Well, now that I'm settled in my new house and all the hills that surround me... for two tanks now I've had to contend with a 6.2 mile trip with 12 lights that are *always* red by the time I get to them (at the posted speed limit) twice a day. This weekend I had to make 9 trips in the area and all nine times, I hit every friggin' red. I tried to count the times when I'd get a green. None. I did finally decide to speed 10 MPH over the posted and then I start hitting the greens every time. Weird.

Anyway, although I've complained before about what my mileage actually is from tank to tank... I've now had to consistent tanks at 31 MPG. If I drive the freeways around and manage to pull of 45+... then on my way home, hitting every red, up 6% grade or so, I'll arrive in my garage reading 38 or so. I can't really make it back about 2 MPG by the time I've tried my darnest and then my trip from freeway to home again, I'll lose even more... rinse wash repeat.

I did get my first oil change yesterday (@6600 miles) and it now seems easier to get high I-MPG readings. I've tried alternate routes (about 5 different ones to get to the freeway another way, all the routes have just as many lights and either the same or less hills but nothing that helps me.

I might never get 40 MPG again but if I do, I'll let y'all know how I can handle the hills. So far all the Hypermiling tricks I've seen about working with hills aren't working for me or I'm not doing it right.


Thanks,
Shawn