2004 Hyundai Accent - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

icarus 402001 · 02-22-2010, 08:38 AM

Well, first tank got me 30.9 mpg. I'm pretty happy ,since the last car (92 Camaro) got 24mpg or so.
Round trip picking up my daughter from college I got 35.3 mpg, doing 70mph, uphill into northcentral PA from southeast PA.
On the trip to take her back, I tried 75mph and only got 31mpg. I guess I know the Acent';s sweet spot.
Interestingly, the mileages were 266.6 and 266.7, filled @ the same pump on two different trips on the turnpike. Just a freak chance that the local mileage on both tankfuls was the same.

MadisonMPG · 02-22-2010, 08:46 AM

The "sweet spot" is a lot slower than 70.

icarus 402001 · 02-22-2010, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadisonMPG

The "sweet spot" is a lot slower than 70.

Sometimes the sweet spot entails more factors than mpg. Travel time is also a concern.

Nevyn · 02-22-2010, 09:20 AM

Was the car loaded down with lots of gear as well? What college does she go to? Sounds like you were up in my neck of the woods.

icarus 402001 · 02-22-2010, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevyn

Was the car loaded down with lots of gear as well? What college does she go to? Sounds like you were up in my neck of the woods.

Not a lot of gear. It was only a weekend visit. She didn't even have any laundry. She goes to Bloomsburg.

MadisonMPG · 02-22-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icarus 402001

Sometimes the sweet spot entails more factors than mpg. Travel time is also a concern.

Eh, not on this site.

SentraSE-R · 02-22-2010, 10:21 AM

The sweet spot's not 70 mph on any gas saving site. 50 or 55 on a freeway is more like it. Icarus 402001 is using ~50% more fuel to go 70 than he/she would to do the same drive at 55 mph.

Nevyn · 02-22-2010, 10:42 AM

Okay, I'll stir the fire. We all hail Basjoos for his aeromodding. He did it so that he can drive 70-75 MPH and still get good mileage. Why don't you all go bash him for driving so fast?

I may not like icarus' desire to go 70 instead of going 55. I may not agree with everything that he says/does. But he's here, and he's at least TRYING. Let's educate him slowly, instead of bashing him and pushing him out. None of us know his work schedule, background, life story, etc. Driving from Bloom U to Philly? I can understand why he'd want to go faster. Sure, slowing down will save him a minor horde of gas. If his car is similar to my Elantra, it'd be in the neighborhood of going from 32-35 MPG to 42-46 MPG. But, it would also mean he'd have a total of ~3 hours LESS time to spend with his daughter.

Which is worth more to you, an extra $15-$20 in your pocket and some bragging rights about awesome MPG, or the only sunny Sunday afternoon that you'll have for quite some time with your daughter who is away at school?

SentraSE-R · 02-22-2010, 01:07 PM

Nobody's bashing anybody. The simple facts are that any car's sweet spot is the slowest speed in the highest gear. Icarus can choose to drive faster, but that doesn't move his sweet spot higher. It means he chooses to drive outside his car's sweet spot for convenience.

Nevyn · 02-22-2010, 01:41 PM

Mechanically, I agree.

I'll also curse the emptiness of internet communication - I bet this would be easier if we were all in the same room; I probably took too much the wrong way too fast - so my apologies there.

All I was really trying to get at was the point that maybe for Icarus, the cost-benefit analysis was that the extra time with his daughter was worth more than the money he could have saved by slowing down. So the overall trip sweet spot was found at a higher travel speed than what the mileage sweet spot is/was at.