[rwarn17588]

Let me give an example. Last week, I was cruising northeastern Oklahoma on old Route 66. There were a few small to moderate-size hills, but I was keeping my mileage at around 75 miles per gallon, going about 55 to 60 mph.

Well, a big storm front moved through. It had everything -- a crosswind, lightning, rain, a bit of hail -- and my mileage dropped into the high 60s in less than 10 miles. Does wet pavement affect mileage that much? Or could the crosswind have had a lot to do with it, too?

Ron Warnick
Tulsa, OK

 

[Guest]

Hi Rwarn17588:

___You described the two worst situations for an Insight’s mileage. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a real great way to reduce the mileage hit. At that point, the best idea might be to pull over at the nearest fast food joint and enjoy a burger or two, fries, and a coke until the storm hopefully subsides.

___The only item that I believe helps (albeit not much) in the rain is to stay in the lane with the heaviest traffic since the cars and trucks tires have actually pushed some of the water depth out of the track you will attempt to follow. You can see the track to follow as a less shiny surface and the drag from the deeper water will be reduced somewhat. For high winds from the sides or front, slow to a crawl in fourth is about the best I have been able to master and it doesn’t help much unfortunately

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:2nqqi6lf][email protected][/email:2nqqi6lf]

 

[Holicow]

Yeah, it apparently takes a lot of work fromt the tires to throw all that water around. Rain kills my MPG's at highway speed. (Well, relatively, I will still get mid-60's )

 

[Yves M.]

Old winter memories,

Do not forget that about "worst situations" comes cold and snow.

At -20 with a snow storm, I got 34 MPG on a ride of about 120 miles. Plowing through more than 5 inches of dirty snow. Was on a highway but not possible to get highway speed (about 45mph)

 

[Sparky5501]

Hey rwarn17588,
You described a typical day in Seattle. :lol:

With stock tires, Yes, you will get a noticable milage decrease. The tread isn't optimized to evacuate the water quickly from the grooves. So, they kind of act like a bulldozed moving dirt. Drive slower when it rains and your mileage will get better.

 

[dan]

Hi rwarn17588-

I have heard that in the case of heavy rain, it is the actual collisions with the raindrops that make up a good portion of the MPG drop. When the mass of the drop is then augmented by the momentum generated by a headwind the MPG drop is much more than the sum of the two factors alone.