The aero drag increases with the square of speed. You trade your fuel for time.
One time I followed my uncle across south Dakota in my 1988 Chevy stepside. It had a v6 but usually required a fill up somewhere on that route at freeway speeds. His truck would only go 45mph, so that's how fast we went. When we got home there was still half a tank of fuel left in my pickup - no fill ups. That was an early lesson for me in the extravagance of speed. On Fri, Jul 26, 2019, 10:21 PM Jim Cathey via Mercedes < mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > Speaking of fuel, as some may recall I have a 1997 Dodge diesel that I > dearly love, > and with which I can get 25-26mpg on a highway trip if I take pains to > keep the > speeds down. I had bought a 1996 Dodge V10 as a parts vehicle for it, > which > ended up being a driver instead. It routinely gets 10-12 mpg. (Usually > not 12!) > The diesel is, for now, a camper-only vehicle. Having a second truck is > much > less 'puckery' and inconvenient than taking the camper on and off. > > Due to circumstances we ended up taking the V10 on a cross-State trip, and > to > attempt to mitigate the fuel costs I drove it much like I was on a mileage > run with > the diesel. (The V10 has an automatic transmission, vs the manual of the > diesel. > Doom seemed the order of the day.) > > On the Spokane/Tacoma legs, which includes crossing the Cascade mountain > range via Snoqualmie Pass, we got 14.6 and 15.3 mpg! (The lower figure > was due > to getting caught in an hour or so of stop-and-go traffic near Tacoma. > Bad planning.) > > I was really quite surprised. The V10 has a locking torque converter, > which engages > at about 55 MPH, at 1500 RPM. I kept speeds under 60 MPH. Not bad for an > 8 liter > V10. (Specs are 300 HP and 450 lb/ft of torque.) All you have to be is > patient, then > your fuel costs merely stink. > > My wife seemed to be a lot more in favor of keeping this truck after this > trip. It was > quiet and comfortable, and performed admirably. And, the mileage was > almost tolerable. > But, I'll give her the choice. > > -- Jim > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
