Hey. I've had my xA for a year and change and I finally think I've found a way to get the best gas mileage. I've got from 31 at some points all the way up to 36, but it's related to my speed on the highway....in a weird way.

Here's my whole theory at my blog.

The short version of this is that the car manufacturers are now creating cars with a higher "sweet spot" than the 55MPH that they had in the late 70s and 80s. Now the sweet spot is around 63 to get the best mileage.

Try it, you'll see.

 

And just an update for you guys in Cali - gas here is around $2.95 in MA, $2.80 at BJ's Warehouse in NH and much more in CT.

Later.

 

Gas out here is a couple cents under $3. If I drive a couple of cities up, gas can be had for about $2.80 per gallon.

 

on a long trip I got around 40, but since then it hovers around 31mpg. Which is ridiculous because even the city numbers from the epa are higher than that.

 

We speed. We have an automatic. The combined weight of myself and passenger is 470.
I get around 37 on a roadtrip minus the A/C
I average city 31 mixed A/C mixed load. Half the time in town I drive alone.
Gas in certain areas of Anaheim is 2.67/87 as of today

 

Define "speed"

Here the posted limit is 65
70-75 is flow of traffic
Speeding starts at 80 which is just about 4k rpms*ouch*

I cant imagine gettings 37MPG at 4k

 

I get caught up going 80 at of times, but I'm trying not to now. Actually going over 65 is speeding, because it's over that speed that your fuel economy gets compromised.
As well as "SPEEDING" that refers to jetting around in the city limits meaning jack-rabbiting... also not good for the car's gas consumption.

So imagine I've got 500 lbs in the car of bodies and cargo, and I'm jackrabbiting, and then I hit 80 if there's no traffic. I'm not going to get really high numbers, but I always expect to get at least 30mpg

 

36mpg?? Damn, that would be nice. If I drive like an old lady I will get 24mpg.

 

i got 37mpg with combined highway and city driving i drive 60 mph on the highway and the speed limit in the city and no jack rabbit starts

 

I'm getting a pretty steady 38.75 with my daily 35mile each way small highway driving. I tried a 'grandma' tactic on one tank but it didn't seem to have any real effect. For that tank I would make a point to never get above ~2800 rpm unless I was in 5th gear. I would take it eacy at stop lights and stop signs and probably never got above 65.

The end result was about 38.75mpg so I'm back to driving 'normally'. Although "normally" for me might still be 'grandma' like for some of you

But yeah, I really wanna break that 40mpg mark so I can stop lying to people when I tell them I get 40 mpg

 

As of my last tank, I got 33.26 mpg. That's from normal driving, with a lot of stop and go traffic on the freeway to and from work. So that's not bad. Considering the Explorer I had got like 18 mpg. My Prelude on got something like 20. So i'm very happy with my gas mileage, especially with the costs of gas around my area.

 

There is a huge difference if I do alot of 80mph driving, or if it's 70, as well as if I'm having anxiety around other drivers.
I was in an accident that nearly killed me 3 years ago and I've been messed up ever since.

Yeah man, last night I got gas and it was around 27mpg at half tank. I guess I've been having a rough week.