Week of March 26th - April 1st, 2007

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by BailOut

That's not what Winter blends are for. They contain oxygenates that drop caloric content a bit but burn a little cleaner in order to reduce all emissions, but especially sulfurs. This is done to combat the inversion layer phenomenon that occurs in many places around North America which traps emissions close to the ground in unstable temperatures for extended periods of time. It also helps combat the extra idling that uneducated folks do for warming up their engine and the extra emissions that are produced by cold engines.

With that said, Winter gas is definitely a reformulation, or RFG. You take every day E10 fuel (every Winter RFG in the U.S. is currently Ethanol-based) and run it through one whole extra refining process to oxygenate the Ethanol at 1.7, 2.7 or 3.5%, depending on which "boutique" fuel type your area subscribes to (for example my area is 2.7%, California is 3.5).

Again, though, the EPA has documents which show the duration, type and oxygenate content of all Winter gas in use throughout the country, and nothing at all is listed for Indiana. This leads me to believe you've been on the regular fuel for your area all along.

Hmm, interesting. I know a guy in my area that is a fuel distributor. I'll have to ask him about that. Thanks for the info.

[brick]

Nothing too interesting this morning. It's cold, but just barely warm enough for all of the hybrid electric bits to work their magic. Brought the average up to 57.4mpg at 59 miles. I'm headed east this afternoon via those hilly New England back roads, hoping all that climbing won't do too much damage.

[JimboK]

A reality check today. With temps in the 80s earlier this week I removed the foam in the lower-most slit of my lower grill. It really helped keep temps from spiking above 200F. That little bit of air flow makes a huge difference.

It also caused me to curse my car this morning as the temp dropped below freezing again. Between the complete grill block and the block heater, I've gotten spoiled by being able to start P&G just a mile or two into the morning commute, and repeat it on demand throughout. Not today. And the other motorists weren't terribly cooperative either. This was my first sub-60 MPG commute in several weeks: 58.9.

[Bruce]

Cruddy ride home last night...I kept having to throw it all away for people pulling out right in front of me. I'd leave a nice huge gap for people to pull into, but they wouldn't pull out until I was right on top of them. One guy made a left turn into me, forcing me onto the shoulder, then just flipped the bird when I laid on the horn. Uphill and upwind to the car wash, with 36 MPG showing when I got there, but a lot of hill-assisted P&G on the way home so I had 38 MPG by the end.

41.6 MPG for 15.4 miles at 32°F this morning. Tank's at 40.7 MPG for 431 miles, 2.4 gallons remaining. I'm supporting a 100km bike ride on Saturday, so I'll fill up then.

[Skwyre7]

Apparently the drivers that Jim had to deal with stayed on the roads for me too. 58.0 MPG this morning.

[HCHCIN]

So close.

Filled up yesterday hoping for my first "hypermile" -- or at least EPA -- tank. Ended up at 49.704. So close. Another 4/10s of a mile per gallon and I'd have done it. I need to get some more air in those tires. Nice spike as the temps and my abilities increased:



As an aside, I'm going to postulate that December is the ideal time to start learning how to drive for FE. I've worked so hard for the past few months to keep above 40mpg, and now that it's warmer (and my car's broken in) I can hit mid-50s without even trying very hard.

--RN

[Chuck]

Strange morning. Great start and was over 80mpg the first 2/3 of the trip, then slipped down to 78.2mpg at the end. It's usually the other way around.

[PaleMelanesian]

48.6 mpg for 10 miles this morning
Tank at 44.8 mpg over 78 miles.

[psyshack]

49 mpg for the drive this am.

I had a chnce to follow a PII this morning for a few miles. The driver looked to have a target speed of 50 mph. Looked as if they might had been load driving or on cruise control. They were also riding ridge when traffic would bunch up behind us. I had to really stay back from from them. My Civic was wanting to pass them when I hit my fas points. When I did make a pass and move on it was a lady driving the car. She was working it.

psy

[philmcneal]

wow you guys are rocking me, i'm struggling to meet a 60 mpg tank and you guys are well over 70! maybe i'm too nice speeding up for those who trail behind me