mileage

[studdyhalllooser]

i know this was asked before but i couldnt find the old thread...whats the best mileage the normal b3 could get? i took a road trip not to long ago and only got 41 m/g (average), but my car was also loaded and i was doing a constant 70.

[gdawgs]

Only!? That's pretty good considering you were doing 70.

Mine usually drops below 40 (maybe around 38 or so) when I go that fast.

The best I ever got was 50mpg. This is with a 5-speed, going 55-60mph, with a strong tail wind(30+mph)

[studdyhalllooser]

mine gets better mileage around 65-70 than 55

[Tim]

mine gets better mileage around 65-70 than 55

I presume that applies to 5 speeds only?

Mine (4 gears) seems to do best around 55.


Regards,

Tim

[studdyhalllooser]

ya...mine is a 5 spd

[2fastfesti26]

i am getting 41 but i have a heavier foot.

[25Horseplay]

My auto tranny gets 38-40.

[Safety Guy]

Better mileage at 65-70 than at 55?

I could believe better mileage at certain higher speeds not greater than perhaps 5 mph, to "fit" better in a gear ratio.

However, either 4th or 5th in a Festiva or Aspire should work very well at 55-60 mph. Going faster will only increase wind load.

The wind resistance increases with the square of the speed. That is, 50 compared with 25:

Wind resistance does not double when you double the speed, it quadruples.

At 50 you have four times the air resistance than at 25.

Going from 55 to 65 or 70 means increasing speed 10 to 15 mph.

I don't see how gas mileage would improve. What factors am I missing?

BTW, my ATX got 40 mpg on the trip to Ohiostiva II. I tried to keep it around 60 mph.

Karl

[gdawgs]

I was going to post a similar response, but you beat me to it Safety Guy.

I read a study a while back where they experimented with lots of vehicles to get an idea of what velocity will yield the greatest gas mileage. Of course there are many factors and many different vehicles....... but on average, maximum gas mileage occurs somewhere around 40-45 mph.

[studdyhalllooser]

ok...better mileage at a constant 70 during a road trip....worse mileage every day with a lead foot from 0-55...didnt take into consideration all the stop and go of every day driving....i supose 55 on a road trip would be better, my bad.

[Safety Guy]

There, now that's much better!

The angel is in the details, eh?

Karl

[gtd2000]

My mother's Mazda 121 "bubble" gets a whopping 30mpg UK/26mpg US