"cazzyodo" (cazzyodo)
03/18/2014 at 10:15 • Filed to: Rant
4
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"cazzyodo" (cazzyodo)
03/18/2014 at 10:15 • Filed to: Rant | 4
| 38 |
2013 Ford Focus ST - 23 city / 32 highway / 26 combined
This is my expected mpg (if you don't know off hand what yours is, you can !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ). My daily commute is classified as "city" but is really just a few miles of stop signs, streetlights and terrifying Massachusetts drivers. Throw in the highway about 3 times a week and my weekly mileage breakdown between highway and city is about 25% highways, 75% city. I average about 24 mpg combined...lower than expected!
Or is it?
The EPA Estimated MPG figures assume 55% city and 45% highway driving. Driving more city miles with frequent starts and stops is (typically) less efficient so my 24 mpg total makes sense.
But what about when it's purely highway? Can you and I yield the expected highway mpg?
Short answer, yes!
In both my leased Fusion from two years ago and my current ST I have been able to get above the expected highway mpg. That's great! But boring and a little misleading.
Highway MPG tests are done at a steady 55 mph. Let me say that again: 55 mph. There are a couple stretches of highway near me that have 55 mph speed limits but most across the state are 65 mph zones and some people have been making (quiet) noise about increasing the speed limits to 70 mph. Factoring in the fact that the majority of Massachusetts drivers believe the speed limit is 75 mph, and the ST doesn't believe in the number 55, leads me to less than advertised highway mpg. To test this I filled up near the highway last night, reset my mpg calculator thingy and drove home purely on the highway. I got home having averaged 33.4 mpg after cruising between 55 mph and 65 mph, never passing.
Doing 55 mph on the highway is fine AS LONG AS YOU GET THE FRICK OUT OF THE LEFT LANE! My thought on doing 55 when everyone is doing 70 (or, in Massachusetts, ~3500) is that the flow of traffic gets disrupted and could, in certain circumstances, cause a crash. I liken it to when someone merges onto the highway at not highway speeds on a two lane wide highway...not always great.
I know this subject has been beat to death over the years as gas costs and environmental concerns have most people thinking about fuel efficiency. I also know that, in the name of fun and spirited (but safe) driving, we may be more willing to sacrifice some dinosaur remains for higher rpms. But if normal conditions are not used as baselines in testing and reporting for anything, how legitimate is the test and report?
Not everyone can (or should) be like Texas but when it comes down to it the expectations of speed limits and the capabilities of our vehicles today are a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
If there is an update to anything I just said, fill me in. I had the basis of this post in my head since last night and didn't research anything.
Party-vi
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:24 |
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Air intake or panel gap? :3
OPPOsaurus WRX
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:26 |
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My WRX has the same beliefs as your ST regarding speeds. I've been hitting around 20-21 mpg. I think 75% of my body weight is in my left foot. If I were to try harder, I think I could have room to improve.
BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:27 |
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I get 31 in my Si at 75 mph on the way home on 66. I think that turbos are more susceptible to differing numbers due to how many factors can affect when and how boost comes on. Not knocking the ST, I'm just saying, fuel economy with a turbo engine can be a crapshoot when conditions aren't perfect.
GTI MkVII
> Party-vi
03/18/2014 at 10:27 |
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Panel gap...
Milky
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:27 |
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I'm not sure if you have lived in a major city your whole life or not but …. I'm from the boondocks and can attest to almost every road being 55mph out there. Yea expressways are 70mph, but there are countless 2 lane highways that are 55mph.
Granted no I live in the city and I either go 30 or 75mph, but I still get why its 55mph.
Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
> Party-vi
03/18/2014 at 10:31 |
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Panel gap because intake
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> Party-vi
03/18/2014 at 10:32 |
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V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:37 |
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This chart can be misleading. The ONLY place in NY where you can legally drive 65 MPH is on the Thruway. Every other parkway, expressway, and interstate road is limited to 55 MPH.
