Going to a roadtrip with my I2?

[wilsonckl]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning a road trip from PHX to LA, leaving on X'mas Eve. I'm just wondering if one full tank would be enough?

Any advice are welcomed. Thanks a lot in advance

[Cobb]

Depends on your driving style, I get 500miles a tank. Airgate gets 32-42 mpg, I get 63-47mpg.

[adric22]

Also depends on the terrain. I'm not sure about over there. But I've taken two roadtrips in my I2 and one I got 50 mpg because the higwhays had very little slope to them. But going a different direction into the hilly parts of Texas, I got 40 mpg because there were a lot of really long up-hill slopes. I had hoped to make up the difference when going down the down-hill slopes, but it didn't seem to average out in the end.

[Willie Williford]

In reality it all depends how far it is from PHX? to LA?.

Willie

[azaviator]

I've done this trip in my Gen1 Insight (I got 700miles on that tank driving 80mph on the freeway, but that's a story for another forum...). I would guess that you probably COULD make it since the distance is somewhere under 400 miles. You will probably have to fill up soon after you arrive. With the price of gas in LA though, you do NOT want to fill up in the LA area. It is probably best if you stop for gas before you get to Banning. I would stop to get gas at Palm Springs, which is less than 300 miles from PHX, IIRC. The difference when I did that trip 3 months ago was 40-50 cents/ gallon. You may not have a lot of gallons, but the difference will buy you a soda and a bag of chips, and get you back out of the LA area for your next fill (if you dont put more than a couple hundred miles on the LA streets). Enjoy the trip!!

[jpleong]

Originally Posted by Willie Williford

In reality it all depends how far it is from PHX? to LA?.

Willie

The distance is 372 miles according to Google Maps.

And that makes it totally do-able! I drove across New York on I-90 from end-to-end (last service center in MA to first service center in PA) which is about 410 miles. Make sure your average fuel economy is in the 40-43 range minimum and you should be fine. And don't forget that you have about an extra gallon of gas (approx. 40 miles range) once the "low fuel" light comes on.

JP

[wilsonckl]

Appreciate the advice from everyone. Yes, the trip distance is about 400 mile. I guess I will see how the trip goes

[8thcivic]

Originally Posted by wilsonckl

Appreciate the advice from everyone. Yes, the trip distance is about 400 mile. I guess I will see how the trip goes

just did LA to SF 340 miles trip. i avg 48 MPG

[Purplegate]

I should have posted this reply before your trip... anyway, better late than never...

From my experience, on long trip, I achieve better mileage without cruise control. I get 2-3 more mpg overall. By "Manual control", you can monitor the road, and make better use of relief. However, it's a bit tiresome for long distance, so it's up to you to use or not.

Also, I figured out I can get another additional 2-3 mpg by using good pulse & glide techniques. I have a scangauge II, which helps a lot to put the accel pedal at the right place. I set the SGII for viewing the TPS (Throttle Position), For a 65mph speed, I set my foot at 22-23deg (not sure if my SGII is well calibrated, at rest I'm at 17deg... but anyway), so I first bring it to 68-69mph, using a 26-27deg TPS, which is very gentle, then I glide at 22-23deg TPS until I reach a 64-62mph range, and restart a pulse. If the road is flat, it can be some good miles glide each time. On my glide, I'm at about 61-62mpg, on my pulse, I'm about 42-43mpg. Overall, I would currently yield about 51-52mpg (winter conditions)

If you are on a slower highway (say 60 instead of 70), the same pulse & glide can be done with ~3deg less throttle. On my daily commute, I would try to set a 63-64mph pulse and 55-56mph glide. Pulse would be around 47-48mpg, glide 68-70mpg. This yield another +3-4mpg overall. I had 55-56mpg tanks this fall, best tank being 58.6mpg so far, but this is before getting the SGII.

Note 1 : I developed this refinement with the winter gas blend as I got my SGII only few weeks ago. I understood and practiced the P&G before getting the SGII, so I was already getting good mpg last summer with lifetime around 54.3mpg, but I think this additional level of feedback the SGII gives with the TPS will help increasing my mpg. Cannot wait next summer to confirm…

Note 2 : This is not “normal driving”, it’s pretty extreme in my mind and sometime annoying. My advice is to stay in the right lane, be aware of the drivers around and do not push the technique too hard if the traffic is dense and does not allow safe driving conditions.

Note 3 : I’m open to any feedback to improve my P&G technique, or any other hypermiling technique. As you see, I fall in the category who drive and accept the I2 willing to change driving style to yield better and better mpg

[wilsonckl]

Originally Posted by Purplegate

I should have posted this reply before your trip... anyway, better late than never...

Note 3 : I’m open to any feedback to improve my P&G technique, or any other hypermiling technique. As you see, I fall in the category who drive and accept the I2 willing to change driving style to yield better and better mpg

I wish I had read your comment before heading for the trip.

Regarding the trip, it was more fun than I would expect because of the sporty handling of the vehicle. For certain part of the trip, I had to switch back to Sport Mode in order to gain extra horsepower to go uphill.

My friend got a 2010 Toyota Camery from Hertz and ride along the trip with me. Yes, he was most of the time ahead of me, switching lanes back and fro but at the end of the trip (~1200 miles), the gas costs him more than $150 while mine is like half of that. Plus a full tank of gas actually is good enough to travel from PHX to LA one way.

I don't know if I should mention here or not but I did see a white I2 riding on National Blvd in LA. It happened too fast and I didn't get a chance to wave

Insight rocks!!!