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A bit of a wake-up to start the week...I nearly clipped a deer while in a FAS near the start. My underwear is still clean. :)

Other than that, a great ride...segments of 32.5/40.5/51.5 MPG for a total of 44.6 MPG for 15.4 miles at 35°F. The 51.5 segment and 44.6 total are new PRs! :woot: The Scangauge also rounded down to a 0.3 gallon commute for the first time that I can recall.

Tank's up to 38.3 MPG for 429 miles, 1.8 gallons remaining. I'm a bit nervous because I think I had a short fill last time, but I'll probably wait another day unless I burn a lot on the way home; I'm trying to keep up my string of 450-mile tanks.

24 stinking degrees outside this morning! 58.0 MPG on the short commute from my fiancee's. Yep, the 70 MPG tank is still just a dream. :(

Still working on the tank that I started last weekend. Managed something in the high 50s despite temps near freezing, bringing it up to 55.6mpg at ~350mi and 3 pips remaining.

74mpg at 45F and starting somewhat late.

I'm on vacation this week. So no daily grind post.

psy

Hi Psy:

___I drove my son and I to church on Sunday in the Ranger (< 3 miles RT) but haven’t touched the vehicles other then that. Today I have to drive the wife and family into downtown Chicago which is always great until I get into the arterials. Parking lot city and the resultant terrible FE for those last 4 or 5 miles yet to come :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

58.9 MPG this morning at 32ºF. I left a couple minutes late and got off sync with the lights. Not all of the lights, just some of them. It was like a weird time-warp thing happening. I'll strike it up to one of those Monday things. At least my tank is still over 60 MPG.

Last week ended with a refuel. The tank that started out at 65ºF and 63MPG ended with an average 46.5ºF and 58.3MPG. It's still an improvement from the previous tank so I won't complain. I'll save that for this tank.

Temps are near freezing once again and mileage is in the low 50s.

One short trip from a cold/outside start while I was at family's house this weekend. Otherwise a leisurely return over back roads and a few errands when I got back to Madison.

43.9 / 2.3 miles / 21F (cold-soaked overnight :()
44.3 / 2.3 miles / 21F

The return trip today, with 2 stops:
56.9 / 71.7 miles / 21 to 30F
66.2 / 79.0 miles / 30 to 41F
73.6 / 152.8 miles / 41 to 46F

Overall for the trip: 67.3 / 303.5 miles :cool:

Errands while still warm from the trip:
72.9 / 2.6 miles / 46F
87.9 / 5.1 miles / 46F
71.6 / 5.2 miles / 45F

That puts the tank average at 62.2 over 475 miles. Down to the last pip - then I'll be starting a new tank that should be just commutes and general around-town craziness. ;)

Tanked up, got a number that roughly matches the MFD's 55.5mpg. Come on, LMPG!

Fillup. Woohoo! First 70 mpg tank for me. Congrats again to Locutus for posting the first one of the spring. My ice vest & I are gonna keep trying to peg more 70s..................................as Texas heat allows.

http://webspace.utexas.edu/mparrish/misc/DSC02251.JPG

Wayne, here are the final SGII numbers for the tank:

Prius MFD: 70.9
Calculated: 70.6
SGII Tank: 66.7

It consistently remained ~4 mpg lower than the MFD & calculated. Following the SGII instructions, I filled up at the same gas station with the same pump up and let the pump auto-shut off. Then I modified the total fillup gallons on SGII to match the pump fillup gallons. This left me with a tank "adjustment" of -3.4%. Hopefully, this next SGII tank will be much more accurate with the adjustment. I'll send those numbers too.

mparrish, congrats!! I see your garage image has also been updated to reflect your new status. :D

Hi Marc:

___You, Jared, and Chris are going to have one hell of a summer! Jared will be kicking all of our tails in just a few weeks when he starts riding his bike into work everyday :rolleyes:

___Thank you for the SG-II numbers as that will help quite a bit. I will PM you later for some more detail if you don’t mind …

___Oh what a day … Had 6 people to take downtown for my wife’s B-Day so we took the MDX. Great start in 42 degree temps, light winds, and 33.1 showing after 41 miles. That was just before getting off the Kennedy and heading down Irving Park Road (near Wrigley Field - Home of the Cub’s Home opener today). It took 20 minutes to cover the distance of the off ramp and it was no better from there on in. Picked up my oldest at her home just off Irving and headed to the Museum of Science and Industry through the back routes of downtown Chicago. 22 miles took over 1.5 hours and I pulled into the Museum lot at a horrid 27.9. On the way back right in the meat of Monday’s rush and Cubs game let out (they lost), another 2 hours to travel the same 22 miles the other way. That took her down to just 24.0 at 85 miles out. WTF, 3 and a half hours to travel less then 45 miles and a totally unacceptable 24.0 showing on the aFCD :angry: I pulled her back to 25.9 by the time I got back in the drive in 33 - 35 degree temps but what a @() *#@) ($&)% nightmare.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Dang cold snap hits just as I need to take a highway speed trip to my lake house (120+ miles round trip) giving a pretty big hit to my mileage thanks to a couple of cold starts there with short trips.

Get home and start creaping the mileage back up. Was at 57.0 with 3 pips on the fuel guage. Went to unplug the EBH tonight before heading in for my midnight shift and I'd stupidly forgotten to plug it in!!! ARgh! Took a good mile and a half to get up to temp...something I usually can do in 1/4 mile when I have the EBH plugged in.

I may not be a good candidate for an EV if I can't remember to plug it in....

