80 mpg for 700 miles! Personal best

[kennysmith]

A couple weeks ago, I drove across OR along the Columbia Gorge with a good tailwind getting 63 mpg at 75-80 mph. I don't usually drive that fast and wished I could try it while maintaining LB. So this past weekend I had another go at it and I was not in a hurry. I think I had a tailwind all the way east to Anaconda, MT. 700 miles at 80mpg. As I reached the summit of Lolo Pass, I was still at 78.7 so I knew I was going to regain 80 on the trip down.

I've been able to maintain LB easily lately since fixing the herky jerky and the rains stopped. Is the gas better this time of year?

I probably averaged 50 mph on this trip. I should add "average speed" on the Ultra-Gauge if it is available.

Yea for me!

PS--I drove probably 65 mph for the return trip averaging 70mpg so combined total of 74.7 1500 miles.

[gilbertguy]

Were you running interstate or state Hwy's? At 50 MPH average I'm guessing side roads, that tail wind makes a difference.

Very nice!

[Eli]

Congrats! Just wait until it gets addicting.

Also, it's nice to see someone familiar with NW Oregon. I used to live in the Lolo Pass area. I'm really anxious to get up there and see the damaged caused by this last winter's crazy flooding.

My best trip thus far is 82MPG over 1200 miles -

[Eli]

Originally Posted by gilbertguy

Were you running interstate or state Hwy's? At 50 MPH average I'm guessing side roads, that tail wind makes a difference.

Very nice!

Most people would be very surprised at what their average speed is. I know I was when I started watching it. You have to be really on the ball and generally on a really long drive for your average speed to come close to the speed limit of the roads you're on.

Here are the statistics from the complete drive I mentioned above, all highway:

Total Distance: 1,557.04MI
Total Time: 37:24:16
Moving Time: 29:40:25
Max Speed: 96.44MPH
Average Moving Speed: 52.47MPH
Elevation Gain: 50,805ft
Max Elevation: 8,413ft
Min Elevation: 59ft
Min Grade: -7.4%
Max Grade: 10.2%

[kennysmith]

Originally Posted by gilbertguy

Were you running interstate or state Hwy's? At 50 MPH average I'm guessing side roads, that tail wind makes a difference.

Very nice!

Yep, the tailwind was what inspired me to try it. I've driven up the gorge probably 1000 times, but never at 50. It is interstate for 160 miles so people could just drive around me. Once I got to western WA, it was all 2 lane until MT. I was worried about holding up traffic, but it was never a problem. Once there was road construction that made us wait 10 min. A huge line developed behind me, so I pulled over onto the shoulder which allowed me to wait and get to the back of the line.

Eli, I did not see any flood damage and I have been there many times. Maybe just didn't know where to look. How do you find altitude info?

Not to be outdone, while i went east, my wife drove west to the coast in our 2003 HCH CVT and got 53 mpg, which is 10 more than normal. She's become inspired by my efforts and turned off the AC & cruise. Addicting.

[kennysmith]

Oh, and I agree about average speed being a surprise. We've driven fully optioned cars for years with all that digital stuff and was surprised I did not really know stuff like direction I was traveling, ave speed, etc. Now I'd like to know elevations cause I'm sure i don't know which way is up

[Eli]

The Sandy and Zigzag rivers took out both bridges on Lolo pass near Zigzag, and the Sandy river took out a portion of Lolo Pass itself. This was in January of this year, so I'm sure it's mostly been fixed by now. Should still be apparent if you watch for it though?

Google Search - Zigzag Flood 2011

I use an Android app called MyTracks for my phone to track all of that data. Can't imagine a road trip without it!

[Eli]

Originally Posted by kennysmith

Oh, and I agree about average speed being a surprise. We've driven fully optioned cars for years with all that digital stuff and was surprised I did not really know stuff like direction I was traveling, ave speed, etc. Now I'd like to know elevations cause I'm sure i don't know which way is up

It's funny you say that. I use another app called GPS Tracker to watch my elevation. It has a real-time readout of elevation, so you can see if you're ascending, decending or are pretty much flat. I have gotten much better at judging the terrain now!

I find having all of this data available makes for a much more relaxed road trip - especially when you run into situations where you can't seem to get good MPG. Instead of being frustrated, you know why. Most of the time, it's because you're climbing a shallow but persistant grade that is difficult to percieve, or you have a head wind.

One trick I've learned - look in your side view mirrors at the road behind you. It seems much easier to see the grade from that view than it is looking out ahead of you for some reason.

[kennysmith]

Originally Posted by Eli

The Sandy and Zigzag rivers took out both bridges on Lolo pass near Zigzag, and the Sandy river took out a portion of Lolo Pass itself. This was in January of this year, so I'm sure it's mostly been fixed by now. Should still be apparent if you watch for it though?

Google Search - Zigzag Flood 2011

I use an Android app called MyTracks for my phone to track all of that data. Can't imagine a road trip without it!

I dont' think that is the Lolo pass I'm talking about. My Lolo Pass is the Continental Divide between ID & MT (but the first home we purchased was in Sandy, OR back in the early 1980s).

[Eli]

OhhHhHhH... Haha! My bad. Should have figured that there was another one.