Archives

sean, i beat you to it this morning :)

8 degrees here in tropical minnesota, light winds. it's actually supposed to be in the 20s & 30s this week. the stations i saw selling gas at 2.69 last week are now back to 2.89.......

62.4 into the lot


i don't know how to make a sticky, so hopefully this will float near the top all week.

Yikes 22 mpg and only 38 something. Of course on the up side i am still 8 mpgs higher than the EPA. On the downside I don't think I feel comfortable with a complete grillblock yet. It still can get up to 50-55.

Last week I was way down, but lots of little problems all week. (Car problems, accidents, following someone else, etc.)
No late meetings this week I think (at least I hope!!)

---des

28 degrees this morning. How do you people do this?!!! I scraped all the heavy frost off the windows, only to have it frost over again. Scraped again. Frosted again, just enough to block visibility. 30 minutes later, I gave up. Started the car and let it run until defrost cleared the windshield.

28F / 41.3 mpg / 11.2 miles. Bah!

tank down to 54.2 / 442 miles. Just one more day and I'm out for Christmas.

81.7mpg at 31F, clear, no ice....looks like this might have been 91.7mpg if it was 81F.

Forgot to plug the block heater in at my fiancee's house last night. :( Still managed to eke out 60 MPG with 28F temp.

This is my last working day for the year, as we're about to head back north for the holidays. My tank sits at 60.5mpg after a chilly commute and it should remain a touch over 60 until I fill this afternoon. Not a bad way to end the year I guess.

Now comes the fun part, which is getting back north. We're playing with the idea of driving through the night rather than fighting Megalopolis traffic tomorrow. I can't honestly say that the concept thrills me but I guess it's safe enough with two drivers. The only things I'm afraid of are deer and being a zombie when we arrive.

Cold as a well digger's a$$ this morning... block heater had temps only to 143, dropping to 107 after 2 blocks, medium traffic, missed glides, yielded a paltry 31.0 into the spot. I'm thinking that TorqueNada's tires might be down, it felt pretty mushy.

Did some ecodriving in the 'new' snowplow truck, diesel powered, gobs of torque, pushes snow with most of the time with minimal or no throttle... never got above about 1600 rpm while pushing. I'll have a 'fuel economy' number after next snow when we refill. It won't be pretty, unless I double the miles cuz I do go backwards almost half the time :)

Well, another 67.2mpg coming in to work. Temps neat 10 degrees.
30 mile commute.

Not bad considering I park on the street.
No block heater, and no warm air mod.

It was a good drive in today. Traffic didn't get bad until the very end. I had some awesome long glides as traffic was just slowly slowing down as it got more congested. Unfortunately for me, I lent my scangauge to my friend who I brought to the Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet this weekend. I figure I can sacrifice it for a week or two so more fuel may be saved by others. :)

It was a good drive in today. Traffic didn't get bad until the very end. I had some awesome long glides as traffic was just slowly slowing down as it got more congested. Unfortunately for me, I lent my scangauge to my friend who I brought to the Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet this weekend. I figure I can sacrifice it for a week or two so more fuel may be saved by others. :)

That is a very good thing you did. I have often thought of getting a second SG so I can lend it out.

Today was probably one of my worst commutes so far. Temps were only 18-19F all day with winds from the west at 10-15 mph which means I pretty much had cross-winds all day.:( The dreaded traction control smacked me hard when I got into my driveway and really knocked my FE down. I ended up making three attempts before I made it through and got into my garage.
1. 49.5-5.8
2. 53.1-9.6
3. 55.8-9.6
4. 54.4-6.3
Average for today was 53.4.

Now that the temps have dropped, it's time to check my tire pressures again. I had to fight to get 36.9 MPG this morning.

Interesting story.

Long story short......we mistakenly believed that a passport was not required for international travel until January 2009. Wrong. It's required now. So we have to take a trip to Houston to get our kid a "rush" passport. On top of that, we have to get an appointment with the federal agency in Houston, and other headaches in Austin have made us potentially late in arriving...........and I don't want to be late for any federal bureaucratic appointment. :)

We just make it in time...........by going 80mph down I-10. I haven't done 80 in years. And yet, I'm still hypermiling these ridiculous speeds out of habit, and come in at 50.4.

Now ordinarily, when forced to do 65-70mph on the highway and come in at ~58mpg, I feel dirty. :)

But this was a different feeling. Wow, 50mpg when I'm all but trying to screw up my FE. And in 50F temps too. Makes me wanna "Al Gore Jr." it to see if I could get her under the 45mpg EPA.

OK, not really. :)

110 to work @ 55F. Tank is at 56mpg, recovering from the disastrous trip to Houston. I painfully switch to consumption to check to see if I'm close to 60mpg; when I see I'm not, I think "ugh" and switch back. Sub-60 is too painful to look at with all my city driving.

this was really a kind of boring day all the way around. the weather was about in the 20s, and i am trying to get enough hours in so i can leave early friday and go down to minneapolis both for the hybrid meeting and christmas with the family on sunday.

dark on the way home, but in a couple of days it's the solstice!!! and then we can start counting the days until spring.

62.8 for the day.

:( its cold... Stuggling with the short commutes to get the tank average up. Day average was only 69.3 mpg

On a side note, when I stopped at the post office this morning to pick up a package I saw a saturn in the parking lot that had some lettering across the top of the back window that read...

"My Wife and the LAW insist that I drive at the SPEED LIMIT"

I smiled

Work to home, a wintertime decent 34.1, then up to where the Red Ranger was broke down 34.7, then from there to the repair shop and then home was a dismal 28.1 in horrible traffic. Back to work was going great until creep and beep on 3/4 mile segment of route 83, bringing a 35+ down to 31.4 ... argh.