The up side is that it was 11pm when I started to work and I could hyper-mile/pulse & glide almost the entire way and managed to get it up to 57.6mpg. 60mpg may still be possible but I'm at 2 pips, temps won't go much over 60, and rain is forcast...so we'll see.

I may not be a good candidate for an EV if I can't remember to plug it in....

Make it so that you can't forget it. Hang the cord on the door to the house or something.

38.x on the way home last night, stopping at a couple of stores along the way.

I knew I was low on gas, so I threw a can in the car for the ride to work. It cut out momentarily going around the curve at the expressway interchange, but was otherwise okay. I'll fill up this afternoon.

Despite mistiming the light on my middle segment, I had another great commute with a few new personal records; segments of 35.6 (PR)/40.6/52.0 (PR) MPG for an overall 45.4 (PR!) MPG at 36°F. Tank's at 38.5 MPG for 460 miles.

One more lousy MPG and I'll have 150% of EPA on my morning commute. Summer temps should be good for at least that much.

Things will be good for the next couple of days, but we're expecting snow again tomorrow night.

... and Cubs ... (they lost).
Wayne, this is the only part of your ordeal that comes as no surprise! :)

Congrats to you other Prius owners with your 70 MPG tanks. As I've noted here, I've really been hoping to hit one with this tank, but not with this weather. It's down to 67 now.

30F on startup today, 65.8 MPG from my landlady's house. I'm making the cross-town commute to the part time site tomorrow and Friday, with mid-70s MPG expected, but not likely to pull the tank above 70.

61.7 MPG at 33ºF this morning. I left a little bit early and hit some lights a little off sync near the end of my commute. Some were green that are usually red and vice-versa. I don't know if stopping at a different block helped or hurt.

75.9mpg at 50F....let up on the middle part.

Torrential rain this morning - wipers on high the whole way.
I was just happy to see the road ahead of me.
Ended up with 43.4mpg for the commute.

Tank at 45.7.

After a bout of nice, warm weather, we are back to cold temps in Wisconsin.
24 degrees this morning.
81.3 mpg

My car was rear-ended by a van whose driver was under the influence of something. Police officer wouldn't say specifically but they were having the van towed away. The driver had been weaving and altering speed badly.

That tank (only 119 mi.) took an FE hit, realized only 25 mpg vs. my current average of about 27. This was due to a delay of 50 minutes for police response and writeup, during which I had to run my headlights and hazards, so three times during that span I fast-idled the engine for about 5 minutes to maintain a good charge.

Sven has only slight damage. I'll be checking in with my chiropractor but I'm walking and talking. At times like these I do appreciate driving in a real tank of a car. The old Volvo bumpers are covered in black rubber - the same accident in a modern car would have likely caused plastic + paint damage going into four figures.

I have off this week. Not too much driving going on. Today on small trip into town got 49.9 on a 1.5 mile trip. The weather in NJ SUCKS!! windy and cold to the bone.

My car was rear-ended ...

Sven has only slight damage. I'll be checking in with my chiropractor but I'm walking and talking. At times like these I do appreciate driving in a real tank of a car. The old Volvo bumpers are covered in black rubber - the same accident in a modern car would have likely caused plastic + paint damage going into four figures.

Yay for old Volvo's! I hope neither Sven nor you have any lasting damage.

Old Volvos are great for that kind of thing. Excellent head restraints, excellent bumpers. I've probably told the story of how mine was hit by a drunk driver while parked. The police saw the scuff mark on the bumper and were hard pressed to believe that anything happened. :D

darn, Texanasians are owning me in the mpg race, struggling to keep it above 60 mpg in 10 degrees C temps.

congrats parrish

Old Volvos are great for that kind of thing... The police saw the scuff mark on the bumper and were hard pressed to believe that anything happened. :D

Yep, that's what I have - not much more than a scuff mark. Looks like the insurer as well as the company owning the offending van may have vanished into the vapor, however.

Youngist daughter and I went on a casino run lastnight. We lost but had a very good time. She can be alot of fun as a young adult. :)

The getting to Tulsa, running around. Basiclly going from the west side to the east side then home again was good for 45 mpg. Temps in the high 30's with a NW wind.

Today I ran over to my daughters and jump started her car for her. Then went out to Okmulgee lake and then back thru the park to Dropping Springs lake. Threw a few jigs. Then back by a buddys house then home. Temps low 50's with a south wind was good for 48 mpg by the SG.

Went ahead and filled the Civic up for the Eurerka Springs trip in the morning. So it was a short tank. 200 miles, 4.3 gal. for 46.5 mpg,, I think it was.

psy

I got busy and forgot to post yesterday's numbers. Here they are
1) 39.2-5.8 miles
2) 45.4-9.6 miles
3) 48.1-9.6 miles
4) 50.0-6.3 miles

Today's numbers were much better.:)
1) 47.7-5.8 miles
2) 47.2-9.6 miles
3) 52.3-9.6 miles
4) 53.9-6.3 miles
5) 56.9-5.6 miles
6) 69.4-5.6 miles
7) 65.6-4.9 miles
8) 55.8-4.8 miles
9) 53.1-5.1 miles
10) 65.8-5.1 miles
Average for today: 54.6
SG is reporting the tank at 52.* I think it is low because I have ~185 miles and the gauge is not even down to the 3/4 mark. The last time this happened, I had a tank just over 58. I'll find out tomorrow night with a fill-up. After tomorrow's fill, I won't refill again until next Friday in preparation for my trip to Tom's and possibly on to the meet at Oak Creek.

