Well there it is.

I drive about 18 miles each way to and from work, mostly in the HOV lane on the Long Island Expressway (which is false advertising because it is never express and even the HOV comes to a dead stop very often) here in NY.

I live in a very hilly part of Long Island and the LIE itself varies tremendously with grading and rising and falling.

I am at about 41+ MPG for the first 2,500 miles or so.

I can tell you that such short commutes are the reasons for low MPG. When I've done long drives I've gotten around 43-44 with another passenger.

I'm approaching 200 pounds, have no idea what my PSI is in my tires, and have a car seat installed at all times adding a little extra weight.

Your 10 mile commute will yield less than optimal results because your car has to warm up and AC also has to kick in, even if you are using less than you like.

I can tell you it does get easier. Learning to feather the throttle will add at least 1-2 MPG with very little effort.

I can also tell you I was on my best tank ever and then sat for 1 hour idling while my 11 month old napped in the air conditioned car as my wife shopped for his 1st birthday...ate about 2 MPG right there...

Avoid the hard acceleration and try taking your foot off the accelerator whenever you can-you'll be amazed at the increase MPG.

Good Luck and enjoy the HOV lane!

Michael