STREPITUS
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:38 |
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I've got better than expected MPGs in my Mustang at 70mpg. It was great considering I used to drive down the Ohio Turnpike from Toledo to the PA border on a near weekly basis last year.
450X_FTW
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 10:49 |
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Just a quick note about that 55% city and 45% highway, the formula they use to determine the Combined label seems stupid. Combined label = 1/(0.55/city + 0.45/highway). Who the hell made up this formula? Basic math should tell you that it should be 0.55*city + 0.45*highway = combined. Also on the EPA highway test, the average speed is 48.5 mph, they touch 60 mph for a brief second and thats it.
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cazzyodo
> Party-vi
03/18/2014 at 10:56 |
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Gap haha
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cazzyodo
> V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/18/2014 at 10:57 |
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Like I said, my research was virtually non-existent haha.
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cazzyodo
> Milky
03/18/2014 at 10:58 |
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I'm outside of Boston and have a multitude of highway options to pick from so there are only a few stretches of 55 mph zones near me...but that doesn't matter really because Massholes.
Kailand09
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 11:07 |
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I've cruised at 70 for a full tank and got 2 or 3 above highway epa mpgs
sefeing, actually bought an E46
> Party-vi
03/18/2014 at 11:12 |
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Panel gap.
Source: I own an ST.
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sefeing, actually bought an E46
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 11:14 |
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Love the red. I've got a Tux black 2013 ST2. Love it, but I recently started getting some bad interior rattles, and knocks. Going to the dealer tomorrow to see if I can get it tightened down. Car's only got 1200 on it. How are your stock Goodyears btw? I seem to get quite a bit of a flat spot in the morning. It's also 30 degrees here in NY, and I didn't want to buy snow tires right after dropping 26k on a new car because I'm an idiot. So far, I've hit one pothole and wanted to cry.
JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 11:19 |
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Aero is INCREDIBLY important at high speed... my old 2011 Elantra Touring (a VERY slippery car in aerodynamic terms) returned it's best fuel economy at about 80MPH, yeilding nearly 36MPG at that super-cruise speed (it's also worth noting that the ET has functional ram-air; and you thought the leading-edge hood gap was just poor panel fittment!). At 55, the ET returned about 32mpg, which is actually slightly less than the EPA estimate! The Fiesta ST is much less-clean aerodynamically than the ET was and at 80-ish MPH, the FieSTa is fully in the boost and the spoiler is doing noticable things with downforce and drag; hence I get about 31MPG at that speed. However, with the marvels of a 1.6l DI-Turbo engine, if I slow down to 55 I get a little better than the EPA estimated 38MPG Highway, and if I slow down to 45 (cruising in traffic on Vermont secondaries) I have seen as high as 44MPG! As it stands I average about 29.lessthan5 with my mostly-city commute. Which is better by about 4MPG than the ET returned in the same useage.
nappyheadflo
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 11:29 |
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I just feel more comfortable on highway with speed limits at 70. 55 is too slow and I'm tempted to go faster anyway. I can go 85 but wouldn't want to push it considering I have a used vehicle and am still learning about it's limits.
As for MPGs, I figure all the automakers embellish their findings anyway lol. But seriously, my city/highway mpg is about the same (2006 Grand Prix GT 85k miles), despite the listed difference. Seeing that I drive an average of 70mph on the highway, I agree with your rant.
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cazzyodo
> sefeing, actually bought an E46
03/18/2014 at 12:04 |
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I haven't had any rattles and knocks...about 6400 miles on it now. The last 3000 or so miles have been winter tires though. I dented a wheel on my family's saab a few years ago and didn't want to play pothole plink-o on the daily haha.
You get brake squeals/screeching in the cold? Mine's been going insane since February and when I brought it up to the dealer (they were closing but I had to ask) they said it was common due to the performance brakes. Forums and Oppo agreed.
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cazzyodo
> OPPOsaurus WRX
03/18/2014 at 12:06 |
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There are times that I try (around town really) and it is reflected during the summer where I get about 26 mpg on average (that cheap winter gas with all that butane ruins life).
