WHAT KIND OF GAS MILEAGE DO YOU GET?

[Dave Holt]

I read an article about a competition where the competitors all drive for the best mileage.  It is an actual competition with standards, rules and a specific car for each driver - but it is just a normal Toyota, or whatever, that we could all go buy.  The winner got well over 100 miles/gallon.  They would never idle (car off at every stop); coast to all stops; accelerate like a turtle; park on hills to roll down before starting; and so on.  Maybe a bit extreme for normal driving, but the guy who won drives like this everyday.

[Jon Allen]

I think they call it hypermiling.

[James Winzenz]

There is some merit to some of it, although I wouldn't want be the person driving 50 mph on the freeway when I'm supposed to be going 65.  However, if you gave one of those "hypermilers" a Prius, I bet they would get somewhere in the vicinity of 150-200 mpg.  On a side note, I have noticed I get better gas mileage when I use full synthetic oil.  There is also some debate about shutting off the vehicle at every stoplight - basically the starter on a regular vehicle is not meant to cycle all the time, and you may damage it by cranking your car more than is necessary.  Hybrids like the Prius are a different story, since their starters are made to cycle continuously.

[Benn Griffin]

So I drive an automatic, which gets significantly less mpg than standard models do. My prizm is listed at 27 mpg. This summer I got it up to 36 mpg, however I've found with the bitter cold, even while hypermiling as best I can. I.e. only going 55 on highway, coasting downhills, and driving like a 90 year old grandma.. I am still around 31 mpg. I like my car though and I don't want to get rid of it. It might be awesome being able to get 50 mpg like Tyler, but my little prizm rocks the house. I've put 144,000 on it since I got it (it's a 2001) and I am hoping I beat 212,000 our family's (record) that my dad had on his 1992 Ford Taurus when he used to drive 90 miles to and from work.

[Tyler]

Last year I stumbled on a site about hypermiling and tried it out over the summer with my Tercel. It was pretty cool to get such good numbers out of the car. There are some safety issues with it, since turning off the engine also turns off the power steering and brakes. And you shouldn't coast with the engine off in most automatics, so it can only be done with manual transmissions. I bought the car for cheap, so I wasn't worried about premature wear to the starter. So far I haven't seen any signs of wear.

But now, sadly, my Tercel has taken a turn for the worse. Its exhaust pipe is dragging on the ground and it's got a bad temperature gauge somewhere, so my efficiency has dropped. It's not as much fun to hypermile and only pull 30 mpg's. Plus with gas prices lower, there's less incentive. I haven't had time to fix the exhaust, so now shutting off the engine is only good for avoiding tickets

 

[Benn Griffin]

Now that the weather is warmer I am averaging between 34 and 35 mpg. Car is now at 148,100 miles and still going strong :-D. I love this Chevy Prizm.

Anyone good at math? Is it worth it to just drive my Chevy Prizm or try to get a loan for when the Chevy Volt comes out in 2010 and get that. I mean I still get okay mileage even though this is an automatic. Thanks in advance.

[Jon Allen]

Benn

The Volt is expected to cost $35,000 or even $40,000.  Not cheap. 

One thing to keep in mind- if your car is running fine, then it is by far the most environmentally friendly to keep using it.  Buying a new car to help the environment is actually counterproductive.  See the attached gov't study.
http://msl1.mit.edu/ind_eco/sslinks/links.php?go=16

Manufacturing a new car takes roughly 200,000 MBtu's of energy, 39,000 gallons of water, plus lots and lots of new materials, pollution, etc.  Your current car is already made so the environmental effect is behind us.  There are lots of reasons to buy a new car, but scrapping your functional car to buy a new one to help the environment is, by and large, not one of them.  My two cents.   

[Sasha Pachev]

Benn:

A loan is always a bad idea when you have a no loan option. Unfortunately most people do not agree. If not in words, then definitely in actions and attitude. Which is why we are having problems with the economy. Most people do not know how to operate without borrowing. Do not be one of them.

[Joe Furse]

I get 31 hwy on a good day in my '94 Olds Cutlass Supreme with a 3.1 L V6.  140,000 miles on it too.  28 hwy on a bad day.  About 20-25 city depending on if I'm in Logan with lots of hills or Hurricane with not so many.    I change my oil every 3k miles along with the air filter and I try to change the spark plugs and wires regularly as well.  I also make sure I have sufficient coolant to make sure she runs cool.  I drive about 80 or a little over on the freeway if I'm south of Provo or north of Ogden, but I don't punch it all the time (it's kind of a grandma car so I don't have much to prove) and I try to drive smoothly.  I also check tire pressure regularly.   The biggest secret is just to take care of your car and not drive like a banshee.  I have a '72 Chevy 3/4 ton 2WD truck at home with a 402 Big Block (that's about 6.6 L) carbureted V8 with 113,000 miles on it and I can squeeze 13 mpg out of it.  Granted it's a standard transmission but compare that to some of the big SUV's and trucks now with fuel injection and they get about the same or worse in a lot of cases.  I just take care of it and don't burn it up all the time.

[allie]

i drive a 2000 jeep cherokee sport. V6/4x4/129,000 miles. i just put 902.8 miles on it this weekend and i am quite disappointed with the results. 14 mpg! horrible. i really thought it was better than that---at least 17-18. does that seem right or does my car have issues? 

[James]

14 mpg is a just a little lower than what it is rated at (17 city and 22 highway...I think that is for a standard transmission though which would be a bit better.)  This could be just your driving style though.  I usually get less mpg that what my car is rated for because I have a pretty heavy foot.  With that many miles there could also be some maintanence on the car that hasn't been done, the big one being a tune up.  Having old spark plugs can really affect your mileage.  There are also other things that can be done to improve mileage, I would suggest getting getting a list of the recommended service intervals for your vehicle and start going down the list to see what has actually been done. 

Like I said before though, this could just be because of your driving style, and I assume that you had the AC on so that would lower the milage to.  You probably have nothing to worry about.

[Tony]

I get about 30 mpg in town and almost 40mpg on the highway in my 1974 Mercedes 240D (diesel).  I love it, but I think everyone driving behind me hates it, at least until I start running it on bio diesel, then they'll get to enjoy the smell of McDonalds french fries... or not.

[Benn Griffin]

My 2001 Prizm is now at 157,350 miles on it and still running strong, although it's now making a little louder sound, especially while idling in PARK before going to Drive or Reverse. Any ideas why? I try to avoid going over 60 mph, and am still logging 31-33 mpg average right now, despite the hills and using the heat.