Who Needs a Hybrid?


It’s difficult to see the green digital readout in the picture above, but that’s because it’s hard to maintain course on a relatively busy LA freeway, while simultaneously trying to snap a shot of your IP with your iPhone. If you can’t make it out, my trip computer says that I’m currently averaging 31.6 miles per gallon, while also averaging over 70 miles per hour (my speed dropped off while attempting to get the shot), which is not bad for a big-ass Ford.
Now, owing to a typical daily route predominated by surface streets and heavy traffic, my car overall averages about 22-mpg. In this instance, I had just filled up a block from the 10 Fwy, and reset the computer before hitting the road. Getting over 30 mpg may not be newsworthy for those of you rocking Civics or Jetta diesels, but for a 3,800-lb sedan with a 3.0 V6 and a 6-speed slusher, that’s pretty freakin’ good.
 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

87 responses to “Who Needs a Hybrid?”

  1. Deartháir Avatar
    Deartháir

    That's actually pretty damn good. The best I've managed to get with my big-assed Ford is about 8L/100km, which should be about 29.5 of your yards to the hog's head.

  2. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
    mr. mzs zsm msz esq

    I think I have only ever had one car with a MPG display, a Volvo C70. A couple of times I coasted down hill on highways and watched the instantaneous MPG display slowly creep up to 99 MPG. I would always do a little celebration then, it was fun, would I make it to the bottom first? It was like game. Anyway I sold the car to my dad and he let my brother use it a lot. One day I got a cell phone call from him, he had just done the same and was so excited too. I'm glad we are so easy to please.

    1. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      4951 – 5000
      mzs, szm, ddt……..This is it. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it, and I know you are super busy.
      4951

    2. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      HI Skaycog,
      Thanks for finding a new place. So let's see where was I, oh yeah. Handy started being really noisy in there. I looked in, he was trying to dig and chew a way out first in the wall, then in the ceiling. He was getting meaner. So I called Gary. That is where Handy lives now, under their rear deck. I figured that he would help me out. But Gary was all, ha ha that;s funny. Really Handy is a destructive vermin, I have seen his crap on their roof, I'm afraid he is trying to move in to their attic, but whatever Gary did not think it was urgent. My plan was for me to pin him in a corner with a long pipe while Gary hits him with the bat. Now I have convinced myself that was not a good idea, so it's good it worked-out like that.
      So then I called Ed who is a hunter. Ed came over, I showed the photo of where Handy was and he said that there is no way to safely shoot him, to much danger of ricochet. His plan was brilliant though, I should turn on my car in the garage and he should pass out. While we were out discussing if we need to wake Jake and move him to another room so we don't gas him too, I saw that Hand had succeeded in making a gap in the wall finally. Holy crap, those claws are impressive. So I finally listened to my wife, and opened the garage door to let him free. It's probably for the best, it might have been the sort of thing where the house would have burned down and been in the hospital getting rabies shots if we tried more bright ideas.
      Too be continued…
      Have a great weekend Skaycog. Have any neat-o plans?
      4952

    3. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, zsm, poa……."I finally listened to my wife"…….smart move! 😉 So, what's the latest with the raccoon, Handy? I'm glad the baseball bat plan wasn't put into action. How was your weekend? Mine was very relaxing and uneventful. I went out to eat a couple of times……Chili's for chicken nachos and Italian restaurant for steak. Summer has made its return with temps in the high 80's, so it's very enjoyable. The hacked ordeal here yesterday morning was kinda scary. I'm so glad they got it fixed. Have a good Monday!
      4953

    4. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      So I'll finish-up now, after that (two and a half hours) I took Max on a walk. At first you could see the bloody paw prints and Max was following the scent of Handy. We followed all the way to this evergreen in front of the house that I know is where Handy lives now, that same neighbor I called first. The next day was spent cleaning the garage, it took a long while, not only was there blood there was also maggots on the floor from where the garbage had been spilled. I also had to fix the wall where he had made a hole. Anyway I brought some chicken fence over to him last night, hopefully he will wrap it around his deck to motivate Handy to find a new home for the winter.
      My weekend was busy. I went over from midnight to 2AM for game night (could not get a sitter on short notice, my parents went to Oktoberfest with my uncle when they won some free tickets) then the next day I helped that same neighbor to make a shed. I ate an incredible amount of pizza that day, cause Aga went to work and I made that and ramen for lunch, then when working there Leslie got some for us. I ended-up taking a nap from somewhere in 6-7PM when all the sugars fell in my blood. But it was fun to make the shed. I loaded-up the Volvo with tools and backed it up and used it like a toolbox and the tailgate like a bench.
      Though we made a lot of mistakes. Everybody else really wanted to watch the bears/packers game. When Leslie yelled kick-off they ran inside throwing nuts and bolts on the grass! So I was out there finding all but two nuts on the ground and dissembled and reassembled the trusses and part of the roof until half time. I think I liked that more than the game though, supposedly it was very bad. Aga took a photo of me working out there alone and then a photo of the other guys sitting on the couch inside, that's pretty funny. Glad to hear yo had your steak dinner.
      Have a good one,
      4954

    5. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      zms, mzs, aaa………How's the coaching working out for you? Is it taking up too much of your time? That's a big undertaking.
      Nothing new with me…..just enjoying life! I used to watch every minute of the Denver Bronco games, but I get too emotionally involved, and I don't know why. I used to get so upset that I'd turn the TV off, get in my car and go for a ride. But I would listen to the game on the car radio. Doh! So, I hadn't watched much of their games until this year. But already I'm getting too upset when they screw up. It's weird.
      Happy Taco Tuesday!
      4955

    6. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Wow you were a big fan! I go completely insane for World Cup soccer, but that's about it. The soccer coaching is a breeze. Jill is the head coach and she plans everything. It's funny, I am such a klutz. At the last game I kicked a ball back to the field but a mom was walking by and it hit her right in the butt! I apologized, but then I found out she was the mom that brought treats that game! I apologized again and she seemed okay about it. The cub scouts, that is taking a lot more time, but Aga and Rita are helping a ton as well, so that's great. We have our first den meeting this Thursday. We ended-up getting ten boys, at first it was five, so that adds a lot. We had to move the meeting out of our home to Andrew's since ours is not all that big. The parents are supposed to stay too. The first meeting is going to be really boring sadly too, because there are all these forms and sign-ups and schedules and rules and scout law and scout hand shake and scout salute and teaching opening ceremony and scout salute, I mean it's really endless. So I thought of this thing where the kids pop balloons and race each other with words they have to put in order in the balloons for fun, that should help. Also while we wait for them all to arrive we will have them working on a scrap book, again I hope that helps. It was something an older leader recommended for that first meeting. In a little bit Bob has his retirement lunch, I give a speech, freaking-out about that one the most. We made some really great gifts though!
      Have a good one,
      4956

