Gas and holiday weekend hiking

[dentonfabrics]

I could see something like this taking off if it had absurdly high mileage per gallon, but its rating is only 40/45 (EPA 2007) 33/41 (EPA 2008), easily beaten by the Honda Civic Hybrid.

Sure the Fortwo starts at $11k, but that base model is really, really basic. This would make a useful second commuting car, IMO, but not an all-around vehicle.

Exactly my thoughts MJ. The Honda Civic's (non-hybrid) base price is $14.8K, gets 36mpg, and has a life expectancy of 150-200K miles. The "Smart Car" either under-performs or is over-priced. So I bought the Honda last week. I considered other rides, but Fortwo was the first one I crossed off my list.

Living well is the best revenge. I've cut back on some things but not the mountains. I just hate giving my money to the bastards.


bob

 

[spencer]

I have a beat up '98 Saturn with dog vomit in the back seat and piss in the front. I can push 45 mpg on the highway. Guess I'm not feelin' the pain like the rest of you.

-Dr. Wu

Does anyone else see the irony in this?

I have a friend who just disabled the AWD in his Suby and has gotten much better mileage (I don't have numbers yet). Apparently it's a fairly common practice (and easy through a little hocus pocus) to disable it in the warm season. I'm going to look into it to see if I can improve my 24-27 MPG Outback. It's the one with the canoe and bike racks so it sees the most use this time of year (instead of the 30 MPG Accord).

We are hovering just under $4 here. We're leaving for MDI in a few minutes. We've been doing mostly shortish weekend trips to the island and very few long trips, although that's not necessarily b/c of gas prices.

How disappointing are the Smart cars? what's so revolutionary about a s _ _ t box that gets the same, or a bit worse, mileage as a trusted, long-lasting, reasonably priced car? I agree with MJ. A bunch of do-gooders are going to buy them and run around town telling everyone how they are saving the planet and living simply. Auto makers have a real lack of conviction, I tell 'ya.

I called my oil company yesterday to find out what my surplus was this year (see other thread about insulation) and found out the buy-now price for oil is $4.51 right now. Of course, I'm not buying more oil now, but it makes you think how hard next winter is going to be on folks. Like other rural areas, we had many, many families that didn't make it through the winter without much heartache, with depression-era stories on the radio most days.

 

[MichaelJ]

I have a friend who just disabled the AWD in his Suby and has gotten much better mileage (I don't have numbers yet). Apparently it's a fairly common practice (and easy through a little hocus pocus) to disable it in the warm season.

With an automatic transmission, it's apparently as easy as

inserting the fuse in the FWD (front wheel drive) slot. This slot should normally be empty and the fuse should only be inserted to -disable- the awd system. The FWD slot is found in a small box labeled FWD on the passenger side by the firewall or in the main fuse box on the driver's side.

And is actually what you're *supposed* to do when using the spare tire.

 

[trailbiscuit]

easily beaten by the Honda Civic Hybrid.

It sure is! 51.8 MPG in my Civic Hybrid for the last tank. This car is going to get the bulk of the exercise this summer.

 

[dr_wu002]

Does anyone else see the irony in this?

I don't. I bought the car more than 10 years ago, it's run well and I've maybe put about $1000 into it in repairs (including things like tires). I put almost no money into it, put 87 octane gas in it, change the oil every 5000 miles and it's got > 150,000 miles yet if I keep it around 65 mph I get more than 40 mpg every time. And I've never felt like I needed a bigger or better car for any reason. And don't give me any crap about not having kids because when I was little my parents had a Volkswagen Rabbit and they did just fine with 2 kids and the small car. The Saturn is roomy compared to the Rabbit. One of the reasons I bought the car 10 years ago was my dad kept bothering me that one day, soon enough, gas was going to be between $4 and $8 per gallon and it looks like for once the old man was right. Sure, I don't ever clean out the car and maybe I overemphasize some of the more unsavory aspects (there's also some kind of ooze in the trunk but I just put newspapers down) but then again, nobody breaks into a car that looks like a homeless person lived (and subsequently died) in -- all I have to worry about it the neighbors reporting an abandoned vehicle!!

-Dr. Wu

 

[erugs]

"I have a friend who just disabled the AWD in his Suby and has gotten much better mileage (I don't have numbers yet). Apparently it's a fairly common practice (and easy through a little hocus pocus) to disable it in the warm season. I'm going to look into it to see if I can improve my 24-27 MPG Outback. It's the one with the canoe and bike racks so it sees the most use this time of year (instead of the 30 MPG Accord)."



I've read that doing this can cause harm to the drive train. I'd love to improve my mileage so would be interested in knowing if this is true. Are there any Subaru technicians out there?

 

[Adk_dib]

Instead of hiking twice on a holiday weekend I will only hike once. I just paid my last car payment and maybe I will have a new car before july 4th. I am looking into the Toyota Prius. Looks like I may be able to fit my 2 labs in it, maybe. I can't beleive every compact suv is 27 mpg or less. My Rav4 was 26 miles a gallon 6 years ago.

 

[halia and flammeus]

My jetta wagon fits 5 adults, two big (65 lb) dogs, and gets 50 mpg on the highway, 44-45 trailhead to trailhead. It is 6 years old and has 125 k but I can't replace it. Nothing else is good enough!

 

[Jay H]

"I have a friend who just disabled the AWD in his Suby and has gotten much better mileage (I don't have numbers yet). Apparently it's a fairly common practice (and easy through a little hocus pocus) to disable it in the warm season. I'm going to look into it to see if I can improve my 24-27 MPG Outback. It's the one with the canoe and bike racks so it sees the most use this time of year (instead of the 30 MPG Accord)."



