Looking for opinions on my commute route
 

Ok, I've moved out to the rural areas and have these beautiful flat country roads to cruise.
But I have some questions with my route planning.

I have (poorly) drawn maps to show my possible choices. (I don't want to just copy and paste from Google Maps out of security reasons. Thanks)

The route on the left of both maps is 3 miles shorter in total.
However, I have many more stops. And with a 4000# car, I'd like to limit them.


-On the Left: There's 5 or 6 stops signs. And they seem to appear right after you get going on a steady cruising speed.

-On the Right: There's a stop sign, and slower speed limit through town, but I can coast for a while and usually catch a car pulling out to trigger the light.

Map1:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps05234168.jpg


Second section:

-On the Left: Here's where it sucks. That sharp cutback is actually a 200 ft incline. It's really hard to carry speed. Plus the few stop signs and the road is curvy and not too level.

-On the Right: I still have to ascend the same 200 ft hill, but I can use some momentum and not have to use a ton of throttle to get up the hill. And once on top, it's all level land.

Map2:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0d2dc74e.jpg

The big question for you gurus:

Is it worth adding the extra 3.1 miles to my commute to save fuel?

I believe going the extra distance is worth it due to all the factors of the shorter route. Plus, when I go home, I can coast the crap out of that hill.

I would like some input.
Thanks guys.


-ryan s.

What's the total length of the route? Is it the 7 miles? If so, on that short a commute I'd stick with the shorter route and just granny it, unless you're getting over three miles more a gallon better on the longer route.

Heck, I'd probably just BIKE that route!

Man, you gotta be working pretty hard to make it to those mpgs in a Lincoln town car! That line up of vehicles looks like it came straight out of my home town in Kentucky!

track your mileage and alternate driving both until you can see a solid trend. i think the shorter route with more stops could be an easy winner if you eoc, or had a vehicle that gets similar city and hwy mpg, but with your vehicle i think it would be tight if you can roll through the lights. i used to have a longer commute that gave me a similar choice. in the summer id almost always take the slow counrty road. in the middle of the winter i would always take the interstate because it would be dark when i left and when i got home, and the road was always better maintained

Total trip is 15.8 miles for the route on the left.
Total trip is 18.1 miles for the route on the right.

The light is very quick to change once it's triggered. I timed it this morning. Just about 4 seconds. Essentially a stop sign.

But once I get my exhaust fixed tomorrow evening, I'll start tracking data.
I'll run a tank or three the long way, then the same for the shorter route.
But we'll see how much of a difference 2.3 miles makes.

Thanks guys.


-ryan s.

Also, I try to hypermile the Town Car when I can. The long, straight open roads are great for efficiency. But my DD is the Tank, because, well, that's why I have it. To rack up miles.


-ryan s.

With our cars, I've found that the route with the fewest stopping points is typically worth a marginally longer route.

Map 1: Take the 45 mph route with all the stop signs. Why? Because they seem to appear right after you get going on a steady cruising speed. Stop signs on that route aren't obstacles, they're EOC glide down zones. Instead of getting up to a steady cruising speed and being forced to brake, get up to the speed that will let you glide to the next sign.

Section 2 is a tossup. Curvy isn't bad, and "not too level" means lots of glides.

Whether the longer trip pays off or not is for you to decide.

That seems like it's going to be a wash between the two routes at those distances, stops and elevation changes.
I don't think he can realistically EOC a moonshiner, and he'd have to get a couple of mpg more on the long route to break even. But that's pretty much what you'd expect to gain from less stop and start, so I call it a wash.

I'd pick the route that I liked the best at that point.

The EPA rating for my car are 16 city, 24 highway, with 19 mixed.

*I cannot EOC yet. Automatic transmission. But don't worry. That will be addressed in a year or two*

Only time will tell which route will be better. And since I'm getting nort of 500 miles per tank, it may take some time to get all the data.

Thanks again.


-ryan s.

Stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill? That's a worst case scenario for the hill. I recently added a few miles to my commute that has three like that and it is killing my mileage.