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Hey Metro: I've been experimenting with that a bit... and that could definitely be part of it.
- On that last tank, I took one long(er) trip (~75 miles) down the hill and back up with the family... Drove more or less "normally" ... no EOC, no coasting in idle, very little "timing lights", etc.
- For the days I commuted, I rarely coasted in idle; instead, I took my foot off the throttle completely while in top gear. The reason I was doing this is because I had read elsewhere that the fuel is cut off if there is no load on the engine over ~1000 rpm. And in fact, I can definitely feel the fuel cut back in right at 1000 rpm. The idea being that if I stay in gear with my foot off the throttle, I would actually use less fuel over the same distance than if I take it out of gear and coast in idle. Of course, the disadvantage being that the engine drag slows the car more than when I am out of gear so I can't quite go as far.
- I've been trying to come up with the best way to get UP the hill... As the altitude plus mph trace shows, I was initially downshifting to maintain speed... lately I've been able to get up even the steeper hills without downshifting provided I pulse at the right time.
So it's been a combination of learning the car's capabilities as well as the best methods for the terrain I commute over. For this latest tank, I've been doing a LOT more coasting in idle along with coasting in gear where it makes the most sense, I'm getting the hang of the right places to pulse on the different commute directions, and getting much better at shifting at lower revs (I'm able to skip over gears much more often now).
The current tank is shaping up to be a bit better than the last tank...
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