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This adventure was not quite a vacation. The plan was for the daughter and me to drive the 05 Caravan to Boston in (2) days, pack and load up in (1) day and return in (2) days. (Kids!) To miss storm #1, we changed our plans and left at midnight. We figured we needed to beat the storm to Chicago. Made it to Erie before the storm caught up to us. (At one point, I was a few blocks from the Rock and Roll hall of fame and did not have the time or the money to spare.) (Worthywads, I thought of you a couple of times as I listened to Sirius 74. It is bad when you have been listening for so long that even they start to repeat the music.)
Unfortunately the next day we made it to Boston just in time for rush hour. (I’m a country boy so big city rush hours are not for me!) I bet there was more traffic on that one stretch of road in Boston than comes by my house in a year.
The next day we packed and loaded, keeping a watchful eye on storm #2. It is amazing how much you can pack into a Caravan when either it fits in or it’s on the curb. Since heavy snow was headed towards Boston and up state NY with heavy lake effect snow, we decided to head south to relatives southeast of Scranton. Overnight a few inches of ice and snow fell. I sure did not need the added weight of icy snow on the van. Every time we stopped I tried to remove what was loose.
The next day we started the trip west through the mountains on I84 and I80. I only managed 17mpg on the tank in the mountains. That is after attempting to DWL up the hills and NICE down the hills. The cd of a Caravan must be rather high. The Civic would have been right at home coasting down those hills.
Stopped for the night in Indiana. Next day, we had heavy lake effect snow for storm #3. I was glad to finally get past Chicago. Past the lake though, the temps turned really cold. At one point only 3 degrees IAT. Not good for mileage. The lower grill block probably helped some.
So in 2655 miles, I managed 23.1 mpg. I guess that considering the time constraints, the temps, the weather and the load this is a respectable number for novice like me in a 3.8L Caravan.

Wayne

Hi Wayne:

___For brining home the daughter in a fully loaded up Minivan w/ a 3.8L in conditions not conducive to anything but the EPA if you are extremely lucky, you did excellent imho! Although you were not in the HCH, I think the HCH was with you if you knew it or not :D

___Was your wife along for the ride and how did she do when she drove if she was?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne,

It was just the daughter and myself. I drove almost the entire trip. Glad that trip is over. I have been catching up on things like the posts here. The site has really grown in the past year.

Thanks,
Wayne

I have a 3.8 L caravan as our second vehicle, and I agree with Wayne, you did really well considering the temps, snow, and the weight.
I would be curious as to what you get with it under better conditions.;)

I drove my brother-in-law's 05 Grand Caravan to University of Virginia last August crammed full floor to ceiling, to move my son in.

I aired the tires to 45psi ( from 21 to 32 ARGHHHH!)removed the roof rack cross bars, and washed it. The following is my post of the results from the trip. (http://tinyurl.com/3y7hof)

FAS???? I was very tempted today. but my wife was on point! We fought over the AC all afternoon. I would punch it off when climbing hills, but when she noticed what I was doing she was too hot. I never did try a Fas , but i really wanted to. The big hills in Virginia and West Virginia would have taken me a long way with the engine off. I did drop it into neutral at every hill which was quite a bit. I travelled 630 miles on I64 through IN, KY, WV, and part of VA.



I traveled 1381 miles and averaged 26.9 MPG overall.
The individual tanks were:
27.52 loaded
21.73 loaded through West Virginia hills and one day of driving about 30 miles around Charlottesville in heavy traffic. It also included several minutes of idling. I ran in a couple of places and returned to find the van running. (wife) ARGHHHH!!!
29.25 unloaded return with 458 miles on the tank and filled near Lexington, KY.
33.06 final 222 miles.

My mother has a 3.8L town and country. I drive it sometimes when the whole family is going out to eat (since I can't pack them all in the Insight ;))

I think the best mileage I got with it was 26.5 on a 20ish mile round trip. It was surprising how easy it was to hypermile the thing in rolling hills. It loves NICE-on coasting and I'm sure it helps that my father keeps his tires up to the max sidewall rating now :)

That's awesome, my parent's old 98 Nissan Quest used to get 19ish... but I never knew or cared about FE back then.