Family of 4 "vacation"--85.6 MPG over 678 miles

[funkhoss]

I travel for work all over the state of Virginia, and about a month ago I needed to make a trip to the Eastern Shore. I talked my wife into bringing our two boys and coming with me to make a "vacation" out of it. We drove out one day, spent a day there (during which I worked and they went to the beach at Chincoteague), and drove back the third day.

The long and short of it is that we drove (the Metro) a total of 678.6 miles and averaged 85.61 MPG, fillup to fillup.

That was with the four of us, two carseats, luggage, food, beach toys, etc. loaded in the car. This trip confirmed in my mind the idea that weight is one of the least important factors when it comes to fuel economy.

Now admittedly, this trip could very well have been over 90 MPG if I had traveled by myself. But besides the weight, if I were alone I would also have traveled with only one window partly down (instead of two), I would have made fewer stops, and I might have driven sightly slower than I did on this trip (but not by much).

Nevertheless, the point remains--85 MPG with four passengers and gear is pretty doggone good, and it wouldn't have been that much better if I were 300 lbs. lighter.

-Funkhoss

[Fat Charlie]

Congrats on having a family that doesn't "need" the big car because everyone's going somewhere.

[Ecky]

Do you have a build thread? Any mods, or just adjusting the nut behind the wheel?

[funkhoss]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Do you have a build thread? Any mods, or just adjusting the nut behind the wheel?

No--no build thread for the Metro. But our Metro's mods are pretty standard for Metros on here. XFi cam and transmission, kammback, grill block, smooth wheel covers, wheel skirts, kill switch, and Scangauge.

And as you've said, a lot of adjusting the nut behind the wheel.

-Funkhoss

[charlesthemonkey]

I just had a similar experience with my latest fill - my friends and I went camping, and my car was loaded down to the point that the rear wheels were actually inside the rear fenders. Clearly was not good for the car. However, I averaged a very reasonable MPG for the entire trip, considering that the A/C was on for a lot of it as well.

This was almost entirely highway driving with some hills. The hills I could feel the extra weight on, but it makes sense that for a constant speed, the weight really makes no difference.

[pgfpro]

Very impressive, congrats on a great vacation!!!

[funkhoss]

It's two years later, and we just made this same trip again as a family--except this time, I wasn't working, and was actually able to enjoy the beach too.

We drove from our home in SW VA to Chincoteage, VA and back. The total miles were 762.9 and we used exactly 8.490 gallons, filling up at the same pump before and after--which comes out to 89.86 MPG round trip.

Our children are both a bit bigger now, and we had a little more "stuff," so our total weight was a little more than last time. The only other mechanical difference was that we have different tires now than we did last time. Everything else about the car is the same--except for two more years' worth of refinement in driving technique.

-Funkhoss

[jcp123]

That's fantastic!

And here I was satisfied with my wife's 25mpg in her van. NY state to Florida, spent a week riding slow around there, then back home to East Texas. She lacks a light foot, but I drive 10k per month for a living, so I was more than happy to be chauffeured around.

[oil pan 4]

What are your vehicle plans as kids get bigger or you get more of them?

[19bonestock88]

In theory his wagon could have been equipped with a third row?