After a bout of nice, warm weather, we are back to cold temps in Wisconsin.
24 degrees this morning.
81.3 mpg
88.5 on the way home. This will hopefully offset whatever tomorrow brings. Supposed to get 6 or more inches of snow tomorrow.

The good news is I filled up yesterday and finally broke the 60 mpg winter FE barrier for the tank.

The bad news is the network police at work have blocked CleanMPG.com and other blog sites for "security reasons"? Now I can't get a post in edgewise with the hectic family schedule at home!

Man, I really miss my morning CleanMPG reading. I'm in withdrawl?

Hi Bob:

___It sounds like you need a CleanMPG fix to go along with the morning coffee in the worst way :D

___I wonder why CleanMPG would be blocked? I guess the oil companies and powers that be would prefer we not discuss not using their product or something ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

A couple of segments tonight to finish off the tank.

79.2 / 11.6 miles / 45F
66.8 / 15.2 miles / 39F in light rain

The tank finished at 62.6 on the MFD / 501.3 miles. I put 8.681 gallons in at my usual pump this time, so calculated came out to just 57.7?? Oh well, pushes the LMPG up another 0.1 anyway. ;)

82.7 / 1.5 miles / 39F back from the gas station according to the SG. MFD currently shows 99.9.

A bunch of wet snow forecast for tomorrow. :( Maybe it will stay warm enough and we'll just get rain instead? Pleeeease?? :D

Aargh...went to fill my nearly-empty tank last night and found the gas station closed for tank maintenance. The closest one I knew of was the next exit up on the expressway, so next I'm swinging through the turns on a tight cloverleaf getting on and cutting out from fuel starvation after every turn, going up a hill with the hazards on so I don't have to accelerate up it, then coasting down the back side through an exit into...stop-and-go traffic. :eek:

I made it anyway. Whew.

After thinking about it last night, I've decided I'll probably reset the SG at the next fill and stop using the pump calibration. It just amplifies the inaccuracy of a short or long fill. The pump cal would be a bit more accurate when averaged over several tanks.

Using the pump cal as intended, if I have a 10-gallon tank and the pump stops a gallon short, then I'd calibrate the SG to 90% of the actual fuel consumption. This results in MPG readings that are 11% higher, and by the time the SG would think I still had a gallon left I would've run out of fuel.

At yesterday's fill, my pump cal went from -5% to +1.2%. So, today my MPG figures are correspondingly lower. :(

Segments of 30, 35 and 45 MPG at 26°F. I didn't bother looking at the average. :(

Unimpressive ride in 27F temps. Only odd occurrence was encountering a semi that really, really wanted to be in front of me rather than behind me. So I took a page from Wayne's playbook and understood it as an invitation to ride a close-in for about the next mile to my exit. Of course, beggers can't be choosers and this was an empty flatbed so you can pretty well imagine where I had to be to get into the slipstream. Worked, though. I wound up accelerating down-hill under regen with my foot over the brake pedal in a place where I normally just barely gain speed under warp-stealth. Not something I would care to do on a regular basis but it's nice to test theory once in a blue moon. ;)

This cool weather is making it hard to maintain the higher morning segments. Tanks is at 55.6mpg.

Hi Tim:

___Flatbeds with nothing on them? Arrrggghhhh ;)

___A terrible commute in. 15 – 25 mph side winds in temps from 31 – 34 degrees F. Heavy rain, sleet and snow barely allowed a 40 mpg segment. Ended at a lousy 40.2 :( And to think the first lengthy segment from this tank was a wonderful 56.x something or other. All downhill from there …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

79.1mpg at 50F

My commute started off looking great. Temps were up to 42ºF and the ICE was warm pretty quickly (an EBH is definitely going in before next winter). I started my first glide and then ... red light. :mad: There was a city bus that wanted to cross the street, which triggered the red light. Grumble grumble stupid bus. I continued on my way, recovering quickly as this was near the beginning of the commute. Then I hit three more surprise red lights (not in a row, thankfully). That bus must have gotten me off sync with the lights. :mad: Grumble grumble stupid bus. Now I'm getting close to the home stretch, a series of lights that are almost always green. I can accelerate to 40mph and start a glide as I go through the last light. Not today. There's another bus making one of the slowest right turns ever! :mad: I can't get over to go around him, so I have to hit the brakes. Grumble grumble stupid bus. I managed to not see anymore buses for the remaining couple miles of my commute. I pulled in the parking lot with 59.7 MPG over 10.8 miles. I had such high hopes for this morning too. Under 60. Herumph. :mad: :rolleyes:

I'm going to go ease my mind and have a banana or two. I'll probably curse those buses a couple more times too. Oh well, at least my tank is still over 60 MPG. There's always tomorrow... :cool:

Because of evil 20 mph headwinds I didn't even break 60mpg.
59.4 - ouch! (34 degrees)
I adapted my route a bit by coming in through city streets when I hit the edge of Madison rather than taking the higway bypasss. I figured I could do some extra gliding in the city, as opposed to battling headwinds at highway speed.
The roads are wet and it is snowing. Yep - snowing in April. I love Wisconsin.

I was adjusting the speed setting on my scangauge so the mileage would match my odometer. I had it at -10% last night and this morning to get it adjusted, and now I have it at -1% to keep it matched. These mileage numbers are affected accordingly:

last night: 40.1 with a stop at the store
this morning: 46.2
tank: 45.4 mpg at 300 miles
tank goal: 46.1 mpg at ~500 miles

Because of evil 20 mph headwinds I didn't even break 60mpg.
59.4 - ouch! (34 degrees)
...
The roads are wet and it is snowing. Yep - snowing in April. I love Wisconsin.

