Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
1) the answer is hiding in plain view.
2) the vehicle's inefficiency is during transient loads.
3) the longer highway drives keep throttling to a minimum, and the gearing keeps the engine close to it's brake-specific-fuel-consumption optimum.
4) if you could drive continuously at 35-40-mph around town, never stopping until you arrived at your destination, you'd see your highest-possible mpg.
5) AeroStealth's 2014 F-150 will do 22-mpg @ 62-mph (100-km/h ).
6) Same truck @ a constant 35-mph = 32-mpg.
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Thanks, but perhaps I need to clarify my question a little.
I see better economy on long trips when carrying a heavier load than I see on long trips carrying little load. Thus, the variable is not the speed or acceleration/deceleration, but the mass of the vehicle. These observations in in conflict with advice to keep vehicle loads low (which is certainly valid in stop-go city driving).
Cheers.