Martinjmpr
New member
Since MPG is a common topic, I thought I'd post my recent results here.
Took off on Friday, Jan 15th, from Englewood (Denver suburb) to Billings, MT to spend some time with my stepson and step-grandson. His mom (my wife) misses him terribly since they moved up there in August.
Distance was 567 miles one way, we did it in a day.
MPG: From Denver to Casper, WY (first fuel stop) was about 18.5. This was cruising at ~75 mph. Major crosswinds between Cheyenne and Douglas.
From Casper to Sheridan, MPG was nearly 22. I think this was because of the gentle downslope and the lack of a crosswind. I started with the CC set at 70 and then bumped it up to 75 because we wanted to get to Billings by 4pm.
For several days of driving around Billings, MPG was back to its in-town norm, about 15 mpg.
For the return trip, with the CC set at 75 (wife doesn't like riding in the car so the faster I go, the sooner the trip is over and the happier we both are) I only got about 19 mpg from Billings to Casper. I attribute the poor MPG to the gentle upslope and also to vicious crosswinds/headwinds.
From Casper to Englewood, about 20. This, again, was with the CC set at 75 to get us home sooner.
Overall MPG worked out to 18.5 which isn't bad but also not as good as what I got on my Tacoma. My guess is that the transmission is the main culprit here - while both auto and manual seem to get similar MPGs on the highway, in city driving the auto really makes my MPG take a dive.
Interesting thing: Up until now I'd never put more than about 16 gallons in the tank, because the gas gauge goes to "e" and the low fuel light comes on so early. Well, when I pulled into Casper at the end of that long, uphill drive from Billings, I put 17.75 gallons in the tank (meaning that if it has the 18.5 gallon tank, as the specs say it does, I had only 3/4 of a gallon left.)
Another odd thing: After filling up in Casper, despite the fact that I filled to to the top of the spout, the gauge only read 1/2 full. As I drove along, it gradually moved up until I was at Cheyenne, about 180 miles down the road, when it hit 3/4 and stayed there, then slowly went down. By the time I got back to Englewood it was at the 1/4 mark. Very strange, my guess is that this was because I left the keys in the ignition while I filled up in casper (to keep the radio on for the wife.)
If I ever take it on a long trip by myself, I'll set the CC at 65, and expect a significant improvement in MPG. I should be able to average around 22 with the CC set there.
Took off on Friday, Jan 15th, from Englewood (Denver suburb) to Billings, MT to spend some time with my stepson and step-grandson. His mom (my wife) misses him terribly since they moved up there in August.
Distance was 567 miles one way, we did it in a day.
MPG: From Denver to Casper, WY (first fuel stop) was about 18.5. This was cruising at ~75 mph. Major crosswinds between Cheyenne and Douglas.
From Casper to Sheridan, MPG was nearly 22. I think this was because of the gentle downslope and the lack of a crosswind. I started with the CC set at 70 and then bumped it up to 75 because we wanted to get to Billings by 4pm.
For several days of driving around Billings, MPG was back to its in-town norm, about 15 mpg.
For the return trip, with the CC set at 75 (wife doesn't like riding in the car so the faster I go, the sooner the trip is over and the happier we both are) I only got about 19 mpg from Billings to Casper. I attribute the poor MPG to the gentle upslope and also to vicious crosswinds/headwinds.
From Casper to Englewood, about 20. This, again, was with the CC set at 75 to get us home sooner.
Overall MPG worked out to 18.5 which isn't bad but also not as good as what I got on my Tacoma. My guess is that the transmission is the main culprit here - while both auto and manual seem to get similar MPGs on the highway, in city driving the auto really makes my MPG take a dive.
Interesting thing: Up until now I'd never put more than about 16 gallons in the tank, because the gas gauge goes to "e" and the low fuel light comes on so early. Well, when I pulled into Casper at the end of that long, uphill drive from Billings, I put 17.75 gallons in the tank (meaning that if it has the 18.5 gallon tank, as the specs say it does, I had only 3/4 of a gallon left.)
Another odd thing: After filling up in Casper, despite the fact that I filled to to the top of the spout, the gauge only read 1/2 full. As I drove along, it gradually moved up until I was at Cheyenne, about 180 miles down the road, when it hit 3/4 and stayed there, then slowly went down. By the time I got back to Englewood it was at the 1/4 mark. Very strange, my guess is that this was because I left the keys in the ignition while I filled up in casper (to keep the radio on for the wife.)
If I ever take it on a long trip by myself, I'll set the CC at 65, and expect a significant improvement in MPG. I should be able to average around 22 with the CC set there.