    7. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, foo………If I had to give a speech, I'd freak out too. I hope the retirement speech goes well for you. As always, you have a lot going on with the kiddies' activities, but I know you love it. I had a short night…..woke up at 4:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I don't know what woke me up. I have to go out-of-town this morning, so that will make the day go faster. Hopefully, I'll have Chinese buffet for lunch. Yay!
      Have a good Wednesday.
      4957

    8. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Man that's too bad about your bad night of sleep. Hope you ate well, I had a gyro, was fine. Jill cancelled the soccer practice for today, we have been having a lot of rain but she checked the fields and said that they are very soggy. Some people after the lunch have told me that the speech I did was really good, so that made me feel better. I found an old paper tape from '76 that Bob had coded. It was for the PDP-11 and the first routine was for a DWORD multiply and the second was to divide a DWORD by a WORD. That was my gift, there's a photo here where he is loading tape into a different old computer: http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/archive_2011/today1
      It's funny we were trying to get him a neat gift, and I found a history of science book that he was sure to like, but it turned-out he already even met the author and had a copy of the book from years before it was published publicly! So we all talked and Dean had a fantastic idea to put a digital photo frame into an old little console (Bob programmed these maybe back in '82 and they still use them here) so we all scrounged up old photos while Mike and Dean made it. Dean even used the battery from a power wheels so that when Bob unwrapped it, it was already going through photos! Anyway you could see that Bob was really touched, we even came-up with a little top ten style list for him and had it on the console of 51A yesterday 😉
      <img src="http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/9290/pageg.gif"&gt;
      I am really going to miss Bob a whole lot. His wife yesterday told me how they raised a teenaged daughter, put her even through college, she is now a medical resident in Boston, from Russia when times were really bad over there. It was the daughter of a Russian physicist that he had met. In fact he helped the whole family to emigrate to the US. For almost ten years I have worked with Bob, nine of those shared that same office, and I never knew. He's just a phenomenally good human being. He has also helped a family from India since then.
      Have a good one,
      4958

    9. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      mzs, zsm, quo………It sounds like Bob is going to really miss his job and co-workers. Retiring is probably one of the biggest things in a person's life. I did have Chinese buffet yesterday, and I managed to stay awake all day. Ha! It should be a good, easy day for me, and I had a good night's sleep.
      Happy Thursday!
      4959

    10. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      Hey guys!
      I've got a chance for a bit of a break here so I thought I would check in. Still going strong for the October 15th deadline for state tax returns at work so I'll still probably be somewhat sporadic yet. Not much new besides work. Last Saturday I went up to Road America and watched some good road racing. Then I participated in an autocross on Sunday.
      Your raccoon story, mzs, reminded me of this commercial that I'm sure you've seen. Hopefully hell find his way somewhere else for the winter. I never thought that those little guys could actually be so destructive.
      And what's the deal with physics being all wrong now! Neutrinos traveling faster than light! Do you know if you guys at Fermilab will be one of the teams verifying CERN's results? Hopefully that would add to some job security if so.
      And food report…after the autocross we went to this restaurant and they had a hamburger called a sticks and stones burger. It was your normal burger with lettuce and tomato and then on top of the tomato were two parallel mozzarella sticks with about 8 cheese curds in between (sticks and stones!). It was quite delicious (thought challenging to eat) and also made me wonder why I've never put mozzarella cheese on a hamburger before.
      4960

      1. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
        Tower_Of_Power

        Oops, I forgot the commercial!
        [youtube thzUR_mq6OY&noredirect=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thzUR_mq6OY&noredirect=1 youtube]

    11. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      @MZS: Hey MZS! Hows it going? I haven't been on Hooniverse in awhile, I missed it!
      4962

    12. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      @Tower of Power: I love those ads! They are great. Love that Raccoon one. I love this one! [youtube jL9duLVeFRM&feature=channel_video_title http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL9duLVeFRM&feature=channel_video_title youtube]
      4963

    13. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Stormies,
      It's a really busy day, but I wanted to make sure I got this link out in time: http://www-visualmedia.fnal.gov/live/110930Tev.ht… The tevatron is being shutdown at 2PM Chicago time (hour difference different directions for Skay and BB). The dumping of the beam and a little ceremony will be web cast live then. I hope the link stays live, there might be a lot of interest around the world to see it.
      Anyway I love my job, last evening after coming back from the doctor with Kevin (no worries) there was this post it on my desk.
      <img src="http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4784/posl.gif&quot; width="500">
      Have a good one,
      4963

    14. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower………Knew you were super busy and would check in when you had time. The mozzarella hamburger sounds really good, and I wouldn't think of using that cheese either. It's definitely Fall here; in fact, it's Indian Summer weather and just gorgeous. The Aspens are turning yellow at higher elevations and the leaves are completely gone at even higher elevations. Have a good weekend!
      4964

    15. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, nfl………I missed the tevatron shutdown, and there's nothing on that link now. I don't understand that note…….it's all waaaay over my head. It's great that you love your job. So many people hate what they do for a living. I'm sure you have a packed weekend, as usual. I'm hoping to go to the mountains to see the Aspens, but I won't know until later tonight.
      Have a great weekend!
      4965

    16. ZomBee Racer Avatar

      GOTCHYA!!
      Hallo Stormies! Our paths cross once again!
      I did in fact catch the tevatron shutdown, turned it on just in time to see a few speeches, end collection then push the red & blue buttons. All thanks to Mr hei-hie-hoe's tip on the Atomic hot-line. It was too late to do a post on, but possibly will get a mention next week.
      Other than that, I'm hopelessly out of the loop yet again, but DO note the mention of a mozzarella hamburger, thus I know the stormy brain-trust survives in good health.
      I got a real deep fat fryer for my birthday. We made beignets with Cafe' DuMonde mix we brought back from a trip to New Orleans. It was shortly after Katrina, so the place was a ghost town except for Cafe DuMonde. They were delicious.
      <img src="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/311704_2474045735051_1369652107_2896749_496858107_n.jpg&quot; width="500">
      edit: 4966

