Posted by Pete Granzeau on April 23, 2008, 7:38 pm
wrote:
>My sentiments exactly. There's a reason why Consumer Reports says
>real world mileage is 44 mpg give or take. Given that, I'm satisfied
>getting 45.8 mpg lifetime. No need to obsess about it or drive like
>like a dillweed. Be happy - you're getting better mileage than most
>everyone out there who's not on a bicycle.
Does anyone remember the Mobil Economy Run? They had rules--no coasting
while declutched, no free-wheeling devices. This was when all American
cars were either a straight 6 or 8, or else a V8. No coasting
declutched or in neutral, no free-wheeling devices, but essentially, any
other driving technique was permitted. They had to average more than 40
mph on a cross-country drive. In 1965, the 49 entrants achieved a
combined average of 20.3472 mpg over the 3266-mile route,
The contest lasted from 1936 to 1967.
Posted by News on April 23, 2008, 7:49 pm
Pete Granzeau wrote:
> wrote:
>
>
>>My sentiments exactly. There's a reason why Consumer Reports says
>>real world mileage is 44 mpg give or take. Given that, I'm satisfied
>>getting 45.8 mpg lifetime. No need to obsess about it or drive like
>>like a dillweed. Be happy - you're getting better mileage than most
>>everyone out there who's not on a bicycle.
>
>
> Does anyone remember the Mobil Economy Run? They had rules--no coasting
> while declutched, no free-wheeling devices. This was when all American
> cars were either a straight 6 or 8, or else a V8. No coasting
> declutched or in neutral, no free-wheeling devices, but essentially, any
> other driving technique was permitted. They had to average more than 40
> mph on a cross-country drive. In 1965, the 49 entrants achieved a
> combined average of 20.3472 mpg over the 3266-mile route,
>
> The contest lasted from 1936 to 1967.
Interesting, perhaps coincidental, 1967 was the pinnacle of "big block"
horsepower and performance. My ride of that era: 1963 1200cc VW Bug.
Posted by Pete Granzeau on April 24, 2008, 9:09 pm
>Pete Granzeau wrote:
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>My sentiments exactly. There's a reason why Consumer Reports says
>>>real world mileage is 44 mpg give or take. Given that, I'm satisfied
>>>getting 45.8 mpg lifetime. No need to obsess about it or drive like
>>>like a dillweed. Be happy - you're getting better mileage than most
>>>everyone out there who's not on a bicycle.
>>
>>
>> Does anyone remember the Mobil Economy Run? They had rules--no coasting
>> while declutched, no free-wheeling devices. This was when all American
>> cars were either a straight 6 or 8, or else a V8. No coasting
>> declutched or in neutral, no free-wheeling devices, but essentially, any
>> other driving technique was permitted. They had to average more than 40
>> mph on a cross-country drive. In 1965, the 49 entrants achieved a
>> combined average of 20.3472 mpg over the 3266-mile route,
>>
>> The contest lasted from 1936 to 1967.
>Interesting, perhaps coincidental, 1967 was the pinnacle of "big block"
>horsepower and performance. My ride of that era: 1963 1200cc VW Bug.
I gotcha on that one. My ride of that era was a 1963 Fiat 600D (and
that was my SECOND Fiat, Ghod help me!)
Posted by News on April 24, 2008, 9:19 pm
Pete Granzeau wrote:
>
>
>>Pete Granzeau wrote:
>>
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>My sentiments exactly. There's a reason why Consumer Reports says
>>>>real world mileage is 44 mpg give or take. Given that, I'm satisfied
>>>>getting 45.8 mpg lifetime. No need to obsess about it or drive like
>>>>like a dillweed. Be happy - you're getting better mileage than most
>>>>everyone out there who's not on a bicycle.
>>>
>>>
>>>Does anyone remember the Mobil Economy Run? They had rules--no coasting
>>>while declutched, no free-wheeling devices. This was when all American
>>>cars were either a straight 6 or 8, or else a V8. No coasting
>>>declutched or in neutral, no free-wheeling devices, but essentially, any
>>>other driving technique was permitted. They had to average more than 40
>>>mph on a cross-country drive. In 1965, the 49 entrants achieved a
>>>combined average of 20.3472 mpg over the 3266-mile route,
>>>
>>>The contest lasted from 1936 to 1967.
>>
>>
>>Interesting, perhaps coincidental, 1967 was the pinnacle of "big block"
>>horsepower and performance. My ride of that era: 1963 1200cc VW Bug.
>
>
> I gotcha on that one. My ride of that era was a 1963 Fiat 600D (and
> that was my SECOND Fiat, Ghod help me!)
Just to clarify, you kept both on the road, so you could ensure that on
most occasions at least one was operational, not being overhauled at
Tony's....
Posted by Pete Granzeau on April 25, 2008, 8:39 pm
>>>Interesting, perhaps coincidental, 1967 was the pinnacle of "big block"
>>>horsepower and performance. My ride of that era: 1963 1200cc VW Bug.
>>
>> I gotcha on that one. My ride of that era was a 1963 Fiat 600D (and
>> that was my SECOND Fiat, Ghod help me!)
>Just to clarify, you kept both on the road, so you could ensure that on
>most occasions at least one was operational, not being overhauled at
>Tony's....
Nearly. I couldn't find anyone to fix that first one (no Fiat dealer, I
think). At one point, it was using (actually, leaking) a pint of oil a
day.
The second one was actually in very good condition when I bought it. The
one thing that happened that I had trouble with was when one of the two
fan belts broke, meaning I had no water pump. I had to have it towed
in. I used to have to climb a hill on the way to my house; it could
maintain 40 mpg going up that grade. As soon as it started making me
shife to third to do that grad, I would take it in for a tune-up.
You get to think of 1200 cc Volkswagens at large, powerful cars.
My third 600 was a 1971 Honda coupe. I could red line it, at 6500, in
all 4 gears (it was doing about 74 in 4th), even when it blew an exhaust
valve.
>real world mileage is 44 mpg give or take. Given that, I'm satisfied
>getting 45.8 mpg lifetime. No need to obsess about it or drive like
>like a dillweed. Be happy - you're getting better mileage than most
>everyone out there who's not on a bicycle.