First long road trip report!

[slingshot]

Well, I put on another 500 miles so getting close to breaking through the 1,000 mile breakin point. My trip going out (from NY to Boston) averaged 28 mpg using premium gas and constantly changing speed with no cruise control. It rode real nice but my bumper was pretty covered with squashed bugs by the end. This car is very comfortable to drive long distance and the sunroof is pretty quiet when open.

The trip home averaged 33 mpg using regular gas and changing speed often again. I think I'm going to stay with regular gas. For listening entertainment, I bought a $20 Arkon SF100 that plugged into the car's 12 volt adapter and powered my Rio Volt MP3 CD Player and wirelessly sent the output to an unused FM channel. It worked real well with only the need to readjust the unused FM frequency a few times each way. This is a great cheap solution to replace the need for a 6 CD jukebox in the trunk. I set it all up in the center bottom bin.
Dave

[bigpow]

Those MPG numbers are interesting...

is there any reason why the trip home used less gasoline?
Or is it related to the octane level?

I thought higher octane = more power = less RPM = more MPG?

[slingshot]

I think I drove a little better coming home meaning very casual acceleration up hills and more coasting down hills. I really don't think there is a difference with 87 vs 93 with these cars. I was surprised to see 33 mpg on a brand new car rated at 28 mpg highway. The trip was 240 miles too coming back and almost all highway. But I'm getting 18-21 city doing lots of stop and go so far.

[bigpow]

Nice finding!

I'll copy your method next time I drive to LA

Going down with 91 and going up with 87

[slingshot]

Watch the instantaneous mpg numbers on the center left display while driving on the highway and that certainly helps to sip gas slowly. You could also probably get better gas mileage than the cruise control like I did because the cruise control accelerates quicker than needed and coasts less going downhill. The basic rule for best gas mileage is keeping a pretty constant speed with minimal acceleration (keep rpm's low) and maximal coasting. But don't coast too much to decrease your speed needing to accelerate to get it back. It's no fun doing these techniques around town at all but okay on a long trip. By the way my mpg numbers were while driving at 65-75 mph mostly.

[bigpow]

Still on the subject... I'm too lazy to read the user manual

On the gauge, there are two AVG MPG, one is always showing a higher numer than the other - what's the difference?
I think I get it for the instantenous MPG, trip time and estimated mileage till next refill.


Thanks!

[slingshot]

Look closer. There is an avg mpg and an avg mph. I think you just thought they were the same but they aren't.