What is your average MPG

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Originally Posted by NickCats

Alright now I'm stumped

It looks like most of you are getting around 27 - 29 mpg on the highway.

How are you calculating this ? Are you using the OBC, or dividing gallons purchased into miles driven ?

Like I said, I was really suprised to only get 22 - 24 mpg on my trip.

My daily commute is 20 miles on local roads and for the last two years I consistently see 21 mpg on every fill up.

Was it due to my speed on this trip ( 80 - 85 mph ) ?

Top was up and AC on - did this make a difference ?

Was it the added weight ( two people plus front and back trunk packed ) ?

Was it the elevation changes ( from Illinois to Virginia ) ?

Any insite or suggestions would be appreciated..

Thanks,

Nick

Nick, the trips that I took were with 2 people (decent sized ). In the Yosemite trip, both trunks were full. In the Tahoe trip, only the front trunk was full.

We definitely didn't average 80+ mph the entire trip, but were pretty fast. (The clear plastic windscreen between the hoops "fluttered" on both the trips). Also, both drives involved driving through elevation (over 8000 feet). Fast sweeping curves, more so in Tahoe than in Yosemite. The latter had more of the slow sharp twisties. Also had the A/C on for the time when the top was up, didn't notice any drop in the mpg. Used the OBC's trip computer to determine the posted mileage, but also did a back-of-the-napkin sanity check.

One thing to bear in mind -- I was used to getting 24-26mpg in my mostly highway daily driving. Then, after an oil change, it dropped to 23 and below. Turned out, after the oil change, I'd gotten gas at a Shell station near the dealership, and the mileage climbed back up after I got a fillup from my regular gas station.