Excellent MPG even w/ winter gas - why I love this car

It's a GenII.

I don't normally get 60mpg tanks due to my commute which is comprised of 98% freeway driving at 60mpg-65mph and a steep section of road with a total of 1,200ft. elevation gain. If I could stay on flat roads 60mpg would be easy enough with a fair bit of gliding when possible. If I just drove it without thinking about efficiency I would be in the 52-55mpg range for each tank. This is with warmer temps usually associated with spring through early fall.

 

Depending on the conditions yes. In heavy traffic city driving conditions ith lots of stoplights it can be difficult to get great mpg. The constant stopping and accelerating is not conducive to efficiency. I have observed that traffic conditions in say Sacramento where everyone floors it from a light then slams on the brakes and cut you off whenever possible, makes it difficult to judge traffic conditions and leave enough space to glide. In contrast the traffic in Davis is light, people drive fairly slow and predictably and the lights don't change constantly which means you have a good shot and not having to stop for every single one. There are also long stretches of road between lights which makes for great gliding opportunity. So in some cities I can get much better mpg than I can on the freeway and in other cities my mpg may go down compared to the highway.

Highway mpg is less variable and you can generally achieve very good mpg as long as you keep your speeds low. You can further enhance highway mpg by using warp stealth mode when exiting the freeway (long onramps) or on hills and tall overpasses. The reason why a lot of people may get poor highway mpg is because they are speeding at 70mph+, windy or wet conditions, or they are driving aggressively with repeated speed ups and slow downs.

Without using any hypermiling techniques and despite the EPA 45mpg rating one can easily achieve 50mpg+ on the highway as long as they keep their speed at 65mph or below. This is assuming they are using OEM or other LRR tires and weather conditions are fair. Wind and rain can really tank your mpg.

 

Same trip but less traffic and I got off the freeway a few miles early to avoid the bad section of freeway that always drops my mpg.

 

You have real winters and you average 56mpg in the winter whereas I only average 50-52mpg. Overall you always have better mpg numbers than I do. This is just a fun test to see what I can get on my evening commute. I'm scared to see what the morning commute looks like.

 

I stepped on a snake yesterday. It then twisted over my shoe and looked like it was going to go up my pant leg. I screamed like a little girl in front of my two new interns. Girls of course. lol

 

bisco, I generally do the same.

Fuzzy, the snake slithered away seemingly unharmed. Given the short grass and spongy ground I don't think I put enough pressure on it to cause damage.

 

The GenII is only rated 45mpg highway so you're doing pretty good. When I drive to LA I usually maintain speeds between 75mph-85mph. During that 5+hr trip at those speeds I usually end up around 42-44mpg.

During my normal commute I will average about 50mpg if I don't really try but it can drop into the high 40s if I start flooring it everywhere and stick to 70-75mph on the freeway. The 1,200ft. Elevation change hurts me a bit too.

My mpg is not really remarkable. It's the guys averaging 60-70mpg over the lifetime of their car that are the lucky/skilled ones.