    17. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      Hi, ZomBee Racer! Those beignets look delicious! Yay, deep fat fryers! It's nice to see you again…..don't wait so long between posts. It's an absolutely beautiful Indian Summer day in Colorado. I was hoping to go to the mountains and see the Aspens in all their yellow glory today, but that fell through. I heard that at the higher than high elevations the Aspen trees have already dropped their leaves. Later!
      4967

    18. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Stormies!
      Tower, I'll have to try mozzarella (dang that's a hard one to spell) on a burger! We ARE supposed to try and duplicate the FTL neutrino result. That's really weird. One explanation that I heard at lunch is that it could be like a wave that crests, the front of the wave seems to move faster. Anyway we had an experiment here that had the same result, but c was within the error bars, so nobody thought it could be real. A few weeks back I had a discussion with two people from the experiment that will try and duplicate the result about how accurate the timestamps are. The issue is that GPS drifts slowly through out the day. For the timestamps to be as accurate as they wanted they would need to follow the drift and account for it. Fortunately it is slow but I have seen +/-15ms. Thankfully it does not jump around. They did not explain why they needed such accuracy, but now I know 😉 See in the earlier experiments the timestamps were needed to know that it was the neutrinos we created. For this we used the time stamp to know that it was when the pulse came from here, that it was the right energy, and that it came from the right direction (most neutrinos are solar neutrinos, so from the lab and not from the direction of the Sun). Did you see any old Volvos at Elkhart Lake? The guy that races the 140 (Randy) is co-owner of a place that specializes in old Volvos out here, I took my Amazon out to him to look at once. There is also a P1800 that sometimes is there. I have never been there though 🙁

      1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
        mr. mzs zsm msz esq

        BB, sorry I missed you, been busy here recently. Did you ever move with your family?
        Sparky, my father in law bought a deep fryer for us a while back, it's fantastic! Aga makes something that looks like those, called dang what are they called! She calls them krustiki or something like that but my family calls them, ha got it, faworki. Great stuff! I emailed the media people here at work and they are working on making a permanent video of the shutdown. Man it was good,d this running joke with me. I must have worked 9 years with him, but he always called me the new-guy at best. If I'd come in to the MCR and he was in there, he'd look at me and say something like, "We don't let kids in here." Or "Where your parents kid." There was a guy hired about four years after me, I tried to get him to be called the new-guy, didn't stick 🙁 At his retirement lunch Bob's giving a goodbye speech going on and on about how great he is and everybody else knows so little compared to him, and said, "I know everybody here, except one guy, who's he?" and glares over at me. Anyway, a real joker that guy.

        1. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
          mr. mzs zsm msz esq

          Skaycog, too bad about you not getting to see the golden aspens. Go soon to catch it if yo can! It's really pleasant weather here too. But Friday was bad, in the rain a kid ran over the man hole cover again. This he stuck around and I embarrassed him a little so that he will be more careful in the future. I had my camera with me from the retirement, and after I set-up stakes and rope around the hole, I asked if he wanted a photo to remember it by. Anyway he was all embarrassed (good) and then I told him not to worry about it, that I did a bunch of stupid things as a kid. It was early enough on Friday that a front loader came that day to cover the hole, last time it took two days I think, so that was nice. Anyuway, this is neat, at a party for my aunt, my dad gave me this, it is the oldest toy of mine that I know about, from when I was four. Now Jake has it:
          <img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/301280_711837549710_2912893_35470870_1206757443_n.jpg&quot; width="500">
          Have a good one,
          4968

        2. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
          mr. mzs zsm msz esq

          Aw crap Sparky, I lost part of it in the copy paste, sorry. Anyway, did yo catch the joke that Bob Mau (the main control room guy) made? It was something like he said, "There are over 105 thousand controllable devices in the tevatron. Most operators can't remember them all, but frankly they are not all that good…" Anyway that might put in better context all the other stuff I wrote 😉

          1. ZomBee Racer Avatar

            I did! It was pretty funny. That's the kind of guy I'd like to work with/for.

    19. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, smz, zzz………..Yay! Monday day is over and now for some relaxation in front of the TV and a glass of vino later. It was really a fast, uneventful weekend. I tried watching Denver Broncos Sunday afternoon, but they played so badly and really got creamed, that I couldn't take anymore. I guess I'm a fickle fan. I went to a Chinese restaurant today for lunch and had shrimp w/vegetables, fried rice and spring roll. It was delicious! It's such an affordable place to eat at noon……that cost $6.50. I couldn't eat it all either. Have a good evening!
      4969

    20. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      <img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/318589_712932510400_2912893_35478349_414678572_n.jpg&quot; width="500"> This is what I had for breakfast on the weekend. Raw beef with raw egg. Sorry I have been so busy. This weekend is lemons in Joliet, I'm excited about that! Basically Aga said I can leave Friday and not show-up until Sunday! I have no concrete plans yet, found a big sponge thing, thinking of sleeping on that in back of the Volvo. If I get the timing right I should be able to park sort of under Racin's trailer. Other than that we did most of the Halloween decorations already.
      Have a good one,
      4969
      PS: Sparky, they archived the video, http://vmsstreamer1.fnal.gov/Tev/110930Tev.htm I'm glad you got to see the funniest parts! Everyone thought VERY highly of Bob and loved the time they spent working with him. Definitely he was on our side, think about the director's nightmare 😉 Just never mention leeches around him!

    21. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      zms, zsm, brb……..Why on earth are you eating raw beef and eggs? That does not appeal to me in the least. I don't think it's safe either. Also, the white bread is worthless……get 100% whole wheat. Your weekend at Lemons sounds wonderful, and I'm sure you're going to have a blast. Tell Scott and Ms. Murilee "hi" from me (if Murilee remembers me). Take lots of pictures, and I hope the weather is fantastic. Our beautiful Indian Summer is going down the tubes for three days. They forecast a foot of snow for the SW mountains, which means we possibly will get some rain here. Next week brings back the warm weather.
      4970

    22. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      Hey MZS! No, we didn't move yet, but we have some homes in mind. Hoping to move in December before Christmas.
      4971