Tried a different route this morning, one that I couldn't try until recently because of a prolonged bridge repair and road closure. 62 MPG, 18F (brrr!). It's almost two miles longer than the others I can choose from. Not worth it.

34.1 MPG at 20ºF. Tires were (are) probably low due to the temps. At least it's my last day of work this year. :D

What a difference not fighting traffic makes: the way home last night was a 38.1 in 15F temps :D This morning, not as cold 24F, but going a little deeper into the throttle on the pulses helped pull it up to a 34.4 in heavy traffic. Seems the winter gas requires a bit more throttle than summer gas, at least with this truck.

9 degrees, not much traffic since i left way early.

i had 65.4 for a bit, but got caught at a long light and then managed to stall the engine as i took off.........duh.

64.3 into the lot.

80.8mpg at 40F...more being late than cold.

Filled up near work:
472 miles, 9.124 gallons = 51.7 mpg. I was hoping for better. But still over 50!

That puts my lifetime average above Bailout's Rollerskate! :woot: Next stop: Accord EX_L w/ NAVI (http://www.cleanmpg.com/index.php?page=garage&displayunits=MPG(US)&viewcar=11). ;)

Home tonight and I'm out for the year! :woot::Banane23:

I forgot to mention earlier that not only is my last day today, but I get to leave work early! Unfortunately, I have to go to the doctor to get my thumb checked on. It's doing well, but since it was a work-place injury, I have to get it checked out very frequently. At least I don't have to pay for it. ;)

May you all be blessed with warm temperatures, light traffic, green lights, and long glides.:bananapartyhat: (It's close enough to a Santa hat ;))

67.4mpg in to work today.
Last night I managed 74.4 on the way home.

...Unfortunately, I have to go to the doctor to get my thumb checked on. It's doing well, but since it was a work-place injury, I have to get it checked out very frequently. At least I don't have to pay for it. ;)...You are starting to sound like Tony (http://nationalpost.pa-sportsticker.com/default.aspx?s=nfl-news-display&nid=A108722081197945320A)....was a blonde also involved? :D

Filled up near work:
472 miles, 9.124 gallons = 51.7 mpg. I was hoping for better. But still over 50!

That puts my lifetime average above Bailout's Rollerskate! :woot: Next stop: Accord EX_L w/ NAVI (http://www.cleanmpg.com/index.php?page=garage&displayunits=MPG(US)&viewcar=11). ;)

Home tonight and I'm out for the year! :woot::Banane23:

congrats, you lucky devil.........good driving, and nice for time off.....i wish........

You are starting to sound like Tony (http://nationalpost.pa-sportsticker.com/default.aspx?s=nfl-news-display&nid=A108722081197945320A)....was a blonde also involved? :D

I wish. It was broken glassware instead. Not nearly as pleasing to the eye. ;)

The temps were 22F this morning and have gotten up to 35F so far. Our county is not doing a very good job of keeping our roads cleared. Along with the ruts in the ice that want to toss the car around, there are several inches of slush that make it feel like I'm driving through mud.:( I'm at 57.3 so far for today and have ~10 miles left to go.

Well, that was a hoot. We've actually been hanging around up north all day because we left SC at 7PM yesterday and drove through the night to arrive on-site before 10AM this morning. We were hurting for a while there but traffic was non-existant...almost worth the sleep deprivation. Unfortunately the FE was lousy. Despite taking it very easy (65-68mph max while switching between cruise and DWL), the 27F overnight temps most of the way up took their toll. The MFD hung in the 49-50mpg range for the duration of the trip.

Now if you will excuse me, I have sleep to catch up on!

Temps at 33 and managed a round trip of 72.7 from my house to parents and back. I got a bit under 1/2 tank left and I might be able to get this tank up to 68 or 69.

I don't see anything above 70 happening because I still need to program PIMA and if my replacement HID bulb comes in before this tank is done I'll have to disconnect the 12 volt battery again (causing a forced charge situation :()

blake, 33 degrees is getting you awfully close to what we had today. that's really got to be chilly for down south.

it was 20 degrees on my way home, only had two idiot passers to deal with.

62.4 for the day.

Laurie, I've always been of the opinion that if its going to be this cold it might as well snow... and given the current drought I'm sure most everyone here in NC would count snow as a blessing. I think the low for tonight is 30. Last night it got down to 27. This is about as cold as I can stand it ;)

Ah -- you're starting to get temps like I'm used to in the Piedmont of SC. Above freezing during the day, below at night. Lots of ice to deal with until 9:30 or 10, then it would start building up again at 4:30 or so (because of the moisture from the coast piling up against the mountains). That's why I've never had trouble driving in the snow (TRACTION!!! WOW!!! :D) -- I learned to drive in the middle of winter on glare ice.

I was in your area (Durham) the year before I moved up here, Blake. I'm sure you remember the snow that year? (2000) I was told at that time it hadn't snowed in that area for about 20 years. As I recall, it snowed something like 4-5" and everything shut down. I mean EVERYTHING. I thought it was hilarious -- they had a single plow for the entire tri-city area and NOBODY was driving. It didn't bother me...

Now for the funny part. Everyone was complaining about how "bad" it was out. Then it snowed like another 2'. LOL!! I spent quite a bit of time walking around pushing cars out of their ice bowls when they got stuck, explaining to the drivers that if the snow level exceeded bumper height they could NOT push through it. :eek: :p

Oh... back on topic. I've not had any numbers to report yet because I was sick most of Monday and I worked from home today to extend my convalescence a bit. I'll be back to it tomorrow....

Oh yeah!! I remember that snow.... I was stuck at the fire station for 5 days. We got 22" at the station and the truck I had at the time was completely covered. I remember the forecast was for 3 to 4 inches... boy did they get that one wrong :D

I almost forgot yesterday's numbers.
1. 53.4-5.8
2. 59.9-9.6
3. 57.7-9.6
4. 56.6-6.3
5. 71.0-4.9
6. 57.9-4.9
Average for the day was 58.7 and the tank is at 63.7 after 483.4 miles.

