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Posted by Tomes on April 24, 2008, 8:42 pm
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"Mr. G" ...
> Elmo P. Shagnasty ...
>> Lon wrote:
>> <snip!>
>> > I envy those who consistently report 10-20% better
>> > mileage than I have attained, and suspect that the
>> > deficiency is in my driving.
>>
>> You are driving your car like a normal car, like everyone else on the
>> road drives, and that's fine. You're getting good mileage.
>>
>> If you want to get what those other people are reporting, you can (a)
>> lie (like most of them), or (b) start driving very, very weirdly and in
>> the way in traffic.
>>
>> Do you want to be the dweeb who's screwing around in traffic, playing
>> his dashboard video game?
>
> I am doing neither a) nor b), and average well over 50 MPG. (actual fuel
> use vs. miles driven, not based on the MFD.) I'm sure a big part of
> that is my commute is 36 miles each way. As mentioned before, one of
> the MPG killers are short trips, since MPG is poor in the first 5
> minutes or so of driving. So on a short trip that will be a significant
> factor in the overall mileage, whereas on a longer (45 min-1 hr) trip,
> it's largely offset. My tires are at 40/38 psi, which I check
> regularly. I block my grill to varying degrees depending upon the
> weather, and I use an engine block heater year-round, which is a big
> help with the initial mileage.
>
> I don't drive in a way that impedes traffic. In fact, I've noticed that
> if I get behind a particularly slow driver, my MPG actually suffers a
> bit (based on the MFD history.) I accelerate smoothly, try to keep a
> steady speed, and begin to slow down as soon I see I'm going to need to
> stop ahead. I DON'T do the pulse & glide (which is I think what was
> being referred to here as 'PriusFoot'. In fact, I engage the cruise
> control as much as possible. I do try to maintain stealth or warp-
> stealth on long downgrades, but never slowing to the point where I'm
> below the speed limit if someone is behind me. In fact, it usually
> isn't necessary to slow down... just a light touch on the throttle.
>
> The only drivers I seem to piss-off are 1) ones that apparently think
> everyone should be doing 10+ over the speed limit, and 2) the idiots who
> think you need to race up to the stopped traffic as quickly as possible
> so that you can jam on the brakes. Then again, I've encountered such
> drivers long before I started driving a Prius.
>
> The fact is, I've always had sports cars or sporty sedans, and my
> driving style was to go as fast as I thought I could without getting a
> ticket (radar detector was required equipment.) Now that I stick to the
> speed limit, I find I'm much more relaxed, and even long trips don't
> take significantly more time.
>
> You can choose to assume I'm exaggerating the mileage I'm getting. I'm
> just hoping that I can help others improve their MPG, since it *is*
> possible to regularly get over 50 MPG without resorting to stunt
> driving.
I think that this is all very well said and reflects my perspective.
Tomes
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