Wringing Out MPG on the Road to Wyoming - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited August 2015 in Chevrolet
imageWringing Out MPG on the Road to Wyoming - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Long-Term Road Test

On a road trip to Wyoming, the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado delivers pretty impressive MPG.

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Comments

  • darthbimmerdarthbimmer Member Posts: 606
    It's not surprising that you can achieve the rated highway mileage by driving gently-- and only by driving gently. The EPA's methods for determining the highway number bear little relation to reality for a lot of drivers. Quoting a paragraph from their regulation:

    "The city and highway tests are currently performed under mild climate conditions (75 degrees F) and include acceleration rates and driving speeds that EPA believes are generally lower than those used by drivers in the real world. Neither test is run while using accessories, such as air conditioning. The highway test has a top speed of 60 miles per hour, and an average speed of only 48 miles per hour."
  • metalmaniametalmania Member Posts: 167
    Well, as a prospective Colorado buyer in the next couple of years, I'm encouraged a little by this. I'd really like to know more about the driving conditions of that 24.7 mpg tank, but I'm glad to FINALLY see some numbers that suggest the EPA figures (however misaligned with reality they may be) aren't mythical. It's still a truck, so I don't expect miracles but if 24 or close to it can be realistically attained at a steady 60 mph I'm OK with that. Yeah, I drive faster than that a lot (but not by too much) but 60 is a fair speed to call "highway".

    I still don't know why the EPA test isn't just start with a full tank, set the cruise at 60 on one of the massive oval test tracks, run for an hour, then measure how much fuel was used. Miles / gallons used = mpg. Done. Maybe I'm naive but when I hear the term "highway" driving, that's what I think of: cruising down the interstate at @ 60 - 65 mph. City would be stop and go with speeds going up to maybe 30 - 35.

    My neighbor bought a Colorado a few weeks ago, 3.6 crew cab with 4wd, and said he's getting 21 mpg avg and got 23.8 on a recent highway trip. Those numbers might have been from the onboard mpg readout, which always seem a little optimistic, but there's hope.
  • cranestevecranesteve Member Posts: 8
    my question for everyone quoting mpg. are they your own manually calculated numbers or are they the numbers the trip computer calculates for you. i wonder cause i have checked my numbers against the dashboard numbers and they havent matched yet. although its only been twice so far. hopefully this isnt a fake, inflated number from the computer to make the people believe its better then reality, like VW
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