Mileage on 1400 mile road trip

[silversurfer]

Just returned from approx 1400 mile road trip, from SE AZ through Flagstaff up to Salt Lake and back. Hand calculated mileage is 38.8mpg.

Ran mostly 91 octane. Elevation change was from 2600 to 7400 ft approx. 1 driver, 2 passengers plus luggage, figure about 450lbs of people and maybe 50-75 lbs of luggage. Temps ranged from 34-80 F. Weather clear.

I'm impressed with the milage. The ride was comfortable throughout the trip. Road noise levels very acceptable. We did have to be creative with luggage storage, but once I remembered the (actually very useful) lower storage compartment (above the spare tire, below the floor panel of the hatch), it was actually not bad. Overall, super pleased with this car:banana:

 

[AndrewGS]

Nice. I'd love to hit the road in my Sonic and head up to Colorado.

 

[theenico]

That "basement" area has proved extremely convenient for me on multiple occasions.

 

[corprimo]

Silversurfer - what kind of speeds were you driving? Mileage sounds good for a brand new car!

 

[silversurfer]

Interstate open road speeds probably ranged from 65-80, state route open road speeds ranged from 45-70, had some stop and go traffic in Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Salt Lake. I don't know what my average speed might have been. I drive fairly conservatively, and I was paying pretty close attention to the mpg display through out the trip.....I wasn't attempting hypermiling,but I wasn't pushing it hard either.

 

[LS1notFOUND]

how close was the by hand vs the car one? I've found mines been pretty close so I didn't do hand calcs the last couple times. Seems to stay in the high 30's on the highway pretty easily.

Pretty quiet little cruiser on the highway too, despite the rpms turning pretty high in the 70's....remember I'm used to V8's that lumber around at 2 grand on the highway.

 

[silversurfer]

The car seems to calculate a little optimistically, it calculated 40.3 on one leg of the trip, and 39.4 on another, so it seems pretty close, but a little higher than what I calculated

 

[runtz52]

how close was the by hand vs the car one? I've found mines been pretty close so I didn't do hand calcs the last couple times. Seems to stay in the high 30's on the highway pretty easily.

Pretty quiet little cruiser on the highway too, despite the rpms turning pretty high in the 70's....remember I'm used to V8's that lumber around at 2 grand on the highway.

u should ride in my honda, 3500 rpms at 70, 4500 at 85 now thats buzzing, this sonic is a very welcome change

 

[wingman]

u should ride in my honda, 3500 rpms at 70, 4500 at 85 now thats buzzing, this sonic is a very welcome change

Right when VTEC kicks in! Did you get decent FE in it though at those speeds? My modded 1st gen Neon averaged 38 mpg at 85 mph.

Just returned from approx 1400 mile road trip, from SE AZ through Flagstaff up to Salt Lake and back. Hand calculated mileage is 38.8mpg.

Not bad at all! Cant wait to take mine on a long trip! You must have the 1.8 cause I can pull 40+ city with 350 lbs on board in my 1.4t. :banana: