Month of January 2024 (Nat’l Avg $3.704)

8:15AM.....We have a 100% chance of precipitation right now.....but it isn't raining or snowing. It'll be either 34degF or 35degF & precipitating for most of the day.

PS.....Minutes later.....oh, I see a bit of rain now. We'll see of the slight slush goes away. The HD KING-FM Christmas channel is still playing, We Three Kings, English Horn, Viola & Cello. Pretty boring. I love English Horn......Viola, Cello not so much. It ended. Noel Nouvelet & Silent Night now. Switched to the regular channel with Debussy's Petite Suite.
All three channels are on HD of course. I don't think they give the Christmas channel as much band width & it sounds static-laden at times.
The rice, raisins & milk tastes really good, while looking at the rain come down.

 

12:47PM.....One temp says 31degF, another 34degF. Considering its been raining lightly all morning & longer, & the little slush remains still a little, I'll let you decide what the temperature is. Anyhow, its supposed to warm to 36degF today. Into the night, its supposed to continue warming to 38degF to tomorrow morning. Daytime tomorrow, warming will continue into the mid-40's with continuing precip.

 

Today. 10 deg F in Naperville, 11 in Elk Grove.

Wind NW 14

A few inches of snow from overnight made the roads interesting.

Filled up today. worst tank ever,so far.
$3.399 , 364.2 miles, fcd = 40.4 MPG.

 

Ah, your worst MPG is only a little worse than a bunch of my best MPG. Go for it Edwin!!!

 

2PM.....Been raining all day. Not just the ccp coronavirus keeping me at home. Rain may continue to the evening. Supposed to taper down to the teens by 5PM. We'll see when the rain actually quits. Maybe.

3:40PM.....Rain chance has reduced only to 80% on its way to lower? But, already the rain is squeezing off. The rain clouds do seem a bit brighter. But, this is Washington state, so brighter is not actually bright....at all.

5:53PM.....Rain is still off. Temperature, till 9AM tomorrow morning, is predicted to only vary from 46degF to 47degF.........hmmmm!

 

Today , 35 deg F , raining.

33.5 miles, fcd = 43.5 MPG

 

Today , 35 deg F in Naperville , 34 in Elk Grove.
Fog , but roads were fairly dry.

Wind NE 6

33.4 miles, fcd = 45.2 MPG

 

Wednesday evening, 37 deg F.
I picked up my new 2023 Elantra HEV Blue.
I have a lot to learn with this car.
On the way home (37.3 miles) I got 68.1 MPG (fcd).
I'll play with it more next week. Leaving Friday morning
for Michigan in the Fit.

 

Congrats on the HEH Blue!
This morning's drive in to the office showed 54.6mpg FCD over 18.3 miles rolling on Blizzak tires in a foggy drizzle at 51F.
That 68.1 FCD will be going up as the tires break in. The TPMS in the trip computer is accurate. The car does well with the tires in the mid 40s although upper 30s is better for winter traction.
The odometer is about 3% low so check the trip odometer against google maps to get the real number once the tires are pressed up a little.

 

Yes, congrats Edwin!

 

Trip home landed at 72.4 on the FCD over 18.0 miles in 43 minutes in light drizzle and 55F. Gotta love sluggish traffic for nudging the FCD higher.
Tank is at 64.9mpg - not terrible for burning winter gas and rolling on winter tires.

 

Well......I'm back. Had a heart attack. Earlier in life, thought I would die doing work or dumb athletic stuff (because I wasn't really athletic). But also thought my love for beef, pork & diary would get me. Well, the food got me first. Glad I can say I'm back. Everybody.....live long & prosper.

 

Glad to hear you're recovering, litesong.

Friday driving from Aurora IL to Bloomfield Hills MI was
pretty good for January. Temperatures between 37 and 41 deg F. No snow or rain !
313 miles, fcd = 47.2 MPG.
This was in the Fit. Not ready to drive the Elantra for a longer trip just yet.

 

Not terrible at all.

 

If your new Elantra is like our 2 old Elantras(total-200,000 plus miles), you are about to discover WHY I have been bragging on Elantras all these years. Of course, you have the Fit, whose quality the Elantra may have difficulties matching.

& you know what I'm going to say.......your new Elantra will be exceptionally highway worthy(& back-country road excellent), if from the beginning..... you put OVER-SIZED tires on the car. ha ha ha Have a great time.

 

..........YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHH. TOTALLY.....AGREE.
Saw my primary care Physician yesterday, who told me the details. During a 4 day heart attack that I thought was ccp coronavirus(I'd been exposed to directly), I could have died.

Anyone know of good tasting plant-based protein? I love nuts & plant-based nut-butter. Sorry to turn this thread into a medical advice column.

 

Today I'm driving the Elantra.
36 deg F in Naperville and Elk Grove.

Wind W 5

32.6 miles ( afternoon route,reversed )
fcd = 58.3 MPG.
I don't have an I=pass yet,so I can't take the tollway to work.

My current plan is to drive this car to work one day a week,then Saturday or Sunday.
Shooting for 125 miles per week.

 

Excellent work Edwin. Walloped the EPA (53/56, I believe) at temps just above freezing and a bit more friction with a brand new engine and new tires. Respectable numbers for a dead-of-winter commute, and it gets better from here.
You will notice the engine runs at high idle for the first couple of minutes to warm the oil and emissions hardware. Look at the FCD at the 2 minute mark on the trip and it's painful to see. That warmup is much shorter in warm weather. But it's why I tell people with really short commutes not to expect too much from a hybrid car - especially in winter. The hybrid is an excellent choice for a 30+ mile commute, and you are going to make it really shine.

 

Thanks. It will get better. I'm not even sure what pressure is in the tires.
I should probably check before we get another snow.
Any car, but especially hybrids, will get poor fuel economy until
everything gets warmed up. I'm fortunate that my trips are no less than 16 miles and
quite often 25-35 miles.