What am I doing wrong.

[twj347]

Your car would probably benefit more than most from aero mods. A lower grill block would be a good place to start with your car, and is a $5-10, 1-3 hour DIY job. In Scotland, you could probably run a full lower grill block on your car during the winter, and at least a partial lower grill block in the summer. I wouldn't recommend doing this without a scangauge or something to monitor coolant temps accurately.

[Fat Charlie]

The highway is where your mpg goes to die.

Backcountry roads are where it's at- the not stopping of highway driving with the low speeds and gliding opportunities of in town driving.

[JockoT]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

What about its gearing? IIRC it was optimized for city traffic.

Most certainly. It is designed to be a city car. The new ones have 6 speed transmissions.
I am thinking of installing a lower grill block. I'll have to get off my butt and get it done.
Regarding country roads, I try and use them as much as possible. There is one 6 mile section I use often, and can get about 70 mpg UK, from one end to the other. I love that road. Short sharp climbs then long downgrades where DFCO comes to the fore. Needlessly to say, I only ever drive it in one direction!

[oldtamiyaphile]

It's been expained in pervous posts. As another data point I see only around 0.5l gain on the highway across my cars.

Further proof is that the Prius (which hypermiles itself) gets better city economy than highway.

For hypermilers, the gap between city and highway is very small.

[puddleglum]

I'll echo what everyone else is saying. I rarely go on the highway in the Echo, but when I do my mileage is at best the same as in town, and usually it is worse. Even in my Rondo which is generally a pig doing short trips in town, on a highway trip, I'll often see my mileage increase when I get into the city. I'd say if your getting highway mileage in the city, your doing it right.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by puddleglum

I rarely go on the highway in the Echo, but when I do my mileage is at best the same as in town, and usually it is worse. Even in my Rondo which is generally a pig doing short trips in town, on a highway trip, I'll often see my mileage increase when I get into the city.

With a smaller engine matched to a gearing that is shorter than the kick of a pig, having to be revved the hell out past its efficiency band in order to keep up with traffic speed, it gets harder to keep a reasonable fuel-efficiency. But anyway, most of the changes in MPG that I ever experienced driving a smaller (and most often underpowered) car in highway had not yet been worse than city mileage, even though that gap was quite narrow anyway.

[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

With a smaller engine matched to a gearing that is shorter than the kick of a pig, having to be revved the hell out past its efficiency band in order to keep up with traffic speed, it gets harder to keep a reasonable fuel-efficiency. But anyway, most of the changes in MPG that I ever experienced driving a smaller (and most often underpowered) car in highway had not yet been worse than city mileage, even though that gap was quite narrow anyway.

Highway speed limits here are way too fast for any kind of good mileage. I usually go as slow as I dare but I don't like to be a traffic hazard. Rondo has some mild aero mods. It does pretty well for it's size, provided I don't have to drive too fast. The Echo really is happiest as a city car for all the reasons you mention.

[JockoT]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

With a smaller engine matched to a gearing that is shorter than the kick of a pig, having to be revved the hell out past its efficiency band in order to keep up with traffic speed

I never need to rev the hell out of my engine. 2,500 rpm is an indicated 55 mph, and even when accelerating, I seldom rev to 3,000 rpm, never mind above that.

[Fat Charlie]

I can do some vicious long distance sprints on the highway, but I can generally still see 36 mpg (US) for the trip even on a bad day. One mixed route I have to take in the summer (and in a rush) is 39 miles- 18 on "good" roads and 21 on the interstate. A good run there is 40-42 mpg.

So while I complain, they're not really bad numbers, considering. I'm just a lot happier over 50 mpg!

[JockoT]

Me too. I am complaining because I am ONLY getting 55 mpg UK (46 mpg US). The Volvo I had previously did well to give me 28 mpg UK!