[2016 Versa]

Back when I lived in NC and drove I-40 from Statesville, NC to Nashville, TN when coming to KY to visit my parents there was a stretch of concrete roadway that as best as I can remember was somewhere between Hickory, NC and Asheville, NC. As soon as I'd hit that section I could watch the Scan Gauge and it was very obvious on the instant MPG reading the concrete increase mileage by several MPG. That was a very old section of concrete and the roughest riding area of the whole trip. They were always doing some type road construction on I-40 in that approximately 375-400 mile stretch and it was also obvious that newer asphalt didn't deliver as good of MPG as the older asphalt, I always just assumed it was stickier from all the tar in the asphalt and it increased rolling resistance. A freshly paved section right around the NC-TN state line where the steepest of the Smokey Mountains were would play hell with your gas mileage. The new pavement would be so sticky that even on downhill stretches I'd have to stay on the gas just to maintain the 55 MPH speed limit in that section. I couldn't even shift to neutral and maintain the speed limit. Newly paved asphalt in the mountainous areas also didn't appear to be as smooth on top. Maybe it was just me thinking that but, I wonder if maybe I was right and it was to give better traction through the mountains during winter weather and decrease gas mileage the rest of the time. These things were noticed in my 1997 Ford Escort station wagon with a 2.0L/manual 5 speed.