So I finally got to drive my mom's Caliber Long enough to empty the tank and get some FE numbers. Well I have the Results!!!
Year: 2007
Make: Dodge
Model: Caliber
Trim: R/T
Transmission: CVT II w/Autostick
Engine: 2.4L I4 World Engine N/A
Drag Coefficient: .375
New EPA City: 21
New EPA Highway: 25
New EPA Combined:23
Old EPA City: 24
Old EPA Highway: 27
Old EPA Combined: 25
The Drive:
I used the Alpine Blackbird to track trip information, such as average speed, max speed, and etc. I drove 336.6 miles before filling up.
I drove from Mt. Carmel, IL to Kansas City, MO (subdivision Lee Sumit). I would have made it there on one tank, but I didn't want to chance running out when I got to the driveway, so we stopped and filled up. I also got some info on the RPM's at each speed I traveled (based off eyes to tach only).
Trip Info:
Max Speed: 82.4mph
Average Speed: 67.4mph
Cruising Speed: 65-75mph
Speed Cruised most at: 70mph
RPM At MPH: Approx
55: 1900
60: 2050
65: 2150
70: 2250
75: 2400
Surprisingly, I went 336.6 miles on 11.005 gallons of gas. Which= 30.6mpg!!! What really surprised me was that almost no driving technique was used to achieve this FE. I drove between 65-75mph depending on the speed limit, and drove 5mph over for each limit. If you live near Springfield, MO or Kansas City, MO or Branson, MO... basically in MO, you know how hilly it is over there. this was no flat driving. The only flat part was IL into St. Louis, and then the other half of the drive was all hills, some I measured to be up to and surpass 2000ft of climbing, or near half a mile to get to the top.
With real driving techniques, and slower driving averages, with a max speed of 55 would return much better results. I believe that 40mpg can be reached with this car if I drove it with FE in mind, and even better if I used the autostick feature.
Another note, the A/C was also on the whole way there. (to keep the drinks in the chill zone beverage cooler cold, and keep the hot weather from protruding within the vehicle).
I am very thoroughly surprized by the FE return in this car, and am glad to know it can pull some good numbers (it's mine in 5 years
)
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