Hi Eric,

I'm looking outside right now and there's like 1/2 mile of visibility, howling winds and blowing snow. Tell me why we live here again? :rolleyes:

Just 61.1 / 7.0 miles / 34F into work this morning for me. The wind wasn't as big of a deal because my route is through town, but the added drag of 1" of slush *sucks*. As in a 15% hit to MPG. :(

Sonuva... so close...

I fueled up late last night but even with the 2 trips I made to Carson City last week my FE for the tank was still not at my goal of 50.

It was 49.738.

Temperatures are still low but rising and I finally got my SG II last weekend, so hopefully I'll hit my goal soon.

very nice bailout, your catching up fast.

edit: had a 40 min drive to work ( found a new route) and when calculated it was (7.5 + 2.5 + 3 + 2.5 +3 + 2.8 + 2.5 + 3) /8 = 3.35 LPer100km (70.2 mpgUS) 60 city/40 hwy.

Well I changed out the studds for my summer tires finally! It was warm this morning-
40F with the cold start up drove with light load to warm up and didn't do any P&G, just drove lightly and managed 40mpg this morning without trying too hard. Can't wait to start a fresh tank with the light summer wheels and summer tires on.

A decent day today with the part time, cross town commute: 74.2 MPG.

What a crappy, crappy day today has been. Very high winds, rain, snow, and hail. Temps in the high twenties. Day 5 or so of this.

Yet somehow, I managed to go up. From 31.1 to 31.8 today. Yeah, it sucks.

Hi Eric,

I'm looking outside right now and there's like 1/2 mile of visibility, howling winds and blowing snow. Tell me why we live here again? :rolleyes:



If it helps matters, I promise to send an update on August 15th, when it is 106, no wind, and my AC is sucking down SOC like our country sucks down gas.

But yes, I'd still take Austin.

Tank at 68.8 / 72 miles, down from 70.3 yesterday. Trips with the kiddo today, and kiddo means AC. No mini ice vest for him :)

Pretty good day for me.
1) 44.1-5.8 miles
2) 44.6-9.6
3) 44.3-9.6
4) 46.3-7.7
5) 50.0-12.1
6) 55.4-5.1
7) 50.7-6.5
8) 65.9-6.4
9) 56.2-5.2
10) 57.1-5.2
I filled up tonight and my suspicions were confirmed that my SG was under reporting mpg. I had 247.6 miles and used 4.477 gallons for 55.305 mpg at an average speed of 29 mph. SG reported 5.0 gallons used and 50.4 mpg.

Well, even with snow and winds I managed a 71.5 mpg ride home. Fortunately it was sidewinds instead of headwinds.
Ended at 65 mpg for the day. (60 miles)

About 40 MPG for 19 miles at 38°F this morning; tank's at 40 as well.

No snow yet, fortunately. I have a highway trip scheduled for this afternoon, so hopefully it'll only be raining at that point.

I accomplished something this morning that I've never done before: pick up FE for the segment over the highway portion of my commute. I was having a really good ride through the back roads, P&Ging to my hearts content and magically seeing a fully battery right when I needed it at the end. That had brought my tank up from 55.5mpg to 56.8mpg at 90 miles. It seemed prudent to keep the mojo going and use a little extra caution on the highway. So I glided around the ramp and accelerated to 61mph at 2600RPM and then backed off to DWL with the tach hovering at about 1500RPM, which corresponds to something in the range of 60 @ 60 over mildly rolling terrain. Bumped it up to 2,000RPM to pick up a little momentum approaching the hill and then bumped up again to 2400RPM for the second half to keep speed from falling below 59mph. Crest, traffic, warp stealth #1 down the shallow grade, accelerate again at 1700RPM up another short one and then warp stealth #2 all the way down the back side and part way up my exit before transitioning to DWL @1500RPM which puts me at a target of 40mph or a little less by the time I reach the top. The final portion is to glide through a left turn and enter the parking lot in EV. End of segment result: tank average to 56.9mpg. Hey, I said I picked up ground but I didn't say I picked up a lot. :D

The rain is starting now. I'll have that tank knocked right back down by the end of the day.

Hi All:

___Yesterdays trip home in 31 - 34 degree temps, rain, sleet, a lot of snow and 10 - 15 mph side winds allowed a 45.1. 6” of snow in the drive when I finally arrived :( Son dropped the Corolla into the ditch in our subdivision and tore off a mirror and creased a front panel yesterday morning. His GF dropped her Grand Prix into the ditch in front of the house. The Ranger was a bit busy pulling vehicles out yesterday …

___This morning in 30 – 34 degree temps w/ a 10 – 15 mph tail wind and rain/snow the whole way in. Very lucky to receive 48.0 to the parking lot.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

78mpg at 50F

No buses this morning, but I did have wet roads to deal with. 63.0 MPG at 50ºF.

Headwinds last night and relatively cool temps this morning hurt a bit.

Last night: 46.9 into 20mph headwinds
This morning: 42.6 @ 45 degrees
Tank: 45.4 / 321 miles
Tank goal: 46.1 / 500 miles

:Banane30:
28.50 mpg on this am's tank. EPA combined is 21.5.
This is my best yet since joining CleanMPG.
My goal is 30 and it looks like I'll get there.

