39.6 miles per gallon

[FrequentFlyer]

If gas prices continue to rise, which we all know is going to happen, you'll see the national speed limits drop back to 55 instead of 65, 70 or 75 in some areas. Of course, most people add the standard 10 to 15mph anyway, so maybe they should make the limits 45 on the freeways. Unless you're traveling hundreds of miles, doing 60 instead of 75 is not going to make much of a difference in your commute that getting up and out of the house 5-10 minutes earlier could not solve. People just like driving fast and being rushed and driving fast is a way of life in metro areas.

I also throw it in neutral on the downhills

This doesn't really save gas if the downhill is graded enough to shut the injectors off while engine braking in gear.

 

[imac]

How many gallons did you fill, and how many miles did you go?

(rofl)
if 2 people of driving age can't figure out how to divide one number by another number, then our country's future looks that much worse...

i'll give him the benefit of the doubt. i get about 30 mpg to long island and back, which is about 5 hrs worth of driving, and that's including traffic delays and higher cruising speeds, both of which kill mpg. not to mention the driving i do around town when i'm there.

our car is a lot more fuel effiecient than people think. a longer 6th gear would have been nice, as nobody uses 6th in aggressive acceleration anyway, but you can pump out good numbers if your smart about how you drive. that bit of info about the fuel injection retarding was pretty interesting too, so thanks techspeak.

also, as far as cruise control goes, its actually not the most efficient way to drive on the highway if you have a steady foot (on hilly roads at least). cruise can't anticipate hills, so when you start going up one, it dumps a lot of gas into the motor to keep it at speed. if you're driving without cruise, you can speed up a little going downhill before you start going back up again, and then keep the gas constant and let the car's speed decellerate slightly on the way up. this works wonders with roads where the topography changes often.

 

[micronesia]

(rofl)
if 2 people of driving age can't figure out how to divide one number by another number, then our country's future looks that much worse...

In my experience, when people get unexpected answers while solving a problem (even easy ones) the reason why is because the person made some kind of a minor careless error like accidentally plugging in the wrong number that they wrote down, or missing a button on the calculator at some point. Even if it's only a 5-10% chance, when there's no other explanation I consider it a possibility.

 

[imac]

In my experience, when people get unexpected answers while solving a problem (even easy ones) the reason why is because the person made some kind of a minor careless error like accidentally plugging in the wrong number that they wrote down, or missing a button on the calculator at some point. Even if it's only a 5-10% chance, when there's no other explanation I consider it a possibility.

when there's no other explanation, maybe, but i still think it's entirely possible to achieve numbers like that given very optimal conditions. obviously nobody is gonna get those numbers driving around town, but if you really wanted to, you could get there given the right situation.

 

[bnoon]

I got 35 MPG average round trip going 60 (125 miles each way). Cruise set, mostly flat ground with a few gently rolling hills, and filled at the same gas station upon return. I did nothing special except drive 60 MPH instead of 65-70 as usual. Engine is just getting broken in as average MPG is still climbing up until this week (2K miles so far in 3.5 weeks).

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

I have tried driving around and never allowing the RPM's above 2500. It is near impossible to gain any speed. You must have gotten gas on the roll on the freeway and got behind a semi down hill for the 2.5 hours. That is incredibly impressive. After a weekend at the TOD I was able to get 32.5 MPG on the way home, I75 with CC set at 70.

 

[J-Villa]

for people saying that put their car in neutral going down hill... your accually wasting gas. Instead of applying lighter throttle then you would crusiing at xmph down the hill, you will gain some momentum and then can use that to go up the next hill, or to keep you going further in a straight line.

that god there are no hills around me, just straight smooth cruising.

 

[Boosted333]

I disagree in some circumstances.... when I put my car in neutral and I am going down a hill that allows the car to get to 90 mph, idling (or turned off for that matter), I would assume that it is getting WAY better mpg than if i left it in 6th... when you leave it in 6th going downhill there is resistance and the car won't get anywhere as much speed. Yes i'm breaking the law and speeding, but we're talking about mpg here.

