With the disaster affecting gas prices, is anyone else taking sick glee in getting 30+ per gallon?

Also, does anyone know if roof racks knock MPG down by about 1MPG or by about 3? If it's 3, I'm probably taking the rack off.

Finally, what's your average mileage. I have gotten between 29 and 35, but never more or less. And my base mileage is right at 31 or 32.

Car is a 2004 xA automatic phantom grey

Jeff

The rack on my Grand Caravan costs me about 3-4 mpg. 2 bike racks, a basket in the middle, no fairing.

Depends on the setup and the car but I'd say if you're not gonna get caught in a position of suddenly needing it, take it off.

I get a pretty solid 26-29, not adjusted for tire size and not babying it either. Time=Money

I get typically 30-32. It helps alot right now. It's not sick glee or anything because I'm still paying for gas anyway. It was my choice to buy an xA, its their choice to buy something else. They've been paying more in gasoline than me for a while now, so does that really matter? It's just that the prices are raised above anyone's expectations.

I've been letting my boyfriend take my car without me more often because of prices and if it's traffic or city driving, my xA fairs better than his Altima, and it's really coming out of the house's pocket instead of either of us individually.

I get 36 mpg. Mix of 70% city, 30% highway.

I drive like a grandma!

i get around 32 city and around 34-36 highway

two and from work lasts me around 2 weeks per tank full

my mileage is gonna gain a small increase in mpg not much just a small percentage (gonna be lowering it :) )

yeah....I had a talk with a guy at the gas station who drove an H2, I made a comment about how his gas price was ending up in the upper $70's. It makes me smile when I can fill up my tank for under $30 and drive off while people that were there when I arrived are still pumping away.

Right now some of the gas stations where I live (Greenville SC) are either out of gas or limiting customers to only 10 gallons. I don't have to worry too much as 10 gallons will hold me for a while. But the gas prices and shortage??? do have me a bit worried as I'm spending the long weekend commuting back and forth between Greenville SC and Asheville NC (over 60 miles one way).

I set my trip odometer when I topped off this PM and will top off again tomorrow PM and try to figure out my gas milage. Should be interesting, as this is mountain driving with the AC on (well, mountain driving for the southeast anyway).

In texas more and more gas stations are limiting people to $50 and then the pump shuts off. You're supposed to pay and then go back to the beginning of the line so people behind you can fill up. I suppose some people are cheating.

People at my work are complaining that its north of $80 to fill up a pickup or SUV...

$2.99 most places, some more, some less.

We've got 25,000 refugees from katrina here in Dallas, as do San Antonio and Houston. Not to mention the thousands that got here in their cars when they evacuated ahead of the storm. They're enrolling in schools, finding places to rent, looking for jobs... demand is just going to keep going up.

Oh, and about a roof rack - on an old car I no longer have it made my highway mileage drop by 10% - from 20 mpg to 18 mpg.

Not saying it's nice to brag...but I do feel good with my xA getting 36MPG...and my Prius getting 60.

I'm doing my part to save gas.

the prius cheats on gas mileage :silly: all thanks to the power electric motors and the bank of batteries

At this time of great tragedy and national disaster shouldn't we be thinking, praying and doing something for the victims of Katrina? I'm not thinking much of "gloating" about my Scion gas mileage. Geesh.

the prius cheats on gas mileage :silly: all thanks to the power electric motors and the bank of batteriesah, maybe you should learn about the car.

One electric motor, not 'motors'. And, one battery, not a 'bank of batteries'

All a hybrid does, is save gas, by allowing the gas motor to not run as often.

It's not a long term fix, but it is a step in the riight direction.

Oh, so you know, the gas motor in a Prius? The same one that is in the SCION xA and xB.

yes and its slightly detuned too i do believe

I kept track today on my trip up to Asheville and got 34.2 MPG. This included some in town driving, some mountain freeway driving with the AC on and sitting in essentially stopped traffic for 15+ minutes.

^^^^

Yeah, well, xA's suck.

Just kidding. :P

If gas prices had been as high last december as they are now I'd have taken a closer look at the xA. xB too... my wife's xB is the car we always take anytime we drive somewhere together. tC just isn't economical enough.

yeah yeah yeah hate to take it off topic... gonna anyways :P :silly:

as copied and pasted from http://www.valiant.org/duster.html

The Feather Dusters were made in 1976, with an aluminum inner hood, trunk bracing, bumper brackets, and intake manifold; economy carb and distributor calibration; large exhaust system; tall rear axle ratio; and either 3 speed auto or 4 speed overdrive manual trans.

mind you now this is a 225cid slant 6 engine with a one bbl carb and its all about the gear ratio's

Their gas mileage was great for their day, and even for the present, given their size: 24 city, 36 highway. Few modern cars of that size can claim this. With an automatic, gas mileage slipped considerably, to 22 city/31 highway - still comparable to modern cars. Very few were sold, partly because they had to compete with the new Aspen and Volare, which were in the same price class; and because the tall rear axle ratio took a serious hit on performance.

thats if you drive it like a granny!!! :shock:

2 months old 2005 RS2 - stop-n-go Los Angeles surface street traffic (only 4 mile commute) - only 20-21 mpg! Highway is usually +/- 30-35. Why the HUGE difference, and will it get better over time?

the most ive seen on a trip was a trip to louisville where i got 43.7 mpg...now thats me driving like a grandma...but normally ill get about 32-34 mix of town and highway

how the heck did you get 43.7mpg!!! :shock: how fast where you driving 55mph??? slightly over inflated your tires??? clue us in there purdy pls!!!

