Ok, I'm sure nobody cares. But on this last tank of gas, I decided to see how good of gas mileage I could get. Normally, it averages around 24 mpg.

On my last tank, I got a little over 22 mpg.

I drive 30 miles each way to work, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The weekdays are from 11:30am-12:30pm that I drive to work, so it's HOT. I don't stop sweating until an hour after I get to work, and am in the 68 degree air conditioning. So normally, I drive with my windows down, and cruise around 55-65 mph when possible.
Those "jackrabbit" starts they advise against? That was me. Every light. Every stop sign. Pass someone? Drop into 2nd or 3rd, and lay on it. I LOVE hearing my engine.

But then Katrina, the gas prices, etc. So last week, after it hit, I went to Wal-Mart for groceries, and got gas on the way home. When everyone bitched about the people "topping off" and causing an artificial shortage, I got 13.5 gallons to fill my 17.5 gallon tank. It was time to refill.
Drove 2 miles home.

I calculated my gas mileage...22 mpg. I guess I did a bit more spirited driving than I thought.

So I decided, I'll cut back, I'll see just how GOOD of gas mileage I can get.

I drove to work, in the fucking heat, with my windows down about 2 inches on each side. I drank ice water to keep myself cool, although it wasn't any hotter than normal in the car, I just had less air on me. But I wanted the BEST mileage, and windows down will cut gas mileage. So I would suffer for the sake of research.

I so many times wanted to just ROMP on the gas. I was feeling deprived. I accelerated slowly, staying completely off of boost. I shifted at 2,500-3,000rpm, and was passed many times by little old ladies.
I wasn't perfect...I nearly blew it several times. I passed a guy who must have been doing the same thing, except, I wasn't limiting myself to forty-fucking-miles-per-hour. Reality here...I actually have places to be.

Coming up on a red light, I would drop into neutral, especially if there was a car waiting in my lane. I would coast as often as I could, although obviously not when I need to maintain speed. And yes I know I don't have my foot on the gas, so probably it does very little, except keep the car out of gear, so that's less drag, so it coasts longer.


AND the result. After 422.4 miles of this shit-

26.1 mpg

That's it. A 2.1 mpg improvement over the norm. Now what was my cost savings...there was a savings here to be sure.

To drive that distance, at the following MPG ratings, it would cost:

22.0 mpg = $60.26 Approximately $0.14 per mile
24.0 mpg = $55.24 Approximately $0.13 per mile
26.1 mpg = $50.18 Approximately $0.12 per mile

I saved about 1 cent per mile over my normal 24 mpg. Over a 30 mile trip to work, that's $0.30. Not exactly mind-boggling.

So anyhow, I did this to see just how good of gas mileage I could manage. I'm satisfied with my standard 24 mpg, and have checked my tire pressure already to make sure it's good. But I don't think I can keep up the granny-mode driving any longer.

BTW, the environmental impact, the amount of gas I CONSERVED was approximately 1.42 gallons. By easing off, and almost nodding off, I saved just shy of 1.5 gallons of gas.

Probably the biggest benefit is that when everyone was paying $3.19 for gas, I was looking at my gas gauge at 1/2 a tank. When it dropped to $3.09, I was looking at a 1/4 tank. I passed a $2.99 station, foolishly, to get more miles on THIS tank. All in the name of research and a more accurate average.

However, I think I'll stick to enjoying my driving, although, I will probably be more aware of the cost of winding out the gears just to hear the engine

And if anyone feels the urge to say "Wow, lotta words, didn't read it." Shove it. It's a fucking message board. Don't want to read words? Watch the damn T.V.

 

lol, how horrible. I'll stick to getting 12 driving like a granny instead of 9 driving like I should. Forgot about that today, pinned it from 20-80 on a onramp, 2 goddamn gallons right there. sounded great hearing it in first or my 3 gears at 45mph, when its generally in 3rd by 30.

 

I average 24mpg mostly city w/some highway. I drive fairly conservatively (keep it under 3k) most of the time, but I still beat on it now and then.

On my last tank of gas I tired 100% grandma driving by keeping it under 3k and under 70mph on the freeway. The car achieved the exact same gas mileage as it does when I beat the piss out of it once or twice on my way to/from work. No matter what, I can't seem to get better than 24mpg.

 

24's not really that bad. I'm currently finishing off a tank in the lincoln, that I filled up 2 weeks ago, im at 160 miles driven so far and im nearing a 1/4 tank if not through it. And I have a 26 gallon one.

 

Ouch. Reminds me of my 8-10mpg Mustang from about 3-4 years ago. Of course that was when gas was about half the price of what it is now.

 

I've been trying to optimize. I don't drive like to terribly slow. I've been getting a consistent 31+ MPG in my '94 Integra with mostly city driving, a few minles on the interstate during the weekdays. Not bad for a car rated at 24 city/30 highway. I shift around 2300-2500 RPM. Used to be I never go over 3K RPM, now I very rarely go over 2500. I'm in 5th gear by around 35-38 MPH. It's fucking great. Oh, and I never use A/C, never have. I always, always rev-match, and am very often in neutral. I'd say about 12+ miles per tank are done in neutral altogether. I try to maintain as much speed as possible through cornering, so I take those as best I can.

 

I get about 15 mpg city when I drive normally, that is to say, beating on it all the time. I get a little bit better mileage when I drive slowly, say 17 mpg, but yeah, it's nothing all that exciting. That said, I have been driving around in granny mode lately just to eke out that extra 2 mpg because the gas is just so damn expensive.

 

you're preaching to the choir! i've been driving like a goddamn korean war veteran for the past month, and i'm loving every minute of it! my sebring got 22.1 mpg driving like a typical tampa idiot, and now i'm getting around 32 mpg.

air conditioning? forget it. i dropped the top.
speeding? aggressive driving? yeah, right.
tire pressure? jacked up to 38 psi.
cruise control? every chance i get.

i went 226 miles on 7 gallons of gas last week.

 

I beat the shit out of my car, drive it everywhere, run the A/C when its hot (midday) and fill up 3 times a week from below a quarter tank and I never stay out of boost. 23-25mpg all the time. 30mpg if I go all hwy.

and its not a Honda

 

See, I was never able to see that large of a gain when I tried driving sensibly in my car. I've established that my mom's Pathfinder gets about 15 mpg when I beat on it and run it to the hp peak of 4500 all the time, because I drained an entire tank driving it around like that and I counted the miles with the trip odometer. I haven't had a chance to drain a full tank with my light right foot, 2500 max rpm, coast up to lights and try to maintain momentum around corners approach to gas miser driving, so I don't know how much of a difference it makes.