    23. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi BB,
      That would be a neat Christmas present for your mom I bet! Anyway good luck on that. How's college hunt going for you and your sister?
      Hi Skaycog,
      <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ph6thSOKlQM/TpHVDaswZLI/AAAAAAAACPg/gXYmoC_CKiU/s500/DSC09656.JPG&quot; width="500"> Man I have a terrible pain in the bottom of my stomach since Sunday now. And I ate cooked meat! To bribe the judges Racin got just I have no idea, many many pounds of all sorts of bratwurst (like even with cranberries). I had one, but see there were so many kinds, nobody else on the team had the same sort I think. Anyway Racin had a great weekend. White Trash racing got 10th out of a field of 98 I think. The team did great and were a really nice bunch. They only had two penalties. I think Racin is hooked on lemons now, I expect him to do at least two lemons races and maybe a chump car race even next season. Oh crap, sorry, I forgot to tell everybody hi from you. Anyway they have a forum, it's a friendly place, say hi there. Soon I help cub scouts with scientist badge, it's Columbus day (I think) so no school and it's here at my work.
      Have a good one,
      4972

    24. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, zsm, ltd………Good for Racin' and Lemons! I just knew he would love it. It sounds like he did very well placing 10th. I hope you feel better after eating all that meat. You never did tell me why you were eating raw meat and eggs. Will Racin' still do his dirt track racing? I had a nice, but uneventful weekend. I got a lot down around the house and did eat out twice. Once for Mexican food and the other a hamburger at the local pool hall. Were you able to talk to Murilee?
      Happy Taco Tuesday!
      4973

    25. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Glad to hear you got down at your house. Did you get funky too? I like doing that myself. My wife's half sister was in a hip hop band, fast and funky I think they were called. This was a Polish hip hop band, really strange. Anyway I think they broke up the going from HS to college transition.
      I expect Racin to do the dirt racing as well, he has a really fresh car for next year after all! There's something different about it. That car is like 540hp, the alcohol makes your eyes tear, the sound is something else where you feel it, taking all the corners in four wheel drift, dirt flying everywhere, it has to be sucking an incredible amount of air and drinking something like half a gallon per lap. It must be something like how different sorts of sex are still great. Plus there is different strategy to it all. For example in a caution everybody has to go back to the positions they were in the last lap and it doesn't matter if it was by a nose and by then you had been passed already.
      About the raw meat, it's Polish thing. You can see it here in front of the flowers: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Mm05GkT2O0/TpOHWNfVhWI… What happens is you take a big piece of cow, wash it, cut away the outsides, and then grind the rest. The French do it too, but they grind to a paste, the Polish style is a bit more than ground beef for hamburgers but not by much. Then you add a raw egg yolk and stir. You can add stuff like pepper, salt, magi (like soy sauce), pickles, onions, or garlic to taste. Then you eat it with bread and butter, I salt the bread as well. It's for special occasions. In that photo it looks like it's a funeral, ha, but really it was a going away party for my aunt and her new husband. She used to be married to my father's brother, but he died many years ago. Still we really love her. Kids love her especially cause of all the chocolate and candy she always gives them. She seems to really like me too for some reason, I don't get it, since she says it's cause I am so much more mature and serious than I should be at my age, ha!
      Have a good one,
      4974
      PS: I did not talk to Phil much. There was always a stream of black flags and I was only on Saturday. It was funny though, you hear on the radio, "bumper on the track" some driver pulls in, talking to him like, "I made only a little bit of contact" but the fender is rubbing the wheel, the head light is missing, and the safety car just brought back the bumper cover, and the driver is like, 'Huh, that's not mine…" I think the guy lives for tormenting people a bit in situations like that. Anyway since it was Saturday there were still not too many penalties and it was more fun to watch the cars and talk to the teams than hang around there most of the time.

    26. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      zms, zsm, blt……..Bacon-wrapped shrimp…absolutely delicious!! I had an out-of-town appointment today and had lunch at the Mexican restaurant that has it on their menu. Geez, it's awesome! Hahaha on me getting down at my house. Obviously, I didn't proofread my typing. You said you didn't talk much to Phil. Who's Phil? We're back to Indian Summer this week with the nights getting cooler. I can't believe how we're having less and less daylight each day. Have a great evening!
      4975

    27. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      @MZS: I told Skaycog, but I haven't told you! I got accepted to County College of Morris!!!!!!! 🙂 It's in Randolph, NJ, close to where we will be living in New Jersey. Here is a video about it. I really love CCM 🙂
      [youtube 4GRjizdwZFQ&feature=channel_video_title http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GRjizdwZFQ&feature=channel_video_title youtube]
      4976

    28. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Phil is the Saucy Minx herself! This year everybody was saying Judge Phil and Judge Sam. Last year it was right after MM leaving jalopnik, more people were say Murilee back then. Someday i must try those shrimps. Today I have mashed potatoes with the white gravy and sausages that's usually used for morning biscuits. It's great! It makes mashed potatoes even more smile inducing!
      Hi BB,
      Congrats! Do you know what you will be studying yet? Do you plan on doing something like starting there and then going to a state university to get a bachelor's? How about a program that leads to a teaching certificate? Have you been there yet? Will your sister be going there as well?
      Have a good one,
      4977

    29. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, msz, pst…….Nobody tells me anything. I did not know that about MM. I thought that was her real name. Yesterday in Oppo somebody called her Phil. I always wondered why parents would call their son that. Haha! What are your plans for the weekend? I'm having friends from out-of-town tomorrow for most of the day and evening, so I'm going to get most of Saturday's stuff done this evening. Tomorrow's temp will be in the low 80's, perfect for the guys to play golf while us gals go shopping. Have a great weekend, whatever you do.
      4978

    30. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Well then enjoy your shopping! We were going to go to the scary houses decorated two towns over (a yearly tradition for us) but for the last few years we always take friends for the kids. This year one of the kids in the family that was going to go with us chickened out yesterday! So now I don't know about that. We were going to go today and see the second half on Sunday though, we still might.
      Saturday I have two soccer games with Jake, one at 8:30AM! Sp ,my plan is to do the first one, get doughnuts for everybody, then go to the second one. After that I take Jake to a campout for scouts. Kevin he has a soccer game as well, he'll come a bit late with Agnes to the campout. Then I get to sleep in a tent with my sons and herd the cub scout den! We have some requirement activities planned for them. It's going to be busy.
      Also Agnes really wants me to put in some hardwood floor. I might get to that on Sunday, but I've been on the fence about this that maybe we should just do the whole of the ground floor or at least two more rooms, so I don't know. I'm supposed to meet with Aga for lunch today, I'll see.
      Have a good one,
      4979

    31. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      szm, zsm, tnt…….Scary houses at Halloween are fun, except I tend to close my eyes. ? I guess I think I want to be scared but don't really. Doesn't make sense, so forget it. I had a busy Friday evening doing Saturday stuff, but it feels good having it out of the way, and now I'm enjoying a cup of coffee. My friends will be here in a couple of hours. Putting in a hardwood floor sounds like a huge undertaking. I hope you have someone to help you. Have a fun weekend. It sounds like you're going to be very busy!

