SLOW Driving MPG

[jshumate]

Well, I decided to see just how high my mileage would go if I drove REALLY conservativly. I drove back and forth to work (25 mi) for a whole tank of fuel between 55 and 60mph. Its about 80% fwy with stop and go city streets at each end.

I was the only passenger and I had a 5th whl hitch in the back and about 100lbs of sand bags. Also, I was careful to not depress the pedal any more than I had to which resulted in more than one angry driver in the rear.

The result was 24. 4 mpg on the overhead gage and it penciled out to 22. 1. Not bad - I was hoping to only make it to 20. The only bad thing was after 680 miles, I was really sick of driving that way and was ready to get back to normal. I have done about the same thing before except keeping it to 65 and under and ended up 18-19 mpg.

 

[jjdiesel]

Interesting... that's great mileage, can't complain about that! How many miles on truck?

 

[jshumate]

About 16K. Also the roads weren't flat - somewhat hilly.

 

[AKaiser]

I drive to and from work, depending on how timely I am in getting up and leaving work, either 75 MPH interstate, or 45 MPH backroads. If I do 50/50, I average 21 MPG. If I only drove high speed on the interstate, it would be closer to 19 MPG. I prefer the 45 MPH backroads: next to no traffic, less aggravation, safer, calmer, easier on my truck, and about the same distance. Takes 5-10 minutes longer, but it's worth it, even without the fuel economy advantage.