True statement. I hadn't figured in headwind issues, since it wasn't mentioned. I presumed he was referring to overall mileage for his trips, in which case, headwinds are normally only a portion of the average conditions involved. If this was, in fact, the case, I stand corrected on my comments.



Bob
06 FEH 2WD
Fayetteville, GA/Enterprise, AL

 

I'm a low milage driver and rarely make any long drives. This was one of my seldom trips to this cottage and the first with the ScanGuage-II and I was amazed how the wind affected the MPG.

 

I agree that you cannot beat the mileage you can get manually with careful attention, but if you have ever driven across the great plains, you would appreciate having cruise control. The greatest variation in elevation for miles on end often is the occasional overpass.

I have often wondered if the auto companies have worked on more options on cruise control with driver selection on the variance between the maximum and minimum RPMs. I don't know what it is on current cruise controls, say set speed +/- 10% with change in loads. For a lesser hit on miles per gallon, what if the driver could select 15, 20, or 25% variance under load. I suppose that the manufacturer would worry about liability.

 

I've never looked into it but some advanced PR stuff for the 2010 Fusion stated that it had a new hilly road cruise control option. Being PR stuff it could be dead wrong!

 

I listen to Road Dog trucker radio sometimes. They are comming out with smart cruise control in the big rigs.

Right now, they have smart cruise control that maintains a set distance from the vehicle ahead. ( in some high end cars too )

Up in the next 1 year, they will have GPS enabled cruise control for trucks, that will automatically gear the truck down on grades. ( more and more big rigs are Automatics these days... no more "gear jammin'" but if they have GPS cruise control for trucks.....

 

I've often wondered about a couple options for cruise control...

Pulse and glide
Conservative cruise (maintains rpm, not speed)
Maintain a distance from vehicle ahead (great for drafting)

 

I use CC on flat roads while in EV below 40mph every chance I get. The '09 FEH FWD is the best P&G vehicle I've ever driven so you should get great results in your '09 AWD FEH if you can find the sweet spots. I just completed in the Winter MPG Challenge 8 at Cleanmpg.com got 1st place in my '09 FEH. I went over 3,000 miles in three months and averaged 57.7mpg using these techniques and others in every day driving and my commute. This represents 177.5% of combined EPA (32.5mpg) for the '09 FWD FEH. If I had rolling hills and no ethanol I could have done much better.

If I drove 70-80mph I would not even waste my time looking at my average MPG. Also, the '09 MPG average gauge is 4% higher than gas pumped at fill-up. My nav system said I was averaging 62.8mpg when I only got a 58mpg tank.

GaryG

 

My wife did say she ran into a fair amount of wind - kind of hard not to drive through the Plains states and not see some wind.

Yes my wife used the CC quite a bit, but the 75-80 MPH kind of kills everything else. I keep the tires inflated to 38 psi, don't want to go too high and lose the traction. I'm happy getting anything over 25 MPG in an SUV considering my old Cash for Clunkers 1996 Blazer used to get 19-20 MPG max.

 

Looks like the gang has covered this issue fairly well.

Mileage goes down with:

Cold
Speed
Under Inflated Tires
Wind

Obviously a tail wind helps. Not everyone knows but a side wind can be just as bad as a head wind. A side wind evidently goofs up the aerodynamics.

On flat ground I notice better mileage heading East (generally with the wind) than West (generally into the prevailing wind).

Going 80 mph into a 20 mph headwind is like driving 100 mph!

 

Gary:

Have you and a couple of the hypermileage gurus ever considered doing a YouTube video on your techniques? It would be useful for some of us newbies.

Bob
06 FEH 2WD
Fayetteville, GA/Enterprise, AL