Leg A: ~2400 rpm (pretty fast for hypermiling this car, avg. about 60 mph), some pulsing up to about 75, & 5 mi close drafted semi
Leg B: ~2000 rpm, rare NICE-On, only very light pulsing, no heat, light rain, 10-15 mph tailwind

This weekend and next week can't come fast enough. (According to our esteemed meterologists, that's when spring and 50+ temps are returning. :D)

50.1 / 6.1 miles / 32F home from work last night. I'd have to check the records to see the last time it's been that bad. :( Along with the still-accumulating slush I had a head/cross wind to deal with.

64.9 / 6.1 miles / 34F into work this morning, taking my faster and slightly shorter route (with the purpose of still arriving early enough to get an interior parking spot). Roads still wet and occasionally slushy but nothing falling at the time.

Tank avg is at 60.8 / 22 miles.

A milestone finally, finally falls............ :)

https://webspace.utexas.edu/mparrish/misc/DSC02250a.JPG

101mpg to work starting "EBH cold". 12 miles, 30 minutes

It's the little things, as others have pointed out. A minor route modification here, and extended glide there, and you've got an extra 5 points. Such has been the case for me.

Tank at 71.9 / 84 miles.

For your hard work ... :woot:

Congratulations. Now try for 115 MPG. :D

Did you send your snow storm to the Sierra Nevadas, Wayne?

We were expecting a touch of snow up at the higher elevations but I awoke this morning to an inch of it on the valley floor. The plows were running on Mount Rose but in a lot of parts they only managed to make a 1" compact out of the stuff.

Then I got stuck behind a Jeep Commander 4x4 that drove like a retired Floridian all the way over the mountain because they didn't have M+S tires and thought the big flashing "SNOW TIRES OR CHAINS REQUIRED" signs applied to everyone but them.

Where's a cop when you need one?

I'm jealous of all your awesome trips! I'm finally on summer tires again and it's been 35-40 but this morning it was below freezing again. About 30F. Only managed 38mpg for my 6mile commute this morning. :(

:Banane30:
28.50 mpg on this am's tank. EPA combined is 21.5.
This is my best yet since joining CleanMPG.
My goal is 30 and it looks like I'll get there.

Leg A: ~2400 rpm (pretty fast for hypermiling this car, avg. about 60 mph), some pulsing up to about 75, & 5 mi close drafted semi
Leg B: ~2000 rpm, rare NICE-On, only very light pulsing, no heat, light rain, 10-15 mph tailwind

congrats on 28.5 . You will get to 30 as it warms up!:Banane18:

A milestone finally, finally falls............ :)

https://webspace.utexas.edu/mparrish/misc/DSC02250a.JPG

101mpg to work starting "EBH cold". 12 miles, 30 minutes

It's the little things, as others have pointed out. A minor route modification here, and extended glide there, and you've got an extra 5 points. Such has been the case for me.

Tank at 71.9 / 84 miles.



congrats !! sell at 105:D

400 km at 3.8L 10 degree C temps, you guys have tons of patience!

Temps were terrible today.:( It was basically ~35F all day long with 10-15 mph side-winds.
1) 47.1-5.8 miles
2) 48.5-9.6
3) 50.5-9.6
4) 53.7-11.0
5) 33.2-.5
6) 49.0-5.2
Average for today: 49.5

I was right about the evening commute. It was 2F colder than it had been in the morning, it was pouring rain, and that's the up-hill direction. Brought my tank back below 56mpg.

Hi All:

___10 - 20 mph side winds, 36 - 39 degree temps but no snow/rain. Terrible traffic however :( 46.2 mpg to show.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The weather has turned the corner and started to improve here (a good portion of the junk we got in the last 2 days has already melted), and with it my spirits and MPG. :D Way to go on the pseudo-cold 100MPG commute mparrish! :cool:

55.6 / 6.1 miles / 39F
92.1 / 11.6 miles / 39F
62.5 / 11.9 miles / 37F
83.1 / 3.7 miles / 36F (5-min stop leaving everything on)

Today's average was an even 70.0, pulling the tank up to 66.5 / 55 miles.

An 85-mile commute home via a seminar in a local city...I was looking forward to some highway miles on a warm engine to raise my FE, but instead I saw a lot of wind, sleet and rain and got lost in rush-hour traffic. I did what I could while reading maps; I was having to power down wipers, lights and ventilation at every stoplight, so I had my hands full. After most of the ride home, I was following a slow minivan that would brake for every puddle in the road. 37.5 MPG for 85 miles at 35°F in crappy conditions. Tank's around 38.

Some long commutes today, so with some luck I should get back into the 40s. It's been a few months since I've seen high 40s, and I'm wondering now how much of that may have been the SG cal from a short fill. I'll definitely stop using the pump cal on the SG after the next fill so the FCD will be more consistent.

Tank back up to 56.2mpg after an odd drive in. About half way in I caught sight of that brown Monte Carlo that gave me so much hell a couple weeks ago. I thought "oh, great, here we go!" and braced myself for some kind of display. But what did he do? Nothing. I was doing my 40-35 P&G glide thing and he didn't even get close, much less try to pass, honk, or "signal." Either he was having a really bad morning last time or a really good one today. Or someone else was driving the car? Either way I'm not complaining.

Unfortunately I'm probably going to throw this tank right back in the gutter over a couple hundred miles of highway driving tomorrow. We have another convoluted trip around southern New England visiting various relatives and I would rather do it in the Prius. But these highway trips are always pretty ugly.

63.9 MPG at 46ºF this morning. I'm sure I'll have some short trips this weekend, so my tank will probably drop below 60 MPG. Unless I can convince my wife to drive her car...