A respectable 68 MPG this morning @ 34F, helped by lighter than normal traffic. Folks must be getting a head start on the holiday weekend.

Fillup yesterday: 64.2 MPG by the MFD, 62.5 by calculation.

I'm baa-AACK! ;)

The lights were not kind but so what? :p

21F (15F windchill), 5mph headwind from the SSE, clear:


51.2mpg for 22.5mi (Home to work)

The tank is up to 49.0mpg over 243.3mi with 11.0g left and the guess gauge shows 2 needle widths under the F mark.

The trip after work will be split as I've got to stop over at the in-laws house (on the way home) so that we can all go out for our annual Christmas night on the town in Minneapolis. Of course, as I got out of the car this morning my pant cuffs got road grime all over them and I've no chance to get home first. :ccry:

87.1mpg at 40F...might have been 90 if I'd left 15 minutes earlier to avoid a bottleneck.

explaining to the drivers that if the snow level exceeded bumper height they could NOT push through it. :eek: :p



so, where were you when i drove down a snow covered farm driveway last winter to photograph the abandoned barn i could see from the road? got down ok, took my shots, and then looked at the car. i realized where i had stopped was deeper than the front bumper (isn't everything?) and it wasn't looking good in the back either. i got a little nervous, because i really didn't think i was going to get out of there. i rocked it and rocked it, each time turning it a little bit until i managed to get it back into the tracks i made coming down.......whew, thank god for the snow tires.

took the 4 lane today, since i was in a hurry (not that the other drivers thought i was, since i drove 55). i putting in 4 ten hour days so i can take friday off without losing pay.....

58.2 into the lot..........

Glad you're feeling better Sean.
Last night going home the first time was an ok 35.1, going back to work after dinner was a 37.1. But the real treat came later, driving home at midnight with virtually no traffic on the typical route: a new below 32F PR: 42.4 mpg!:Banane01:
This morning, a fairly typical cold weather 34.7 for the way to work, medium traffic.

I got honked at this morning for the first time for driving 'too slow'... kinda funny in a way because of where it took place... in my neighborhood, from the house to the first bend is about 300', then about 100' to a right turn, then about 150' to a stop sign, where I turn right to go about 300' to a signal light where I turn left.... I got honked and 'double hands in the air WTF' about 1/2 way to the stop sign after the right turn... :eek: Guess who's going to go even slower next time that bimbo is behind me :D

Uh, Laurie -- I didn't know you a year ago but since you've now found my sage wisdom, we're all good. ;)

Hey, way to go, Ken!!! :bananajump:

I'd go slower, too. :Banane31:

I do feel much better now -- thank you!

The past 2 days commute in colder weather (all night driving).
57.1mpg going to work (54miles, 55mph, 21F, 10-15mph headwind with gusts to 25mph)
73,4mpg going home (54miles, 60mph, 28F, slight tailwind)
65.3mpg for the day.
60.4mpg going to work (54miles, 55mph, 15F, no significant wind)
66.3mpg going home (54miles, 65mph, 25F, no significant wind)
63.4mpg foer the day

I sure have enjoyed the ability to go snowboarding lately but the road conditions have been killing my FE. I had to use chains a lot during last tank, and even when I didn't it was still slow going over the mountain, more due to tourist fear and inexperience than an actual need to go so slowly. That tank was my worst since I got my hypermiling techniques dialed in last Spring.

477.8 miles / 10.457 gallons = 45.692 US MPG :(

My current tank isn't starting off any better. On my way to work yesterday I got stuck behind a Californian that wouldn't go over 30 MPH for 7 miles. For 2 of those miles we were both stuck behind a semi with a 53' trailer that wouldn't go over 18 MPH. There were road controls above 6,000 feet and I got by fine with just my tires but I passed a Deputy helping a cargo van driver that was perpendicular tot he road and stuck in a snowbank.

38.5 MPG, 27.2 miles

It snowed most of the day but temperatures below 7,500 feet were just above freezing so there was lots of slush. Due to the slush I put my chains on for the drive home and kept them on for the first 15 miles.

52.1 MPG, 27.2 miles

Daily average: 45.3 MPG



The good news is that I doubt anyone else on the mountain lately is pulling 45 MPG, but the bad news is that I expect many tanks like this before the season is done.

Went downtown today, the trip there was a real mess, and due to a few spots with downgrades I did a some gliding instead of NICE-On coasting...hmmm... gave me a 38.3 into the 3rd flr of the parking deck! So I decided to do full on P%G for the way back to the office, with 1/2 the time about 49-56, and 1/2 was about 40-50 due to traffic. Well get this: a new ALL TIME PR for the downtown to office trip: 42.3 mpg for 18.7 miles :woot: :Banane27: beats the previous summertime record of 40.0 rather soundly... my last trip back with P&N was a 35.3 so P&G gave me a 20% increase for that distance. Oh yeah I'm happy!! :D

Wow!! Nice work, Ken!! :eek:

Do I recall correctly that your Ford doesn't have the glacial ECU reboot that is such a nice feature of my Hyundai?

I made it over to the in-laws' without incident and I did manage to get my pant cuffs cleaned well enough this morning to be passable. I tried with every trick in the book and had I just managed to catch that last left turn signal (flipped right as I got to it)... I was at 50.1mpg at that point and couldn't make it up over the remaining 1/4mi.

39F (34F windchill), 7mph tailwind from the SE, overcast and foggy:

49.7mpg for 12.6mi (Work to in-laws')

The tank remains at 49.0mpg over 255.9mi with 10.8g left and the guess gauge indicates 3 needle widths under the F mark.

