Driving Efficiently

tmw2442 said:

PS: To everyone who drives around in a prius/honda civic hybrid (I know that your not on this forum, but ...) on the highway at 85-90 mph every day in a giant cloud of smug. Then sues the manufacture that it does not meet the epa averages fuel economy instead of going after the independent organization that rates fuel economy (epa) to change there testing practices. You should be locked up in a mental institution, or come to your senses and buy a VW golf TDI. You will get good gas mileage even at 85 mph.
Now really.
/end rant
I am super cereal guys and BTW watch out for man/bear/pig

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I find it funny when I hear people complaining about high gas prices, but then when I'm on the highway I see everyone passing me like crazy! I usually keep a steady speed of 65-70mph cause that's a good speed for my TDI to still average 40+mpgs and get anywhere in a timely manner.

The best thing in regards to all of the things mentioned is simply being aware of how you're driving. Paying attention to all the little things.

Other things I know that help are Low Rolling Resistance tires and also getting smaller lighter wheels. As much as I love the look of my stock 18s I'd rather get some 17s to save a couple of pounds per corner. My winters alone save me 5 pounds per corner and it helps.
Happy Motoring

As far as cruise control goes, I found I was getting better mileage (I have a dsg by the way) when i went on a road trip without cruise control. I avg at least 2 mpg's better. A big way i was saving was not using A/C as much as possible and then when i was going down hills i would keep my foot on the gas to the point where I would just barely gain speed and then heading uphill i would push it just enough to scrub off speed slowly back to the speed limit. I was getting up to 35 mpg's on my trip from Grand Rapids, MI to Charleston, SC and figured out I got 29 after the entire trip doing this.

something interesting that I just found out when coasting
if coasting in gear (foot off the gas) the mpg consumption will read ( - - - mpg)
when coasting in neutral at the same speed mpg consumption will give you an actual number (20-80 mpg). I learned that the more time you spend in the (- - - mpg) zone while moving, the higher your mpgs will go.

I need a lesson in efficient and calm driving, over my first 1200 or so miles I've averaged 18 MPG with the best fillup being 19.7, then again I do alot of city driving and the highways aren't flat

Goose its easy man....keep the rpms low and shift when the mfi tells you to. I can easily get over 30 mpg's when im easy on it. But when i do have the urge to get go wide open i can definitely tell it hurts my as mileage as my needle moves closer to the big E...empty