Congratulations on a 'good' evacuation adventure. love new mexico.
Back in the 80s, i noticed that my cars -- a 79 mazda 626 at first, then an 88 toyota Camry with four-cylinders, also got better fuel economy at high altitude.
i looked inside the tailpipes and they were tan vs. the usual sooty black.
not that they got 'bad' fuel economy, but 35 and then 44 mpg was then unheard of!
i was a young father of two little ones and we got along fine on "only" 118 hp for a family sedan.
would you mind me citing your story for an article i'm going to write on hybrids and emergency "runs" like Rita's? if you have no problem with that, please PM me so I can get more info -- like your name, age, etc.
jeff
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by MGBGT
I evacuated in my Prius II and just returned to Galveston, after turning the evacuation into a mini-vacation of 2,250 miles.
I was actually in Alaska (work related) and on short notice flew back to Texas last Monday night, arriving in Galveston Tuesday morning. Prepared my lab at the U all day, the home at night, and my wife and I left with our cat Wednesday morning 4 am. Good thing we left that early as we avoided the evacuation insanity. Went as far as Albuquerque, and got back last night. 2,240 miles round trip. Had lots of fun, and luckily house and lab are fine, and we have electricity!
Over the course of the drive I managed to average 53.2 mpg with a completely loaded car, AC on all the time, and driving an average speed between 60 and 73 miles per hour.
Interestingly, in New Mexico I got susbtantially better mileage than in Texas, very noticeably. While driving in NM, my average mileage was 62 mpg. In Texas it was my usual low 45-49, which resulted in the overall average of over 50 for this trip.
No idea why the NM mileage was so much better, driving in NM was at an average elevation of about 5,5-6,000 ft, temperatures in the 80's and fairly dry. TX on the other hand elevation was below 3,000 ft (and past the hill country at near sea level), temperature in the upper 90's (and in fact peaking at 103), and humidity in the 90's as well.
Overall, I'm so glad we bought the Prius!
Hope all the rest of you along the Gulf Coast are doing ok!
M
|