The trip home tonight isn't going to be so fun...

Sean, it's good to see you back. I was thinking about giving you a call because it seemed odd not to hear from you. I'm glad to hear you're doing better.

I had one of my better days in awhile. The temps were in the low to mid 30's and the winds were light. The road conditions have greatly improved and I'm back to asphalt and not ice/slush.:)
1. 61.2-5.8
2. 63.8-9.6
3. 33.5-1.2
4. 66.4-8.9
5. 74.6-7.7
6. 62.6-12.2
7. 95.3-5.1
Average for today was 65.9.

Sean, good to see your keeping the FE up through your stinky weather. Its finally taken a turn for the cold here in NC. Got around to setting up PIMA and WOW... this mode is amazing.

Turned my dismal commute to the parents house this morning (didn't plug in EBH because the battery charger is hooked up to charging the braille battery back up) It was rainy and traffic was crazy. I got to the parents with 62 on the trip odometer.. (that has to be a record low :()

Pulled that back up to 69 on the way back WHILE I was setting PIMA up. I just might be able to pull a 70 tank average off, but I doubt it as the temps keep staying cold. I'm about half way in between 1/2 and 1/4 on the gas gauge with a tank average of 66.7. I've got some work ahead of me :(

this weather is really getting depressing. it was cold/damp/foggy all day. not cold, just chilly, and some of the backroads had spots that had some snow which was actually hoar frost that had blown off trees. the good thing was very little traffic tonight on the way home from the barn.

59.8 for the day. THIS close to being back at 60.

I filled the HCHII up tonight and drove about 5 miles to my mom's for an early Christmas. Due to MSantos getting me lined out on the ev operation points, I parked in her driveway with 90.4mpg. After loading up and getting ready to leave, I went out to take a pic of the fcg and my daughter was sitting in it with it running. It had dropped the fcg down to 74.6. BUMMER!

My son drove the HCH 36 miles home and finished with 50.1. Not too bad since it was the first time he has driven since flying home from college yesterday.

Wayne has said more than once here that 'some days you bite the bear and some days the bear bites you'... While I'm chewing off big ole chunks today! New sub 32F PR for home to work: 42.8 MPG :Banane42: previous subfreezing best was I think a 38.4 or so...

That makes up for the dismal fill up... 31.05 :eek::mad: SG was off a bit, now should be back on track I think. No work tomorrow or Friday, except at home, and then sister's wedding rehearsal Friday and wedding Saturday. Now here's a mental picture for you: SlowHands in a black tux, trying to squeek out a 40 mpg trip to the church... :)

Thanks, Larry! It's good to be back. :) Sweet numbers, by the way! :D:thumbs_up:

Blake, I'm trying! If I can hang with the HCHs and Prii out there (or at least the non-hypermiling ones!! :eek:) I'm happy.

Don't give up on that tank yet! Sounds like you've still got plenty left to eke out another few tenths from. ;)

Oooh!! Laurie!! You were ROBBED! :p You'll get it tomorrow I'm sure. Sorceress. ;)

Due to MSantos getting me lined out on the ev operation points, I parked in her driveway with 90.4mpg.

:eek: <rubs eyes> :eek: What the... !?

Man, Ken -- you are just ALL about those 40+mpg numbers all of a sudden! Fantastic! :bananalama:

I was determined to give it what I could on the (short) way home from the in-laws' house tonight. We got in late, it was cold, my car had been sitting out in the stuff all evening, and I didn't have much route to warm up on. And my battery is a bit low. :p

So...

25F (15F windchill), 9mph tailwind from the SE, mostly cloudy:


50.2mpg for 11.2mi (In-laws' to home ;) :D :Banane09:)

Hoo Doggie! :D The tank remains at 49.0mpg over 267.2mi with 10.6g left and the guess gauge indicates about 4 needle widths under the F mark.

Take that, Old Man Winter!!!

Terrible week. And I think I figured part of the problem. I leave home and it is colder so I don't get the 44 or so I was averaging, in fact lucky to hit 38-39. Going home I have gotten in the middle of heavy traffic. This is going to be one lousy tank (should get over old EPA, but still). Anyway part of going home problem is passing a major shopping center, so no more timing the lights. I am going to try alternate routes, perhaps up steeper hills (and quieter streets) or more highway driving (the actual driving isn't great as it is uphill). Also going to do a better grill block, now that temps have fallen. I looked for dip stick heater, but didn't find one today. I notice they have everything to get the car faster and noisier, but not much to make it get better mileage, except some snake oil.

--des

I'm sorry you are having a hard time of it, Desdemona. :( Maybe the traffic will clear a bit after the holidays?

I had one of the more frustrating commutes in recent memory this morning. I was tailgated right where I do a lot of my FASing. I kept catching lights because of the distraction. I got stopped by a train. Etc etc. :p With the way the car was responding, the weather, and the road conditions I should have had it over 54mpg without too much trouble...

27F (18F windchill), 8mph headwind from the SE, overcast:


51.8mpg for 22.4mi (Home to work)

The tank is up another couple of notches to 49.2mpg over 289.7mi with 10.1g left and the guess gauge shows 7/8ths.

Hopefully traffic clears a bit for my travel home. Tomorrow is likely to be even worse...

27F this morning, 61 MPG. Traffic overall seemed to be lighter than normal, but most of it seemed to be on my butt.

took the 4 lane again this morning, though next week i am going back to my quiet backroads. managed to get caught by a train in the town i live near, which i can avoid on my other right. i just turned off the lights and engine and waited it out.

last day of work until next wednesday, makes me a happy camper. tomorrow i will ride horse early and then head down to minneapolis for our meeting on saturday and a family get together on sunday. then i get to stay home for two days....

even with the highway route, i pulled in at 60.9 this morning.

