question on how to approach getting to my home...
 

I got 2 ways to get to my house...

1. which I take fairly often is a 580ft climb in just 1.8km
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_oCL2N6eSLy4/TI...00.23%20PM.jpg

or

2. a 1000ft climb in 6.3km
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_oCL2N6eSLy4/TI...00.00%20PM.jpg

which one, in an automatic, could be more efficient?
I suspect the gradual climb would be more efficient but getting to it means spending at least some 6~ km more...

and I usually hang at the mall, which... has the bigger yellow thingy
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_oCL2N6eSLy4/TI...00.53%20PM.jpg

If a hill is steep enough, you can coast down it in neutral, which is great. If it's too steep, you'd have to use the brakes, which is BAD for fuel economy.

As for going up, it depends on many factors including stop signs, overall distance, and traffic. All else equal, and given an automatic transmission, I'd guess the long and steady climb is probably better. But you should set your instrumentation to display "gallons per trip", and see what technique and route give you the best score.

Hmm, since the gentle climb is 6km out of the way, I'm pretty sure that's a loser.

Try to take the short, steep climb entirely in 4th gear: start with as much speed as you can, and allow yourself to slowly lose speed as you climb.

well, I'm just putting the horrible part of the hill climb, lol
the first one I didn't put the whole trip from the mall, put going down it is a dream, can't argue with that one.

but where I usually go... is in the other side of town lol

which is why I marked the mall cause I go there 75% of the time I go down for anything

going thru the Road 1 would be 8.5KM is a bit hilly, and 3 speed bumps, but then the steep hill coming home

and going thru Road 2 Would be 13.3KM not to mention the stop (about 5 if I'm lucky) lights and city traffic that's usually jammed during 12pm~6pm

So tell us. Which do you use less gas driving?

my gut tells me it's the road 1... but by a minimal amount

my big killer is the automatic 3-speed transmission

You can't make a decision on just one part of the trip. You have to evaluate the whole thing.

Say you normally get 30 mpg over the 10 miles on route A. If route B is 15 miles, you have to get 45 mpg to make up for the additional distance. Normally, the shorter trip always wins unless you have a drastically different driving environment. I suggest getting a scangauge if you don't have one already.

daox are you the same one from Tercelonline?

Yup.

wow, that brings back memories...
I sold my terc 2 years ago, damned car still worked the same. lol
I retrofitted the long short ram from it into a WAI of sorts into the rolla

the whole thing touches the engine and the filter seats right on top of the exhaust manifold

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also, I take what's closer road, but if I took the longer road #2 I risk much more traffic and traffic lights, so I'll just die with the short one UNLESS it's late at night or I'm going north...

that being said I think I'll mess with the transmission down shift cable to make it down @ around 60~70% throttle instead of around 30%

thanks anyways guys :3 I'll see if I can get a scanguage one of this days...

do they need calibration or that's only for mpguino?

They all need calibration.

What about the UltraGauge? I hear it's 1/3 the price of the Scangauge and has even more features.