The Daily Drive Thread: May 2008

[NoCO2]

I'm not quite sure what to put down but I guess I'll just follow suit

Last tank I almost managed 500 miles on a tank of mixed driving. I could probably have done 500 miles but the gas millage wouldn't have been any better (still had a gallon left in the tank when I filled up) and I managed to get roughly 490 miles on 15 gallons so I pulled off just under 33mpg of combined city and highway driving. I'm going to need to figure out new ways to save gas on the highway because I'm going to start looking like a hybrid pretty soon. My Highway FE is roughly 36mpg and now my combined is at 33mpg...uh-oh, what now?

[RH77]

Well, just short of my goal (2 consecutive 40 mpg tanks)

41.6 for the first, and just filled-up at 39.0. I guess the average is just over 40

That should push me for the next tank -- gotta keep on goin'...

I got to drive a new Nissan Sentra today -- just 14 miles in City traffic. I'm continually impressed by small engines and the CVT. If you can't get a manual, I guess the CVT is the next best thing.

I wasn't able to gauge FE (rental was likely not full), but the revs tended to be on the low side (1500 in city driving). The suspension seemed overly cushy, yet stiff in cornering and over large bumps. Seemed like a good car...

RH77

[Frankenstipe]

Posting 2 tanks:

Filled up on 5/20/08:

318.4 miles on 9.773 gallons of gas = 32.58 MPG. $4.69/gallon, $39.77 to fill the tank. 1/4 of the tank was all city driving, the rest was a 330 mile trip to Arcata where I'm now hoping to live for as long as I can. It's weird how city driving kills the tanks average even if most the tank is highway .

Filled up on 5/30/08:

328.8 miles on 10.298 gallons of gas = 31.95 MPG. $4.43/gallon, $45.71 to fill the tank. 1/4 of the tank was highway driving, the rest was short city trips with the engine barely warmed up.

My next fill up will be either Sunday or Monday to see what I averaged on a 330 mile trip, drove back down to the valley to take care of some stuff. About 120 miles of it was very twisty winding roads with some steep hills, highway 36 for those who are familiar with California. The rest was very, very straight roads, boring as hell in other words.

**EDIT**

Last fill up for May:

413.4 miles on 11.235 gallons of gas = 36.79 MPG. $4.35/gallon, $48.97 to fill the tank. Somehow used a lot more gas than I was expecting, my gas light usually comes on when I've used 10 gallons not 11. Pretty disappointed but I'll manage.