GreenHybrid - Hybrid Cars - View Single Post - What Can A 15 MPH Difference Do To Affect FE?

bar10dah · #1 (**permalink**) 06-25-2006, 11:09 AM

I took a ride yesterday that I've taken many times in the past. 215 miles one way. I usually do it at a cruise control speed of 70 mph. I pretty much always get 37 mpg on the dash, FCD, and by hand. Consistently.

Yesterday, I did it at 85 mph (75 mph speed limit). At the end of the 215 miles, my dash readout was 32 mpg.

So, I lost 5 mpg over the course of my three hour drive. It normally takes me three and a half hours, so I gained 30 extra minutes.

215 miles / 37 mpg = 5.81 gallons X $2.84 = $16.50 for this leg at 70 mph

215 miles / 32 mpg = 6.72 gallons X $2.84 = $19.08 for this leg at 85 mph

So, I only spent an extra $2.58 to gain 30 minutes. I feel that's money well spent! Heck yeah! I'd spend an extra $5 a day to gain an hour of free time. Sure, why not! Especially on really fun days! I can't tell you how many times I've been out with the family and friends to some place such as Busch Gardens. We're all having a ball! But then it comes to closing time. I'd gladly throw down and extra $10 just to have two more hours to spend with my gang.

But, I digress...

Sure, I gained an extra 30 minutes. But, I didn't need it. I actually got to my destination a whole hour early. So yeah, $2.58 isn't much money to be saving. So I can't say I drive slower because I want to save money. Hell, I've wasted a LOT more than $2.58 on my daily spending. Did I really need that $3 coffee? Or how about that $5 magazine? Or even the amount of money I waste on satellite TV? (sidebar: prior to getting married, I didn't even own a TV. And even if I did, I'd be happy with broadcast.) I generally make this trip once a month. That comes out to $61.92 in gas savings per year. I've probably lost more than that in errant loose change in the couches I've sat in over the past year. So this brings me to why I DO drive slower.

The added effort to be continuously monitoring for the "holes" in traffic to maneuver through just wasn't worth the time savings. I much rather drive at 70 mph and just let traffic whiz past me. It's much more relaxing. I just set the cruise, pick a station on XM, and drive.

Off topic 1: on my trip yesterday, I was on I-10 East of Tucson by maybe 20 miles. This is a 75 mph road, four lane divided. Some HCH was traveling in the right lane going MAYBE 45 mph!! Cars were bottlenecked behind this knucklehead, trying to get around. As I pass this HCH, I saw some dude who looked to be about 70 years old. He had one of those wraparound sunglasses which fit over eye glasses, and a baseball cap, and was hugging the steering wheel like Mr. Magoo. I mean, his face must have been mere inches away from the steering wheel! I can't imagine the kind of damage the airbag would do to his face if it deployed.

Off topic 2: on my way back home yesterday, I was driving on the same stretch of I-10. Now, it's dark out. I was approaching an SUV pulling the smallest trailer U-Haul has to offer. He was probably doing about 50 mph and driving with his flashers on. On this particular part of the highway, it's pretty hilly. Usually, semi trucks will drive around 50 mph so they can climb small grades of 6%. These hills are definitely less than a 6% grade. If I had to guess, I'd say at most 4%. And semi's don't generally slow down for these slight rolls. But this SUV, a Mitsubishi Montero, which has something like a 4,000 pound towing capacity (?) and pulling maybe up to 1,500 pounds (that trailer has something like a 1,000 pound load capacity), and the driver thinks he needs to do 50 mph to make it up those hills? So, either there was a bigger issue at hand, like he was trying not to spill his mocha latte, or he really thinks his truck can't handle his load. I guess it really didn't bother me that he was doing this, just confused me. I've known people that would think like that. Think their vehicle can't do something, when it was definitely designed to do just what they're trying to do. And I've known the completely opposite. They'd try to do something, like haul an 8,000 trailer with a truck rated at 2,000 pounds, and then call their vehicle a piece of crap when it breaks because of it.