Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post

NachtRitter · 08-17-2012, 03:39 PM

FC - That is truly amazing! Over 500 miles on that LGT Wagon is pretty stupendous!

We're back in school over here, so one of my typical drives is to the kid's school and back... I have a couple of trip logs for Helga where I've been capturing details of the drive 'to' school and the drive 'from' school... There is an elevation difference of about 400ft from home to school, though the route dips down 200ft before climbing back up. Route is a 50/50 mix of freeway and rural roads.

Normally, a good day driving to the school gets me ~60mpg and a good return trip gets me in the mid-80's for a combined ~70mpg. But there was something magic in the air yesterday and today... (unfortunately I only recorded yesterday in my log) ... yesterday I got over 66mpg going uphill and nearly 100mpg coming back down! Combined FE is nearly 80mpg for the round trip... Today I got even better... 66mpg up and 105mpg down... Wow, Wow, and double-Wow! Definitely my best ever FE round trips (recorded and not recorded) to the school.

Two things that probably helped:
- For each trip, the coolant was already pretty warm... yesterday because Helga had been driven prior to the trip and today because I used the block heater before leaving
- I closed off the gap between the front bumper and the fender liner... though I would be surprised if that made all that much of a difference.

It boggles my mind what could be accomplished if I got serious about the aero on this car (belly pan, skirts, kamm back or boat tail)... whew!

08-17-2012, 03:39 PM	#476 (permalink)
NachtRitter NightKnight Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Placerville, CA Posts: 1,595 Helga - '00 Volkswagen Jetta TDI TEAM VW AUDI Group Diesel 90 day: 51.85 mpg (US) Mathilde - '99 Volkswagen Eurovan Camper 90 day: 16.87 mpg (US) Thanks: 315 Thanked 314 Times in 187 Posts	FC - That is truly amazing! Over 500 miles on that LGT Wagon is pretty stupendous! We're back in school over here, so one of my typical drives is to the kid's school and back... I have a couple of trip logs for Helga where I've been capturing details of the drive 'to' school and the drive 'from' school... There is an elevation difference of about 400ft from home to school, though the route dips down 200ft before climbing back up. Route is a 50/50 mix of freeway and rural roads. Normally, a good day driving to the school gets me ~60mpg and a good return trip gets me in the mid-80's for a combined ~70mpg. But there was something magic in the air yesterday and today... (unfortunately I only recorded yesterday in my log) ... yesterday I got over 66mpg going uphill and nearly 100mpg coming back down! Combined FE is nearly 80mpg for the round trip... Today I got even better... 66mpg up and 105mpg down... Wow, Wow, and double-Wow! Definitely my best ever FE round trips (recorded and not recorded) to the school. Two things that probably helped: - For each trip, the coolant was already pretty warm... yesterday because Helga had been driven prior to the trip and today because I used the block heater before leaving - I closed off the gap between the front bumper and the fender liner... though I would be surprised if that made all that much of a difference. It boggles my mind what could be accomplished if I got serious about the aero on this car (belly pan, skirts, kamm back or boat tail)... whew! __________________ My VW MkIV Aerodynamic Mods (For Jetta and Golf) thread VW Save as You Drive. Background information for expert fuel savers.