Well, lets see where we are at the end of 1,000 miles through Ohio and Pennsylvania:
1. Averaged 29mpg, high of 33, low of 27, going between 75 and 80 with the AC blasting.
2. Really steep mountain grades and a fully loaded 5 , four people and a big load of luggage, do not get along well together.
3. The 5 is way to comfortable at 90mph, I really have to make sure I watch that spedo closer than I have to in the Saturn.
4. Pennsylvania loves their radar gun signs, I swear the detector was going off at least once every 10 minutes and only once was it an officer.
5. Gettysburg was an incredibly important battle during the civil war. That said, you can not swing a dead cat around without hitting a monument. It is really impressive until you have seen the 150th monument, then you start to become a little bit jaded.
6. The PA turnpike is one hell of an entertaining drive, unlike the snoozefest that the OH turnpike has become.
7. The 2.3 in the 5 is not happy being floored when it is below 3000 rpm in any gear above 1st on the 5spd manual.
8. There is not a better smelling place on this planet than the area around the Hershey chocolate plant. They joke that you gain weight by breatihing the air, I think they are right.
9. I cannot imagine a vehicle that would have taken better care of us than the 5. It was frugal on fuel, it climbed every mountain that we threw at it, and it held all of our luggage. And by luggage I mean enough for my wife and twin twelve year old daughters. This included one whole suit case for stuffed animals. I swear to God they had 15 stuffed animals in a suit case. I wanted to scream!! I almost ran out of room, I was considering getting a smaller bag for myself, and then they break these things out in the hotel room. (pissed)
So, all in all a good time. I am not a mileage junky, I cannot bring myself to crawl along just to see what I can achieve at the pump. That said, I was very happy with the numbers that the 5 generated. This is the first vehicle that I have owned that ever beat the EPA highway numbers.
Opus
1. Averaged 29mpg, high of 33, low of 27, going between 75 and 80 with the AC blasting.
2. Really steep mountain grades and a fully loaded 5 , four people and a big load of luggage, do not get along well together.
3. The 5 is way to comfortable at 90mph, I really have to make sure I watch that spedo closer than I have to in the Saturn.
4. Pennsylvania loves their radar gun signs, I swear the detector was going off at least once every 10 minutes and only once was it an officer.
5. Gettysburg was an incredibly important battle during the civil war. That said, you can not swing a dead cat around without hitting a monument. It is really impressive until you have seen the 150th monument, then you start to become a little bit jaded.
6. The PA turnpike is one hell of an entertaining drive, unlike the snoozefest that the OH turnpike has become.
7. The 2.3 in the 5 is not happy being floored when it is below 3000 rpm in any gear above 1st on the 5spd manual.
8. There is not a better smelling place on this planet than the area around the Hershey chocolate plant. They joke that you gain weight by breatihing the air, I think they are right.
9. I cannot imagine a vehicle that would have taken better care of us than the 5. It was frugal on fuel, it climbed every mountain that we threw at it, and it held all of our luggage. And by luggage I mean enough for my wife and twin twelve year old daughters. This included one whole suit case for stuffed animals. I swear to God they had 15 stuffed animals in a suit case. I wanted to scream!! I almost ran out of room, I was considering getting a smaller bag for myself, and then they break these things out in the hotel room. (pissed)
So, all in all a good time. I am not a mileage junky, I cannot bring myself to crawl along just to see what I can achieve at the pump. That said, I was very happy with the numbers that the 5 generated. This is the first vehicle that I have owned that ever beat the EPA highway numbers.
Opus
