31 December, 2006

Your mileage may vary

Over the past couple weeks, several people have asked what kind of gas mileage I get with the new car. The answer is "it depends".

Dorian is rated for 31 mpg on the highway. In the first leg of the trip, burning the MTBE-laden fuel we have here in the metromess, he got about 29 mpg. Throughout the rest of the trip, the fuel economy was between 31 and 32 mpg.

Seems to me that any benefit that the extremely toxic MTBE might have in decreasing emissions would be lost because we're burning more fuel. But hey, what do I know? It's only math.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like your new car is running great. The mileage ought to actually improve a bit as you get a few more miles on it. Of course, it will never get the same mileage that your Bacchetta gets.

And speaking of Bacchetta mileage, you missed another opportunity to do a century ride. Mark Sachnik and Eliane Henry of PBA lore organized the "Almost XMAS Century Ride" on 12/23. It was a trip from Plano to Leonard, Texas and back. A group of 16 of us made the trek (no pun intended). That gave me two centuries under my belt for 2006. You need to do one in 2007 so I can share the secret handshake with you. Until then, I will necessarily have to regard you as a member of the cycling "chattering class". I hope you understand. :-)

Jenn said...

Run the ac, rev your engine a lot, and drive with the RPMs red-lining. That should help.

Foo said...

Rcarlino: Sounds like I missed another good one. I'm not sure what it's going to take to get me back on track. With the cooler weather, personal conflicts, and... well... just plain inertia, it's been nearly a month since I rode more than 10 miles or so. Tomorrow, I hope.

Susie: I think I'll just have to take what I get, fuel economy-wise. It's still a lot more relaxing commuting in the new car than the old one.

Emma: Uhhhh... no. :)

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