great gas mileage is possible in LA/OC

[GerardPRO5]

so, since my carpool buddy got married and left for his honeymoon, I've been driving conservatively to maximize fuel economy.

I've been performing the following things with religious attention:

-shifting @ 2500-2700 RPM (5th gear by 42 MPH)
-accelerating slowly (no more jackrabbit starts)
-staying BELOW 80 MPH on the freeway (between 70 and 78)
-using cruise control during long drives (i.e., Westwood to San Diego)
-staying in one lane on the freeway - no more passing the slow guy
-keeping cold tire pressure at 33 psi at all four wheels

car details:
-2002.5 protege5, manual tranny
-K&N drop-in filter
-Mobil1 10W30
-currently @ 21K miles on odometer
-(otherwise, completely stock)

daily commute details:
-80 miles round trip from Irvine to Carson on the dreaded 405 freeway
-rush hour every day on the drive back home
-combination of about 30% city driving, 70% freeway driving.

MPG results after initial fillup: 31.5 MPG


prior to driving in this fashion, I did everything in the exact opposite...which meant:
-accelerating like a jackass all the time
-keeping an average of 85-90 MPH on the freeway
-shifting @ 4000-4500 RPM
-passing every car in front of me on the freeway and surface streets
-not paying attention to tire pressure


I'm very happy with my car's performance (when necessary) and economy (when driven properly).

So, if you're complaining about the miserable fuel economy in your car, change your driving habits.

 

[tonkabui]

what was your mpg before this?

 

[GerardPRO5]

prior to my new driving habits...26-27 MPG

 

[uclap5]

nice. i get around 25-27 in LA. but i cant help myself from letting it loose once and a while

 

[tttP5]

i get horrible mileage too....
but who cares when u get to enjoy the thrills...

 

[alexlitov]

I got 370 miles on my last tank of gas. I got gas as soon as the low light turned on. I could have probably pushed it to 410-420 miles....

 

[Roywhitep5]

exactly!!
**** gas mileage!

gas might be way more expensive than before but when you compare it to like france or something, its pretty damn cheap

 

[GerardPRO5]

yeah, gas is cheap (relative to other countries like Germany and England)...but in all honesty, there's really no place I can open the car up except in the canyons...and some other places.

...and the more I think about it, I must have been a jackass before I changed my driving habits...

I filled up again yesterday...my trip from Irvine to Westwood then from there to San Diego and then back to Irvine resulted in another fillup...my MPG: 28.8.

damn. traffic in West LA has gotten exponentially worse since I graduated from UCLA in 99. seriously, westwood traffic didn't suck that much donkey ass back when I was an undergrad!

 

[seatown.P5]

I've only been getting 20.5 miles/gallon the last two fillups.
All stop and go city traffic in Seattle, little to no highway driving.
:mad:
I don't drive like a jackass (what a great word, I'm going to use it all day today), but I could probably stand to shift a bit earlier.

 

[LOS-323]

-using cruise control during long drives (i.e., Westwood to San Diego)

One comment... cruise control can sometime use up MORE gas than if you drove without it.

That's because the car will focus on maintaining the speed, not on maximizing fuel economy.

Take a slight hill for example. If you drove yourself, you would probably let the hill slow you down a bit, until you got to the top, and then just let the car gain the speed back up when you started going down on the other side...

Cruise control would give the car more gas to unnecessarily maintain the exact same speed going up the hill, because it doesn't take into account that it could just gain the speed back up on the other side of the hill.

Later,
LOS

 

[LOS-323]

I've only been getting 20.5 miles/gallon the last two fillups.
All stop and go city traffic in Seattle, little to no highway driving.
:mad:
I don't drive like a jackass (what a great word, I'm going to use it all day today), but I could probably stand to shift a bit earlier.

Ever since I got my new straight thru muffler with a deep low sound, I have been driving like a murder witness being followed by the mob. I have to slow it down a bit... I'm probably getting less than 20 mpg right now.

 

[GerardPRO5]

That's because the car will focus on maintaining the speed, not on maximizing fuel economy.

...but that's the idea...I want to maintain a constant speed...and yes, going up a hill while maintaining a constant speed will use up more gas than if I let up on the accelerator.

however, the idea of maintaining a constant speed even though there are opportunities to go much faster is primarily why I use cruise control.

 

[seatown.P5]

Ever since I got my new straight thru muffler with a deep low sound, I have been driving like a murder witness being followed by the mob. I have to slow it down a bit... I'm probably getting less than 20 mpg right now.

EXACTLY! Damn those mods! That's why I got even worse mileage in my old SAAB, it sounded so cool.

Once I install my JIC in the P5, I'm sure I'll be getting even worse mileage. So sad.

 

[LOS-323]

...but that's the idea...I want to maintain a constant speed...and yes, going up a hill while maintaining a constant speed will use up more gas than if I let up on the accelerator.

however, the idea of maintaining a constant speed even though there are opportunities to go much faster is primarily why I use cruise control.

Well... yeah... it's better to maintain the slower speed. I see what you mean.

 

[LOS-323]

EXACTLY! Damn those mods! That's why I got even worse mileage in my old SAAB, it sounded so cool.

Once I install my JIC in the P5, I'm sure I'll be getting even worse mileage. So sad.

True... someone in this board (I don't remember who) was talking about de-moding their car. To avoid driving so fast.

 

[thumpr]

also remember that for '00-'03 protegs, when you switch the climate control vents to "windshield defrost," "defrost/floor," or "just floor" modes, it turns on the a/c automatically to dehumidify the interior. the light doesn't turn on, but the a/c is on.
http://web2.iadfw.net/theman/protegefaq/tsb/mt000003946.html

this is a big gas waster - so when you've defogged your windows switch the vents back to the dash vents - other than rewiring the HVAC, this is the only way to turn off the automatic a/c.

yeah this is a repeated thing but it's a good mpg tip that isn't documented in most of the manuals so it goes with this thread too

 

[leungwingkei]

Switching to 5W30 may also get you better fuel economy.

 

[totttalled]

How can you possibly tolerate that 405 traffic with a manual shift? When I drive thru LA I drive my other car with the auto to preserve my sanity.

 

[Khoifather]

How the hell do you guys get good milage!!! I get only about 21MPG and I drive highway most of the time!!!! This is pathetic!!!

 

[fLyPiNoY7]

checked today...21mpg...blah...