8 mph hour crawl in rush hour, still really good MPG
 

I had a 50 mile drive the other day and got 55mpg on the way, but got stuck in traffic on the way back. For about the first 10 miles of it I averaged 8 mph, but I still got 40mpg. I was leaving a lot of space in front of me so I could keep rolling (albeit slowly) in the middle of all the stop and go. 40mpg is my car's highway rating. I know my aero mods did little or no good at such low speed. I was really surprised at how high the mpg were just from not stopping.:cool:

did you pulse and glide? i don't think it's possible to get 40mpg holding a steady throttle at 8mph. In the city driving with lots of stops it's amazing what driving technique can do

In my Fiesta leaving the neighborhood is .3 mile to the main road. Today the gauge was indicating 43.4 when I started the engine for the first time in 5 days. It dropped to 42.6 in .2 mile then I coasted the last .1 mile and it increased to 42.8. I was coasting (engine on) when it rose in the last .1 mile.

Cold start, had not run since last Sunday.

regards
Mech

I've had similar results in my truck. Cruising at 55mph on open road, I could get ~33mph; in heavy traffic at 55mph, I'd get like 36; but when it slowed to stop and go, I spent most of my time coasting and it would edge up toward 38mpg.

I always think of that as "playing the accordion".