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I've started doing a lot of EOC these last two tanks and as a result have not only beaten winter at its mileage theiving ways, but also set new tank and trip records. It's getting tricky right now with the shorter days. I need the lights or at least parking lights on more, which means I need to keep an eye on my battery to avoid sending it to an early grave. At the moment I'm still comfortable using parking lights only if I leave late enough, but the later I leave, the more traffic I catch, so there's a catch 22. If I left earlier to avoid traffic, I'd need full lights on and I'm just not comfortable going 15+/- minutes with the lights on EOC. While I'm sure it would bump start, that's digging deep into the battery's reserves, which stands to significantly shorten its life.
I have a friend in Kansas I haven't seen in a while and I just might try to make it out there one of these weekends just to see how good a tank of pure highway will treat me. These last two tanks have more highway than usual and I've been shocked at just how good the MPG looks while cruising. Alternatively, I wonder if I'd get better MPG doing massive glides in the mountains. There's nothing flat for 200 miles in any direction here, so one way or the other, you're working it.
I learned a bit about what relatively minor elevation changes in Colorado can do to mpg. Between Vail and Glenwood it looks almost flat, but going west I was holding 46-49mpg, then coming back east was 35-39mpg in the same stretch. That's 1,400' in 61 miles and while there's no way to EOC there, just that sub 1% grade makes a huge difference. I made up for it later in the trip where the real elevation change is (Vail Pass climbs 3000' in about 12 miles and I can climb at 21.5mpg, then descend EOC, the Eisenhower Tunnel approach climbs about 2500' in about 7 miles, then descends about 3500' over then next 30 miles with relatively short stretches of power needed).
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