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Well after having trolled around cleanmpg.com for a few weeks I decided I need to join. Anyway I'm thirty-something and have live in the Texas Panhandle area, the land of SUV's and Pick-Ups and cattle and oil and refineries. I realized a few months ago that gasoline is my second or third depending on medical that month, largest expense; home is first. Moving closer to work is not an option. Commuting 20,000 mile a year just to get to work means it is time for drastic fuel saving measures . . .

. . . I drive a 2002 Buick Century 3.1 liter V-6 (great car once you replace Buick's bad head gasket.) Currently I'm managing 28-30 combined mpg (EPA claims 21-23.) I'm implementing some of the techniques I've read about here and praying for higher mpg's.

Driving that much it might not be a bad idea to get some kind of hybrid that will get you 50 to 60mpg.

Hello mac-mile,

Have you thought about getting an SGII yet? It's an invaluable tool for MPG gains. Additionally, if you haven't yet pumped your tires up to their maximum sidewall rating I would recommend doing so soon.

I also recommend reading all of the stickied posts in the Articles forum even if they are meant for other vehicles as a lot of the information crosses over.

Greetings! It's always great when a troller becomes a ful-fedged member. :) I offer my welcome too!

Good morning and welcome to you, Mac-mile! I too trolled for a awhile before joining. By now you know that this place is inhabited by some incredibly helpful folks. Post lots, listen to the responses, and apply the techniques as you can. Have you been to the "Articles" section yet to read the piece on the Whys and how to Hypermile? That's a great article, and you should glean several useful pieces of information from it.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to assist you!

Pax,

Fr. John

I double-recommend the scangauge. With your situation, it'll pay for itself in a very short time.

Driving that much it might not be a bad idea to get some kind of hybrid that will get you 50 to 60mpg.
If my finances would allow it I would . . . I'm considering trading for a small 4-cylinder with manual trans (Civic or Corolla.) For now I'm sticking with the Century, it's paid for :-)

Hello mac-mile,

Have you thought about getting an SGII yet? It's an invaluable tool for MPG gains. Additionally, if you haven't yet pumped your tires up to their maximum sidewall rating I would recommend doing so soon.

I also recommend reading all of the stickied posts in the Articles forum even if they are meant for other vehicles as a lot of the information crosses over.
SGii is definitely on my list of 'tools' to buy, as my Century does not have a tach and the only noise you can hear in the cabin with the windows up is the tires rolling on the asphalt, unless you really rev the engine up . . . which kinda defeats the hypermiling philosophy to driving :-)

Welcome to the forum and keep us posted on your progress.

Greetings! It's always great when a troller becomes a ful-fedged member. :) I offer my welcome too!
Thanks, I'm hoping to learn a lot and use the mileage logs to keep me on track.

Good morning and welcome to you, Mac-mile! I too trolled for a awhile before joining. By now you know that this place is inhabited by some incredibly helpful folks. Post lots, listen to the responses, and apply the techniques as you can. Have you been to the "Articles" section yet to read the piece on the Whys and how to Hypermile? That's a great article, and you should glean several useful pieces of information from it.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to assist you!

Pax,

Fr. John
I've read the how's and why's and am already practicing some of the techniques mentioned. I fill up the ol' Buick Monday and have logged 115.3 mile and used just under an eighth of a tank (according to the gauge) before I usually used the first quarter in 160ish mile range I'm on track to double that :-)

I double-recommend the scangauge. With your situation, it'll pay for itself in a very short time.
I hoping to save enough cash over the next three or four tanks to buy one :-)

Welcome to the forum and keep us posted on your progress.
Thanks, I'll keep my mileage log updated every fill up . . . based on my fuel gauge and trip odo I'm just about doubling my previous fuel economy.

Welcome mac-mile! Good to have another Texan on board, even you are closer to Denver than Austin. :)

For those who have never been to the Panhandle, it is hypermiling heaven. Flat, fairly rural, with nice warm summers. It would be for FE what the Bonneville Salt Flats are for speed. :)

mac-mile, you don't have to worry about hills much as you don't live far from Levelland Texas. :D

Welcome mac-mile! Good to have another Texan on board, even you are closer to Denver than Austin. :)

For those who have never been to the Panhandle, it is hypermiling heaven. Flat, fairly rural, with nice warm summers. It would be for FE what the Bonneville Salt Flats are for speed. :)


I live in Canyon so getting out of the hole blows mpg's to heck but it's fairly smooth coasting after that. This time of year the weather plays havoc on tire pressure and fuel economy though, 20-25 degrees in the morning and 50-70 degrees on the evening commute, 40 lbs tires in the AM equals 50 lbs in the PM.

Cheers

mac-mile, you don't have to worry about hills much as you don't live far from Levelland Texas. :D



Levelland and Lubbock, both look best in the rear-view mirror;) Go north to Canyon and you get a beast of a hill to climb out of town, hold an even engine RPM and you will lose 20 mph and the down hill gain doesn't come until you come back to Canyon. All in all it is very nice for hypermiling. On the plus side the drive home from Amarillo is downhill all the way, literally Amarillo is 3672 feet in elevation and Canyon is 3551 :)