At 10:42 AM 1/29/2001 -0500, Michael Lorrey wrote:
>Some of the more efficient aerodynamic cars get better gas milage above
>highway speeds than at the '55 mph' standard hyped in the '70's. Heck my
>grandpa's old Tercel got 5 more mpg at 80 mph than at 55 mph.
My most recently acquired sedan has a computer that gives the instantaneous
gas mileage, and the results have been interesting. It is quite
aerodynamic and has a 270 HP engine. All the following numbers are on
straight level roads.
<40 MPH => 19 MPG
55 MPH => 22 MPG
70 MPH => 25 MPG
80-90 MPH => 27-29 MPG (optimal range)
100 MPH => 25 MPG
120 MPH => 20 MPG
(Engine is limited at 155 MPH, but even if I drove it that fast, I
certainly wouldn't be staring at the computer.)
The lowest I've ever gotten it is playing pole position on a long 7%
incline, which dropped it to the 10 MPG range +/- 2 MPG at a little under
red line (~ 6k RPM, it is an inline 6).
So yes, modern cars are frequently driven below their optimal speed. I get
something like 30% better gas mileage around my optimal range than the
posted speed limit in many locales. Therefore, I have an obligation to the
environment to speed. :^)
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:26 MDT