A European in Cali
 

Rental tales : the Chevy Malibu LTX. What a joke !
Avg MPG was well below 22 when we got it.
After resetting the avg. counter, I've been getting 30, still not very good.
These automatics are totally worthless. Pushed down the gas pedal on the highway cause a semi was catching up a bit too fast on the downhill.
All I got was a lot of noise and 4000+ rpm - otherwise nothing !
It hardly pulled away.
No engine braking at all either.
Tyres below 30psi - all of them.

Car needed oil swap, so we returned it for a Camry.
Pushing 40 mpg now .
Nice display with avg mpg / minute, for the last 15 minutes + avg mpg per trip.
This one will also engine brake - nice on the downhills when returning to San Freezerisco.
I never expected it to be so cold there !
Spending a day in the 97°F sun - 120 miles away - only to return to 57°F in SF is quite a thermal shock !

I'm in love again with petrol cars though.
So quiet and smooth. :cool:

I have never been a fan of auto trans' , they are ok in the big v8 cars, people are amazed by 30mpg localy. It has never made sense to me, 45 or above mpg is what impreses me.

He's coming round:)

sounds like a fun trip- only mildly jealous!

Shoulda done your research beforehand. "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." - widely attributed to Mark Twain. And you don't have to drive 120 miles to get the thermal shock effect. Sometimes 120 meters is enough, as when crossing the ridge between San Jose and Santa Cruz.

The Camry's automatic is still a joke, but at least it's getting close to 40 mpg (indicated) despite the city driving - regular driving that is, not much hypermiling other than driving the PSL and not accelerating to red lights (plenty of those in SF).

Nothing beats BMWs ZF 8speed box - yet.

Well, I like to be surprised by a city - but this was more like a cold shower ;)

Indeed, going over the ridge means a rather drastic change in the weather.

Can't complain though, we got to see the whole Golden Gate twice in two days ;)
Impressive despite its age !

The Bay area seems full of Priussisses, Insights , Minis - and I even saw a Fiat 500.
Too bad they obviously aren't being driven for efficiency.

Only the old first generation Insights seem to be driven in a more sensible way.
I've seen a surprising number of them around - at least 6 so far.

The little unscientific personal observational statistics of pick-up truck use :

Less than 1 in 20 are carrying anything remotely resembling a load worthy of that name, or tow.

That last comment could well apply here in Australia as well.

Glad to know you are enjoying your trip.

Peter.

It's a good trip so far.

Managed to get sunburn in SF .
Got an overdose of curves in Yosemite and on HWY 1 - but only around 30mpg doing so due to frequent stops. The views are simply too good to not stop. ;)