Aero Trix's bests and goals

[wyatt]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

Distance update:

I just beat my longest tank! My record was 437 miles, today was 507 miles @ 11.38 gallons. With a 13.3 gallon tank I only need to work a bit harder to get 600 miles out of a tank

Next goal 600 miles in a tank.

Don't count on the full 13.3 gallons... I have a 10.6 gallon tank, but the car sputters at anything over 10 gallons, and will die on most downhills... I now try to keep fill ups around 9 gallons (since I don't want to carry a gas tank around with me).

[bestclimb]

I get about 10 gallons of gas every 500 miles whether I need it or not and the kill switch goes a very long way to doing that.

[endurance]

Originally Posted by bestclimb

I get about 10 gallons of gas every 500 miles whether I need it or not and the kill switch goes a very long way to doing that.

The kill switch is moving higher in my priorities. Perhaps mostly because I don't want the mess and hassle of putting in the lower radiator hose heater. However, this morning's commute in was my best ever (53.6mpg), but there's still so much I could do to make it better. I was idling at a stop light this morning, looking at my Scangauge showing .31-.34gph (lights on, heater fan on low) and thinking "what a waste". You guys are such a bad (good) influence on me.

Guess my next goal is two weeks on a single tank of gas (while still retaining enough in reserve to be safe during this winter driving season). Uggh, the first big winter storm is upon us, guess it's time to get out the snow tires and get them mounted up.

[skyl4rk]

Go for the KiloTank!

1000 km, 622 miles!

[Weather Spotter]

I might just make that many miles I hit 50x miles with two gal left so maybe with the kill switch ....

[Weather Spotter]

Well I did not get a kilo tank in but I did get a record MPG tank

135.8 miles
2.677
for 50.728 MPG

comments:
All hypermiling, dry roads, no winds, little use of kill switch, did have headlights on.

[endurance]

Wow, impressive work there. That's my long term goal, but I'm unlikely to see it until spring. I'm unlikely to see it with these badboys going on in the next couple weeks:


It's either that or 0.0mpg in the ditch.

[Weather Spotter]

what type of snow tires do you run? I have all seasons on right now and they work fine for MI winters. I bet yours are just a tad worse

What could I get with LRR tires?

[Weather Spotter]

I got to change out my numbers on my car

90 day average is up to 45 MPG

[endurance]

Those are Nokian Hakkapaliitas. If I didn't travel into the mountains, I could easily get away with all seasons, but the new house is at 7,400' (15 minutes into the foothills west of Denver) plus I get up cross country skiing at least every other weekend. So, unless I want to drive the 1998 Chevy 4x4 pick up (14-16mpg) everytime it snows, it's best just to bite the bullet and get the aggressive snow tires. Some winters they're a blessing, others, I just wonder why I mounted them at all.

The good news is my summer tires are shot, so next spring I'll be picking up some good LRR tires. The only problem I'm facing is this is still a performance car, so I need a V rated tire that's 205/55R 16. That limits my options and isn't ideal for mileage, but I'm already exceeding expectations. If I can get it consistently in the 40mpg range, I'll be thrilled. I just need two more years out of this car and I'll be replacing it with something newer that was actually designed for economy. Ironically, what I want to replace it with (early to mid-90s civic) right now costs less than the wholesale bluebook on my current car.

We'll see what comes out in the next couple years. If manufacturers start bringing over more European cars, we just might see new cars worth buying (the Toyota Yaris was one of the first, now it looks like Ford is also bringing over the Euro version of the Focus next year). Last time I was in the UK I rode in a friends 3-series BMW that had a turbo diesel that had more power than my Acura but got 51-54mpg driving like a teenager. My rental car was a Saab 9.5 wagon (estate car) TDI that got 40mpg (it was slightly larger than a Subaru Legacy wagon). Now Ford has brought the Transit van to the states, but the TDI version over there gets 45mpg and isn't available here yet. In any case, that's why I'm waiting. I'd rather buy something that has sub-150k miles on it so I can own it for a while and trust it on my mountain commute, but still want an EPA rating over 35-40mpg (without my only choice being a hybrid with a $3k+ battery that lasts 3 years or VW (which remains one option, but they're overpriced, IMHO)).