Gripper Don,

What kind of fuel milage did you get with your VW Pheaton? I can't imagine it was that great with the short trips and a 8 cylinder engine.

You mentioned an adaptive transmission but doesn't that just adjust the shift points between gears - shifts later for aggressive drivers - shifts earlier for light footed drivers? The eCVT in the NAH, Camry or the Prius doesn't have the ability to change shift points as it really only has the one gear ratio.

Too bad it's not what you expected but perhaps things will improve in the fall when the temperature goes down to at least under a 100.