Drove to Orlando yesterday and proved once again that my car is capable of much better mileage just running around town than it is at Interstate speeds.

Drove from Safety Harbor to I-275 on Hillsborough. Cruising speeds from 45-60, a few lights. 48.1 mpg average by the time I got on the Interstate. (and was still rising if I'd stayed in that environment)

Cruising through Tampa at about 60-65, mileage steadily dropped to about 46. Cruising a steady 68-70 through Lakeland, it dropped to under 45. Stabilized at about 44.5, but I got tired of driving 70 and kicked it up to 75. Then it steadily dropped again all the way down to 41.8.

On the way home, traffic was dense, so I was able to cruise 55-60 through much of Orlando and got the daily average back over 43. When traffic broke, I went with the fast flow at around 80 mpg most of the way to Tampa.

I'm convinced that Tampa > Orlando is slightly uphill, because even travelling faster, I managed to keep the MPG over 42 for the highway portion. Adding in another off-highway stretch on Hillsborough got the final day's average to 44 mpg.

I need to buy a TDI. I would if they were smaller. (Toyota! Where's my diesel Yaris???)