Week of Feb. 12th - Feb. 18th, 2007

locutus · #21 02-13-2007, 09:02 AM

I hereby subtitle today's post "the effect of wind".

There's been a brisk wind out of the NE (20 mph or so) for the last day. This means that my commute home was (on average) directly into the wind, and my commute to work this morning had a tailwind.

Yesterday's commute home was an abysmal 43.6 / 6.1 miles / 23F - not perfect traffic-wise or light-wise, but not horrible, I thought. The wind said otherwise.

This morning's commute with the same wind, this time behind me, was 57.9 / 6.1 miles / 16F. This even though I thought the route itself went less than perfectly (random garbage trucks and school buses causing unexpected stops).

I didn't think wind would be such a huge factor with entirely city driving, but these two commutes show otherwise.

Dan · #22 02-13-2007, 09:55 AM

Disclaimer: The picture below is a joke... My prius is fine...

Went car shopping last night for a new minivan since Toyota won't split their hybrid market up by importing the Estima

. Well in Houston, all the dealers are lined up in one stretch of Highway (just outside the city to escape municipal tax). So it required about half a dozen trips all about 3 miles. I never got to stage 4, so the ICE was always on. So from the time I left work, to the time we finished shopping and parked in our driveway, I was only able to manage 48 mpg (and in Houston, I got no cold to blame). Brings my week average down to 55.2 mpg, just under my EPA goal of 55.6 mpg.

I'm almost resigned to performing the Engine Veto (EV) Button surgery. I'll probably try to do the OEM install, but fear it might look more like this by the time I'm done.

rhwinger · #23 02-13-2007, 10:06 AM

62.5 mpg yesterday and today with temps in the 30's? I dunno. Just trying to keep the iFCD as high as possible. Over the weekend had some unavoidable interstate driving when hypermiling just wasn't possible.

But just trying to hang in there 'till Spring, which seems awfully far away lately?

Hang in there everyone!

Bob

Bruce · #24 02-13-2007, 02:06 PM

A short drive to an appointment during the day with a lot of lights...19 MPG on the way out, 28 MPG on the way back. The grille and underside are blocked, so hopefully some of the heat will still be there for the ride home. I'm getting out late today, so I'll probably be dealing with heavy traffic.

brick · #25 02-13-2007, 05:33 PM

Wow, what day is it? I was stuck in a training room all day and lost track.

Extra driving due to the training, but did pretty well. I ended this tank early at 225 miles (four bars out of ten, but that last one was pretty stale) and 48.1mpg on the MFD. The beautiful thing was that I actually got a calculated number that was nearly consistent! 47.7mpg at the pump. That Shell station always gave me consistent fills with the Accord so I guess I'll just make it a point to go back with the Prius whenever possible.

Chuck · #26 02-13-2007, 06:30 PM

After driving the straight and narrow this morning on a 80mpg+ run, I get 56mpg on the way back. I was doing like a few years ago and "showing" a couple of lead-footed idiots. One was a pickup in a residential area that figures I'm the 98-pound weakling - the other is a guy that on the freeway that was somewhat reckless, got passed by me and the traffic, and kind of looked like he was not exactly sober.

While I did not do anything really stupid, it did remind me I did this 2-3 times a week a few years ago and getting around 55mpg instead of 70-75. Part of my reason to avoid rush hour is to avoid temptation.

At least it can be said I can't rermember the last time I did this...

Dan · #27 02-13-2007, 07:58 PM

55.4 on the way home. Can't quite think of why. The only thing I could think to blame was the strong crosswind. It's making it harder to get back up to my 60 mpg tank though.

I've updated this weeks logs.

brick · #28 02-13-2007, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta Flyer

At least it can be said I can't rermember the last time I did this...

RE-CAL!!

Feel better?

xcel · #29 02-13-2007, 09:11 PM

Hi All:

___Oh boy did I have a fun day … 2 hours and 45 minutes to get into work this morning. Interstate was snow covered and I did not see a lane divider for the first 35 miles. I did have a nice 20 - 25 + mph tail wind for about 1/3 of the drive. Offset tail/side wind for the rest. 40.5 was the result and I was ecstatic to get it! Funny thing is with that tail wind when heading due west and traveling 35 mph at 1,200 RPM w/ the TC still locked up; I was seeing 40 - 45 mpg on the iFCD. Never have I ever seen that before under those conditions? It was the only thing that saved me as everything else failed in the conditions Chicago had this morning.

___Then the real fun began. On the way home, 25 to 35 + mph winds only head on. Driving the first 8 miles from a training facility to the Interstate and I might as well have been cutting a trail for snowmobiles. 4” of fresh snow and not a plow in sight

Interstate was snow packed and covered the whole way home … Saw an SUV and P/U flying by in the fast lane (totally snow covered and packed) about 10 miles south of Joliet. 5 miles later the P/U was piled into a guard rail taking out 1.5 lanes. Figures. The slush and snow was so bad I stopped twice just to remove the mess from the windshield by hand! A whopping 38.7 mpg to a Mobil 30 miles from home. Filled up and posted my worst tank ever at 39.35 mpg. Those - 9 to 5 degree F temps really kicked me in the teeth last week. From the station, stop and crawl driving in the worst winter conditions in … forever. Total time: 3 hours and 45 minutes. Last 30 miles, 34.5 mpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Bruce · #30 02-14-2007, 05:20 AM

Well hey, Wayne, your worst tank is still better than my best, and you're driving a bigger car.

I had a late meeting yesterday and had to get home in time for dinner, so I wound up right in the thick of the evening rush -- 5:30-6:30 PM. The different traffic patterns caught me off guard in a couple of places, and I was having to do very short pulses from a stop to inch forward for multiple light cycles. If it was flat, I probably would've just opened the door and pushed it instead.

In spite of everything, I still managed a reasonable 33.7 MPG for 15-1/2 miles.

Snow today and I could use a day off anyway, so I'm staying home. A lot of the local schools have canceled as well because there hasn't been any significant snow this season until now.