Greetings from AZ and 34.7mpg baseline

[04_Sentra]

Greetings from AZ (Arizona, US). I have been hanging around for a couple of weeks. Have a 2004 Sentra with a 1.8L and a stick which I've had since it was new. What I like most about it is that it's been paid off for four years. Finally made it down to 3/4 tank so I filled up and established a pre-mod baseline of 34.7mpg. Though I haven't been real diligent about recording the mileage I have checked it from time to time and that seems about right. The best ever tank that I know of was 37.5mpg on an all highway trip from LA to Phoenix. My typical driving cycle is pretty crummy for FE, all city, several school zones, lights every half mile plus we're still running the AC on a daily basis. That's right it's Nov and here in AZ we still have to run the AC, so depending on what you believe that's either climate change or the Earth is falling into the Sun.

I read through the tips and found that I was already doing a lot of them. I just thought that I was driving like a sane person (go the speed limit, time the lights, neutral coast if there's no one behind me, etc.) I never dreamed that I was doing anything so radical as hypermiling.

No mods to the car yet, gonna get a SG first so I can quantify any improvement.

[gone-ot]

..."Welcome Aboard, " from a fellow "land-o-sand" ecomodder.

[Schelter]

Only Arizona is falling into the sun, Minnesota is spinning away towards Pluto. 24F this morning and the A/C is on because it comes on when the defroster does

[endurance]

Once you get a scangauge on board, you'll be forever changed. Keep reading the top 101+ every once in a while, watch your scangauge and learn from it, and turn your driving into a videogame and you'll shock yourself at just what is possible.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Schelter

A/C is on because it comes on when the defroster does

I can manually switch the AC off when it comes on with the defroster.

[SentraSE-R]

Welcome, 04Sentra. I averaged 38 mpg for 20,000 miles in a 2.5L SE-R Spec V, so you should be aiming for low-mid 40s with your 1.8L

[04_Sentra]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

Welcome, 04Sentra. I averaged 38 mpg for 20,000 miles in a 2.5L SE-R Spec V, so you should be aiming for low-mid 40s with your 1.8L

Thanks, I was encouraged to be ~20% above EPA with just normal for me driving. 40mpg is my first goal. I've been eyeing alternate routes to work that may be better for FE. Hopefully that, an SG, and cooler months with no AC will get me to 40.

[Schelter]

Originally Posted by euromodder

I can manually switch the AC off when it comes on with the defroster.

The Honda Civic by default is always on when the defroster is on. I just found a web site that has instructions for setting up the car to have the option to turn it off (one of those up ,up, down, down, left, right, select, start things)....I should post that somewhere

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by 04_Sentra

Thanks, I was encouraged to be ~20% above EPA with just normal for me driving. 40mpg is my first goal. I've been eyeing alternate routes to work that may be better for FE. Hopefully that, an SG, and cooler months with no AC will get me to 40.

Sometimes, the routes that are good for mpg are not good for fuel consumption. Set one gauge to "gallons per trip" and another to "trip mpg" when you're comparing routes.

[04_Sentra]

Thanks, I'll make sure that I don't sacrifice total gallons used for mpg.