Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox
YKYAEM if 54 mpg 'sucks'.  |
Yes! I blame the Insight! Since owning that car, 50-anything MPG feels like a giant rip-off.
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Neil: good point -- there was some driving on ice & snow, but only a small portion of the total... under 5%. The rest was on bare/wet pavement.
Cold air is definitely worse for aero, but I wouldn't say it's
massively worse at 45 mph cruising speed. Compare the aero power requirement @ 45 mph @ 20C (4.62 hp) vs. -10C (4.15 hp) in the
aero & rr calculator (using the default vehicle settings):
4.15 hp @ 20C (68F) @ 45 mph
4.62 hp @ -10C (14F) @ 45 mph
So, ~10% more power consumed by aero loading through that temp difference. Estimated steady speed FE goes from 72 mpg to 66 mpg, all else being equal (which it wasn't).
(It was actually a bit colder on my drive: closer to -15C than -10C... which is the lower limit of the calculator.)
Just noticed: the temp change in the calculator should really be applied to CRR too, and it isn't -- it only affects the aero portion of the calcs.