Hypermiled an SUV - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

California98Civic · 07-18-2011, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

my '87 Chevy Astro van

I had that exact van, in blue. Traveled the lower south in it for research. Futon. Hot plate. Cooler. Instant "fellowship" housing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

What does anyone in SoCal need AWD for, anyway?

From my neighborhood I can see 4000-5000ft mountains 12 miles away. And those are the small ones. Palomar, San Jacinto, and the like. For me, the Civic is enough. But other people sometimes have other ideas. My wife was one of those "other people" on this choice. It was cool to pack-up with camping gear. I'm looking for an aero option on the roof rack for next summer's trips.

brucey · 07-18-2011, 11:33 PM

Tell me about it. :/ I've been quite happy with mine, it's sort of "Good" Fuel economy class when driven carefully and is basically my pickup truck.

The new Outbacks have a CVT transmission and are rated at nearly what we can get hypermiling. It's a shame we have to have all those revs on the highway.

Fat Charlie · 07-19-2011, 12:23 PM

Try not to consider a Legacy/Outback/Forester/Baja to be an SUV. The Forester's body is square and tall, but it's a car.

endurance · 07-19-2011, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Try not to consider a Legacy/Outback/Forester/Baja to be an SUV. The Forester's body is square and tall, but it's a car.

How do you figure? The EPA classifies the 2011 Forester and Outback wagon as SUVs (although the Outback shows up in both the Station Wagon and SUV categories on the Fuel Efficiency dot gov website).

Fat Charlie · 07-19-2011, 08:37 PM

I figure that squaring off the corners of my wagon won't make it any less of a car, is all.

brucey · 07-19-2011, 08:56 PM

Will raising it and fitting it with shorter gearing?

Fat Charlie · 07-19-2011, 09:30 PM

Will tweaking a Civic make it a race car?

Mifunego · 07-20-2011, 12:50 AM

Granted it is smaller (the interior on the current model is about 15 cu. ft. smaller!), but that 2012 Impreza wagon has got my attention. Subaru is claiming 36 mpg highway (not sure about city or combined) but that is with their well-known AWD, which would bring me peace of mind when my wife is driving the kids in Chicago winters. It supposedly can accelerate better than the current base model, which gets considerably worse mileage. Of course, the interior would have to be more usable/comfortable than her current Jetta, but I will definitely be checking that out when it hits the showrooms.

Arragonis · 07-20-2011, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Will tweaking a Civic make it a race car?

Depending on the tweak level, yes.

endurance · 07-20-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mifunego

Granted it is smaller (the interior on the current model is about 15 cu. ft. smaller!), but that 2012 Impreza wagon has got my attention. Subaru is claiming 36 mpg highway (not sure about city or combined) but that is with their well-known AWD, which would bring me peace of mind when my wife is driving the kids in Chicago winters. It supposedly can accelerate better than the current base model, which gets considerably worse mileage. Of course, the interior would have to be more usable/comfortable than her current Jetta, but I will definitely be checking that out when it hits the showrooms.

If that pans out, it will indeed be an impressive change from 2011. In 2011 the best mpg Impreza was still only rated at 27mpg highway. An improvement of 9mpg would take a complete redesign from the bottom up... which it needs if it wants to compete.