Got to experiment more with the Highlander last nite. 34 mile RT. 27.3 out and 28.1 back.
I don't know what engineering is involved, but there is considerable drag when I coast in gear, down to about 19 mph, when the transmission seems to release. If I let up while going slightly uphill, the trans will release sooner, say around 28 mph. I don't want to put the auto in neutral as I rengage often at 40-50 mph, and even with rev matching there is a noticeable bump. I did discover that if I hit the "ect/snow" button, the trans releases immediately at any speed. The owner's manual recommends using the ect/snow function while driving in snow (obviously) but it never says why.
Keith

Well, without the scangauge I can't report any numbers. However, I thought I'd share my new super accurate mileage-o-meter technique. Lately, I've been counting the seconds between shutting the engine off and bump starting it back on. I find that this really pushes me to get a few more seconds out of every glide. Its especially useful when gliding down a hill with some tailgater behind you, and your not quite down to the bottom. In any case, when I first started out I wanted to make my minimum glide at least 10 seconds long. The reason being is the same as the engine off at a stop light 10 second rule. I figured if I can keep the engine off at least 10 seconds I'll be saving fuel versus keeping it on. Of course this is a bit of overkill as I don't have to use the starter to start the car back up, but I think most of us live in overkill land anyways. Anyways, after a while I started to get a rough idea of an average time off, and aim to increase this. Today my max glide was exactly 60 seconds (held out for that one), minimum was 5, and average was probably around 20ish. I realize this is a very rough way of doing things, but I think its better than nothing and it does give you goals to aim for.

Oh yeah, also got my avatar finally (I always forgot). Thats the Paseo on a nice shiny morning. :)

A frustrating commute, but the final numbers look alright.:p

On the way to work it was a bit slippery from 7,000 to 8,000 feet and I got stuck about 5 cars deep behind an Outback driver that wouldn't go faster than 28 MPH. Along our way there was a cargo van off the road at 7,000 feet and a small station wagon off the road at 8,500 feet.

Then I realized I'd been lucky as after a few miles we got stuck behind an H3 driver that wouldn't go faster than 22 MPH. Just past the summit we all got stuck behind a rental crossover that wouldn't go faster than 20 MPH and we were stuck like that for the 6 miles descent into Incline Village. Result:

40.5 MPG / 27.2 miles


On the way home the tire runs in both lanes were totally clear and dry but there was a lot of snow blowing over the road which pulled a Jedi mind trick on 2 folks in front of me that would not go faster than 35 MPH all the way up the back side of Mount Rose, nor any faster than 30 MPH all the way down the front side. Once the road opened up to 4 lanes and we began descending into Reno we hit a lot of wind with sustained speeds of 55 MPH and gusts up to 80 MPH. The crosswind was so strong that in a DFCO down a 4% grade I had to go to a higher gear as I was losing speed.

59.6 MPG / 27.2 miles


Average for the day: 50.05 MPG

Once the road opened up to 4 lanes and we began descending into Reno we hit a lot of wind with sustained speeds of 55 MPH and gusts up to 80 MPH. The crosswind was so strong that in a DFCO down a 4% grade I had to go to a higher gear as I was losing speed



:eek::eek:

Today was my last day of work until 1/7/08.:woot: I will have to take my wife to work on a few of those days though. Today was one of the best days I've had in quite some time.
1. 60.3-5.8(home to wife's work)
2. 71.7-9.6(wife's work to my work)
3. 62.8-9.7(my work to wife's work)
4. 73.1-13.2(wife's work to my bank with a brief stop at my mom's and a quick trip into the office where I work)
5. 63.5-6.8(bank to grocery store)
6. 44.6-.3(store to gas station)
7. 78.0-13.6(gas station to home)
Average for today was 69.1.

Keith, we are really looking forward to having you join us up here on Saturday!

Tim, I like the avatar. :)

Brian, that is scary!! :eek: I'm glad you got out of that mess in one piece.

Nice work, Larry! I'm jealous of the time off -- I've only got the 24th, 25th, 31st, and 1st off. :p

It was nice and toasty warm today on the way home!! I hit 50mpg way early, even though the traffic was wicked... Then I ended up in front of a cop so I couldn't do my two longest and favorite FASes. :( I had to break them each up into 3 instead. That cost me at least 2mpg right there... After that I got caught at a new light on one of my roads, which of course caused the traffic to bunch up so I couldn't go slow enough to avoid stopping for the NEXT light. :angry:

After that, things got hairier still. I managed to pull it up higher but couldn't FAS when I wanted so I "only" ended up hitting 54.7mpg just as I was entering Anoka. The traffic there was worse than usual and cost me a whopping 2.5mpg. :( Yuck. <Grumble grumble>

Still, after all that...

34F (29F windchill), 6mph tailwind from the SE, hazy:


52.2mpg for 22.2mi (Work to home :))

The tank is up a little more to 49.5mpg over 311.8mi with 9.7g left and the guess gauge is indicating 2 needle widths under 7/8ths. :woot:

Chuck should be here tomorrow at about the time I get home from work so I'm looking forward to that! :bananapartyhat:

52.2mpg for 22.2mi (Work to home :))



Sean! Nice job!

good to see you keeping things up, keep that tank average going up!

As for me I figured out this afternoon what I would have to average for the rest of the tank if I wanted to pull out a 70 mpg average for the tank.

75.7797 mpg's for the rest of the tank (running it dry) IF I had 10.6 gallons in the tank when I filled up. That means that I'll most likely have to average ~77 mpg's for the rest of the tank to give me some wiggle room on whats left in the tank. Who says algebra isn't used once you get out of high school :D

Probably not going to happen given the weather, but I'm going to try my hardest. *crossing fingers*

30 degrees, fog is promised by morning. took the 4 lane for about 45 miles home for an appointment, and then took a 2 lane home from there for about 15 miles. it was a pretty decent day.