Hi All:

___Woke up late (over an hour :() and had to rush like **** to get in on time … Speeds in excess of 75 w/ a 61 mph average. 31 - 33 degree temps and 0 - 5 mph side winds w/ a 44.2 to show. Found some big friends that were actually traveling in the 65 - 70 mph range in a few areas ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

75.4mpg at 60F, rain and starting out 20-30 minutes late - could have been 80mpg.

:D
Finally broke 29 mpg. Recorded 29.044 on this morning's fillup.
I've hit 29 before, but that was only in summer and I believe it was with ethanol-free fuel.

I drove this whole tank with a grill block made from two supermarket plastic shopping bags. That was my first time properly testing a grill block.

This morning I bought some foam pipe insulation to stuff between the grill slats for a semi-permanent installation that hopefully will look pretty decent. I have some concern that a block I can live with long-term may pass more air than the plastic-bag one that I tested - will let the engine run a bit cooler than this past tank. The bag version blocked off too much air, occasionally requiring the radiator fan or cabin heat to run for engine cooling. I believe I'll have the rest of the main grill done for this afternoon's ride home. Additional work will follow as the front end was modified and needs additional air-gap blocking.

CoasterToaster, thanks for the good word! I've done some driving in NJ; I know you have to run some interference down there if you're going to hypermile.

98.5 to work. 2nd best ever after yesterday's 101.

Colleagues found my ice vest in the department freezer, and I gave them the whole "speech". Their reactions ranged from good natured ribbing to curiosity to outright awe........especially when I dropped the 3 week 71 mpg tank and the motivations behind it. Before you knew it, we were talking CFL lightbulbs. I think I "wanted" that ice vest to be found ;). Maybe some new converts?

Overnight trip to the next town (Tyler) last night.
51.6 mpg / 10.5 mi home
47.7 mpg / 54.8 mi there, highway, 60ish avg speed, slight elevation drop
44.2 mpg / 59 mi back this morning, headwind and slightly uphill
50.7 mpg / 9.7 mi to work, fully warmed up

Tank is at 45.7 mpg / 456 mi.

I MUST fill up tonight! :eek: I wasn't sure I'd make it to work! The low gas light came on first thing this morning, 70 miles ago!

Yesterday wasn't bad, all things considered. My short full time commute plus two short but necessary work-related trips during the day netted 61.2 MPG for the day.

Today I'm at the part time site across town. 77.0 MPG for the commute, temp starting at 38F warming into the mid-40s or so upon arrival.

I'm down to one pip at 611 miles, so I'll probably fill up on the way home. MFD says the tank's at 67.7 MPG; the ScanGauge has it at exactly 70. If that holds, it would be pretty cool to have the tank agree with the SG at fillup. Either way, this tank will be another new personal best MPG-wise, and possibly miles-wise.

Mparrish congrats on busting that record. :flag: I can just picture the looks when they took that ice vest out of the freezer. I bet you started some interesting dinner table conversations at homes that night.

Yesterday I experienced something new for my part of LA – wind! :eek: It was a north wind gusting to maybe 30mph all afternoon and evening which is very unusual. Not a Santa Ana either. So I was being blown around quite a bit on the way home. Heading west it hit me from the right and didn’t realize in time that I shouldn’t be in the right lane because it’s too exposed. I needed to be a lane over so I could have a car buffer my right side. I woke up when I started heading north, right into it and dived for shelter behind the only thing around, a school bus. That helped for most of the rest of the way. But I still ended up below 61mpg.

... Yesterday I experienced something new for my part of LA – wind! :eek: ...

I've been watching wind too. I check weather.com before heading out. I adjust my speed up or down a bit depending on how much of a headwind or tailwind there is. Even 10 mph wind, with or against you, will make a noticeable change in your actual air resistance effects.

Well going home last night late with hardly any traffic on the road I was able to get in a little P&G action. Wow that almost sounds dirty! For the 10miles trip home last night at 32F I managed to get 48.5mpg! This mornings commute was a different story. Traffic being what it is and 30F this morning made for 38mpg for my 6.1 mile trip to work.
I think we are still on winter gas for another month too. Trying to find out when that switch happens.

44 MPG for about 75 miles this morning and noon; I didn't check the tank, but it should be improved. DWL on the way down, drafting on the way back. I still need to drive home.

49 mpg for the Eureka Springs trip.

Just finished my tank. 37.5 MPG Very happy with the results. The weather was not always in my favor ( cold & windy) the whole tank. Today I squeezed my self into my wet suit, booties, gloves and my little hat and went surfing. The water was 40 degrees:Banane30: My 2 friends joined me ( safety in numbers) and with the 2surfboards on top of the SCION XB and three people inside I still pulled 40MPG both ways :Banane30: ( never would have guessed that)

Very happy over all. I feel my skills are getting better:D


http://www.cleanmpg.com/garage/images/294.png

Had a really excellent run home...gotta get stuck at the office late on a Friday more often! Not. Tank is up to 56.3.

Meanwhile, WTF happened to the price of gas today? My "cheap station" jumped up $0.14 to $2.939. $3 is but a proverbial stone's throw away.