    32. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      I thought I had a meeting next Thursday, but I had an email about it in the morning yesterday, saying it was this Thursday, so yesterday I was working hard most of the day getting ready. This morning I had an email, oops the meeting is next Thursday, so I can relax a bit. Aga put a lot of the pictures at the usual place http://agamama.blogspot.com/ How did your shopping spree go? I got a really good start on the floor, but my drill bit broke. You can't use the tool near the wall, so I will get some more drill bits today after I get back from the doctor. Oh yeah I have a sinus infection (I bet). So did Aga and now Michelle. It was crazy, I called for an appointment this morning and they have two doctors in the rotation. They are only seeing kids with until 2PM except for emergencies! Crazy, lots of kids at have colds at school. It's happened before that they use two doctors, but the thing about the kids first I have never seen before.
      Have a good one,
      4981

    33. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      State Returns Are Done!! Well except for Michigan, which is due 12/31/2011. It's such a relief. Our manager was really nice about it though and gave us last Friday off since we've been putting in so much time. I used it to get caught up on a bunch of stuff around the house…and also to start teaching myself how to use a music production software.
      I had the Tevatron shutdown running on my computer at work but it didn't have any audio and was running at about 1 frame every 5 seconds…so it looked more like a slideshow. It was still interesting seeing the place though.
      I only saw one Volvo at Road America, an orange C30 (not racing). It was kind of unusual since there are usually at least a handful of older ones there. Maybe they were just hidden and I didn't see them.
      Happy Tuesday!
      4982

    34. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      BB!
      Congratulations on your acceptance to CCM! I am also interested in your plans. It's fun going through class catalogs and seeing all of the fun stuff (and maybe not so fun stuff) you can take.
      4983

    35. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      skaycog…
      You and your elevations haha. All of our trees are pretty much changed and/or dropped around here. They turned fast during the last week during this cold snap. My girlfriend and I are going to Door County (the thumb of Wisconsin) tomorrow through the weekend. We probably missed their leaves but it should still be fun. We'll probably do some biking and hiking and just generally be lazy tourists. I'm sure there will be some good food too.
      Happy Tuesday, enjoy your Tacos 😉
      4984

    36. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, zsm, dnf……..I've never heard of doctors only seeing kids for a certain time period. I wonder what their thinking on that is. Tis the season for colds and flu, for sure. I hope you're feeling better…..did you get some meds? My shopping Saturday was a lot of fun with the girls even though I didn't buy anything. We met more friends for dinner at Mexican restaurant and had many laughs. I had shredded beef nachos, which were outstanding. Aga's pics are excellent, as always……thanks for sharing! Happy Taco Tuesday!
      4985

    37. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      TowerofPower…..Congrats on the state returns being done. I know how busy you were doing that. I hope things can level out for you at work now. Have a great time at the Thumb of WI this weekend. We (me) expect a food report from you next week. I'm going to the mountains on Saturday……elevation approx. 10,000 feet. Hahaha! The Aspens up there are done for, but all the trees in my town are absolutely beautiful! Happy Taco Tuesday!
      4986

    38. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Tower,
      Been busy here and I did a bit too much goofing off yesterday with puns when I wanted to reply, sorry. That link from before, it is an archived video now, should play better. The best parts are with Bob Mau in the main control room (the room with school bus orange and blue racks – yes this was a good color scheme in the '70s).
      Tomorrow is the bachelor party for an old college friend of mine. I want to drive with the Volvo but there is no good way to lock the back, so I don't know. It's in Chicago, I wish I had a shorter car to park. I am glad you got so much work done, that's really rough for you.
      Have a good one,
      4987

    39. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      Yes I did get medicine and I am feeling much better now! I also had a terrible back ache (feeling old), but that's mostly gone now too. I tried to start something here a few days back, but it did not take, oh well:
      http://atomictoasters.com/2011/10/user-input-bran
      Have a good one,
      4988

    40. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, szm, heh….I got COTD today with five words. I have never laughed so much as I did today……all day. Gawker has done another stupid thing and now you have to have at least 32 (maybe 36) characters in a comment/reply or nobody can reply to you. So, out of protest, most of the comments on all the articles were very, very short, and most of them had nothing to do with the article. So, on an article about an elf in traffic, I made a post "Who wants to make out?" Of course, it was too short for a reply. The guys in Oppo thought it was hilarious, and I guess Justin did to. BTW, Justin is moving on to Yahoo and will be replaced by another Justin. I'll miss Mr. Hyde so much…..he's one of my favorites. Anyway, there's a way around the short posts, and all you have to do is put a hashtag of anything with it, and then others can reply to you. It's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of. Glad you're sinus infection is better. Now, what are you doing for your back?
      4989

    41. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      @MZS: Hello MZS, I'm going to CCM to get my Associates Degree in Photography. I'll do this for about two years, then I'm going to get my Bachelors Degree in Business(Another two years), at another school or business school. The reason for this, is after we get settled in New Jersey in a few years My Dad and I are gonna start a classic car business in NJ, and after we start it and run it right, I'll take over and it will be my job as cars are my passion in life. Photography is more of a hobby I love. My Sister is going to Fairleigh Dickinson in Madison, NJ.
      Also here is a link to my photos in case you haven't seen them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harrisonbrooks/
      @Tower_Of_Power: Thanks TOP, I really appreciate that. Thanks! 🙂
      4990

    42. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      <img src="http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008/11/gt-front.jpg"&gt; Congrats! I saw that last night, but could not understand it at all. Now I get it with your explanation. I would have congratulated you there, but I had my account deleted, sorry. So I do it here, enjoy, though I could not find one with some aspens.
      My back is almost better. I did wrestling in HS and I think that is where I did most of the harm to it, every now and then it acts-up. Earlier this week I was typing with papers on my left and that is when it started bothering me since I had to type and look to the side. Oh well. This morning in an hour I disassembled the tailgate, pulled the lock out, and I have dremeled a little nub from a bolt, and j-b welded it into place. When I get home, I hope to have a locking tailgate again, so I can drive the Volvo to the bachelor party. Going to be a rough weekend for me tough, 8:30AM soccer game and then another as well as a boardgames/dinner party followed by a Halloween party. Hopefully my back will be strong again so I can finish the floor on Sunday.
      Have a good one,
      4991