I read once, that if you have a five speed, and go about 35 in fifth, you will get over 60MPG in a average car.

43 mpg, wow. dude must weight 90lbs and going no more than 50 mph. j/k

i have a company card and havnt bought my car yet im waiting till october. but ive had my company gas card for a year so i havent paid for gas taht whole time. i also dont have to pay maintence or anything. i have a card for that to. but when i get my scioin i will have to pay for that but it wont be much because i will drive my company car most of the week while im working.

Not saying it's nice to brag...but I do feel good with my xA getting 36MPG...and my Prius getting 60.

I'm doing my part to save gas.

We know several prius owners in the Rocky Mountain area, and know no one who is getting 60mpg at our high altitudes. We're averaging low 50s (50-53) in mixed 60city/40hwy driving. :yawn:

Not saying it's nice to brag...but I do feel good with my xA getting 36MPG...and my Prius getting 60.

I'm doing my part to save gas.

We know several prius owners in the Rocky Mountain area, and know no one who is getting 60mpg at our high altitudes. We're averaging low 50s (50-53) in mixed 60city/40hwy driving. :yawn:

There are probably about 30 Prius' running around just in my small town of 30k. Of course, they will get 0mpg when it hits -40f and they won't run. The print shop I know bought one and they talked to Toyota and they said "Yup, it's just kind of an experiment, we're hoping they run okay when it hits 40 below this winter." :o

are they gonna get a block heater too when it prius

I am getting around 35MPG with the roof rack. It goes down sometimes when I have the bike up there. I have the fairing on and it seems to help..

http://azsvt.com/gallery/albums/Our-xA/Lightning_6_5_009_small.jpg
39 mpg on the left, 13mpg on the right.
I'm not gloating but will be putting a 3rd car in the stable to lighten the load on the Lightning when my wife and I don't car pool.

I'm reimbursed for my client visits, but I'm still glad that I get 33-35 MPG. I can't seem to break 35 MPG though. It's a mix of hwy and city, with a lot of time spent in rush going no where fast too.

As for suggestions to improve mileage. Accelerate like a granny. That helps tremendously, just give it a try. Typically your engine uses the most fuel when you accelerate.

Whoo Hoo!

I filled up today for the first time since I've been doing daily highway driving (previously, I've only been doing city driving)

I still had about 1/8th of a tank, but I filled it up to the brim. And the results were.....

38.37 mpg

Yee ha! And I bet I'd do even better except I found myself driving 55-60mph while in 4th gear the other day. DOH!

I read once, that if you have a five speed, and go about 35 in fifth, you will get over 60MPG in a average car.

My Z06 has all kinds of fancy schmancy electronics to play with, including an instantaneous gas mileage readout. Dribbling along a flat road at 35mph, I get better mileage with each successively higher gear, up to 6th @ 1100 rpm where it gets 45+ mpg.

Taller gear = better mileage at any speed.

When I got our Xa I was getting around 340 miles per tank that is about 34 miles per gallon since I usually fill up with 10 gallons. After I put the wheels on the car, the most I get is 270 - 290 miles per tank wich is 27 to 29 miles per gallon. Just for the wheels. O well, I like the way it looks. As of right now, my milage went up about 1 or two miles since I changed to a FULL SYNTHETIC oil. Car runs alot smoother. You can feel the difference as soon as you finish and take the car around the block...

By the Way When the car is clean gives one more mile per gallon than when it's Dirty..

Just Kidding..... :rofl: .....take a look

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/davidfneri/Scion%20XA/XaCleancopy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v144/davidfneri/Scion%20XA/XaDirtycopy.jpg

When I got our Xa I was getting around 340 miles per tank that is about 34 miles per gallon since I usually fill up with 10 gallons. After I put the wheels on the car, the most I get is 270 - 290 miles per tank wich is 27 to 29 miles per gallon. Just for the wheels. O well, I like the way it looks. As of right now, my milage went up about 1 or two miles since I changed to a FULL SYNTHETIC oil. Car runs alot smoother. You can feel the difference as soon as you finish and take the car around the block...

By the Way When the car is clean gives one more mile per gallon than when it's Dirty..

Just Kidding..... :rofl: .....

now your not kidding all that dirt creates drag!!! a clean car does get slightly more mpg just a very small percentage keep it clean and waxed it improves the efficiency of the air flow over your car