Hi Marc:

___Good god you are cleaning the Insight’s and everybody else’s clocks as of late with that kind of segment!

___Jim, 77 + in below 40 degree temps? Are you and Jared sharing secrets or something ;)

___Tarabell, you first experience with an ill-timed and strong head/side wind (besides those Santa Anna’s you will deal with later on in the year) and you pull a 60 + segment? I would call that a darn nice drive!

was able to get in a little P&G action.___I felt dirty just reading that … :D

___Psy, nice trip!

___Bruce, keep working that monster!

___Coaster Toaster, have you converted your friends yet ;)

___Tim, how is your new home hunt going? Anyway to choose an Mparrish like route to stretch her legs a bit :)

___Over 3 hrs to get home through tonight’s horrific traffic. One accident after another causes the 0 - 60 mph and back again traffic again and again. Temps were semi-favorable from 51 - 53 degrees F, 5 - 10 mph side winds and no rain allowed for a decent 52.5 to the drive. Opened up buffers to take advantage of every slow down and every exit back to an on ramp to extend glides … Just a ton of work and a headache for the effort :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Temps started at ~35F but got up to 50F. Here are today's numbers
1) 45.2-5.8 miles(wife's work)
2) 49.0-9.6 (my work)
3) 52.5-9.6(wife's work
4) 55.3-6.3(home)
5) 59.2-7.0(bank)
6) 65.0-7.0(home)
Average for today: 52.5
My wife just found out today that her company is relocating sometime soon. This means that the trip to her work may increase by as much as 10 miles.:( I'm going to start looking for a way to get there without having to go on the US 20 By-Pass where the speed limit is 65. Time to go start up Google Earth and do some research.

Jim, 77 + in below 40 degree temps? Are you and Jared sharing secrets or something ;)
I'm just using the secrets you and others here have shared. ;)

The last pip started blinking not long after I left the job today, so I chose not to hold out for a new personal best tank miles-wise. I filled up at 621 miles, calculated MPG of 66.8. That's lower than either the MFD or ScanGauge; I guess with the warm temperature the bladder was a little more compliant today. As expected, though, it's my highest tank MPG ever.

Still searching for that elusive 70 MPG tank. This one's off to a good start. Here's the MFD when I got home:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/medium/MFD_4-13-07.jpg

Got 71mpg over 634 miles. Had fun slogging through snow and brine covered roads in the NC mountains on Easter weekend, which I'm sure did wonders for my mileage. I had 2 people ask me about my car today, one of them asked if it was an electric car and the other was interested in aerodynamics and was asking me questions about the car.

40 MPG on the way home; tank's at 40.1 MPG for 237 miles, mid-40s F with a strong head/cross wind. I should be able to manage another 450-mile tank, no sweat.

I need to do a 170-mile trip for some endurance bike ride recon soon...I've had a nap, so I should take advantage of the better FE available in the wee hours and do it now.

Hi Larry:

___You could be a case study in consistency ;)

___Jim, Prius’ cannot get that kind of mileage! Just ask anybody :D

___Basjoos, excellent as usual …

___38 - 41 degree temps with a 5 - 10 mph side wind and no traffic. 47.0 to show for the effort …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thanks Wayne. But I think most of my friends-and some of my family;) - would say I'm a case study in something else.:D

Well I finally filled up again: $2.62 a gallon! :mad:

But I was happy since I got my best miles/tank so far, 460 miles and 11.1 gallons! 41 mpg.

Though it's not my best tank ever, I'm happy since my commute is now only 6 miles and the longest trip I took for the whole tank was 10miles. Not bad eh? :bananajump:

Blah. I filled up at a measly 32.1 MPG.

Had a good start, but when I came out from dinner, it was snowing like December. Darn cold, dark, and mild winds.

Hi Akxb:

___Not bad ;)

___38 - 40 degree temps 10 - 15 mph head/side winds going home yesterday allowed 47.5. 30 – 33 degree temps and a 5 mph tail wind this morning w/ absolutely no traffic allowed 47.9.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Just got home from southern NJ. Driving in the front end of the Nor easter in not a lot of fun. Wind coming from each direction and standing water. I only pulled 39.8 MPG for my 42 mile drive.

Wow, come spring everyone's sure stepping it up. :cool: Awesome start to the new tank, Jim!

Short trips around town for me today, but near 60-degree temps sort of offset things. ;)

61.0 / 4.6 miles / 54F
42.3 / 1.4 miles / 59F
100 / 5.6 miles / 59F
67.4 / 5.4 miles / 59F

Here's the 100 - this was actually a cold start this time, as opposed to my first one which was "stop-at-home-and-reset-trip-data-without-shutting-down". :D

http://tripprofile.com/images/070415-100mpg-wf.jpg

Today's average was 68.7 / 17.0 miles, bringing the tank up to 67.0 / 72 miles.

About 41.3 MPG for 149 miles of super-hilly recon on CT state highways in the wee hours. When I got back around 4AM, I jacked up the car, pulled the oil plug and filter and went to bed.

When I got up, I replaced the filter and filled it with 2 quarts of Mobil 1 0W-30 and 1.5 of 0W-20. Ready for another 6K. I had to do a frontal bellyectomy to change the filter anyway, so while the belly pan was off I painted it black to blend it in. It'll look better than the stock Coroplast colors (red, white and blue campaign signs.)

I also took the Coroplast off the front of the lower grill openings and put new black material behind the openings instead. It shouldn't make much of a difference for aerodynamics, and it looks a heck of a lot better...You can't tell the difference from stock without really looking.

Unfortunately, I forgot that the car was backed up to the garage door, tried to open it while it was on the stands and gouged the bumper cover. :(

Drove over to my wife's for 38 MPG for ~7 miles from dead cold that evening in the 40s F.

My mileage tanked today. It's raining, but I've never seen mileage this bad since I had the SG. About 31 MPG back from my wife's place, then maintained 31 MPG over my shopping trips. I expected around 36 MPG at least. I don't know WTF is going on. :( I should know better after tomorrow's commute if it's just a glitch or something is really wrong.