Once my car gets back to about 65ish, i hit the CC button again and keep cruising.

 

[coololddude]

I took my first semi long drive (2.5 hour drive from Atlanta to Lake Oconee) in my sport last night. One other adult in the car beside myself. All freeway and kept it at 60 on cruise control and coasted down any hills. Kept my tach under 3000.

39.6 miles per gallon! Has anybody else had gotten this kind of mileage or beat it?

I don't plan on always driving like this but I just wanted to see what was possible.

i tried driving the MS3 like that once. i ended up just shooting myself!!

 

[J-Villa]

I disagree in some circumstances.... when I put my car in neutral and I am going down a hill that allows the car to get to 90 mph, idling (or turned off for that matter), I would assume that it is getting WAY better mpg than if i left it in 6th... when you leave it in 6th going downhill there is resistance and the car won't get anywhere as much speed. Yes i'm breaking the law and speeding, but we're talking about mpg here.

Once my car gets back to about 65ish, i hit the CC button again and keep cruising.

thats true. there arn't any hills like that around here except 1 bridge.

and....(sssh) everyone on this forum speeds. (sssh)

 

[MikeHTally]

I would recheck that - 39.6 is very unlikely considering the drag coeficient, weight, torque curve, and gearing of the 3. A sustained 45mph might net that figure but I would have to see it. Coasting down hills doesn't make much of a difference since coasting can't save nearly what was used to climb the hill in the first place. Check it again.
The larger question is how can you drive for 2.5 hours at 60 and not either fall asleep or go stark raving mad?

I agree. I'd go bonkers if I had to drive that slow. I do question your methods, though. If you're relying on pump cutoff, that isn't consistent enough. There is only one way to check mileage: fill it absolutely full so you have gas visible in the filler neck, then drive it and refill the same way, and do the math.

 

[FrequentFlyer]

I agree. I'd go bonkers if I had to drive that slow. I do question your methods, though. If you're relying on pump cutoff, that isn't consistent enough. There is only one way to check mileage: fill it absolutely full so you have gas visible in the filler neck, then drive it and refill the same way, and do the math.

I had thought filling up to the top wasn't good for the evap system.

 

[MikeHTally]

Good point. It isn't, but it's the only way to be sure the tank is absolutely full. Not a good thing to do on a regular basis.

 

[Boosted333]

Honestly I have been driving slower since the gas prices have been going up and its hard to admit that I don't mind it.... I actually arrive a few minutes later but less stressed out. And I noticed a lot of people are going slower as well, they are barely going by me. A year ago people were all doing 85-90 mph and someone doing 55~60 would just about be in the way. Now more and more people are "cruising".

 

[dparm1984]

I can get 34MPG highway...going 75mph, no drafting, AC on, with stuff in the car. Going downhill with no lead-foot and a slightly slower speed...39MPG might not be so crazy.

 

[micronesia]

AC on

From what I recall reading, the ac (or even open windows) is almost entirely negligible in the calculation: <=1 mpg.

 

[ottawaP5]

I don't think he answered whether he was using imperial or US gallons.....using imperial gallons would shoot your mpg calculations up to 39mpg easily.

 

[iluvstrats]

I don't think he answered whether he was using imperial or US gallons.....using imperial gallons would shoot your mpg calculations up to 39mpg easily.

I thought you were kidding. Where in the US do you purchase imperial gallons?

 

[ottawaP5]

I thought you were kidding. Where in the US do you purchase imperial gallons?

Ha! I forgot your pumps actually show gallons...ours show litres, so when people try to convert to MPG they sometimes use the wrong units.

 

[pointysticks]

for people saying that put their car in neutral going down hill... your accually wasting gas. Instead of applying lighter throttle then you would crusiing at xmph down the hill, you will gain some momentum and then can use that to go up the next hill, or to keep you going further in a straight line.

that god there are no hills around me, just straight smooth cruising.

really? i dont think so. if you are coasting down a hill at 70, or driving down a hill at 70..no diff in momemtum once you are at the bottom. the key is when you pop that sucker back into gear and get back on the gas.