I was in a big hurry on Monday afternoon. I had to go 40 miles, mostly highway. Other than making sure I was behind someone when approaching spots cops like, I was moving fast. 32 mpg for the trip.

 

 

Learned how to pulse and glide , coast to stop signs and red lights when possible . Don't really pamper them , stay within a few m.p.h. above or below the speed limit posted . Had an '07 Prius and an Eco-Meter that helped to get better F.E..

 

Nice data! How many miles for each data point?

 

I never used a paddle shifter a day in my life.

 

I used a calibrated Scangauge, not the dashboard gauge.

2 miles, record number, 2 miles back, record that, average them together. For each run, I got up to speed, set cruise, then reset the Scangauge to start recording.

 

I get on open road travel including hills etc. about 45mpg (American Gallon). In Canadian Gallons it works out 52mpg. Or 5.3L per 100 km.
I'm very pleased with this.

 

First, mine's a 5 speed manual. Second, I drive the way my father taught me, that is, like gas is expensive. That man could squeeze fuel economy out of anything. The secret is to anticipate hills and stops, and avoid using the brakes at all costs. Traffic signal green a half mile ahead? Start coasting, it will be red before you get to it. Learn to drive smoothly and efficiently, avoid slowing for curves.


Driving this way I get better MPG without using the cruise control than I do with it.


As a side benefit, I'm still running the original brake pads at 75,000 miles.


In the winter I average 34-35 MPG (short commutes to work mostly-5 miles one way). Summertime with the air conditioning running- I get 36-37 MPG. Spring and fall (summer fuel blend and AC off) I get 37-39 MPG.


That's mixed town/country driving. On a trip back from Vermont in '11, I averaged 41 MPG.

 

And whats your average speed? door to door and distance, not your 'cruising speed.

 

These are great - really useful data. Sticky or post in a FAQ (worth averaging with a couple replications though)

For example - AC doesn't hurt mpg much at highway speeds (would love to see the data for AC at 70!).

What's striking in all gears is that speed decreases mpg fairly linearly - I've heard people report, and I would have guessed, that mpg gets particularly worse as you hit higher speeds (RPMs?). Not true!

My daily ~8 mile commute is along 25-35 mph roads. coasting in 4th vs. spritzing around in 2nd yields a huge improvement (~67%).

(and the data geek in me wonders if you have the RPMs for each point?)

 

Forgot to mention you can click on the Fuelly emblems for all the fills . Also had a base model '08 Yaris sedan with a 4 speed auto , traded in for the '13 FIT .

 

Gravity is your brake pedal.

 

<Raises right hand>

My mileage steadily improved the first few years. (Recent winter average 32 MPG / summer average 38 to 40 MPG.) Summer driving only recently began for me.

Last summer I could maintain 40 MPG. So far this spring I'm doing 38. I don't use A/C (no need), don't use headlights (no need), have factory tires in the summer and, like others have said, I'm just steady with the accelerator and try to anticipate what's ahead.

One tactic I use when exiting the highway is to slow down right off the highway (with brakes) and then slowly coast to the red light at the end of the ramp. It gives me more time to coast with the fuel economy meter towards 80 MPG then just sitting still at 0 MPG.

 

All of this is exactly what I do. I get the same numbers as well. And to top it off, 53,000 miles and still have about 50% of the front pads left.

 

It's also your gas pedal.

 

Yes, and the wind resistance.

 

Sounds like you and I are twins in the way we drive and in the MPG's we get. Similar upbringings as well. Nice to know I am not the only one

With that said, I would like to add that I've noticed an increase lately when I gain speed intentionally going down hill when there is an uphill or even a nice flat stretch after. If I can keep the gauge in the fit above the 45-50 zone on the downhill stretch, it allows me to have a lighter foot on the throttle longer on the flat or uphill section. I hope that makes sense. Depending on the incline of the hill, I can sometimes get my MPG gauge to go through the roof while still gaining a decent amount of speed too. I watch that gauge like a hawk lately, and I even averaged just over 44 mpg on a recent trip with no AC on.

I live in St. Louis, and believe it or not we have a lot of hills.

 

Zenzah , is it a 5 speed manual or auto ? Impressive either way . We're getting 40.9 with '11 base model with a 5 speed auto . Drove 205.9 miles and slightly above 1/2 . Will likely drop tomorrow with 3 people and groceries .

 

Just started using Fuelly and after my second fill up I got a reading on Fuelly of 37.1 mpg! Which is great but my mpg gauge on the Fit said 31.6. Which should I believe?

 

What does the math say?