49.7mpg in an xB on a 190-mile fillup!

[brickinthewind]

Hey all, (repost from Introductions, but I thought it would be of interest here)
I've owned the car since 2004 when they first came out and my previous best mpg for a long trip was about 35mpg. It had a previous life as a mild tuner with a cold air intake with oil-impregnated paper filter and larger exhaust and bigger low-profile, wider wheels, lowered 1.75". Now I'm back to stock tires on OEM wheels, cold air intake and exhaust, lowered 1.75". On my first hypermiling long distance trip yesterday I got 49.7! That's like $3.15 gas at the old mpg! Did the following:

1. Inflated tires to max psi of 44 at about 65 degrees F
2. Left early for Bay Area to Santa Barbara trip, about 4:30am to miss traffic
3. Drafted larger trucks where applicable, but not excessively
4. Did P+G, often pulsing up to trucks and gliding back. Max speed probably 75, min speed 40 for the entire trip, usually 50-70mph.
5. Did some EOC on some of the longer hills.
6. Shoes and socks off of right foot for better pedal feel.
7. Measured with a full tank with no topping off before and after trip, and the gas gauge looked to be at the same point both times.

I have to say that it makes driving a lot more fun and engaging! Better than driving a little too fast or boring old keeping constant pedal pressure, the P+G/drafting is fun!

I'll see what I get on the way back! Leaving in a few minutes!

[SVOboy]

That's a little small for a fillup, so there's likely to be a bit of an error, but likely not TOO much.

Congrats!

[88CRX]

That is a great point about the envolved driving...

I helps keeping you awake, because you monitoring the car, and environment, then react accordingly.

[zjrog]

I like keeping my right shoe off for distance drives... I prefer to top off the tanks before the get below half a tank, but don't always get to. Its less painful that way, but also gives less data. OR, is easy to skew data one way or the other (up or down)... Having said that, I still have decided whether to throw out fill data after offroading or not.

And I'm happy to see my best tank ever out of my Neon (34 MPG!!!), but dream of what you got...

Congrats!

Garage! Fuel Log!!!

[dsq]

what is an xb?

There are so many cars that have names that sound like a biochemical compound or part of the dna chain.

[ebacherville]

geo metro MPG in a xb.. thats awsome!!

[ebacherville]

this is a XB..

[brickinthewind]

I think the wind may have been with me on the way south. Going north takes more pedal pressure and only getting 39.1 - same techniques only midday and hotter. I am stopped and getting a breeze from the N so I am fighting
that. Still, above EPA and having fun! Especially bc I stopped at a wine tasting!

The early fillup last time and this time is because I'm
excited to get feedback and no scanguage yet!

[NeilBlanchard]

Greetings,

You might want to try a grill blocking aero modification similar to what I'm trying on my xA:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...mods-2969.html
This added ~2-3mpg for the grill mod alone.

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Greetings,

You might want to try a grill blocking aero modification similar to what I'm trying on my xA:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...mods-2969.html
This added ~2-3mpg for the grill mod alone.

x2.

I'm going to look into a grill block (for the lower grill-- the top one is actually a solid piece of plastic with no slots, and blocking the middle would probably not do the engine cooling any favors for the summer) and partial front undertray/air dam (it makes sense in my head, I swear), as soon as I have the cash for a sheet of coroplast or the equivalent. At this point, I get better mileage in town than on the interstate, which is sort of messed up.

Maybe some day, a full pan on the underside-- I think I can do it in steps, front to rear. The part that has me flummoxed is the rear axle. I would really hate to have it interfere with a pan, if say, I jacked my car up.