From the road Day 4 of the 48-Contiguous State FE World Record

[bestmapman]

Day 4 Begins

By Wayne Gerdes--- CleanMPG.com—Nov. 26, 2008

48-Contiguous States Fuel Economy World Record saga continues

What was supposed to be a relatively easy morning, turned out to be anything but….
Arriving in Wadsworth, IL at 3:30 am with a planned departure at 4:30am, the team had little time for rest. With the Chicago morning skyline moving from the windshield to the rear view, the team took an Easterly turn towards New York.
With a Scanguage-equipped Honda Civic Hybrid in Justin’s capable hands, he conquered the Chicago morning grind achieving 67.7 (oem fcd). The fcd reads approximately 2.5 mpg below actual as shown by the previous 2 tanks fills. As they headed into Indiana, Jud Engels provided them with information on areas that may have both non-RFG and non-ethanol laced gasoline.
Stopping in Waseon, OH for re-fueling, they calculated the previous tank to be 71.1 miles per gallon consisting of 819.8 miles on 11.518 gallons. This was the best tank of the drive so far with one third of the total miles behind them. This is approximately 10 miles per gallon better than what was expected given the Wintery conditions.

Jennie’s achieves a personal best..
Jennie’s segment today was her lucky break because she has driven in some of the worst conditions that they have experienced so far. As an experienced non-hybrid driver behind the steering wheel of one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet, Jennie achieved 72.0 mpg. While 72 mpg is a not surprising in ideal conditions, what was unexpected was that this was achieved in a very heavily loaded HCH-II in 30 degree temperatures.
And the snow began to fall…
With the best behind them, Mother Nature took a turn for the worse. Jennie first and Wayne second began to drive into blizzard conditions. Although the fourth tank will not match the previous tanks, the team is should still attain the overall 60 mpg target they had set for themselves.

HCH-II 48-Contiguous State Fuel Economy Data

Location	Miles Traveled	Gallons Consumed	Tank MPG	Cumulative MPG	Notes
Stanfield,OR	-	-	-	-	Initial Fill
Billings, MT	837.5	12.419	67.437	67.437	First Fill
Beresford, SD	874.2	12.566	69.568	68.510	Second Fill
Wasoun, OH	819.8	11.518	71.175	69.352	Third Fill

[jsmithy]

Does anyone know the speed they are driving and the main techniques they are using?

[msirach]

The #1 item they are using is monitoring the ScangaugeII .

Wayne will have a full detailed review when the event complete.

[msantos]

Truly commendable performance from all three !!!!

Despite a loaded/heavy car (3 people and gear) in addition to the weather challenges of a winter attempt they still managed to score that high.

Way to go !!!


MSantos

[Kacey Green]

One can only assume they're throwing the book at it.

[Kacey Green]

I have the pics of the puppies that Jennie sent, I'll get them up here as I get caught up

[Jess]

Yeah, I'm blown away by their numbers too. I'm looking forward to the details at the end of their journey.

I'm getting addicted to the daily updates of their journey. I hate that I'm going to miss them Friday morning at the Columbia, SC meet. I'm only and hour or two away. Gotta work though.

[donee]

Hi Jsmithy,

I think they chose the HCH II as it has that small 1.3 liter engine. And consequently at the low power levels on the highway it can run closer to its maximum efficiency load/RPM point than cars that are larger (Prius) and with bigger engines (Prius, Yaris, Fit).

There is also a HCH II mode they have named SAHM mode. Which at 56 mph constant can yield 80 mpg in warm weather. So, most likely they are driving very close to 56 mph.

[Kacey Green]

SAHM, works at any speed above ~43 MPH and up to ~60mph, and more if you're going downhill, but a FAS or Glide Mode save even more, unless its a really short downhill.

[PookieSoup]

We've also come up with a few other acronyms. Like £%+#@$& crazy mileage referring to fcd above 100 mpg in SAHM at speeds close to 60 mph.