I made a business trip to Indianapolis, IN yesterday and had some great numbers. I travelled 185.86 miles and used 3.353 gallons for an average of 55.43 mpg. The major portion of the trip was on US31 which had a max speed of 60; I stayed as close to 55 as I could.
I wasn't able to really do much drafting. Since I was pretty much the slowest driver on the road(55 on a 60 mph road), any vehicles that would have been draftable quickly pulled ahead of me. Forgive me if this isn't the correct use of the term-still learning-but, I did do as much DWL(?) as traffic would allow. Tire pressure was at somewhere around 58 psi. I originally had them at 60 but haven't checked them for a week or so. Also, when pulling away from the few stops I had, I tried to shift at around 2000 rpm's or less.
Hi Larry: ___I was just praising Brick for his great segment battling the elements and you are in your own right pushing out an EPA busting segment of your own. Your 97 Saturn SL is rated at 32 combined, right? Either way, 55 + mpg from a 32 mpg rated Saturn is really out there. Congrats and nice job! DWL is always a great tool and a little traffic side from those blowing by never hurts either That was one hot segment! ___Good Luck and congrats! ___Wayne
Thanks Wayne, those comments mean a lot to me; especially coming from the TdS champ! If I remeber correctly, my car is rated at 33 combined. It's rated at 40 highway. I would consider my trip was 80%+ highway. I didn't mention the return trip. Here are the details: The trip I mentioned was 157.6 miles to the meeting and nearly 30 miles back the other direction until I could get off the Interstate(465) to get to a station to re-fill. The final leg home was 126.1 miles and used 2.562 gallons for an average of only 49.2 Headwinds I guess when you look at it from the EPA numbers it's not quite so bad.
Larry, I'm jealous. I can barely do that with my 2 seater. Lets hope your next trip to PA wi9ll kick it up a notch!
I'm really amazed at what you can do with this Saturn! That kind of mileage would be a dream. There must be some kind of secret power source in that car that you aren't telling us about
Well...there is. But if I told you I'd have to.... I think the biggest contributing factor is the head mod with the Somender Grooves and other tricks. Now, if I could just get ALL of the gerbils on the wheel at the same time.
