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Fruita, CO, to Ft. Collins, CO, and back again: 619 miles.
Gallons used: 14.998.
Mileage: 41+ mpg
Average Speed: 62 mph
Vehicle: '07 Accord 4-cylinder

Route: I-70 and I-25
Fruita Elevation: 4500 ft.
Ft. Collins Elevation: 4900 ft
High Points: Vail Pass 10,000+ ft.; Eisenhower Tunnel 11,000+ ft.

Weather: In the 90's in the low country; in the 70's in the high country; slight West wind.

:Banane35:

Now, THAT'S a challenge!

I was sure I was going to run out of gas. Remember that Seinfeld episode where Kramer kept on driving a car he was test driving after the needle was on E? That's what it reminded me of.

Since you live in Colorado, Craig, maybe you can confirm something for me. I get out there about once a year when I spend some time at Taylor Park, and I've always noticed that mountain driving improves my mileage. My reasoning is that while I might be using 30% more fuel going UP the grades, I'm using 0 fuel going down the other side (with the fuel cutoff). I haven't done a study or anything, but have you found this to be the case?

I think that's pretty accurate. It really helps when you DWL up the hill to squeeze out some extra mileage.

Of course, it all depends on traffic conditions especially on a busy mountain interstate like I-70.

I love Taylor Park, by the way; it's one of Colorado's gems.

One reason you get better mileage in the mountains is the thin air at the higher altitudes reduces your aero drag and also derates your normally aspirated engine so you have to operate at higher throttle settings (with reduced pumping losses) to get the required power output. In the old days of carbureted engines, you had to adjust your mixture to keep it from running too rich (and killing your mileage) as you went up to 8000+ feet, but the ECU of modern fuel injected engines reduces the amount of fuel to match the reduced amount of oxygen in the rarified mountain air.