    43. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi BB,
      Those are some great pictures! I took some recently as well, but only put these online: https://picasaweb.google.com/10114033746000535383… Yeah, not so great as yours. Have you ever heard the old saying? The car business is a great way to end-up with a small fortune provided you start with a big fortune. Man I wish you luck, my uncle tried to start a car parts store, it did not go well, a lot of the trouble is he spent a lot of money to become an official AMC parts dealer or whatever it was called right before they went away! In fact my whole family are serial entrepreneurs. My mom has had the most success, though every now and then you run into a person that sues or what not and it really can put her in danger of losing everything related to the business. I hope the best for your plans though, to work with family and on old cars, man that would be living the dream! It's going to be rough for you two twins to be away from each for the first time I bet!
      Have a good one,
      4992

    44. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, msz, cmp…..Thanks for the Ford GT. It looks like a beautiful place where it's parked. Glad your back is somewhat better, as you have a busy weekend ahead of you. I know you're glad that you can take the Amazon to the bachelor party. Have fun! I'm going to the mountains tomorrow, and I always look forward to that. That was fun today in the Mystery Car thread…..lots of giggles. Have a wonderful weekend. Good luck with the floor Sunday.
      4993

    45. Buickboy92 Avatar
      Buickboy92

      @MZS, Hello MZS, I've never heard of that saying, pretty interesting! Thanks for the complement on my photos! 🙂 I liked yours too. Is that your race car in those photos? Oh and yes about the college thing, my sister and I are no where near feeling sad when we're gonna be away from each other, in fact we are relieved! Hahaha, we are always arguing, and get in each others hair! We spend too much time together, as we are both stuck inside until we move. Mostly because our friends all have back to school(My sisters friend, went to college in NY) and my friends have moved(Only one of them though, still I call him from time to time). So yes we are a little tired of being in the same house together for so long. Plus she doesn't like cars the way I do, so I think I kinda annoy her a lot with my nonstop car conversations. Hahaha.
      4994 – Oh and we won't be staying in dorm rooms at our colleges, as we'll drive back home because we'll only be a few miles from home. Different I know, but it's cool 😉

    46. mr. mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
      mr. mzs zsm msz esq

      Hi Skaycog,
      <img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/311972_10150494820754782_37820774781_11353274_1809896963_n.jpg&quot; width="500"> I noticed I had this open (proably for more than a week) one of the hoonigans had it on facebook, I can't remember anything about it anymore though, sorry 🙁 Anyway been busy, still am. I did not get to take the Amazon to the bachelor party because they asked for me to take the minivan since it seats 8. In the end there was only two people in my car during the car pooling, oh well. I got back at 5AM. Was a long night! The floor is not done, I'm going to do the whole thing because it would look strange to just have a bit under that counter. I thought it would look good, but when I laid out the wood, it didn't at all, basically the floor should always run the length of the room to look good. How were the mountains?
      Hi BB,
      Hmm I wonder if it will get worse for my kids as they get older like for your sister? I was much different age than my brother so except for some patches we were pretty good to one another. With our kids the patches of immaturity will overlap and maybe it's an additive effect then like for you and your sister. That car was from White Trash Racing, it was the car that Racin (anotther old stormie) drove. I put those pictures online for their team, I have not had time to upload the better pictures of other cars, oh well. Did you know that now I am den leader as well as soccer coach? And yesterday I took Kevin and Jake to their first wrestling practice, they might do that. That has a lot of tournaments, all on Sundays, my only semi free day at this point! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
      Have a good one,
      4995

    47. $kaycog Avatar
      $kaycog

      smz, zsm, rpm……..My trip to the mountains was great! The Aspens at the higher elevations were past their peak for color, but they were pretty at lower elevations……….same with the scrub oak. We saw many, many deer and also a lot of hunters. I've seen that Ford GT wannabe before, but I don't know anything about it. You got home at 5AM from the bachelor party? Holy cow! I bet your butt was dragging the next day. We had our first snow here yesterday…..4 to 6 inches, in fact. With the leaves still on the trees, there have been many branches broken and power outages. There was more problems in the Denver area than here. It warmed up nicely today, so the snow is gone. Have a nice evening!
      4996

    48. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      mzs…
      Arg! Back in busy mode here. The managers decided that they wanted my Michigan returns done by 10/31/2011 even though they are due to the state 12/31/2011 so I'm back on the megawork wagon. Taking a quick break while I wait for some reports to run to check in.
      It's a bummer you couldn't take the Amazon to the bachelor party. That would have looked pretty cool cruising around downtown Chicago…as long as you avoid all of the massive potholes! Hope your back and cold get the rest of the way better!
      4997

    49. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      $kaycog…
      Congratulations on QOTD! That so funny! Our trip up north was great. The first day it was extremely windy. One of those classic Great Lakes storm systems was moving through the area. Most people thought it was pretty crappy but I liked the experience. You really get an appreciation for how treacherous those big lakes can be during a storm and why there are so many sunken ships in the lakes. During the wind storm I climbed a 75 foot tower overlooking Green Bay (250 feet above the bay if you include the cliff-face the tower was on) and holy crap what a wind! I bet it was well over 50mph, it was hard to walk!
      The rest of the trip was also fun. There is a lot of neat scenery. That area of Wisconsin also has an ordinance in place that doesn't allow any large commercial business chains in the area so all of the shops and restaurants are local.
      My favorite food of the trip was at a Swedish restaurant called Al Johnsons. The roof of the restaurant is covered with grass and goats that graze on the grass. It was pretty neat. For food I got Pytt I Panna which is Swedish roast beef hash served with one egg over hard and homemade pickled beets. It made for a very interestingly delicious combination. For desert we got a morange dish with icecream, whipped cream, and chocolate on top. Fantastic! It was a fun trip but now it's back to work for me!
      4998

    50. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      Buickboy…
      Very nice photos. You have a good eye for finding neat angles to photograph from. I try to do that but it never turns out as cool as I thought.
      It's good that you have a plan already going into college. It's good to be prepared. And keep following that dream. With enough determination I'm sure you and your dad can make it work!
      I'll try and find us a new place!
      4999

    51. Tower_Of_Power Avatar
      Tower_Of_Power

      New place is new!!
      http://hooniverse.info/2010/04/16/photo-friday-fun
      <img src="http://www.kimberleygroup.com.au/images/5000.jpg&quot;, width=500>
      Also…5000 comments!

