Meet @ northern california (sacramento area)

[SentraSE-R]

We beat the odds, and pulled our meet off. We sure don't have the uniformity of my previous meets (all Nissan Sentra SE-Rs, and all Mitsubishi turbo Eclipses, respectively), but I know we'll all have a good time.

Orangeboy, that was too close on I-505. Glad to hear you didn't get hit.

[k.civic.f4i]

Darrell, can you send me a pm of an exact address i'm not too familiar with the area. the spotlight is on you sir. as it seems you are the most experienced of the bunch.

i rotated my tires and added near-smooth hubcaps. ironically one of the tires has a slight bald spot and makes the car shake at 55-60.....doh.

i sure hope the California sun decides to come out to play on Friday.

[k.civic.f4i]

i think i got it... is this the right Denny's?

260 Pittman Rd
Fairfield, CA 94534
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=260+Pi...ed=0CAgQ8gEwAA

[SentraSE-R]

Kris,

Yes, that's the right Denny's. The weather report right now is 100% chance of rain each of the next three days, 80% on Thursday, and 70% on Friday.

I took my wife shopping and to lunch yesterday, and had to run the lights and wipers while driving in the rain. Despite the fact it's a 20 mile drive each way on my country roads, and the car gets completely warmed up, I couldn't come close to my lifetime average of 38.0 mpg in my SE-R. I could only pull 33 mpg yesterday. Ouch! In the summer, I've gotten 50 mpg on the same drive in the same car.

So, we might be looking at only achieving 40 mpg in my xB if I have to run the lights, wipers, heater fan, and (shudder) possibly the A/C to keep the windows fog-free. It will all be relative, but under the current conditions, our mileage will not be impressive. I'll probably drive us 10 miles down the road, half on the back roads with cruise control, half on the freeway, to get some baseline mpg figures. Then I'll drive back demonstrating my techniques. Hopefully a significant 10 mpg improvement compared to baseline will be more impressive than telling you I got 5 mpg less than my lifetime average that day.

[k.civic.f4i]

man oh man. i hope the rain settles down on friday. it got so bad today that the power at the college i attend completely went out and all classes were dismissed.

[SentraSE-R]

The forecasts for the two nearest weather stations still have a 70% chance of rain Friday. Thursday predictions have gotten worse, from 80% to 90-100% now. I'll see you all about 3 p.m. at Denny's on Friday.

[SentraSE-R]

What happened to you, Mark? Vic and Kris showed. I showed them my Scangauge's features. We all had grill blocks. Kris had some nice smooth wheel cover centers. Vic had removed his passenger side mirror and had a nice inside mirror installation, plus wheel deflectors. Their ecomods put my sloppy work to shame.

My only hope for redemption was to wow them with mileage. Their cars are both automatics, so I had a chance. We gave up waiting for Mark at 3:30, and got into my xB for a ride. The weather cooperated, and we had clear skies and dry roads. First, I drove a few miles with cruise control on back roads, then a few miles with cruise control on the highway. I don't recall what the mileage was on each leg, but somewhere in the mid-high 40s, because I was hoping to beat 50 mpg with P&G on the back country P&G demo that was next. Not to worry. I got 51.7 mpg for the 5 miles. Then we turned around, and I reset the trip average for the return trip. I got the mileage up to 59 mpg before we got on the freeway. My high speed P&G got about 52 mpg before exiting the freeway, and coasting close to 60 mpg by the stop sign.

Then Kris drove us in his car, and we discussed ways to wring mileage out of an automatic. We had dinner together, talked about our shared love of hypermiling, and agreed we'll probably meet again. It was great meeting Vic and Kris.

[low&slow]

Darrell and Kris,
It was great to meet you in person and share our experiences with hypermiling.
Darrell put on a great clinic for us and for me it was the first time I got to see an expert hypermiler pulse and glide for some great numbers. Since I have an AT I have been reluctant to do neutral coasting with the engine on. Kris did a great job demonstrating its effectiveness and safety in his Honda. Darrell's Scangauge was very cool, I may have to get one now.
It was a great learning experience for me and an opportunity to meet 2 new friends. I tried some engine on coasting on the way home and am proud to report no problems. Many thanks to Darrell and Kris!
L&S

[k.civic.f4i]

on the way home i stayed within the rpm range and coasted down hills on the 12. at the end of the trip i was at half tank and my odometer reads around 250miles. since my tank is somwhere near 11 gallons im guessing the average mpg for this tank may be in the mid to high 40s.

i need to start a log online.

nice meeting you darrell and vick. hopefully we will be able to meet up with mark another time. i was fiending to see that full underbody. thats all folks. ill post pictures soon

[SentraSE-R]

I did my usual P&G routine driving home, and ended up around 49.5 or 49.9 mpg for the return drive - I can't remember exactly. Having to run the lights hurt my mileage, as you might expect.