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Hi all:

Well, now that the school year is over, I am taking a couple GEs at a community college. Unfortunately, the closest community college that would give transferable credit is a whopping 23 miles away. So, twice a week, I will be commuting a 23 mile one way/46 mile two way commute. The plus side is, I am still driving less than I would during the school year, and my numbers will now be artificially higher because of the longer commute. I removed my grille block completely, and this afternoon, which was my first trip here, I pulled off a *paltry* 35.4 MPG. I was completely unprepared for this route, and it is quite different than my previous commute, with more hills, and one VERY annoying curved on-ramp. It is pretty much NECESSARY to rev to at least 2300 in 2nd and 3rd to accelerate from 0-45 in about 100 feet. This is still slower than the flow of traffic, but it does merge into an exit only lane, so there is generally not that much traffic on it, and I can use the rest of the lane to get up to 55.

On another note, I need to change the oil, and I think I will go back to 10W-30 year round. I do not drive enough to require oil changes twice a year, and especially with warmer temps, my 97,500 mile engine is consuming that 5W-20 oil. I was down an entire quart by 3000 miles, but keep in mind this is dino oil. I do have a small seepage at the sump, and will probably change the gasket when I change my oil, but I absolutely did not have oil consumption before I switched over to the thinner oil. I guess it is prudent to follow the owners manual, at least in my case. Especially with the higher revs I need to hit on the previously mentioned on-ramp, I think it is better for the life of my engine to use the thicker oil.

A q for you visionseeming? if you are actually driving the distance and using the fuel, how is it "artificially higher" ? If you earn the fe ...its real! I'm sayin.

As far as that annoying on-ramp- you will find a way to negotiate it without extending the rpm range. Give it a few more tries.

I have an on-ramp situation on my commute. What I normally do, since it is a right turn, is watch the light (when I remember, still working on that). I have learned that when it goes red the people exiting the highway go, then the left-turners from the other direction. Now, although I don't have the timing quite right yet watching for who is going helps me know what to do to adjust. I will usually try to force shift at around 2200-2300 RPMs, turn my head to see where I will be getting in line with and make adjustments as needed.

Hope my experience can help you out vision.

@MNFocus:
Yeah, I guess what I meant was that my average trip length might be longer than whatever the EPA uses to grant its rating. For example, it is quite easy to beat EPA Highway on a 50 mile drive, but it is extremely hard to even get EPA Highway on a 2 mile stretch. The main difference is just warmer engine and fluids, but that is a *big* difference. My tranny doesn't like to lock the TC until the tranny fluid is "warm", whatever that means. Usually doesn't happen till about 5-7 miles into the commute.

@Damionk
This ramp is metered at the bottom of the curve, so it pretty much assumes that everyone has V-8s that they are willing to redline in that ~100-150 feet to get up to speed.

There might be alternate, non-highway routes that I need to try. Even if the FE is lower, they look like they will be much shorter.

Anyway, on the way home, I managed 36.4 MPG. My tranny is confused as hell now though, and is shifting pretty hard at low throttle accelerations for some reason.

lightly pressing the brake pedal at @ 40mph while under light load may trick the ecm into locking the convertor early. Try it out at 1 or 2 miles into your drive. It may work, certainly worth the effort
EPA ratings are a guideline , if you have a longer commute- so be it. It's not like the EPA drives barefoot or "Flintstones" the car to eek out another .1 or two ;)

Another trick that sometimes works is to do a quick D-N-D shift. It works on my auto Odyssey to get lockup 4 mph sooner than the default programming.

Another trick that sometimes works is to do a quick D-N-D shift. It works on my auto Odyssey to get lockup 4 mph sooner than the default programming.

If I do that...I will actually lose lock-up...some cars are like that apparently. I can maintain lock-up down to below 13mph, ( I used to think it was 15 as that's when the transmission goes into 3rd), but I've had it somewhere below 15mph and I was still able to maintain lock-up. This may not always be best for mileage dependent on the terrain and techniques used though.