New Job, New Commute - 5.5->28 miles one way!

[abell75]

So I got a new job recently. My old commute was 5.5 miles of flat 2 lane highway. Now I have 28 miles; 4 on hilly 2 lane highway and the rest on I-55 and I-44 through STL (4 & 5 lane freeway, usually not too clogged up).

Naturally, I'm much more interested in my fuel economy now!

I've read a lot on the site and have a few ideas for my 2002 Grand Prix GT. I have some questions too, but I'll post things in their own threads to keep things clean.

I'm 35, have a wife & three kids (one more coming ), background is Engineering, and am a continuous improvement manager for a private company that does heat treatment.

[NeilBlanchard]

Welcome to EcoModder,

A regular commute is the best way to learn good ecodriving technique, which will be about half of what you improve. The other half will/can be aero mods, and tire inflation, etc.

Post some pictures of your car, and we'll start pitching ideas. Oh, and I'd buy and UltraGauge or ScanGauge II to help you drive better.

[abell75]

Thanks. Scangage II is what I'd like to get, eventually. In the short term, I think DWL and trying to stay within the optimum BSFC range will help a lot. I had just been cruising along, but P&G along with more aggressive acceleration should help. My current stats are just one tank, but that rate is typical of me. It's my baseline; we'll see what happens when I start using the hypermiling techniques. I'm excited to see.

This is not my car, but it's the same model & year. I have made no aero mods yet. Plugging up the holes in front will probably be my first job, or maybe the pizza pan wheels....

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0001_large.jpg