61.3 into my garage

Well today was a little better (not great) went around the shopping traffic, but tomorrow is Friday and that never is so good (maybe will get out early??). Anyway, got 39+ this morning and with two stops averaged 35 or so (my stops were in the foothills so that really is not bad, includes some serious DWL).

One of my stops was buying the dipstick heater. Not sure it is in all the way?? Isn't burning or blowing anything up. I promise to work on "real" grill cover. Warm days are for sure pretty much over for awhile.


--des

Wife used TorqueNada to pick up her Mom... argh 13.2 mpg :eek: Tonight I went to my brother's for milk - only 32.1 heavy traffic. There to work was a 38.7. Then a nice nightcap: work to home: 40.1 mpg for 11.5 miles :D

Hi All:

___I do not drive all that much anymore so am missing the daily grind tremendously :ccry:

___Sean, 70% above EPA combined in MN during the winter is kicking @$$ yourself ;)

___Blake, IIRC, you had a ton of idle time on this tank installing MIMA, right? I cannot wait to see the next one!

___Laurie, 60 + at speed in MN too? Jeesh :)

___Des, I remember when 32 was a good day not to long ago. You are one of the CleanMPG heroes!

___Ken, I had one of those early in the week when I had to go “jump the wife” … ’s MDX :D at the local Shell during the blizzard. It is hard to make up for those :(

___My parents lost a Hard drive in their one and only PC so I had a real reason to take a drive and rebuild its SW load from scratch using an 80GB I had laying around. Loaded up the pup in the Ranger and took off. 44.9 in pre-rush traffic there and 44.6 in the middle of the night back. OEM battery is still shot and I was pushing as low as 11.2 before some pulses :rolleyes: Thank goodness for clutches …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I just had a pretty good trip taking the wife to work. The temperature is 34F and the wind is from the SE at <5 mph. I had 68.4 there(6.3 miles) and 83.3 back. I'm at 75.1 for the day.

Thanks, Blake! I think you can manage it -- long as the roads are clear you'll still be able to use most of the skills you've picked up so far. :)

Laurie, there you go again!!! :woot:

Ken -- OUCH!! The way you've been pulling those 40s recently though... Keep pushing!

Thanks, Wayne. :o I'm hoping you can take 'Lantrific for a spin this time?? I'd still like to see how you would work this car...

Good grief, Larry!! What kind of job does she work that has you back home after dropping her off at 4:30 in the morning?!?

Sweeeeeeet numbers!! :D

I decided to work from home today as I want to be ready for my distinguished guests. And avoid the holiday traffic trying to get home. ;)

Keep up the great work, everyone! :bananalama:

Thanks Wayne! Conditions haven't been the best so...
Anyway, I plugged in the dipstick heater tonight. When I pulled it out it didn't actually seem to be warm. BUT anyway got better nos. (and the car heated up faster), though it might have been that it actually wasn't that cold! Was 38 degrees this morning, but 41.9 isn't so bad. The alternate route is better for gas mileage-- gets me around major shopping centers, so I'm taking it today while the holiday madness is with us. OTOH, today IS Friday. Time for madness everywhere, am hoping to leave early.

--des

Sean, if you can still pull of the numbers your managing I'm sure with the right mindset I can pull up my tank. I've noticed the more pressure I'm under (ie setting my goals higher) the better I perform. I started off good today, pulling the segment gauge average I had already in the car, up to 77.7 mpg's.

Sadly I was a bit off on my calculations because I underestimated the miles I had put on the tank. I need to redo the calc's but just doing it in my head I'm coming up with something closer to 80mpg's.

I'm not going to give up, but I'm just being realistic.


Wayne, yes my tank had a long period of idle time with the install of MIMA along with several forced recalls because of the 12 volt disconnect. I too will be very intrested in seeing how the next tank goes now that I have PIMA setup. If only I could get a trip lined up where I can have a distance driven longer than ~12 miles (my longest typical drive) I'm sure I'd have a much higher average.

Just got an email yesterday saying that my sharkfin antenna was shipped. Once that gets here along with my replacement HID bulb I'm done with modifications until/if V-Boost becomes a reality. I've got my Insight pretty much like I want it now and I'm going to start saving up for an Aptera ;)

I've been somewhat of a slacker on posting, so here is yesterday's and today's.

Yesterday:
69.9 / 7.2 miles / 27F
57.9 / 6.7 miles / 36F
77.5 / 11.3 miles / 37F
64.9 / 11.6 miles / 36F

Yesterday's average: 67.7 / 37.8 miles.

This morning:
76.0 / 7.1 miles / 36F / fog <-- same as yesterday's first segment - I guess I like fog. :)

The tank's at 64.9 / 151 miles / 8 pips. Now I just wish it could stay there for my drive home. :cool:

Good grief, Larry!! What kind of job does she work that has you back home after dropping her off at 4:30 in the morning?!?

Sweeeeeeet numbers!! :D

I decided to work from home today as I want to be ready for my distinguished guests. And avoid the holiday traffic trying to get home. ;)

Keep up the great work, everyone! :bananalama:

I think what you're seeing is the time zone difference.;) Her actual work hours are from 6:00 am-2:30pm.

I'm hoping to stay above 70 for the day but, with my wife wanting to go Christmas shopping after work...:(

About those distinguished guests, there will be lots and lots of pictures/reports right?:D

Aha! That makes a great deal more sense. :o

As for pictures -- you bet!!! :D

I just entered my three north-bound tanks (each lasting about 300mi a piece.) The MFD read 49.0, 49.6, and 50.8mpg, respectively, but of course they went in as 43.9, 47.3, and 50.7mpg thanks to the tank bladder's antics in the cold weather.

