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Old 05-03-2018, 02:02 PM   #11 (permalink)
acparker
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Utah
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100 mph is not particularly common here, but speeds in the 90's are (rural freeway speed limit is 80). I think many drivers feel that crossing the three-digit threshold will incur greater wrath from the State. Not a bad assumption.

The Nissan Altima with a 4-cylinder and CVT gets in the upper 30's to low 40's at freeway speeds here (altitude around 4 to 5 thousand feet; usually very dry air, especially on rural freeway). The Camry is a little less efficient at speed (drove a rented Camry from SLC to Las Vegas and back. It averaged about 38 mpg at 80 to 85 mph most of the way.

Engine and drivetrain efficiency are big factors these days. 6 and 8 speed auto-shifters or CVTs can make former gas hogs sip fuel. The Subarus are a good example of that.

I have seen Prii going very fast on the freeway. I raced one, unintentionally, from Auburn to Reno on I-80 and the Prius was doing 85 comfortably up the grade. I was driving a rented Hyundai Elantra (a pig in crosswinds or headwinds with a drop in mpg to low 20's or even high teens). (A heads up to cross country travelers. Driving a rental car at the posted speed limit (I always slow down for cities and towns) while reclined, wearing shades and sporting a full beard will get you facially profiled in Nevada. I didn't get a ticket, but I had a very long chit-chat with the nice officer before he let me go.)

Cars that have a good Cd do not necessarily perform well cross-country or at high speeds. Cross-winds and head winds, as well as shifting and gusty winds are often not replicated in wind-tunnels, especially for cars (and when the Cd is to be used as a marketing tool), so what performs well in the lab does not always do well in the real world.

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