Hello all, new here and looking forward to learning.

[EricTheRed]

I used to own a 2002 Honda Insight (lifetime MPG of 72.4) until a lady driving a F-350 super cab 4x4 turned left into my path. That totaled the Insight, and did a number on me too. I have mostly recovered. After that incident, I wanted more steel around me. So I picked up a 2002 MB C230 Coupe. Really liked the car and the 31mpg that I averaged, however it was time for a new car this past spring. Sorry to say, I didnt down size, instead i went from a 2.3L I-4 supercharged engine to a 5L V-8, however in my defence, it is really a nice car for my long commute. The CLK 500 Coupe is getting around 24mpg on average so I didnt loose too much on the fuel economy, but did gain quite abit more car.

[SVOboy]

Welcome to ecomodder! What's your commute like?

[EricTheRed]

SVOBoy, thanks for the reply. My daily commute to work is 45% rural highway (Oregon Hwy 47N) 45%state highway (Oregon HWY 26, HWY217) and 10% surface street with lights (Hwy 99W). I ususally take off at 4:30am to miss traffic, and it take around an hour and 15 min. The drive home is a different route due to traffic patterns. Around 3pm, I will start out on HWY 99W, take off on a rural road (SW Sholls Sherwood rd) to HWY 210 then to HWY 219. Then I take a cut off to Forest Hills Golf course, and head north into Forest Grove, OR where I meet up with HWY 47S, to HWY 26, to HWY 47N. This return route has only3 stop lights, and 2 stop signs. The only traffic I see on this route is farm equipment. Basically 130 Miles round trip per day.
I work in this area Google Maps and live in this area Google Maps

I start out a 450ft in elevation, raise up to 1100 ft, then down to 50 ft, and back.
Long winded, sorry.

[MetroMPG]

Can we expect to see aero mods on the Merc?

Your garage entry says "custom" for your car's instrumentation. What's that?

Also, I'd be curious to know if you've figured out your car's speed vs. MPH profile in top gear. There's lots of chatter about torquey V8's having a higher than usual "sweet spot" for highway MPG, but I don't have one, so can't test the theory.

Welcome to the forum!

[Boost Addict]

welcome!

[azraelswrd]

Sorry to hear about your accident. One thing I've learned since joining here -- there's no such thing as a car/truck that can't get better in mpg. Welcome!

[EricTheRed]

Metro, I have mostly been using the old jot down the mileage on the pump receipt and add it to my spreadsheet to track mileage, however, recently I picked up a ODB-II -Bluetooth (ElmScan) and then run the Carman On Board Diagnostics analyzer application on my Nokia N800 internet tablet. (see Car On Board Diagnostics on the Internet Tablet at Internet Tablet Talk for more info)
The sweet spot on my V8 is somewhere in between 2050 - 2250 rpm. That puts me between 60-70mph. On my drive in (very early morning) I use the same 15 miles of highway and set the cruise at a specific rmp, then zero out the trip computer. This may not be an exact method, however, it seems to be revealing some interesting behavior. This past week, the temps have been between 60F and 65F (15.5C - 18.3C) with almost the same relative humidity (just above dew point) Today was the bets result at 2125RPM with 28mpg (63 mph). It is also interesting how most of the traffic sees to flow between 60-65 at that time of day. Mods to the Merc, well I am just starting to dig into the forums to see what is being done to other cars, I wont rule anything out just yet. I think my driving experience with the Insight taught me how to keep the accelerations smooth and how to coast where ever possible. If I can get an average 27mph in the future with a 5L v8, I will be satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, I did take this car to Portland International Raceway for a High Performance Driving school (prodrive.net) and had a blast burning thru as much fuel as I could for the day. But that was a track event and not a daily commute.

Howdy Boost and Azraelswrd. Thanks, and I agree that any vehicle, driven properly, can achieve better mileage. This post says it all ABG: Top Gear -- M3 vs. Prius - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

I am going to be driving the Truck on Monday so I will start to work it into its zone soon.
I look forward to participating more after I finish lurking thru the rest of the posts. (well not all of the posts)
-Eric

[Johnny Mullet]

Welcome to Ecomodder EricTheRed. I am a member on a gaming forum who has the same username as you and always sign his posts with (-Eric), so I am wondering.........

Good to have you here anyway!

[EricTheRed]

Johnny (-Eric) I use this handle on many forums. What gaming forum are you referring to? Some of the other areas that I participate in include MBWorld.org, HeliFreak.com, TheDieselstop.com, TheTrexForums.com, rv.net, and a few others.

[Johnny Mullet]

Railbait.com