Crazy highway MPG...

[HollywoodTurbo]

Check it out! I topped off and drove about 50 miles on the highway at 65mph. I cleared the mpg ticker before I left the gas station. I was getting about 42 around town and 59 on the highway, with shifting at 1500 rpms, but now Im driving 'normal' with shifts around 2k rpm and im averaging about 36 around town and 46 on the highway. 1.4l LT sedan

 

[AndrewGS]

I was overjoyed at what the DIC was telling me when I first got the car, but reality set in a bit once I started driving these suburb streets and hit the pump. I found out that the DIC is a little optimistic. The highway economy on these cars is awesome though.

 

[wasteoffilm]

after about 7 miles of mostly flat road, cruise on, in sixth.

 

[wingman]

after about 7 miles of mostly flat road, cruise on, in sixth.

no cruise=better mpgs.

 

[wingman]

Short shifting is the ticket with these cars. I romp around town occasionally, while short shifting and even getting on it through 2nd straight to 6th and pull 34 in the city. And thats having fun. If I tried, I might pull what you are posting.

 

[sdgdf]

no cruise=better mpgs.

Cruise only works well for MPG if you're not going up hills. I've found that it doesn't know how to compensate, and it'll let the speed drop before it increases throttle. If its in 6th, and you had cruise set @ 65 mph, go up a hill and it'll drop down to like 62 and then it'll try to go WOT to maintain speed/accelerate.

So what's the limits of this car, in terms of hypermiling? 59 mpg? 70 mpg ?

I once had a '86 Fiero, 2.8L V6 4-speed manual trans. It'd get 20-24 mpg around town, and 32-34 highway. One time driving back from Athens, I managed to get 44 mpg in it. That's with a V6 . I kept it at 55-60 mph (2400RPM in 4th), windows closed, a/c off, headlights off (pop-up headlights), and gave it the lightest throttle I could when accelerating, and short-shifting at 2500RPM. The car was only EPA-rated for 18/26 .

I wanna go on a road trip in my Sonic so bad now! :banana: I think I might be able to hit 50+ mpg in it , with my driving style.

 

[keto06]

Personally, I am NO hypermiler. "I like to drive fast" I dont EVER go under 70 on the freeway (unless theres traffic) and most the time im 80+. One of the biggest reasons I like this car is the 6 long gears combined with low final drive. My current car has 5 gears, shorter gears, and a higher final drive. No bueno on ze highway @ 80. (4k)

EDIT: Quick Graph for Reference to ^^

Note: This is with stock Sonic 195/65/15 tire size and a 6500 redline

 

[RichieRocket]

keto06, a while back I posted a rpm vs. speed chart that I made in Excel:
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t640/

I didn't know myautoloan.com had that function...

Yeah, I love the super tall 6th in this thing!

 

[Gimpster]

The car does good on the highway until you hit a (not so a-typical out here!!) headwind of 30+ MPG but that's any car. I fought a headwind all the way through Nebraska and Wyoming once and got 23-25mpg per tank.

My best fuel economy has been still been Bay Area commuting, but that said I've not tried that hard again.

 

[omniman]

seems to like 50 mph with cruise control on. 80 mph not as good. sitting in traffic or auto start forget about it.

 

[omniman]

i bought this and love it plugs in to dlc works on cars 96 and up obdII vehicles.ScanGaugeII : Linear Logic - Home of the ScanGauge

 

[wingman]

I putted around town and pulled 38+, but completely babied it. I tend to float the gears (noclutch) which is the lowest rpms possible with out a throttle blip, every 7-8 mph. Im usually in 6th at 40-42 mph no matter how I get to that speed.

 

[Danny5]

People called this a hoax when I first posted it:

Super good gas mileage is easy to get if you stay slow in top gear.

My wife is good at that. I am good at perfecting my NLS.

 

[ErikBEggs]

Cruise only works well for MPG if you're not going up hills.

People misinterpret what a "hill" is. Hills do not exist on interstate highways, the maximum allowable grade is 6%, which is only 3-4 degree angle. A "hill" is a sky slope, which is 10+ degrees or 18%+ grade. So if you EVER on an interstate highway, cruise control is always more effective.

 

[Savage_383]

People misinterpret what a "hill" is. Hills do not exist on interstate highways, the maximum allowable grade is 6%, which is only 3-4 degree angle. A "hill" is a sky slope, which is 10+ degrees or 18%+ grade. So if you EVER on an interstate highway, cruise control is always more effective.

Drive I-35 through the Flint Hills of Kansas. I have to shift into 5th for a few of them if I have a load of people. If there is such a rule as a 6% maximum grade, They didn't follow it.

 

[ErikBEggs]

They do. The only exceptions are areas like West Virginia mountainsand they are signed. If you use the elevation setting on your GPS, you can see for your self the change in elevation isn't nearly as large as it looks.

 

[Danny5]

A stock Sonic cannot hold CC in top gear at Interstate speeds climbing a 6% incline.

Once the tune was installed, our Sonic can maintain 70mph in 6th gear climbing 6% at 4000ft using just the cruise control.

 

[dvn]

In this review 2012 Chevrolet Sonic Review - YouTube They achieved 67mpg over a 97 mile drive. Impressive!

 

[LS1notFOUND]

cruise control in a stick car can only do so much with 1.4Ls out of the powerband.

 

[Sonic Boomer]

A stock Sonic cannot hold CC in top gear at Interstate speeds climbing a 6% incline.

Once the tune was installed, our Sonic can maintain 70mph in 6th gear climbing 6% at 4000ft using just the cruise control.

That is exactly the info I was after!!
Thanks!