45 at 45, 1.8L Automatic

[SuperFudd]

Tonight I got on I-880 South bound in San Leandro in the rain. ~50 degrees F.
I got on behind some crazy hyper miler driving 45 mph. I stayed there ontill Union City where I exited I-880. Maybe 7 miles.
At the end of the on ramp I reset the DIC. At the end of the off ramp it read 45 mpg. See car below.

 

[Sonic]

Pics of rainy on ramp or it didn't happen!

 

[Eric Smit]

if people slow down, they get better mileage. I've been saying that for years.

 

[SonicBoy24]

With my summer tires my 1.8 tells me I get 53-57 at 45mph, that's also at ~38psi or so.

if we had the turbo it'd be more like 65mpg...

 

[ChrisJ]

A 1931 Ford Model A will get 30-35MPG @ 35MPH.

Go up to 50MPH and it drops into the mid teens.

So yeah, slower, to a point, gains you mileage.

 

[xsonicLTZx]

Sup Neighbor! we live in the same city! I hate Union City -_-

 

[SuperFudd]

Today at 60, 43 mpg.

Hi xsonicLTZx,

I have been here for 44 years so I guess I have learned to tolerate it.

 

[xsonicLTZx]

My car only goes that slow when im pulling out of my drive way ;-p I kid..... Nice MPG, stuck on the 880 grind myself im only getting 30ish mpg....

 

[ChrisJ]

Are you just resetting the thing and looking at what it shows within the first few minutes?

I've always considered that useless and only go by what it tells me when I fill up and then reset again if I want to keep track.

I haven't reset mine since last summer but it's currently reading 39.3. All of the god awful traffic, snow, extreme cold and occasional flipped over truck (3 last week) have brought it down over time.

 

[SuperFudd]

If I get on the freeway at 60 and reset the DIC it will likely start out at upper 50s. I drive at least 5 miles at a steady speed and note the reading as I leave the freeway.

 

[Luv2xlr8]

I average around 33mpg in my 1.8, but I have big hills up and down plus the downtown core of stop and going kills me.

 

[ChrisJ]

I average around 33mpg in my 1.8, but I have big hills up and down plus the downtown core of stop and going kills me.

I also averaged 33 with my 1.8.

Never seen less than 39 with the 1.4 and now that summer is coming back I'm sure I'll be back to my normal 41-42.

If I do what Fudd is saying then I have no idea how high it would be for those short moments of maintaining speed. It's getting up to speed that kills you.

 

[Eric Smit]

long highway trips at 55 will really make your numbers high. you wanna see killer? go 38 in sixth gear and reset it.

 

[attrapereves]

I got really good fuel economy in my white hatch while in Louisiana. Those flat roads and no wind surely help. I averaged 33 on the highway going 65-70mph. As I got closer to Missouri, the roads became hillier and the wind picked up. Fuel economy dipped down to 29 going ~70mph.

 

[SuperFudd]

Yeah, 38 because that it the slowest you can be in 6th, assuming an automatic, right?
I saw speculation here that a bit higher RPM such as at 50 (?) might be more fuel efficient inspite of the higher wind resistance. I would guess sedans are lower wind resistance than the hatch backs.

 

[Yomaster]

Tonight I got on I-880 South bound in San Leandro in the rain. ~50 degrees F.
I got on behind some crazy hyper miler driving 45 mph. I stayed there ontill Union City where I exited I-880. Maybe 7 miles.
At the end of the on ramp I reset the DIC. At the end of the off ramp it read 45 mpg. See car below.

It's funny you mention that! I took I-880 northbound towards Oakland, and then took 680 as I was driving back home from school in Fremont. I reset the gauge once I was on 880 and just stayed in the middle lane down the freeways. I did 65-70 almost all the way home to the valley, and ended up averaging 44 MPG. I snapped the photo below just before getting off the freeway in Manteca!

With my usual driving habits of doing 75-80 in the fast lane, zipping through commuter traffic, etc., I see around 33 MPG. What a difference!

 

[SuperFudd]

NICE!

From my experience so far, I might have gotten ~40mpg with my 1.8L (see below) where you got 44.

 

[davecerv]

I'll get up to 39-40mpg on my 20 minute straight highway trips I do after a fresh fuel fill up going 59-60mph on the right lane of course
But after a week of city driving and traffic moments I always end up averaging 28-29mpg. Which I'm okay with that since that's the EPA estimate haha.
My day job is only 8 miles away from home along with the traffic involved...I'm sure that has negative effects on my mpg.

 

[OsonicE]

I tried running a stretch of freeway with the cruise control at 60, and again at 70, resetting the DIC right after I got up to each speed. It read 9 mpg higher on the 60mph trip.

I really feel like it needs another gear. I'm in 5th at 35-40 and it gets great mileage on the highway at 45-50 and then the revs go up and the economy drops off dramatically. It's a commuter... It should be more optimized for the freeway at 60-70mph in my not so humble opinion.

 

[Swordsmith]

The 1.4T has another gear. MPG is still worse at 70 than at 60, it isn't just about RPM, it's also about wind resistance and rolling resistance. Besides, I might as well have a 5 speed, I only use 5 at most (1, 2, 3, 4, and 6). What you really need is a taller 5th.