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Old 04-23-2008, 09:20 AM   #10 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,515

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 52.48 mpg (US)
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Yes, it can be slow. I imagine the 65 mpg in the Ranger was predominantly low speed pulse and glide (ie. 2nd gear - it's a manual), with an average speed somewhere in the 20-25 mph area. I don't think he could have pulled off that mileage in a straight draft.

I've driven with Wayne as well. In all situations, he's highly aware of the driving environment unfolding in front of him and adjusts his technique accordingly.

Very little fuel is ever converted to brake dust. That's "driving without brakes, or DWB".

In sub/urban driving or stop & crawl, the engine is either accelerating the vehicle, or it's off, period.

He's more comfortable with the occasional drafting situation than I am.

And he's apparently immune to the sound of honking horns. Granted, in the couple of situations where people beeped, they had nowhere else to go and were only fixated on his "slow car" (relative to traffic in the adjacent lanes). If they had looked ahead, they'd have seen he was coasting towards either a stop ahead or a slowdown in traffic in his lane.

The only time I felt uneasy was in a free flow of highway traffic, where he's comfortable at lower speeds (right lane, of course) than I am. "Driving with load / target driving" somewhere north of where the top gear or torque converter engages.
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



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has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
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