Quote:
Originally Posted by Neen
I'm not saying that 23 mpg average is impossible in a blazer/jimmy 4 door but DAMN!!!! That is almost too good. Wen I owned my 99 4 door blazer with 4.3 4wdand 3.42 gear ratio I think my best tank was maybe 20 all mountain highway. What gear ratio are you rocking and are you doing any neutral costing or PNG?
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> edit: In case you're referring to the 23.68 mpg average below my name over on the left side, that was my first tank with the ScanGauge where I spent a great portion of the tank testing hypermiling techniques & mods out on the highway & very little "city driving" by comparison. Although, there were lots of stopping & turning around during those tests - and engine idling sitting still while I was installing the grille block with duct tape etc. For the life of my ownership of the vehicle though, I'm sure it's less - probably somewhere in the mid "teens" if I were to guess...
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Well, that 23 mpg was a "trip average" per the ScanGauge on what was about a 20 mile trip WITH THE WIND, and with a net elevation LOSS (while towing the trailer). And I was cruising at 40 mpg (my best mpg speed). On the way back, I tried to "hypermile" even more, but into the wind and uphill, it didn't work - still ended up with 23 - - maybe even 22 or 21-something for the trip.
To answer your question(s), I don't know what the rear-end ratio is - I bought it "used". And I do "hypermile" when I can. Never learned the "pulse & glide" technique on level ground, so just engage cruise control at 40 or 41 if possible. On this particular trip, there is a small hill, and it's steep enough that I will throw it into "neutral" and end up going 70+ by the bottom while the engine's idling. It's fun watching the ScanGauge trip average steadily climb as I'm doing that!! I don't "engine-off-coast" in this thing too much, because being an automatic, and having an electronic speedometer, it screws with the odometer and the cruise, etc. In addition, I think turning the ignition switch on & off probably flashes the headlights, making people wonder what I'm doing, etc, etc,. I guess I should wire up one of those fuel injector kill switches like they talk about on here....
But around town, driving "normally" (as in, what other people would consider "normal"), I'm sure this thing would never get out of the low teens. I try to anticipate stops, let off the gas way ahead of them, etc. And I NEVER "floorboard it" (except when I have to going up the Sierras). It pisses people off how slow I start out, but that's just tough. They'll fly around be, exhaust gas shooting out like a jet's afterburner, and I'll watch them get wayyy ahead of me. Then brake lights for the next signal, and eventually I pull up alongside coasting in neutral. Sometimes I don't even have to stop because the light has changed and traffic is moving again by the time I get there....
On highway trips though, 22 to 23 mpg is normal for this thing if I drive near the speed limit (55 to 65 depending on the road - sometimes 75 on the freeway). And it's got a 4-wheel drive selector that lets me drive around in 2-wheel drive almost always. I've even considered un-hooking the front axles, but with winter approaching and needing to use 4-wheel drive on occasion, guess I'd better not. ;-)