Driving with a Load
#41
09-02-2004, 08:13 PM
lars,
I'll second Steve about Georgia backroads, and from experience riding Cycle South Carolina, it is the same way. I'm pretty sure Tenessee has its backroads as well. Alabama definatly dose......
Cheers,
Steven
I'll second Steve about Georgia backroads, and from experience riding Cycle South Carolina, it is the same way. I'm pretty sure Tenessee has its backroads as well. Alabama definatly dose......
Cheers,
Steven
#42
09-04-2004, 05:20 AM
Quote
"70% might be the optimal throttle plate opening for many ICE’s but factor in wind resistance and friction as RPM’s rise and it cancels out any gain"
End quote
Xcel, Sometimes I wonder if we are even speaking the same language. I mentioned in my previous post that I keep the RPM below 2000 when driving "boost and coast". I also drive at legal speeds except during the ocast phase when I'll allow the speed to go up to 15MPH over legal if the grade and conditions permit.
Quote
"Basjoos, I had that kind of mileage of an Avis owned Mercury Mountaineer w/ Auto earlier this spring (27.9 mpg off its rudimentary game gauge) that wasn’t even close to setup for > 100 miles before my daughter took over for the rest of the drive home. She works for Avis so that is why we had this car for a weekend drive down to the U of I."
End quote
That 26MPG in the Ford F15 4WD was made under a regime of mostly short trips. This truck is my farm truck and as such is being used for what pickup trucks were originally designed for (and has a beat up truck bed to prove it). Most of the driving was local; a 3 mile drive to the county dump to haul off a load of garbage, 12 miles into town to the Tractor Supply to pick up bags of animal feed, rolls of field fencing, or T-posts. It took me over 2 months to use up that tank of gas and the longest trip on that tank was 40 miles when I made two trips to pick up loads of hay. I'm sure if I had cruised on several long trips with a empty truck bed I could have easily have gotten higher MPG's. On trips while towing the stock trailer (loaded with stock for half of the trip) I managed 16MPG.
Quote
"The last time I drove the 03 Corolla LE back and forth to work for a week, I had a nice 51.8 mpg average over 751 miles. It is only rated for 38."
End quote
On all of the tanks that I've so far have added to this database, I've had to travel into the mountains of NC. On these trips, I climb a steep grade on US25/Gap Creek Road up into the NC mountains and have to do a lot of braking on the way back down, which takes a toll on the MPG's. On tanks that I have driven entirely within the rural Piedmont of SC I've gotten over 60MPG, but since I started adding my tanks to this database, I haven't had any tanks where I been able to stay entirely in SC.
In comparing the two methods of driving, I find DWL somewhat boring as I drive over hill and dale with the accelerator held in a fixed position. I'm sure if I had a game gauge it would become easier as the gauge would keep me mesmorized in tracking fuel consumption. On the other hand, driving "boost and coast" is far more interesting as I accelerate relatively quickly, take the hillclimbs at fairly open throttle and then take the roller coaster ride down the other side. In my normal driving I usually mix both methods, using DWL on the flat and slightly undulating roads, then switching to "boost and coast" on the hillier sections and for urban driving.
"70% might be the optimal throttle plate opening for many ICE’s but factor in wind resistance and friction as RPM’s rise and it cancels out any gain"
End quote
Xcel, Sometimes I wonder if we are even speaking the same language. I mentioned in my previous post that I keep the RPM below 2000 when driving "boost and coast". I also drive at legal speeds except during the ocast phase when I'll allow the speed to go up to 15MPH over legal if the grade and conditions permit.
Quote
"Basjoos, I had that kind of mileage of an Avis owned Mercury Mountaineer w/ Auto earlier this spring (27.9 mpg off its rudimentary game gauge) that wasn’t even close to setup for > 100 miles before my daughter took over for the rest of the drive home. She works for Avis so that is why we had this car for a weekend drive down to the U of I."
End quote
That 26MPG in the Ford F15 4WD was made under a regime of mostly short trips. This truck is my farm truck and as such is being used for what pickup trucks were originally designed for (and has a beat up truck bed to prove it). Most of the driving was local; a 3 mile drive to the county dump to haul off a load of garbage, 12 miles into town to the Tractor Supply to pick up bags of animal feed, rolls of field fencing, or T-posts. It took me over 2 months to use up that tank of gas and the longest trip on that tank was 40 miles when I made two trips to pick up loads of hay. I'm sure if I had cruised on several long trips with a empty truck bed I could have easily have gotten higher MPG's. On trips while towing the stock trailer (loaded with stock for half of the trip) I managed 16MPG.
Quote
"The last time I drove the 03 Corolla LE back and forth to work for a week, I had a nice 51.8 mpg average over 751 miles. It is only rated for 38."
End quote
On all of the tanks that I've so far have added to this database, I've had to travel into the mountains of NC. On these trips, I climb a steep grade on US25/Gap Creek Road up into the NC mountains and have to do a lot of braking on the way back down, which takes a toll on the MPG's. On tanks that I have driven entirely within the rural Piedmont of SC I've gotten over 60MPG, but since I started adding my tanks to this database, I haven't had any tanks where I been able to stay entirely in SC.
In comparing the two methods of driving, I find DWL somewhat boring as I drive over hill and dale with the accelerator held in a fixed position. I'm sure if I had a game gauge it would become easier as the gauge would keep me mesmorized in tracking fuel consumption. On the other hand, driving "boost and coast" is far more interesting as I accelerate relatively quickly, take the hillclimbs at fairly open throttle and then take the roller coaster ride down the other side. In my normal driving I usually mix both methods, using DWL on the flat and slightly undulating roads, then switching to "boost and coast" on the hillier sections and for urban driving.
Thread
Topic Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
