The Death of the SUV has been announced!

I was watching one of the national news shows today. They had a story on a few people who drive around and it is their hobby to get good MPG. There was one guy who was getting 93 MPG. Sorry I will try to find more info on this.

 

I saw that... I do a lot of those things, which is why I guess I get good mileage for a 4wd pickup truck.

-Jay

 

Here is the info I was talking about
Hypermiling :: No more need to compare gas prices

 

I saw a story on the news the other morning (I see the morning news about once a month coincidentally) about hypermiling and I swear it took me longer to get to work that day because everyone was driving slower!

 

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

I think I read about hypermilling. very interesting . in readers diguest.

 

If everyone just slowed down to the speed limit we'd save a lot of gas collectively. If I remember correctly Didn't Lee Iacocca say if everyone in America drove a K car we would have no need for foreign oil?

YouTube - Cool Car Commercial: 1988 Dodge Aries K Car

 

If there were not people coming fast up behind me I would give it a try I think.

 

They can go ahead and rear end my truck... I'd like a new one...

-Jay

 

Well as much as this would be nice to get a new vehicle the road I take people will go 80 mph, I am just not willing to sacrifice my car and body to save a few extra dollars I will do it somewhere else in the budget.

 

Yeah, the world takes on a whole new meaning when you drive an old pickup truck... Its best when I'm driving my old 86 Chevy Silverado. Its blue, white, and rust with a primer grey fender. I love it when a beamer or mercedes tries to ride a lane that is closing as far as they can, and then try to muscle their way in. They try at first, but then when they see the primer grey front fender they realize I have nothing to loose, and they back off. I remember when I was sideswiped in my old 74 Chevy C10. There wasn't too much damage to the truck. I think the only things I did were replace the sideview mirror and get a front end alignment. The lady's insurance company gave me $1,200 for repairs. I had only paid $1,000 for the truck In reality though, a car would probably go under my truck. I'd only have to be truly concerned if I was hit by another truck.

-Jay

 

I have no rear end on my smart car. :biggrin: - sheureka

 

my little kia is too small to be playing chicken with those suvs out there. i just try to stay out of thier way.

 

I'm driving a 2001 Rav4 and one of my complaints is the fuel tank is too small. 14.7 is too small for the mileage that it gets and I'm having to stop for gas more often than I'd like. I'm sure Toyota had a number of complaints about that and as a result decided to go up to 15.9 like it should have been all along.

Also the 1997 model was rated at 23/28 while the 2001 model was rated at 24/29 (automatic versions). The 2001 model also had a bump up in HP by about 20 or 22.

 

Time to experiment!

-Jay

 

I'm a member of a website called Gassavers.org and I've been tracking my mileage for the last two months or so. I also joined a Honda Insight forum for advice on hypermiling.

My car's adjusted combined EPA mileage is 23 MPG and I've gotten around 30 MPG so far. I'm not going to start drafting semi trucks or anything but I hope to increase my MPG to at least 35 and 40 MPG would be amazing.

The problem with buying a big car now is that gas prices are going to stabilize but not go down any.

I use the manuverability of my Honda to move in and out of big SUVs. They don't intimidate me but I don't play chicken with them, either. I'd lose that battle and I know it, so I drive accordingly.

 

LOL, drafting works great... I always draft off of trucks when I drive down to Florida. I also try to drive down there at night so I can reduce the use of the air conditioner on the trip. Driving at night also means less traffic, and and less time wasting gas being stuck in traffic. Last time I went down there I averaged about 30 mpg on the highway. When my brother in law was driving on the way back the truck only got 16 on the highway.

I also plan my trips. I check gas prices on the internet and I already have my fuel stops planned before I even leave the house. You can save as much as $0.50 / gallon by planning your fuel stops ahead instead of chancing that you will find reasonably priced fuel when the fuel gauge starts creeping towards Empty.

-Jay

 

Is anyone else using a ScanGauge? It's really made me conscious of the way I'm driving and my mileage. It just plugs into the OBD port, and can be moved from vehicle to vehicle very easily. Here's the website - ScanGaugeII - Trip Computers + Digital Gauges + Scan Tool. - sheureka

 

I just decided to buy one the other day for my pickup truck. I've been shopping around though. You know me, I'm trying to get a deal. It seems to be the same price no matter where I see it though.

-Jay

 

Amazon was the cheapest I found - about $10 less than anywhere else and free shipping. And I bought an extra cable so I can easily move the gauge back and forth between my van and the smart car.

 

I won't be moving it between cars... My Buick, although computer controlled, is not compatible. I wonder why they don't make it compatible with 1981 vehicles...

(Just kidding)

Anyway, I've also been looking at this bracket to mount it in my truck:

eBay Motors: "Factory" Mount - ScanGuage (ScanGauge II, Scan Gauge) (item 180253839684 end time Jun-23-08 17:46:38 PDT)

-Jay

 

I don't know what the cause is, whether its OCD, or is it the touch of autisim that I have, but I drive a full size 4wd pickup truck because that's what I'm comfortable in. I do not accept the notion that I have to spend a lot on gas to drive it though. I recently did a comparison between my mileage and a friend's mileage. First of all, here are the 2 Vehicles:

Mine:
1998 GMC K1500 extended cab (Full size 4wd pickup truck)
Mileage: 150,000
Engine: Fuel injected V8
Transmission: Automatic 4 speed w/ overdrive.

My friend's truck:
2000 Ford Explorer Sport Trak 4wd
Mileage: 110,000
Engine: Fuel injected V6
Transmission: Automatic 4 speed w/ overdrive.

Now the question is, which vehicle gets better mileage?

As driven my truck gets on average about 3 MPG better than the Sport Trak, despite the fact that her truck is newer, lighter, has less mileage, and has a smaller engine.

I expect I can boost my mileage even more in the coming months. I will need new tires soon, and I noticed that the tires the dealer put on the truck last time are slightly wider than the stock tire size. This of course means more rolling resistance. I will switch back to the stock tire size when I buy new tires later this year.

Every little bit helps.

-Jay

 

I think it was a guy on one of the smart forums who made those brackets. I just have mine mounted in the little cubby on the left of the steering wheel. The cable runs out the right side, through a space behind the steering wheel, and over to the port. The velcro they send you is useless. I mounted mine with the 3m dual lock tape. I find it works much, much better than velcro. In the van I just leave it lying on the console. - sheureka

 

well said, i drive accordingly also.

 

What I don't get is those "macho" guys who have the big lifted diesel trucks that drive like they are in Nascar. You know making thier trucks puff the black smoke.

 

A properly maintained modern diesel does not belch black smoke unless it is improperly maintained. Most often its either a bad air or fuel filter that needs to be replaced.

-Jay

 

Jay-
Well yeah this can produce it sure. But there are things you can do with the turbo and and can also tune the power settings to allow this to happen. Many people do it to look cool or to blow it on people. Cause if it is what you are talking about then brand new Ford's, Chevy's,& Dodges all have this problem nope not the case.

 

If someone has tweaked it to do that, then they are driving an improperly tuned engine, and are paying for that in reduced fuel economy.

-Jay