Hi Jerad:

___Anything beats 10 degrees and a wintry mix all over the roads, right!

___Larry, I do not miss that 03:45 in the morning wake-up call anymore! In fact, I sometimes have yet gone to bed as of late :p

___Tim, those high speed highway runs to the Northern regions you have had to endure the past few months (and that infernal bladder) do indeed suck :( Let us hope the warmer climate in your new home treats you well the rest of the winter :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Not bad going home though I ran into a small tie up on I40 that probably lowered this some, but I got an average of 38+ which is the best I have done for the last 2 weeks. Going around the shopping center was what I needed to do a few weeks ago. I also got to leave early which didn't hurt. Weather pretty moderate with a little wind.

--des

___Larry, I do not miss that 03:45 in the morning wake-up call anymore! In fact, I sometimes have yet gone to bed as of late :p
___Good Luck

___Wayne

I guess calling you every morning when I get up would be bad?;):D Unless of course you haven't went to bed by then.:) I'm up by 2:30 your time.:(


I managed to hold onto 70+ today despite the adventure to W-mart. The traffic was surprisingly light and the trip home from the store was virtually unmolested and i could P&G to my heart's content.:)
1. 68.46.3(home to wife's work)
2. 83.306.3(wife's work back to home:D-sorry Sean;))
3. 70.1-6.3(home to wife's work)
4. 72.4-8.0(wife's work to store)
5. 73.5-9.3(store to home)
Average for today was 73.2 and the tank is at 74.3 after 50.1 miles.

Filled up the Paseo on the way home tonight. Punched the numbers into my cell phone/calculator and was wowed by the 47.9 mpg! Not too shabby for winter. :D I guess it just took a few tanks to get used to winter driving. It was also enough to bump up my average up to 41 even (from 40.7).

Hi Daox:

___You are quickly becoming a first class hypermiler!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Off work today. Went into town for some shopping. 74 MPG in, 70 MPG back. Temps in the low 40s.

ah, a day off. went to the barn this morning, and then on to mpls for our meeting tomorrow. it's pretty warm for december, so much so that my auto-stop is working again. i pulled about 64 to the barn, but the wind had picked up on my trip down to the cities. i took the 4 lane, but avoided I-94 because it's just too fast.

i was going against the friday night rush hour traffic, so i didn't have too bad a drive. i don't think i was even tailgated once. i pretty much drove 55, limit is betwen 55-65, depending on where you are.

ended up with 60.5 for the day. tomorrow should be interesting....warm in the morning, and then cooling off with snow expected. i hope chuck doesn't freeze. i got word that he has arrived and is at sean's.

Filled the Prizm up for the first time in a couple of weeks. Managed only 42. With the grill blocked and the radiator covered the heater sure works better than I remember from last year. Given the cold and no ebh perhaps this is about as good as I can get. The next thing I have to try is to get out of the garage and close the door before starting the car.

Sean, I hope all your guests have arrived safe and sound. Looks like the weather east of you will not be good by the afternoon tomorrow.

Wayne

wayne, do you have a CVT or manual in your 05?

I'm glad your drive was so nice, Laurie! It is NICE to go on a trip without getting harassed in the process. :)

Wayne, I think you need that EBH. :(

Chuck is here safely! Thanks for asking. :) Wayne is still driving and won't be here until... about 4AM?

Chuck and I went out to dinner after he got here. I had the EBH plugged in of course, but since this was an odd hour and the thing is on a timer the engine was at 40F. :p I think I had an okay showing considering. I took a longer route back and had a very nice run to make up for it. ;)

36F (31F windchill), 6mph wind from the ESE, cloudy:


46.7mpg for 8.4mi (Home to Perkins)
57.2mpg for 12.3mi (Perkins to home ;))

The tank is up a smidge to 49.6mpg over 332.7mi with 9.3g left and the guess gauge shows 1 needle width over 3/4.

:D

I'm glad your drive was so nice, Laurie! It is NICE to go on a trip without getting harassed in the process. :)

Wayne, I think you need that EBH. :(

Chuck is here safely! Thanks for asking. :) Wayne is still driving and won't be here until... about 4AM?

Chuck and I went out to dinner after he got here. I had the EBH plugged in of course, but since this was an odd hour and the thing is on a timer the engine was at 40F. :p I think I had an okay showing considering. I took a longer route back and had a very nice run to make up for it. ;)

36F (31F windchill), 6mph wind from the ESE, cloudy:


46.7mpg for 8.4mi (Home to Perkins)
57.2mpg for 12.3mi (Perkins to home ;))

The tank is up a smidge to 49.6mpg over 332.7mi with 9.3g left and the guess gauge shows 1 needle width over 3/4.

:D

WOW Sean! It sounds like you need to have Chuck ride along with you more often. You are getting awfully close to Laurie's no's.:)

WOW Sean! It sounds like you need to have Chuck ride along with you more often. You are getting awfully close to Laurie's no's.:)

LOL! Actually, it was a combination of our "heat wave" and the odd hour which allowed me to avoid having to deal with the normal traffic around here. ;)

I won't discount the possibility that Chuck is a lucky charm though. I AM Irish after all and certainly believe in luck! :D

Wayne just pulled in a few minutes ago so the party is complete and everyone made it safely. :)

I have a pretty good day going so far. After a trip to the bank for my son and some other errands I'm at 77.5 mpg after 26.8 miles. The best segment was a 99.0 on the way home.:woot: By the time I get back from my first Christmas get-together of the year I'll have another 30 or so miles with a little of it in city type driving. My goal is for 70+ by the end of the day.

it's probably not the best recommendation for my driving skills when i can only pull 48.8 to and from our hybrid meeting....

weather conditions were awful. it had rained and then snowed on that last night, and most of the roads still had some really rough ice deposits, especially at the lights. and there were quite a few of them on the route to the golf club where we held the meeting. the last road, which had turned off the highway was very hilly and quite ice/snow packed. i found it pretty nasty. we had good attendance, despite the lousy conditions, but i will save the details for the minnesota meeting thread.

