Hi All:

___I will tend to disagree somewhat here. The automobile certainly is the key to eye popping averages as you aren’t going to receive 100 mpg in a Civic or Corolla but you can beat EPA estimates by quite a margin if your automobile is setup and you drive to beat EPA estimates each and every time you turn the key. This does include those automobiles without a game gauge ala Toyota Corolla LE w/ Auto.

___In any car I have ever driven in the past 2 years over a distance to get 2 fill ups, I have always averaged higher then EPA estimates other then the Landscape truck when hauling 4,000 #’s of trailer and mowers around the neighborhood of course. Yesterday, I took my son to his afternoon band practice in the Insight. I got nailed (0 miles per hour at a standstill is almost like getting a speeding ticket to me so I call it getting nailed ) at 2 stop signs, 6 lights, and a final stop at his school. On the way back, I got hit with 4 lights and 2 stop signs. For the round trip of 7.1 miles, the FCD showed 85.1 mpg for the segment. This is across a path with 8 lights and the stop signs + heavy suburban traffic. I picked him up again 45 minutes later with slightly less traffic and with a better feel for the lights. I received a very nice 95.1 mpg over this same 7.1 mile segment on the second go around. This is using every trick in the book of course with timing going a long way but I don’t drive this route but maybe once a month and only used my own calculated estimates as to when the lights were going to change. When I take the MDX to the BP station, it is an ~ 10 mile round trip from home. The X is only rated for 17 City/23 Hwy. Since I reset the FCD at the station like normal (it only has 1 instantaneous), I drive back home freshly fueled. Although she is warmed up given the 5 mile trip there, the return trip includes a 120’ - ¾ mile climb from a dead stop at a 120 degree corner. Even with this climb, I always arrive home with between 25 and 29 mpg showing on the Instantaneous. This drive home includes an ~ 2.5 mile section of state highway with 3 stop lights which most certainly helps but if you use the techniques discussed here, 35 - 50 mpg in just about anything within reason (not a 4,500 # + 4WD SUV but it’s close ) is at your finger tips out on the highway in particular imho.

___As it stands, I would love to take a Camry LE or Accord LX w/ 4’s and Auto’s for a few thousand mile jaunt after I had a chance to set them up. I know they are simply begging to hit 40 - 45 mpg out on the open road and those are rather large and weighty automobiles in comparison to our Hybrids in most cases. A fellow Insighter I know received 37 mpg in a Lincoln Town Car (17 City/25 Hwy) 2 years ago on a lengthy road trip. That non-setup Buick Le Sabre I had down in the desert southwest last month was another that surprised me both in town and out on the highway. A 2004 Mercury Mountaineer (15 City/20 Hwy) I drove for almost 200 miles from the U of I had a tad under 28 showing on its rudimentary game gauge … I don’t know how accurate its game gauge was given it was my daughter’s daily use perk for managing Avis - O’Hare but it had to be within 2 or 3 mpg of actual … High fuel economy in whatever you drive is obtainable but you have to be patient and I guess lucky. The lucky part comes from what we have all figured out and learned here.

___Finally, if you hit a stop light or sign on every third block time and time again, EPA estimates will be not only a dream but simply unobtainable as Hot_Georgia_2004 mentioned above. The key is to make sure you don’t get nailed at every light on every third block.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net