I've read that doing this can cause harm to the drive train. I'd love to improve my mileage so would be interested in knowing if this is true. Are there any Subaru technicians out there?

I've read some things on this and personally, it doesn't make any sense to run a Suby full time in 2WD mode... The potential of doing serious damage to drivetrain is not worth the couple cents it would save in gas mileage.

Usual stuff applies, remove roof rack bars if you don't need them, AC on highway, windows on low speed... keep your tires inflated, lower weight in car... Clean air filter... spark plugs, etc, drive slower.. bike more.. etc.

OK, here you go:

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3047

You need to find out what kind of tranny you have in your Subaru and look it up, my 05 OBXT has the 5EAT tranny which is a 5spd Autmatic...

Jay

 

[king tut]

I plan on taking less trips to the mountains and doing a few more backpacks this summer. I also plan to offset the amount of gas i burn by riding my bike into work instead of my car, since i only live about 7 miles along the Burlington bike path away from work. It's a really pretty bike ride in the morning, just tough to do before i have my morning coffee. I don't spend much on gas on a daily basis, but it kills my soul a little when i fill up my car.

 

[cushetunk]

Supposedly exercise helps delay or relieve the need for caffeine.

Or, you could get a coffee maker.

 

[Raymond]

Okay, real question ... do roof rack fairings really increase mpg? There's no way my bike racks are coming on and off; we use them too much in the summer.

Roof racks would decrease your miles per gallon.

I was going to feel guilty about doing it, but I was looking forward to driving to the mountains today to go hiking (it’s my day off for Memorial Day), but this cold I caught took care of that. I have a ’99 Corolla that’s been getting about 42 miles to the gallon lately, so I guess I’d have been doing better than many of you on the mileage score, but I’ll do even better by leaving it parked. Won’t have as much fun, though, or feel as though I’m accomplishing as much.

So I’ll just do what I’ve been doing the last couple weeks, which is exploring the town conservation areas which I’ve discovered near my home. I can pass through three different ones in a three- to four-mile walk from the house.

 

[MichaelJ]

Roof racks would decrease your miles per gallon.

But do the fairings actually help mitigate that or not?

 

[Rick]

Wow I feel like DP on this subject something I know a little about)

I have had 3 TDI's in the past 9 years (Diesel VWs - WWW.tdiclub.com for those who thinks spark plugs are a thing of the past )

Anyways, I have been tracking my fuel purchases and mileage for about 6 years now for the VWs (spreadsheet based - weekly fills all tracked (Heck I have even done a ventectomy on my tank neck in order to be able to fill my tank to the very brim in order to achieve 700 MPG (I AM Anal about it).

So here is the deal. With my '05 Pump Dusse Diesel Golf I get the following mileage driving on my daily 90 mile R/T Commute mixed route 80% HWY and 20% Rural back roads average about 60MPH overall which is 45 MPH on the back roads and 80-85 on the highway (until I hit the backups then I go 2MPH)

Summer Mileage:
No Roof Rack - 44.2 MPG measured weekly between 2005 and 2007
Yak Rack with 2 Steelheads & Kayak Saddles (turned down) - 39.3 MPG
Above Rack with 44" Fairing - 36.7 MPG Measured on and off over several months in 2006 and 2007.
So a roof rack drops me by 11%, A Fairing by an additional 4% and having 2 bikes on is worth about a 20% drop in economy for a diesel.

I differentiate between summer and winter mileage due to the lower Cetane Rating on Diesel in colder months.

I don't really like the fairing or the roof rack because of the noise level(though the fairing cuts down on the whistling and loud "rushing" sounds), but I like to bring my bike into work on nice mornings and ride for an hour.
Oh Yeah economy with 2 bikes on (Measured back and forth between Lehigh Valley and Buffalo or Hammondsport Area) is approx 35MPG.

PS Halia, I used to get approx 46MPG with my old A4 Golf I wish I never got rid of it.

 

[DougPaul]

So a roof rack drops me by 11%, A Fairing by an additional 4% and having 2 bikes on is worth about a 20% drop in economy for a diesel.

Interesting datapoints, but the relative MPGs for different vehicles and different rack and fairing designs may be different.

Gee! I feel like DP too...

Doug

 

[dentonfabrics]

No scientific data here but has any one else noticed that traffic on the highways has really slowed since gas prices took off? I had to drive into Massachusetts yesterday and people were traveling 70mph in the left lane. Last year, during daylight hours in fair weather, you had to be doing 80+ to drive comfortably in the passing lane on 93. Not anymore.

 

[Dugan]

I chalk it up to idiot drivers. With my MA route 2 commute, accidents seem to increase sharply following major holidays. I've seen at least one on every commute this week - and I'm counting morning and evening separately. The high was 5 on the Wednesday pm. I swear, people miss one day and they forget how to drive. So, yeah, it's been slow this week. Glad I'm working at home today!

 

[erugs]

Dentonfabrics - I know that I've slowed my driving. For highway driving, I set my cruise control for 55 MPH and only take it off when going up a long or sudden hill. In the past, I drove at 70 MPH. I'm passed a lot on the highway now but have begun to notice that I'm not the only one driving that slowly. My friend Brian is getting around 40 MPG in his Dodge Neon just by using a light foot on the pedal and his example has been my incentive to try to conserve more. I'm not sure what my Forester is getting.

 

[Neil]

As I drive North from the Adirondacks to Montreal on I-87 I'm always amazed at the the number of very big vehicles that whizz past me. They must be doing 80. I usually see one or two pulled over by a trooper.

 

[sierra]

We all seem to be looking for ways to cut cost, but I will say this, limiting my time in the mountains will not happen, I will find other things to cut back on if need be, but the mountains are first, period.