But the ST and WRX don't deserve such things on the highway haha
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cazzyodo
> BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
03/18/2014 at 12:07 |
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Conditions are rarely perfect -_-
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sefeing, actually bought an E46
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 12:18 |
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Not a ton of screeching, but i've noticed a little bit. Brake dust though… So. Much. Brake. Dust. I'd agree it's probably the performance brakes. I have a pretty good feeling that I need a wheel balance though. Do winter tires generally go on sale as the winter comes to an end? Would love to get a set for a decent price now. What model year do you have?
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BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 12:24 |
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Exactly my point. It's on of the reasons I don't generally like this new attitude of "Turbo all the things!" that the industry seems to have now.
MC_Leon6494
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 13:00 |
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sorry I like to drive fast. I'm from Massachusetts (seems you dont like it, or at least don't like its drivers) I feel you on the whole everyone drives fast. I keep myself to a 70MPH maximum unless on the Mass Pike where I go up to around 75. MPG estimates and the failure of cars to meet these estimates caused my aunt to be a part of a lawsuit against Kia and now they provide her like 100 bucks a month because they lied about the MPG of her car. It's all relative to how you drive and your cars everything.
multiple wheels for each day of the week
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 13:27 |
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I also have a 2013 RR ST2 . I'm averaging about 26mpg mixed commuting in it using 87 mid grade gas . I live at 5800ft so take that for what its worth.
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cazzyodo
> MC_Leon6494
03/18/2014 at 13:43 |
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I'm not against driving fast...quite the opposite. 75 is what I lean towards...not putting a number on my preference. The point is that the flow of traffic and speed limits don't match up and the speed limits and test speeds for reported mpg doesn't match up. No flow in the process.
I don't need you to apologize for driving quickly because I would prefer that over getting "stuck" behind someone actually doing the speed limit.
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MC_Leon6494
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 13:54 |
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i get what you're saying. there's a dissonance between the speeds people actually drive, including the speeds police drive, and the posted speed limits. it doesnt match up and then mpg differs from the posted mpg as well
ColoradoTaco
> V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/18/2014 at 15:42 |
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Chart says max speed limit in each state. So a NY hwy with a max limit of 65 was applied for the chart, regardless of how many miles of actual hwy it applies to.
Dusty Ventures
> cazzyodo
03/18/2014 at 16:43 |
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Eastern Mass or Western?
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cazzyodo
> Dusty Ventures
03/18/2014 at 16:46 |
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South of Boston so East.
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V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
> ColoradoTaco
03/18/2014 at 18:23 |
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That was pretty much what I stated, no?
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Dusty Ventures
> cazzyodo
03/19/2014 at 23:06 |
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Can you shot me an email at howdeedoodat@gmail.com? I'm working on a project and need some assistance
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cazzyodo
> Dusty Ventures
03/20/2014 at 08:59 |
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Yeah, I'll reach out.
mazdaspeed2
> cazzyodo
03/24/2014 at 13:36 |
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I am also a masshole, and I might go as far as saying most people believe the speed limit is 80-85. Oh and join this fb group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/7970016…
It is NE Opponauts, and we will use it to organize meets and such.
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cazzyodo
> mazdaspeed2
03/24/2014 at 14:10 |
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I was being conservative because I can't represent the whole state but I agree.
I'll have to remember to get on FB to do that. Work blocks it haha.
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mazdaspeed2
> cazzyodo
03/24/2014 at 15:12 |
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Haha, as soon as the weather breaks a bit I want to set up a meet, and let anyone else around here from oppo know about it!
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cazzyodo
> mazdaspeed2
03/24/2014 at 15:31 |
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I only know of a couple in the area to be honest and I'm terrible at keeping track haha.
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mazdaspeed2
> cazzyodo
03/24/2014 at 15:38 |
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Haha, I'm not good at keeping track either.