Laurie, it sounds like the bear got you this time.:(

The temps were in the mid 40'sF all day and and the wind was <5 mph.
1. 62.0-5.4(home to store)
2. 58.1-1.5(store to bank)
3. 67.4-6.7(bank to another store)
4. 99.0-13.2(store to home)
5. 55.4-4.6(home to mom's)
6. 74.2-16.5(mom's to my uncle's for Christmas dinner)
7. 69.0-16.5(uncle's to mom's)
8. 100-5.1(mom's to home)
Average for today was 73.8 and the tank is at 74.0 after 120.0 miles.

Don't feel too badly about it, Laurie -- I got hammered. :(

25F (14F windchill) down, 19F (5F windchill) back, 12 and 16mph winds from the WNW, overcast:


39.0mpg for 10.0mi (Home to Meet :()
36.6mpg for 8.3mpg (Meet to home :( :()

:ccry:

The tank is down to 48.9mpg over 351.1mi with 8.8g left and the the guess gauge shows 2 needle widths under 3/4.

Hopefully I can recoup some of that tomorrow with my runs to and from Church... though on the way back I have to drive on the highway to get to a family Christmas lunch. :eek:

Dallas to Tulsa - 67mpg at 70mph
Tulsa to Tokeka - 78mpg
Dallas to Minnepolis - 70mpg over 1300 miles

Minnepolis gym - 8 miles in 59min, 51min :D

Today is not starting well for FE.:( The winds are 10-15 from the SW and the temp is quickly falling into the low 20's. So far today:
1. 52.5-5.2(home to Church)
2. 20.5-.3(Church to store)
3. 64.6-5.4(store to home)
Average so far is 55.3. I've got ~25 miles left to travel and it looks like it will be a long day.:(

I thought this driving day would never end. The temps dropped to 20F and the wind was ~15-20 mph from the SW and occasionally switching to the NW. The trip to my mother-in-law's(pretty much due east) was great since I had a tailwind but coming home after cold-soaking for 4.5 hours with no EBH into the headwind was not pretty.:(
4. 62.8-10.8(home to mother-in-law's)
52.5 10.8(mother-in-law's to home)
Average for today was 56.5 and the tank is at 69.3 after 152.8 miles.

My Church runs were NOT nice at all. I had a tailwind partway down and a large headwind back. :p

14F (-6f windchill), 26mph wind from the W, blowing snow with 3-4" of unplowed snow on the roads:


43.9mpg for 17.0mi (Home to church)
40.0mpg for 17.1mi (Church to home :()

The tank is now down to 48.1mpg over 385.0mi with 8.0g left and the guess gauge shows 1 needle width below 5/8ths.

Since I figured out what I need to average to pull my tank up to 70 mpg's I haven't reset the segment gauge. I've driven 64.7 miles averaging 74.3 mpgs... several short of the 78 I need to pull my tank up. Sadly I've given up on getting my tank up to 70 mpg's but I am still trying to see how high I can get it.

Intrestingly enough we got rain today and I pulled the segment average up on the trip to AND from the parents house. Typically my average goes down on the way back since it is slighty up hill and I have a ~1/2 mile segment of gravel roads. That usually kills my FE but I've figured out where I can hit my FAS button and minimize the damage it does while still making it up the gravel hill (I normally FAS the whole way through it on the way there).

The tank is sitting at 67.4 mpg's now and I feel confident I can at least get it to 68 if not 69. *crossing my fingers*

Filled up today, and my average has stayed up at 37+. I'm happy about that! Really thought it might go down given the temp., traffic, and all that. I just looked at the average temperatures in Albuquerque and they are pretty similar in Jan and December. I think the traffic should improve. I won't be driving too much more this month.

--des

Highlander- Friday 300 miles Denmark to Chanhassen,MN 27.1 mpg. Saturday 60 mile rt to MN meet, then a couple more cold starts and short trips and idleing. Tank showed 26.1 mpg, actual fill 26.28 mpg. The trip back from MN to Denmark was assisted by excessive tailwinds but hampered by copious amounts of snow. Hwy 29 was snow packed from the moment we got on all the way to Green Bay- 195 miles. Some white outs, drifting, cars stuck in on/off ramps- just classic winter storm driving. Average speed about 45 mph. Fortunately we left early on Sunday and there is very little traffic, so the drive was fun for me. 26.1 mpg to Denmark.
Keith

Keith, I'm very glad to see you made it back okay!!! Thanks so much for going out of your way to meet with us -- it was a great experience for all of us! :)

___Glad to hear you made it home safe and sound! My experience was not quite as pleasant :rolleyes:

___The Accord in 31- 33 degree temps and heavy Fog up to MN yielded 48.3. Coming home in 11 – 16 degrees F temps and a whopping 15 – 40 mph tail/side wind, she was up to 48.2 in the middle of a classic MN/WI blizzard until the snow started accumulating on the pavement whiting it out. And she kept dropping and dropping and dropping. The last 50 miles, it was a head/side wind and that really tanked her accumulated. Pulled into the drive with a smashed hood and 45.1 mpg :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

i just posted in our meeting thread, so i will keep it short here......or have we a started a new once, since it's monday. very confusing with all the days off.

i actually saw 9.6mpg today. i had to stop around the corner from mom's and plug in my cell. with unknown road conditions, i didn't want to be driving with a dead phone. then i couldn't remember how to turn it on. duh, blond moment.

about 20 miles out of the metro area, going north, the roads were really quite good. even the tar road to my house is clear.

105 miles from mom's, 57.1.