Finally, warmer weather!

It's amazing how direct a corolary effect there is, looking at my tanks it seems pretty clear. Temps went up to the fifties, and just one commute in the warmer weather (Up a whopping 20 degrees from earlier this week), tank average shot up 2.6 MPGs just like that.

 

 

I am LOVING this hot spell- my mileage shot up to new personal bests and I don't even think I was driving differently! On one leg of my commute (22 miles) the average went up from 48.0 to 53.3! Oh, if only it weren't about to drop thirty degrees today.... These great numbers won't even last the whole tank! But really, the things I'm hearing- 81 degrees in DC in mid-March? That's just so ridiculous! Still, I'm anxious for summer now, because if this is a preview of the gas mileage that's possible with a little more skill in warm weather, this is going to be a good year.

 

Our warm spell ends today. Rest of the week will be mid 30's for highs. Meh.

 

The cold weather can be discouraging, but then I ask myself - What would you be getting if you weren't driving a hybrid? The answer to that is even scarier than watching the FE drop.

 

The weather seems to be unsure, that's for certain. 70's, 20's, 50's in three consecutive days. I'm looking forward to the warm and some better MPGs.

 

Well, not to dominate the topic, but we seem to finally have some signs of spring, with temps this week being in the 60's, and touching 70 today, and boy does it show! Monday morning, 31.4. End of driving Wednesday, 34.1.

 

Yes! I just scored my first 50+ tank.

I would've done better but the beginning of the tank had about 4-5 days of 45 MPG driving due to cold mornings. From the last couple trips I think there's a 60 MPG tank in there somewhere. I may not be able to coax it out just yet but I will be sorely disappointed if I don't get at least 53-55 MPG on this tank (starting today).

Gas is now $2.66. OPEC punks

 

Congratulations, Sledge!! That's fantastic! I know you can hit 53-55 if you try.

If the weather stays nice for a few days, I think I may get 50 or 51 from this tank, which is my goal at the moment. Today is such a beautiful spring day that I feel good to be alive, and I'm sure that my car can feel it, too, and wants to respond by giving me the best mileage it can. (well, maybe I'm just projecting). This seems to be the perfect interval- not hot enough to think about air conditioning, but the engine doesn't need to warm up and I'm not running the heater. Go for it!

 

I had posted on another site yesterday that I had a new record - 62.2mpg for my 20.8mi commute in to work (41F, no wind, 30-55mph, all on secondary highways). So...spring is (almost) here.


Congrats to everyone who's seen better / record trips / tanks in the last few days. There's even better ahead, if you persevere