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Old 11-26-2009, 05:08 AM   #39 (permalink)
Eddles
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Sheffield, England
Posts: 142

Eddles's Astra - '01 Vauxhall Astra ECO4
90 day: 61.03 mpg (US)
Thanks: 41
Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts
I don't really use any specific techniques - my commute to work is pretty much flat so I just set the cruise control at 60mph and aim the car where the road goes. The motorway on my commute is mostly 2 lanes which is annoying, makes it hard to overtake lorries (which trundle on at 54mph) without someone driving up my tailgate. There are billions of lorries on the M18/M62 for understandable reasons!

In cities, I try to brake as little as possible, and learn all the signal timings - it has gotten to the stage where at 4am, I drive at 10mph for a mile at a specific section of my commute, while someone else is booting it at 40mph, and when we both arrive at the final set of traffic lights, I've timed it so as soon as it turns green, I shoot past him and drive up the dual carriageway at the speed limit, then wonder how much fuel he has wasted driving at 40mph between traffic lights. It's a lot harder when the roads are not empty like 4am, so I just try to drive as smoothly as possible without pissing off too many people and minimise use of the brakes.

I use DFCO to slow myself down when driving downhill and in a speed limit zone, and coasting when going into a lower speed limit zone, and if not enough distance to coast, I use DFCO.

I try to park facing out - as my engine takes literally 15 minutes to reach its operating temperature of 87 deg C (really must check that thermostat).

It's hard to get good MPG out of my car when doing city driving as the environmental mods done by Vauxhall doesn't work at speeds under 40 MPH, and my car's very heavy. My Astra LS ECO4 gets the exact same urban MPG as a standard Astra LS
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My aim: to achieve 3L/100km.
Best tank @ 65mph: 864.2 miles 69.36MPGus 3.4l/100km
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