  3. Charles_Barrett Avatar
    Charles_Barrett

    I can regularly hit 30mpg or more in Interstate driving (calculated by mileage per tankful, as there is no trip computer) in my '97 E320, but using the cruise-control is key. The engine management computer on cruise, coupled with a tall, Autobahn-designed fifth gear confirms that Europeans have had high fuel economy needs far longer than we have. This is using high octane fuel, however. Around suburban L.A. I would typically get 20-25mpg, but since moving to Cornville, we cover more miles on highways at 55-65mph than in stop-and-go; strict speed limit enforcement is another great reason to use the cruise control in rural Arizona.

  4. SSurfer321 Avatar
    SSurfer321

    08 Impreza 2.5i will do better than 30pg on the hwy at 75mph.
    I average about 28.8mpg on my commute which is 75% hwy. Thank you Lexington and your 3 minute redlights for ruining my fuel mileage.
    Due to embarrassment I will not be posting mileage figures for the lifted F150.

  5. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    Cool and all, but thumbs down for snapping cell phone pics while rolling — Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road.

  6. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar

    Last month I was driving the Audi as if I had a perpetual fear of speed, getting overtaken by lorries, cyclists, slugs etc, watching the moss growing across my windscreen etc etc, typically doing about 65 on the way home, trying to save money on fuel, to spend on beer instead.
    With all my dithering I ended up with 35 (UK) mpg average.
    This month I've been throwing caution to the wind, high-blood-pressure, get-there-first, dead-or-alive with the turbo spinning and gear-changes homing in on the red sector of the tach.
    And I'm still getting 35mpg.
    I guess maybe my car is at peak efficiency somewhere between the two extremes. Tomorrow I may try driving at 70.
    Tomorrow.

  7. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    Sadly, I think the most fuel efficient car I have ever had was my 1994 Corvette 6-speed. Interstate cruising in 6th gear would get 28mpg or better, with a 300HP 5.7L V-8. Of course at 60mph the engine was literally turning less than idle speed. My 1987 BWM 325 eta might have done a little better, but i ditched the standard 2.91 rear for a 3.25 LSD.

  8. Joe Btfsplk Avatar
    Joe Btfsplk

    In my "gas saving" brain mode (shifting @ 4000 rpm) I can pull out over 35 mpg AVERAGE. I have no doubt that I can get over 40 mpg at a steady 70 mph in my 2003 Miata…..best car I've ever had for low-cost fun and operation expense.

  9. engineerd Avatar

    Ever since getting the Jeep a couple weeks ago I've been amazed that it consistently is getting 18-19 mpg in mixed city/hwy driving, as calculated by measuring how many miles I drive per tankful. I was going to take it on a little road trip this weekend to Minnesota, and was looking forward to seeing what I got in all highway driving, but I'm thinking now I'll take the Mustang as one last hurrah before she goes on the market.

  10. JayP Avatar
    JayP

    Last summer I borrowed my ex-mother-in-law's PT Cruiser to head east and left my 2.3 Ranger for her to drive. I keep up with the fuel mileage and when I calculated her stint it was 35mpg!! I never get better than 28.
    I asked if she put gas in it, or anything… nope. Just a grandmother driving to the church/grocery.

  11. OA5599 Avatar
    OA5599

    I've had a number of daily drivers with greater than 7 liters of engine displacement, and many of those had multiple carburetors, so to me, any MPG in the double digits is a win.
    The best I've personally recorded is 31 MPG over a 2600-mile trip in a 3600 lb. (plus passengers and luggage) Chrysler LHS.

  12. RichardKopf Avatar
    RichardKopf

    I regularly average 30 or so MPG in my 1st Gen LHS at 65. At 90, it averages about 20. Still not too bad.

  13. Van Sarockin Avatar
    Van Sarockin

    My old car had a lit up bar graph that would display an approximation of instantaneous mpg. It was fun to coast downhill and see how long that 99mpg would display. But it was great to help teach you how what you did with the accelerator affected your milage.
    It also had a cumulative mpg digital readout. It was fun to use that to see how you could bring mpg up over the course of a longer drive.
    I found that consistency in throttle placement, carrying momentum through turns and over the tops of hills, and avoiding braking really helped to boost mpg. Slower speeds often worked against efficiency, though over 80 or so mpg really dropped off, as wind resistance reared its square law.

  14. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    I got 25 MPG from the Challenger yesterday, but I had a favorable tailwind for about half the trip (and I was just driving at my "normal", i.e. somewhat hoonish.) It helps that the 6th gear ratio works out to 1450 RPM at 60 MPH, so the engine is just loafing along at any legal highway speed and even some of the illegal ones.

  15. Froggmann_ Avatar
    Froggmann_

    I've done just the opposite. Got a little over 8 MPG in an 03 Chevy (Geo) Metro rental over a couple of days.
    Funniest part was when I turned the car in the Manager came up to the counter and said to me, "I never want to see you in a car that small again." and gave a a few free upgrades for the future.

  16. TurboBrick Avatar
    TurboBrick

    I managed to get about 30 MPG out of a 3100 V6 powered Buick Century while driving across the mountains from Las Vegas to Grand Junction. This was with me flooring it until it reached about 85 MPH and then jamming on the cruise control because I got sick of standing on the pedal in those uphills.
    Now the best that I have coaxed out of my daily driving Volvo 760 turbo has been around 25mpg. Typically I'll get 22-23. Whatever it loses at the pump, I'll save in ownership costs (and then some). I drive about 12-14 thousand miles every year, so in order for me to actually see the benefit of a more efficient car it would have to be a really serious jump. If I were doing, say, 40 thousand a year, it would be a whole other ballgame then.

  17. TurboBrick Avatar
    TurboBrick

    That was my first impression of our Olds 98. It got the same or slightly better mileage with a V6 & 4-speed auto as my smaller Renault that had a 2.7L PRV, 5-speed manual trans and a less brick-like silhouette. Also, I have seen (albeit computer reported) 29mpg on a supercharged Pontiac Grand Prix, though this required a cruising speed of about 65 with AC off.

  18. nofrillls Avatar
    nofrillls

    Oh yeah? Well, my carburetted '72 Benz gets 31.1 gallons to the mile! It's also a duel-fuel vehicle. I can flip a switch and it will burn small children, which produce significantly fewer hydrocarbons (if you can squish them into the tank, that is).
    I kid. 31mpg is quite respectable for anything with more than 4 cylinders in my opinion. I'm curious though, do you find that cruise control helps or hurts your MPG? For me, the results have been misleading in both our 4 and 6 cylinder [modern] cars..

