Last night I filled up my tank and manually calculated out the mileage and noted it along with what the MFD said. This was my 4th tank and both the calculation and MFD showed 58.2 mpg. Woohoo! I was pretty ecstatic. So anyway, my wife had to run an errand this morning and since my car get almost 3x the mileage of her van, I lovingly offered it to her. She called my from the end of the driveway and said that the mileage was dropping way down and she didn't know why. I assured her that the car was cold and there was only 2 miles on the new tank and that everything was normal. About an hour later she got home. The MFD showed 45mpg. I was quite surprised. She told me that it was probably during the road construction where it was stop and go continuously. I scratched my head and said, "That's where it's usually the most efficient".... I kept going through the things that would cause it to lose mileage. I asked if she was accelerating hard. She said no. I asked if she was holding the accelerator up to the red light. She said no. Finally, I said something about the mileage not being really good above 62 or 63. She said, "62?! I was going 75mph all the time on the highway!" <knocks head against wall>
It's a learning experience for you both. And 45 mpg is a lot better than her van would get at 75 MPH. Just proves what a negative effect excess speed has on fuel efficiency.
but, but, my record breaking mileage for this tank is....yeah, I guess you're right. Next tank I'll break 60mpg.....
You will also find that stop and go isn't all that good for mileage. Smooth low speed will do a lot better. Tom
My first week of my new prius the wife was always driving it. The mpg was dismal. 39, 44, 45 like that. I was getting 50 and 52 so couldnt figure it. I asked her how she drove and she just said "zoom!" She feels the best way to get respect was to out pace the other cars! :spit: The next week she got one of her own and now my mpg is back in the 50 range. Hers is in the 39, 40, 44 range! :rockon:
