Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Just a guess, as a lot depends on the particular car & such, but I'd say you'd be better off going for the back road. Speed up as much as you safely can before starting the steep section, and try to let momentum carry you up without needing to downshift.
I drive an Insight, and find that on some hilly sections drive often, I can get better mpg by driving fast enough to keep RPM/power up in 5th, rather than going slower and having to downshift to 3rd. Your car & road may vary, though.
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I find the same thing, getting caught on a hill that my car can't climb with torque converter locked in top gear is a bad MPG situation. Its worth the slightly worse MPG speeding up for the hill to be able to motor up it easily.
This also limits my minimum speed for pulse and glide to about 35-40 mph, any lower and I downshift on my pulse wasting gas.
Ian