Went from 18 MPG to 50 MPG in one month! - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

skyking · 09-25-2013, 09:44 AM

My wife has, that is.
Here is the story in a nutshell.
We had smaller cars and manual transmissions for decades. She wanted an SUV. I deflected her until it reached critical mass in 2005. She got a new Honda Pilot. She loved the utility and closed her eyes to the fuel burn till now.
I replaced my Camry with a TDI Beetle. MY camry.
So she takes it to work for a week and loves it. Last night I installed the scangauge, did the first fillup, and sent her off to work. She had always been a "kick it in Neutral" person at lights and stops, so she calls me from work to tell me about her commute this morning. She is excited about it but only half as much as I am

euromodder · 09-25-2013, 10:07 AM

That's cheating !

skyking · 09-25-2013, 10:08 AM

Flawless victory is more like it

MetroMPG · 09-25-2013, 11:10 AM

Nice going.

So when do you replace "your" new Honda Pilot with an I-4 Camry?

skyking · 09-25-2013, 11:31 AM

The Pilot is about depreciated out now. It has a wreck on the carfax, plenty of miles. I can afford to keep it as a pacifier for all wheel drive winter fears, and get another cheap used TDI.
That is my current plan anyway. I had a white Beetle lined up but it sold. We would have had a yin-yang carport

Miller88 · 09-26-2013, 01:53 PM

Pilot probably has some expensive repairs coming up soon. Timing belt and water pump ... seems to be that age.

Always liked the pilots.

skyking · 09-26-2013, 02:03 PM

No, those are done. It should go a good while now. I have a set of studs on steelies for it too.
It might be worth 7K on the market. I think my wife would get at least that much peace of mind from keeping it around.

Miller88 · 09-26-2013, 03:23 PM

It is nice to have an extra vehicle around - especially one with some load capacity.

I don't drive my Cherokee much, but it is nice when I have to move a couch or the Focus is down for a day.

or when we get 3 feet of snow.

skyking · 11-07-2013, 10:28 AM

I don't recall posting here about it, but I got her a 2002 TDI beetle with leather, silver. Now we have 3 diesels in the fleet.
Yesterday was a huge success for me, I ran over 580 miles in the Beetle and was not completely broken afterward. This cannot be said for any other vehicle we have owned in recent history, except the truck. Even the Pilot would have left me somewhat maimed.
The Camry? Forget about that. I wanted out of that thing after 2 hours, and after the second such stop I wanted out period.

H-Man · 11-08-2013, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by euromodder

That's cheating !

It ain't cheating if it actually works.