Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 My experience with fuel mileage.

I've made the trip to Depoe Bay in the Flex twice.

This has been an area that I hadn't paid that much attention too. Primarily because it hasn't been an important consideration. For many years I rode a motorcycle for half of my commuting and errand running needs, and I only had a 20 mile round trip commute for over 30 years. Fuel economy really didn't concern me. Though I had many younger co-workers that had commutes of fifty to 75 miles, one way! 

We do take long vacation trips and this allows me to experience the difference that higher fuel economy makes over a longer run.

Last year I took my Navigator on vacation to Oregon. 

Last Year.

I drove my Navigator because I wanted to experience what it was like to drive a big luxury SUV on our vacation. In reality I just wanted to enjoy my Navigator! It was just my Wife and I and lots of stuff. I pay a lot of attention to the trip computer fuel economy readings. With a heavy vehicle it's important to drive in a consistent manner. You save on gas with careful acceleration, from every stop. Rapid starts just burn up gas. You can't make up that lost mileage on the highway. It's also important to modulate your speed so that you are travelling smoothly with the traffic flow. If you are constantly slamming on the brakes, you are just wasting gas. It's also important to keep the speeds down, higher speeds require more fuel to maintain. I kept my speeds between 55-65 mph. on the county road portion and 70 mph. on the freeway portion. The bottom line is: Make Inertia Your Friend!

Of course you will be passed by many large trucks and SUVs doing 75-85 mph. Then the owners will complain about how lousy the fuel economy of their vehicle is!

The Nav returned 20.5 mpg. at my fill up upon my arrival in Newport. This is the best mileage I've ever recorded. This first leg of the trip was on I-5 past Weed, then we cut east to Klamath Falls where we spent the night. The next day we went north on the back roads to Medford. Mostly two lane, winding county and mountain roads. The remainder of the trip from Medford to Newport was via our familiar route.  Speeds on this leg were lower, generally between 55-60 mph.

The return trip was made completely on freeways. I took Interstate 5 and speeds varied between 60-65 mph. in the mountains, and a steady 70 mph. on the level freeway. Mileage was 19.5 mpg. 

I am quite the feather foot and usually get good mileage results from all my cars. I try to maintain steady speeds, and refrain from randomly passing cars. I know that excessive bouts of acceleration are just a waste, as I'll just have to brake again in a short time.

It always amazes me when a vehicle will blow past me, just to exit the highway a half mile ahead, such a wasteful display. But I guess that they think that they are in a hurry. I keep things in perspective, if you're driving 300-400 miles in a day, it's important to maintain a steady pace. I won't be getting there any sooner with frequent short bursts of speed.

This year we took the Flex, again just my Wife and myself. The Flex has some built in advantages over the Nav, it is lighter, a bit smaller, and has a smaller V6 engine. Speeds were held closer to the limit and the trip was made on the usual freeway route. Overall mileage for the 1,600+ mile trip was 24.5 mpg. 

I had been driving minivans for years, my short wheelbase '90 Dodge Caravan, and later my deluxe '97 Chrysler Town and Country. My Dodge would normally average around 20-22 mpg, Likewise for the Chrysler. Even my '94 Seville would only return around 22-24 mpg. These seemed to be average and acceptable.

I have had experience with one high mileage car, my '90 Honda Civic SI. Typical mixed freeway and street usage would return a reliable 32 mpg. Long freeway trips at 70 mph. could return 36 mpg. I tried an experimental 55 mph. trip and was rewarded by 42 mpg. 

Several Summers ago.

I manage to get pretty good mileage out of anything. I have driven my V6 F150 on vacation and up to Oregon before. Driving back from Grants Pass to San Jose I averaged 21.5 mpg. but this was a mostly downhill run and there was no headwind. Generally I can get 20 mpg. but I limit my freeway speed to 60-65 mph.

I have written about my philosophy of accepting the harmony of the highway, where I try to match my speeds to the conditions without holding anyone up, maintaining a steady reasonable speed, and by avoiding constant passing. I find that this makes for a less stressful and relaxing drive. Being retired means that you're never in a hurry!

While I don't consider the Flex to be a particularly high mpg vehicle, but it's attributes outweigh the mileage penalty of a much smaller vehicle. 

I read a lot of road tests and I've discovered that most road testers get fewer mpgs than I do. They are trying to evaluate the speed and responsiveness of the test vehicle.

So here's my take on the fuel mileage on my last vacation, comparing my Flex, 24.5 mpg. and my Navigator at 19.5 mpg. The Flex has a five mile a gallon advantage. Usually I like to consider the gallons needed to travel 100 miles as a standard. It takes a bit over five gallons in the Nav, while the Flex can cover that distance with a bit less than four gallons. That doesn't sound too bad. That's a bit over 5.00 extra per hundred miles. It does seem more significant when you're rolling 100 miles after 100 miles.

But then I looked at it another way, a 15 gallon fill up in the Flex, would carry me 75 miles further than in my Navigator on the same quantity of fuel. That would be a consistent advantage. Then again, I'm not making any payments on the Navigator! The difference between premium and regular gas also factors into the equation. 

Except for my vacations, I don't put very many miles on any of my cars. Would it make any sense to buy a more fuel efficient vehicle? While I care about the environment as much as the next guy, I don't see myself switching to electric any time soon, if ever.

You choose the type of vehicles that you drive to fulfill your needs and desires. Whether they are new or not. Chances are you would replace them with something similar, even if newer or a bit smaller. While I don't really need a three row SUV on a daily basis, it does make for comfortable travel.

The smallest Lincoln SUV, the Corsair, was tested by Motor Trend recently and it was rated by the EPA at 21/28/24 avg. Motor Trend testers usually fall below that average on their tests due to their exuberant driving. From other reviews that I've read the Corsair is a bit too small to function as a family SUV, it's more of a replacement for a small sedan. I would probably choose something a bit larger. Then there's the false economy of buying a 65,000 dollar car, to save a little gas! (Of course I would only consider an older MKC.)

While a lot of old retired guys will buy some type of expensive reward car for themselves, I don't see that happening in my case. I will continue to buy used, but just newer with less miles. These vehicles will likely get better fuel economy, I can't really see myself buying an old car that only gets ten mpg. I've already been there, and gas costs a lot more now.

My reality is that my need for commuting is long past, and my yearly mileage consists primarily of vacation road trips. 

The Riviera is a smooth efficient Tourer.

My current mileage champ is the Riviera, I recorded a 30 mpg. average during one leg of my trip to Mendocino. The 3800 V6 is well known as an efficient powerplant, the supercharger only causes a one mile per gallon loss, according to the EPA. Like all power adders, such as turbos, the driver has to operate in a manner that minimizes their engagement. That's what I've read about the Ford Eco Boost engines, you have to choose between the Eco and the Boost. Most drivers choose the Boost and pay with the mileage. 

Both of my Mustangs are also in the mid 20 miles per gallon camp. Again, I find that acceptable. I don't know if I could find something that I liked that could break the 30 mpg. barrier. However it's something that I'll be mulling over in the following months.