[funkhoss]

I travel for work all over the state of Virginia, and about a month ago I needed to make a trip to the Eastern Shore. I talked my wife into bringing our two boys and coming with me to make a "vacation" out of it. We drove out one day, spent a day there (during which I worked and they went to the beach at Chincoteague), and drove back the third day.

The long and short of it is that we drove (the Metro) a total of 678.6 miles and averaged 85.61 MPG, fillup to fillup.

That was with the four of us, two carseats, luggage, food, beach toys, etc. loaded in the car. This trip confirmed in my mind the idea that weight is one of the least important factors when it comes to fuel economy.

Now admittedly, this trip could very well have been over 90 MPG if I had traveled by myself. But besides the weight, if I were alone I would also have traveled with only one window partly down (instead of two), I would have made fewer stops, and I might have driven sightly slower than I did on this trip (but not by much).

Nevertheless, the point remains--85 MPG with four passengers and gear is pretty doggone good, and it wouldn't have been that much better if I were 300 lbs. lighter.

-Funkhoss