  19. Jeff Glucker Avatar
    Jeff Glucker

    I averaged about 10 in Tim's wagon, between Huntingtin Beach and Fremont…

  20. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    I've averaged 34mpg in the Civic over the past year – there's a fair bit of highway driving, but there's also a lot of two-lane roads where I have to drop it into third to pass someone. I've beaten 40mpg once or twice – on one occasion, it was because I was driving through the US, and figured my Ontario plates might be a ticket magnet, and drove accordingly.

  21. Jim-Bob Avatar
    Jim-Bob

    Occasionally I have a bad tank or two and see 39 MPG city, but normal for me seems to be around 44 mpg city and 53-55 highway. Do I drive a $25-35k hybrid? A VW TDI? Naaah. I have a $250 1991 Geo Metro with a 0.993 liter, 55 hp 3, a 5 speed manual and a curb weight of 1693 lbs (it would be lighter if it were not the damn porky 4 door body). It will be worse soon though as I have just completed the installation of my junkyard A/C parts and it will probably drop to the low 40's or high 30's. Then again, it was 93 degrees out with 80% humidity and not a cloud in the sky in Tampa today and I honestly don't think I will mind paying a little more to stay out of heat stroke-even if replacing the compressor, compressor clutch, O rings, drier, rewiring the old owner's hack job and adding an idle speed compensator valve did cost me damn near $100.

  22. njhoon Avatar
    njhoon

    And here I was happy getting 17.9 over the weekend…dam truck…

  23. chrystlubitshi Avatar
    chrystlubitshi

    i had a '96 T-bird w/the 4.6L that would easily pull 32 mpg in mixed driving, (mileage figured per tank o'fuel) and 38 highway. Gunter (diesel New Beetle with some work done) got 55-60 mpg cruising at 70 mph on the interstate. the chrystlubitshi (eagle summit) used to get about 35 mpg regardless of city or highway driving at any speed… and now.. i'm impressed that Astro the thundervan gets right around 20 mpg as long as i keep my foot reasonable (it doesn't really go any faster if you floor it… but it sounds angry and i like that)

  24. LTDScott Avatar

    *sigh* I can't remember the last time I pulled 30+ MPG in any car. My SVT Focus is the closest as I have seen high 20s on the highway, and my dad recently got 30 out of it when driving like the old man he is on the way to Laughlin. But I just don't have the patience to sit at 70 MPH in the middle of the desert.
    My fiancee's Highlander Hybrid averaged 24 MPG driving from San Diego to Yosemite and back last weekend. That was with 3 passengers, 3 bikes on the back, a full trunk of cargo (including 2 coolers full of beer and water), and several tents on the roof. Driving conditions included lots of LA traffic, uphill climbs to 7000 feet in Yosemite, and the resulting downhill stretches in which the car hardly used the gas motor at all. I was hoping for better, but given the driving situations and heavy load, I guess it ain't too bad.

    1. Mechanically Inept Avatar
      Mechanically Inept

      We saw something like 20 MPG in my uncle's Legacy driving from Berkeley to Yosemite. The little 2.2 needed a lot of gas to get 4 guys and car up those mountains. Beautiful drive, though.

  25. rocketrodeo Avatar
    rocketrodeo

    26.3 mpg with a supercab Ranger sporting the three-point-slow V6 and a five speed, interstate driving through Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia last weekend. Pretty good for a pickup that you can use as a real truck for hauling and towing. Nothing you can do about the uphill pulls, but the Georgia overdrive helps a lot on the downhills. Oh, and the ScanGaugeII has really helped me tune my foot for economy driving.

  26. FuzzyPlushroom Avatar
    FuzzyPlushroom

    I've gotten 11.6 MPG on 91 octane in my Volvo 745.
    Admittedly, that was mostly Super-2 barnstorming, but still. I don't actually know what it averages, since I don't fill it and don't want to know. My 244 has gotten 24 at 40-65 MPH rural two-lane driving, and I've gotten as little at 19 in winter, but that's still not terrible.
    My mother's New Beetle (1.8T, five-speed stick) has gotten 36 or so on the interstate with her usual 72 MPH driving. She averages 28 or so around town; I get a bit jealous, but know that I could probably pull off 26 on the highway if the 244 had a manual gearbox.

  27. sketchler Avatar
    sketchler

    I mean… I guess. You're always going to do well on average MPG right after you fill up when the engine's already hot and you're driving in the vehicle's optimal conditions.
    This happened to me a lot in the Prius. I'd fill the tank after driving a while, and if I stayed on surface streets my average for the rest of the drive was regularly above 60mpg, sometimes breaking 70. Any interstates and I was still averaging 55mpg or so, and that'd be like that until the engine cooled and had to warm itself up again. This is from a car that is rated on the adjusted EPA scale at 48 city, 45 highway.

    1. Deartháir Avatar
      Deartháir

      Good point, and I think Rob was being a bit tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing. But your point is a good one, the more chance the engine has to get up to its optimal temperature, the more it will behave nicely and get you good fuel economy. We just bought mom a TDI Golf, which is rated for 4.6L/100 km. I just looked at her average fuel consumption when I saw the car the other weekend, and she's getting 4.1L/100km average over the last 10,000 kms. I think that's pretty darn close to 60 of your yards to the hog's head. Not bad for a conventional, non-hybrid diesel car. She's pretty pleased, since she loves her Toyotas, but a Prius is unusable where she lives: the battery doesn't last long enough to get her up the mountain hills, and the absence of ability to downshift means she'd have to ride the brakes back down again. (Have they fixed that on the new ones?)

      1. sketchler Avatar
        sketchler

        All Toyota hybrids have a "B" mode on the "transmission" selector that puts the hybrid system into an "engine braking" mode, which increases the severity (there is a better word, but I'm far too hung over to think of it) of the regeneration and actually has the engine do a bit of work to slow it down, too.
        I haven't driven the new Prius at all, but they're all the same in this way too: most of what happens when you push the brake pedal isn't really using the conventional brakes at all. They're only really ever actually used in hard braking or under 7 miles an hour, actually, so brake jobs even for aggressive drivers aren't often necessary for 100,000 miles or more (we're at 87k right now and they're still just fine). Combining those even on a pretty steep grade the brakes wouldn't heat up much at all, you'd just have a very full battery for a little while!