wife success

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by Christ

Or maybe just a sign in front of the car where it's parked in the G'rage...

Big ol sign and put it face down on the windshield.

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by mhmitszach

This just adds to my Vibe envy. So much more roomy than my little zx2.

You've got to be less than an hour from me as I'm about a 3 hour drive from indy. Small World. Can you say any more specific than northern indiana?

The Vibe is a great little car. It does have a few shortcomings. It's a little noisy. The interior is kinda cheap. And it burns gas. But overall, it is a great little car. Mine's got over 150k on it and its little Toyota 1ZZFE is still going strong.

I'm in Goshen, IN. About 45 minutes east of South Bend (Notre Dame land). You can see on the frappr map. Unforgiven is about 5 minutes from me, but we've yet to meet up.

[Tango Charlie]

wagonman, I like that idea! Simple! I'll just hang the sign on the wall of the garage, and when I plug in, I'll lay the sign on the windshield! Ya!

[Daox]

Woo missed this thread almost. Congrats to the wife Terry!

[wwkayaker]

Congrats to your wife! With living in Indy area and driving to East Race Whitewater Park in South Bend, I can understand how difficult it can be to get good mileage on hwy 31.

[Tango Charlie]

I lived in Indy for several years. I miss it.
Yeah, 31 sucks. Especially through Kokomo. (No offense, ATaylorRacing.)
I've heard rumors that they're gonna bypass the bypass...

A coworker of mine is an avid kayaker. Flat water, though. He hauls them on top of his Honda Element. Makes me just shake my head, thinking of what his Cd must be.

[wwkayaker]

I'm not sure I want to know what my Cd is with them on my roof rack. I know it is really bad since I lose between 6 - 12 mpg. This past weekend I only got 27.x mpg on a kayak trip when I have been getting between 34.5 and 36.x mpg without them. I should probably take the time to determine my car's Cd with and without the kayaks to give me something to gage where I am at and how to improve on it.

On another note, I am doing better than many of my kayaking friends. They always tell me to quit complaining and that they would love to get the mileage that I get.

[1337]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

I'm not sure I want to know what my Cd is with them on my roof rack. I know it is really bad since I lose between 6 - 12 mpg. This past weekend I only got 27.x mpg on a kayak trip when I have been getting between 34.5 and 36.x mpg without them. I should probably take the time to determine my car's Cd with and without the kayaks to give me something to gage where I am at and how to improve on it.

On another note, I am doing better than many of my kayaking friends. They always tell me to quit complaining and that they would love to get the mileage that I get.

I noticed in your fuel log that you carried *three* kayaks and three friends. That is a pretty significant increase in weight, coefficient of drag, and frontal area. Also, a lot of ecomodders find that they sometimes drive a bit less conservatively if they have others in the car.

All of these things may have conspired to hurt your FE. Also, your previous tank seems to be your best tank ever. Chances are, that tank was a short fill, so this one required extra gas to compensate.

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by 1337

Chances are, that tank was a short fill, so this one required extra gas to compensate.

It is possible, because I think that I got worse mileage than the 27.x. We were running late to the meeting point and I was running 80 mph with a 10 mph head wind for 1.5 hrs to try to catch up. Also, I went to a Marathon for the tank that I am on now and got a short fill. I am about 35 miles short on this tank. The Marathon stations seem to do this to me quite often.

My fiance doesn't exactly like going under the speed limit either. I don't blame her. Riding in the car for long periods of time hurt her tail bone which she broke a couple years ago. Now that I think about it, she should probably bring a pillow (or the Jackson Sweet Cheeks) to help reduce the pressure on it.

[Tango Charlie]

My toaster-driving coworker says he only loses 1 to 2 mpg with his long, skinny flat water kayaks on top. I guess the Element is just that poor to begin with.

You might consider a trailer. For $1000 you can get a kayak-specific trailer that will hold four boats plus a spacecase carrier. They're pretty slick. You could sell the roof rack to recoup some of the cost. Saves wear and tear on your back, too. Ouch!