Found the Sweet Spot!!

I can never get better than 50 mpg running at 70 mph. Good job.

 

How many gallons does the tank hold? I know, the math is easy but I wanted to know what the actual published size of the tank.

Thanks,
Scott

 

I'm confused, you say you drove 73 mph but then in another sentence say you averaged over 60 mph. Which is it?


I think it all depends on the road your driving to find a sweet spot.

 

Average speed is never as high as cruising speed as long as your cruise speed is also your maximum speed. You have to slow down for off ramps and stuff like that.

 

60mpg at 73mph is excellent.

 

David, you beat me, I can't match that.

 

That fuel economy at that speed was probably more due to road conditions - tail wind, downhill, good road surfaces, etc - that contributed more than being in a functional 'sweet spot'.

Regardless, it's a good number. I'd be happy!

 

My only thought is: That must be one flat road...

 

My normal highway speed is 118km/h on cruise control and normally watch the MFD showing an average of 5.2L/100km on the highway. It's pretty flat round here.

 

I just did some calculations.
My normal highway cruise speed as I said earlier is 118km/h. I just did the conversion, 73mph! What do you know, snap! This gives me 5.2L/100km which translates to 45mpg US or 54mpg UK.

 

I'd be pretty happy with mileage like that at such speeds.

The only time I'd get really high mileage on an interstate highway (other than in construction zones!) is when there is warm (not hot) weather and the roadway is concrete or well-worn asphalt that isn't yet broken up. Such roadways are rather uncommon in the upper midwest!!

 

I find that some days I get stellar, unexplained mileage. Then, doing the same thing in seemingly BETTER conditions, I can't touch that mileage. I think there's some hidden magic voodoo going on some days.

 

I bet it's all in the spandex, Darell. Have you compared which tanks were winter spandex and which were not?

 

You are aware of the Stage 3/4 transition? Once the engine is fully warmed up, it seems to need an idle speed check before it will run the engine at very low revs. It's aggressive about running it - it starts the engine when driving below the EV mode limit (I think - the original document says 34mph) and won't stop it. The engine goes into idle mode below 6mph, when slowing, and the speed check takes ten seconds. Some people advocate pulling over to allow this check to complete.

(Idle check is my assumption based on the monitor for DTC P0101, which runs for 10 seconds when the engine is idle. I'm guessing it's calibrating the mass airflow sensor.)

Annoyingly, on my commute, the engine isn't normally warmed up to 73°C before I get to the high-speed (60, 50, 40mph) section; once on the 40mph section there's a nice glide available with only occasional moderate input from the battery, which saves fuel, but the engine's gone cold again by the time I get to the next junction I might have to stop at. I normally get a chance to do the idle check only when I have a couple of miles to go, although at both ends of the journey there's a slow section followed by a fast section, then town traffic.

Last week, though, temperatures were over 15ºC and I could tell the car was already in Stage 3 before the high-speed section, and I pulled over after crawling through the 20mph village. Result, pretty high mileage numbers, well over 75mpg 5-minute averages.