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I couldn't have asked for better conditions for returning from a visit with my GF today. Temps are around 70F, traffic conditions on the Mass Pike were surprisingly light, and my head was very much in the game. I stuck to the XM classical music channels, which were incredibly relaxing and good for concentration. Honestly, driving hasn't been this enjoyable for months.

My driving technique was about the same as always with a few minor tweaks. The light traffic made it easier to keep my speed down to 55 without feeling any pressure or causing any tie-ups. It was also much easier to coast down the hills without having to worry much about how much speed I had lost or gained. Beyond that I kept my eyes moving between the road, mirrors, and gauge and kept as light a foot on the throttle as possible. The result was a persnal-best 43.6mpg, or 36% above EPA highway.

Traffic in town was relatively light, so I made it to and from the grocery store without doing much damage. Starting on a warm engine allowed for 38mpg both to and from. That puts my tank at 38.5mpg at 330 miles in. I'm afraid that can only go down since the rest of the tank will be spent on my short commute and any errands that I need to run. That's alright, though. If I can keep it above 37mpg through to the end I'll be pretty happy about it.

Nice!

Good luck on the rest of the tank. I hate good beginings it aways makes the crash at the end more painful ;)

Brick;

Very nice and Congrats from me (Tiger). :D

wow i would love to sacraface my 5 mpg to match yours in your nicer car ;)

congrats! mine was a 30 mile trip for a total score of 48 mpg. 60 city 40 highway. What was cool I noticed on the highway is that at speeds up to 110kph (70 mph) i was still managed to keep the instaneous at 50 mpg but then as the cars clear away that drops down to 40 mpg really fast.

The best instaneous on the highway i can manage is 47 mpg at 60 mph. I play with my foot a lot as well, as my pedal feel gets heavier to maintain speed (47, 45, 40 mpg) i lift my foot again as I start over to 60, 47, 45 , 40... if that number drops too low then I start again!

Still wish I had CC sometimes though, oh and managed to FAS draft into a minivan and it was sweet! It got me through the hills before i had to restart again, Sunday driving has never been easier to hypermile thanks to the clear roads!

Phil, I do the same thing with the throttle. Using the ScanGauge to find the minimum throttle pressure possible may well account for 30% or more of my FE gains on the highway. The engine load display also played a role when travelling down hill because it helped me figure out when I could coast/FAS to maintain speed and when I would be better off keeping the engine engaged. At a steady ~60mph 27% load and I'll just barely maintain speed in neutral, 25% and below means that the engine isn't doing anything at all and I would be better off letting gravity do the work unimpeded. Hills that put me in that 27% range are good candidates for HS P&G between 55 and 65mph.

On the topic of cruise control, I played with it for a few miles on Friday afternoon and didn't really like it. It just feels wrong to let it fight the load, holding back on the down hill and opening up to maintain speed on the way back up. Even on relatively level pavement I didn't like the way it modulatd the throttle, putting the iFCD in ranges that I normally wouldn't allow under the same conditions. I'm sure it's much better than driving the way the average person drives, though. If you set it at a sufficiently efficient speed like 55mph I wouldn't be surprised if it got 70-85% of the gains that we realize simply because the speed stays low and and the driver isn't as tempted to ruin FE with quick passes and the like.

Looks like that trip saved my butt for this tank! I decided to fill up tonight at 440 miles and managed to pull off 38.5mpg in 50/50 city/highway driving, then got the tank started off at about 37mpg for my 11 miles worth of errands. Good enough for now!

Well played, brick!