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[OM] Re: OT $4 a gallon gas

Subject: [OM] Re: OT $4 a gallon gas
From: Garth Wood <garth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 09:09:49 -0600
Willie Wonka wrote:

[snip]

> Garth, 
> 
> Is this a TDI model? 
> 
> I have a Golf K2 edition with 2.0l engine (declared a total loss by a mean
> insurance agent a couple of weeks ago...:(  I was never able to better the
> advertised 31mpg on the highway. 
> 
> I assume that a car sporting the VR6 would have worse mileage .  Did you
> makeany modifications to it?

Nope.  The numbers I quoted are close to "best-case" scenarios.  I live 
in Calgary, 300km from Edmonton, which my wife and I visit about six 
times a year.  In summer, with all-season radials, cruise control and 
without significant headwinds or crosswinds, I can get there on 
one-third of a 60 litre tank, which gives me a fuel efficiency of 6.7 
litres/100km, or (expressed as the reciprocal) about 15km/litre. 
Multiply by 4.55 (to express it as km/Imperial gallon) and you get 68.25 
km.  Convert to Imperial distance, and 68.25km is 42.41 miles, per 
*Imperial* gallon.  If you convert to U.S. gallon, it's a conversion 
factor of 3.79/4.55, or 0.83 approx.  42.41 x 0.83 gives 35.3, or 
rounding, 35 miles to the *U.S.* gallon.

All of the above numbers get worse if it's winter: transmission 
lubrication becomes thicker, joints are colder, winter tires have more 
rolling friction, the engine has to work harder.  They also worsen if 
any of the initially-described variables aren't there -- if I'm in heavy 
traffic on the #2, I can't use cruise control.  Bye-bye fuel economy, 
hello half a tank (30 litres instead of 20) for the same drive.  And a 
significant headwind can wreck your fuel economy, too.

Driving technique and proper maintenance/setup can make a big difference 
in how much fuel you burn.  So can the typical environment the car's 
operating in.  I can get almost 900km out of the car in summer on the 
highway if the stars are aligned.  In winter with mostly city driving, I 
get around half that.


Garth

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