Hi Jared:

___Finally the drought is over! Congratulations and welcome to the 100 mpg club :D

___Bruce, Rain will definitely put a damper on a segment and you are right in the thick of it for the next few days by the looks of the whole east coast radar coverage over the past 12 hours :( It will soon truly be summer and high 30 mpg segments will be but a distant memory appearing in the rear view mirror. You will be adjusting FAS points like mad which is a good thing ;)

___Strong 10 - 20 mph headwind in decent 50 - 56 degree temps coming home this afternoon. 50.2 to show for the effort. If only the strong Northerly winds came first thing in the morning and lightened up in the afternoon these past few days …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Note: For previous weeks, look here, and for later weeks, look here.

Last week was pretty bad, but this one turned out fair. Weather dropped this weekend, but got a SGII.

# Notes Start End mpg_ Trip T 50W Er±
== ========= trip mpg_SoC trip mpg_SoC avg mi °F car_mpg
01:Drive in Monday (4/9) 413.1 54.8 6 427.4 55.1 4 65.45 14.3 57.0 3.0 4.1
02:Drive home Monday (estimate) 427.4 55.1 4 442.4 55.5 4 69.97 15.0 ? ? 4.5
03:Drive in Tue (estimate) 442.4 55.5 4 460.2 56.1 4 76.71 17.8 64.0 4.0 4.6
04:Drive home Tue 460.2 56.1 4 474.5 56.4 5 68.12 14.3 77.0 4.0 4.7
05:Drive in Wed 474.5 56.4 5 488.8 56.7 4 68.85 14.3 67.0 4.5 4.9
06:Drive to gas station (SG sp 0->+2) 488.8 56.7 4 498.6 56.8 5 62.28 9.8 80.0 4.0 6.1
07:Station to bridge 0.0 72.9 5 1.0 43.2 5 43.21 1.0 77.5 ? 0.9
08:Station to MB 0.0 72.9 5 3.7 72.9 5 72.90 3.7 75.0 0.5 0.1
09:Drive in Thurs 3.7 72.9 5 20.7 65.5 4 64.08 17.0 63.5 4.0 0.1
10:Drive home Thurs 20.7 65.5 4 44.6 65.7 3 65.87 23.9 76.0 0.5 0.1
11:Drive in Fri 44.6 65.7 3 59.3 66.5 5 69.05 14.7 71.0 2.5 0.4
12:Drive home Fri 59.3 66.5 5 73.5 67.1 5 69.73 14.2 77.0 5.0 0.5
13:Sat Errands 73.5 67.1 5 77.1 65.9 3 48.27 3.6 54.0 ? 1.5
14:Went to church 77.1 65.9 3 88.9 65.3 5 61.63 11.8 55.0 1.0 0.7
15:Went home from church 88.9 65.3 5 103.0 64.4 4 59.25 14.1 54.0 1.0 0.6

Weeks stats:
Current city 78.58% Goal EPA_mpg for current city/hwy split = 58.07_mpg
Current hwy 21.42% Current_mpg for current city/hwy split = 66.20_mpg

Difference = 114.00%Key:
Start_Trip = The trip/tank mileage when I started the drive.
Start_mpg = The tanks mpg via the FCD at the start of the drive.
Start_SoC = The number of bars on the battery icon at the start of the drive.
End_Trip = The trip/tank mileage when I finished the drive.
End_mpg = The tanks mpg via the FCD at the end of the drive.
End_SoC = The number of bars on the battery icon at the end of the drive.
mpg_avg = The calculated mpg for this drive.
Trip_mi = The length of this drive.
T_°F = The average temperature for this drive
50W_car = The number of green regen cars that show on my consumption screen
Er±mpg = The range of error associated with mpg_avg

11011011

First full scangauge tank...

457 miles, 9.9 gal = 46.1 mpg! Personal best! :woot: Only mods are 50psi tires and some cardboard stuffed in front of the radiator.

New record to work today.

After the discovery of the ice vest last week, one of my colleagues at work suggested removing the spare tire. I told him that I had thought about it, but just couldn't pull the trigger. Just last year on I35 with some college buddies in the middle of nowhere we had a blowout and needed that spare.

Well, that's just stupid. A light bulb came on again (man, I wish these bulbs would come on more frequently :)). My commute is not in the middle of nowhere. And blowouts are uncommon. And I have a spare.......my cell phone & lovely wife :).

So I took out the spare. That led to a wholesale "take out anything that's not bolted down". Jack? out. Tools? out. Jumper cables? out. 2 year old car seat? Oh boy.......well, I can take it out and put back in as needed. So.........OUT! If I were single, that front right passenger seat might be gone. ;)

https://webspace.utexas.edu/mparrish/misc/DSC02286.JPG

103! In addition, the run this morning was hiccup free. I just "know" I got 3-5 extra bumps from the weight reduction.

The consumption screen shows some odd behavior. The 5th blank bar is blank because I must have avoided gas completely. Bar #4 seems off too, but what do I know? Calculated for the trip is ballpark, so I guess I just gotta trust the MFD.

I think I'll post a screen shot of my trip back home uphill this week at some point, so that you all can enjoy my pain along with my pleasure. :)

Thats awesome!
I've thought about taking my rear bench seat out. Hmmmm.

Hi Marc:

___Another great run as usual but 75 #’s of stuff for 3 - 5 mpg ;) Was that run completed last week or this?

___Akxb, that is hardcore!

___Good Luck

___Wayne