Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and feedback.
Yes, Harrisburg area. Camp Hill. Being from NJ, I've really enjoyed adjusting to living here.
Roof racks, not really but I left the OEM side rails on as I do occasionally mount crossbars to carry longer pieces of lumber, bikes, etc. The XC model has quite a bit of cladding added to it. I wonder if removing that for more subdued/smoother V70 bumpers and other pieces might help.
No block heater yet. Sounds like a good easy thing to start with, along with cleaning my kids' stuff (and some of my hoard) out of the garage so I can park inside with my wife's Prius C.
I currently run the stock tires at 38psi. They're rated for up to 40 on the sidewall. Could go a few more, I guess. My commute to work today was (based on computer readout) 19.7mpg and 21.7 on the way home. The same routes net 52 and 62 in the Prius. Needless to say we carpool whenever possible.
I love being brought back to reality and reminded to get the low hanging fruit first. Thanks for that reminder and keep it coming - repeatedly- seriously! I have a tendency to daydream and lose sight of the smaller things that are actually more attainable.
I've been itching to lower the car, though, so that will probably happen along with replacement of a few clunking sway bar links and the front and rear alignments. Grill block and engine block heater will go to the top of the list.
The more complex / expensive items were really listed just for proof of concept ideas for me to tinker with. If I can get to 15% without them, great! I think they'll stay on a long term project list until some new technology arises that makes my current car completely obsolete or I move to a place with better public transportation.
Okay, now I have to go back and re-read the stickies because I'm not sure what DWL and DWB are.
Thanks again for all of the tips! What a great active forum!
