My 98 JXi gets about 24mpg local driving in the mountains of NC. On a 600 mi trip to FL I got better than 30mpg. Now if I could just get the oil light to go out!
I seem to be getting 23-24 mpg in the city (EPA 24). I get about 35-36 on the Highway (EPA 32)and I drive 70 or posted speed limit, not 60 like they do in the tests. I am VERY happy with the mileage and the car is peppy and passes well. I think too many people just love to hate American cars ( I have owned a few bad ones)and automatically downgrade the U. S. cars. Also, some raters seem to want race car performance - try setting your cruse control at 70mph on the interstate and watch the cars zip past you at 85-90 mph. No wonder their mileage is not so good!
Figure $3.20/gallon for gas (my last fillup), here is a per mile cost:
Gas Cost - $3.20 * 13 gallons = $41.60
70 MPH - $41.60/260 miles = $.16/mile 60 MPH - $41.60/364 miles = $.115/mile
To drive the same 364 miles at 70 MPH, it costs me $58.24. That's another $16.64 I give away to the oil companies.
To take this to another extreme, $16.64/week * 50 weeks of commuting = $832 per year I potentially waste. I can think of many other ways to spend this money.
Sure you gain a few miles per gallon by going 60 instead of 70, but you are not throwing away your money when you drive fast, you are exchanging it directly for time. Driving 360 miles at 60mph takes 6 hours, at 70mph it takes 5:08. That 10mph difference just cost you 52 minutes.
My sebring (2006) gets 20mpg at 85mph and about 28mpg at 60, so if you are doing 60mph on a 360 mile trip and I zoom by you at 85mph with my radar detector on lookout, you arrive in 6 hours, and I arrive a full 1 hour and 45 minutes ahead of you, which means any extra fillups and even lunches are free time for me and I still get to my destination ahead of you.
You say you save $830 a year by going just a little slower, and this is no savings to brush off. But by the same math: that's 52 minutes per gastank\week, times 50 tanks\weeks, means you have wasted 43.3 hours of your life just by going 10mph slower.
How much is two full days of your life worth per year?
I just had a 2007/2008 Sebring rental with a 2.4L and an automatic. Drove it about 5 hrs, mostly freeway at about 70 MPH with the AC on ... I was very pleasantly surprised to get an honest 33 MPG out of this very substantial car. It was not a dog to drive and I did not pamper it. If this car will get 33 MPG highway, where the hell are all the smaller cars getting 40+ MPG !?
My 07 sebring limited just gets better and better. Now that it is broken in (20 thousand miles) my mileage has improved. On long trips I now average between 39 and 40 mpg (2.4 liter engine), and that is with a fully loaded car. (two big dogs, two big adults and trunk packed chock full. )In town, I am getting in the mid to upper twenties.
I just rented a 2008 Alamo Chrysler Sebring (4 cyl auto) out of Detroit and went on an epic 2 week driving quest (e.g. see the college kids).
Total of 3433 miles with with 108.9 gallons of gas. Came to 31.5 mpg. Pretty good. I'd estimate 90% hiway, 10% city - averaging 70mph on the hiway.
The gas cost was about double of what the car cost to rent. Lowest pirce I got was $3.179 in northern Ohio, highest was $3.809 on the Mass Pike.
Overall, the Sebring was a nice car, solid, no squeaks or rattles, good mpg, good handling (but dead steering feel), quiet on the road except for some wind noise. Used the radio input jack to listen to the last harry potter audio book - unabridged, which made the miles fly by. Passed through some beautiful country in a great time of year.
I have a 2.5 v6 160,000 miles 55mph is the best gas mileage on this car, i get around 35mpg but if i speed it up to 70, i only get around 25-28mpg, still good.
I have an 05 GTC Loaded with 51,000 I do frequent trips between Los Angeles and Portland OR. I have been geting a consistant 35 at 65mph with cruise control on the freeway!
Comments
Regards:
Oldengineer
Now if I could just get the oil light to go out!
Here is approximate mileage based on speed:
70 MPH = 20 MPG
65 MPH = 26 MPG
60 MPH = 28 MPG
With gas approaching $3.50/gallon, cutting down on the highway speed makes a huge difference. Look at this example, based on my 13 gallon tank:
Driving 70 MPH - 20 MPG * 13 gallons = 260 miles/tank
Driving 60 MPH - 28 MPG * 13 gallons = 364 miles/tank
Figure $3.20/gallon for gas (my last fillup), here is a per mile cost:
Gas Cost - $3.20 * 13 gallons = $41.60
70 MPH - $41.60/260 miles = $.16/mile
60 MPH - $41.60/364 miles = $.115/mile
To drive the same 364 miles at 70 MPH, it costs me $58.24. That's another $16.64 I give away to the oil companies.
To take this to another extreme, $16.64/week * 50 weeks of commuting = $832 per year I potentially waste. I can think of many other ways to spend this money.
My sebring (2006) gets 20mpg at 85mph and about 28mpg at 60, so if you are doing 60mph on a 360 mile trip and I zoom by you at 85mph with my radar detector on lookout, you arrive in 6 hours, and I arrive a full 1 hour and 45 minutes ahead of you, which means any extra fillups and even lunches are free time for me and I still get to my destination ahead of you.
You say you save $830 a year by going just a little slower, and this is no savings to brush off. But by the same math: that's 52 minutes per gastank\week, times 50 tanks\weeks, means you have wasted 43.3 hours of your life just by going 10mph slower.
How much is two full days of your life worth per year?
Just food for thought!
Total of 3433 miles with with 108.9 gallons of gas. Came to 31.5 mpg. Pretty good. I'd estimate 90% hiway, 10% city - averaging 70mph on the hiway.
The gas cost was about double of what the car cost to rent. Lowest pirce I got was $3.179 in northern Ohio, highest was $3.809 on the Mass Pike.
Overall, the Sebring was a nice car, solid, no squeaks or rattles, good mpg, good handling (but dead steering feel), quiet on the road except for some wind noise. Used the radio input jack to listen to the last harry potter audio book - unabridged, which made the miles fly by. Passed through some beautiful country in a great time of year.
55mph is the best gas mileage on this car, i get around 35mpg
but if i speed it up to 70, i only get around 25-28mpg, still good.