By the way a few of us went back out yesterday and drove our 120.9 mile loop through the southern Adirondacks in an attempt to set new personal bests. Let me start by saying the weather men were wrong as they were calling for no rain and temps in the upper 50's. But up in the mountains we had a wet mist requiring wipers at times. We were driving through wet roads with standing water, and trying to dodge the bigger puddles. It was quite cool up there as well, only in the upper 40's.
I was really hoping to break 80 mpg, but in the end I waited too long for this second attempt. It was almost 40 deg. cooler than it was at the
Tri-State Fuel Economy Challenge event almost 6 weeks ago and it was wet. So the benefits of having ethanol free fuel this time out and using a more "fuel mileage friendly" course were in my estimation nullified by the wet roads and cool temps. I improved just a bit from 76.04 to 76.90 mpg.
Here are a few more pics I took yesterday:
It's hard to see in this picture, but the fuel level is right to the top of the flapper. This is the fill and refill point I use. The others were using the clicking off method which I believe is less accurate. I like to be able to "see" the fuel level during the before and after fills, and am glad I have an older car and can top off like this without causing any problems.
On my way home I decided to see what I could get driving the car "normally", or what some would call "real world" driving. So without any engine off coasting or pulsing and gliding, I simply cruised at a steady 50 mph on the NY Thruway for 30 miles.
I was able to get 50 mpg. Not bad for a two liter Sentra.
