go to work. That's about 60 miles on the highway and 20 stop and go per day and I've been averaging about 25-26 mpg. When I'm on the highway, I set the cruise control at 70 unless I need to pass. I notice that the current mpg reading reads between 33-35mpg on a level surface. However, I think that gauge is bout 2mpg optimistic from my calculations after fillups. The average mpg reading is always at about 27-28mpg when I fillup, but I've never gotten more than 26. On a level surface, no wind/tailwind or with drafting, it may be possible to get 32mpg on the highway doing 70, but I couldn't see myself getting more than 29-30.

I'm not quite sure what you're doing to only get 22mpg on the highway. You've obviously got a heavy foot.

[Mike240SX]

I just took a 1650 mile trip (Delaware to Ohio, several runabout locations once there, and back). I averaged 27.5mpg (calcuated from tripometer, not using the in-car MPG display), which I'd say is pretty damnned good since a large portion of the trip was spent with the AC on at 75 mph, with some bursts up to 130 and plenty of hilly driving and stop-and-go due to traffic. I did, for the most part, baby it around town though.

My in-car display (CONSUM AVG) was consistently 1-3 mpg higher than what I caculated, which is a lot less off than I thought it would be.

[Absent-Minded]

...I think that gauge is bout 2mpg optimistic from my calculations after fillups....Yeah... mine averages 2 mpg optomistic as well.


I'm not quite sure what you're doing to only get 22mpg on the highway. You've obviously got a heavy foot.Maybe he forgot there's a sixth gear. :D

I'll be taking a 2,500 mile round trip here very soon, so I'll be curious to see how it goes. Especially with the prices right now.

As I don't have a boost gauge yet... what RPM range does boost really start kicking in? I figure it's at 3k, so maybe I stay around 2500 - 2800 RPM in 6th.

[Vindikacione]

I'm not quite sure what you're doing to only get 22mpg on the highway. You've obviously got a heavy foot.

I was exagerating a wee bit. My computer typically reads 28mpg, so I'm estimating that it really means 25-26mpg (for US highways). I sometimes keep the receipts and use the calculator, but even when I tried the discipline route with cruise control, etc., I never bettered 28.4mpg. So essentially I gave up trying to hit 30mpg.

BTW, I got 18mpg one time on a drive from K-towne to Nuremburg, but I was averaging close to 115mph. A6 is an awesome drive on Sundays when the truckers aren't out in force and the autobahn construction is at a halt. Redbull is your friend on a drive like that. Concentration is relentless.

[dandydaniel]

just finished a tank doing completely 100% city, grocery getting driving aka maybe hit 50mph for a total of 2 miles? everything else was <40mph. shifting at 3100k, got 18.93 mpg (hand calculated).

[hectik1]

Why would anyone drive TO Harrisburg?
I'm constantly looking for reasons to drive away from that town!

So far on my journey from Harrisburg to Miami, to Key West and then to Sarasota, the trip computer says 28.4.
I've been trying to keep the revs under 3K. I notice that the mileage suffers once the boost increases the demand for fuel.
Stayed in Harrisburg.....went to Hershey. My wife's vacation planning!(second)

[kneedragger241]

Here's my observations from my "One Lap of Florida" road trip.
Started in Harrisburg, PA and drove to Miami, Key West and Sarasota.

My numbers are from the trip computer. Sorry, I don't do math... especially on vacation.

- 2875 total miles
- 29.1 MPG
- 68 MPH
- $400 for fuel

The fuel cost is really a rough estimate. Actual fuel receipts added up to $432.58.
I left Harrisburg with half a tank and had to refuel about 45 miles before I got home, so I'm guestimating on the fuel cost.

[FrequentFlyer]

Here's my observations from my "One Lap of Florida" road trip.
Started in Harrisburg, PA and drove to Miami, Key West and Sarasota.

My numbers are from the trip computer. Sorry, I don't do math... especially on vacation.

- 2875 total miles
- 29.1 MPG
- 68 MPH
- $400 for fuel

The fuel cost is really a rough estimate. Actual fuel receipts added up to $432.58.
I left Harrisburg with half a tank and had to refuel about 45 miles before I got home, so I'm guestimating on the fuel cost.

It's getting sad when you can buy two tickets on Southwest Airlines from Philly to Ft. Lauderdale and back for less than what it costs to drive down there and back. $298 w/tax and fees vs. $432.58. You get down there in 2 hours instead of 18 and you've even got near $135 left over to rent a car for a few days once you're down there. It's $114 for an economy or compact car rental through SWA that'll probably get 35mpg, so you'd have to add $15-20 for gas. I wonder why the airlines are in the shitter. (uhm)

[Mike240SX]

Half the fun lies in the trip. No excitement or scenery at thirty thousand feet, unless something goes wrong.

[kneedragger241]

Half the fun lies in the trip. No excitement or scenery at thirty thousand feet, unless something goes wrong.

LOL!
I fly for work about 30 times a year, and drive crappy rental cars on half of those assignments, so I was in the mood for a good old-fashioned road trip in my own car. I grew up seeing most of this country from the back seat of my parents' car, so that's what I like.

FLY?
PHL is about a 2hr drive from my house in Harrisburg and a shitty airport.
On top of the plane tickets, you also need to factor in parking at the airport, and gas to and from.
Then there's getting to the airport 1hr before the flight to make it through security, a limit on what I can bring with me or getting whacked with baggage fees. I'm always a two bagger or overweight when traveling for work.
Add in the cost of a rental car for 9 days and the fuel to drive it from Miami to Key West and then to Sarasota.
Factor in the extra cost of a point-to-point rental.
Factor in the extra cost of Flying home from SRQ... or drive up to TPA.
Arrive at PHL and still have a 2hr drive home.
Did I mention my trip was over the holiday weekend? Factor in that cost.

DRIVE?
Bring as much stuff as I can fit in the car for an 11 day trip. Bring home everything the wife buys while on the trip... at no extra charge.
No fat guy using half of my seat.
No lines. No security telling me I can't bring a bottle of water or a can of Rockstar with me.
See stuff.
Leave my house after dinner on July 3rd, drive through the night and drinking a mojito with my friends on the Intercoastal by 2pm on the 4th. Much better than wasting a whole day getting to the airport and waiting in lines, then waiting for my bags and picking up a rental car.
Enjoy the drive to Key West in my own car.
Chase a Murcielago through the glades on Alligator Alley.
Stop at JR Cigar in NC and buy a whole buncha stogies.
More cost effective than flying based on my multi-stop intinerary.




I've been around and around this topic with my clients over and over.
Either you have road trip mentality or you don't. It's not for everyone.
And I'm glad it's not! I'm also glad about the rising price of gas. I've never seen 95 so light on traffic, and it seemed like there was a lot fewer SUV's on the road than there was last year.

[ericrapp]

Good perspective, KD