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Old 10-17-2010, 01:27 AM   #208 (permalink)
Nerys
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Levittown PA
Posts: 800

Cherokee - '88 Jeep Cherokee
90 day: 19.44 mpg (US)

Ryo-Ohki - '94 Geo Metro Xfi
90 day: 50.15 mpg (US)

Vger 2 - '00 Plymouth Grand Voyager SE

Ninja - '89 Geo Tracker
90 day: 30.27 mpg (US)
Thanks: 12
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"Normally I got about 36.5 MPG in the Corolla. but on that one tank it was 39.5 MPG.
About 10%."

So you save 1% foreign oil and how much did that COST YOU in both increased fuel cost increased food cost and increased taxes?

"As far as getting 60 MPG in your Metro with an 1100 pound payload, that just is straining the credibility of your claims to the end of belief."

Sorry nothing is strained here except maybe you misread something? I have yet to get 60mpg in my metro.

I have gotten just shy of 59mpg with the car AT max load rating (I am 400 pounds and I had 250 pounds of stuff in the car thats 650 rating is 688 IIRC) and I had the trailer (empty) attached.

but I was semi surfing so thats an unusual scenario.

My best FE on E10 is 54mpg and that HAS BEEN with 1100 pounds in the car.

I am 400 my sister is 340 brother is 225 and sister boyfriend is 165

thats 1010 pounds just in people and I had AT LEAST 100 pounds of stuff in the car. heck just the tools mass over 75 pounds and my laptop is another 20 with its stuff. and this is with and without the trailer.

I notice NO significant change in FE with all that in the car or just me in the car (remember very few stops on my commute so very few accelerations which is the ONLY time more mass will have any meaningful effect on FE)

I also notice no measurably reliable change in FE with and without the trailer no matter what I put ON the trailer. Even 250 pound lawn tractors or a pallet load of DVD cases massing over 450 pounds (Best guess 2200 dvd cases)

I attribute this to the trailer and loads being aerodynamically irrelevant IE they are "in the wash" of the car (the trailer and most of the loads are SMALLER in frontal area than the car so they "hide" in the cars wake)

at that point the only drag is bearings tires and mass bearings and tires are for the most part not relevant at this scale and the mass again only has an impact when your accelerating.

this is straight forward physics here. Nothing complex or magical.

If you don't like the thread there is a SERIOUSLY easy solution.

Stop reading it.