SDM & others. R u guys "blipping" the eco or r u letting it cycle between the EV & recharge ICD modes automatically?
Macgyver = 65 mph up hill is tough to swallow personally, given my last experience climbing the Sherwin grade which is a long a$$ haul up, north of Bishop,CA really KILLED my drive MPG numbers by a lot vs 2 bar uphill and holding the acceleration there. Anyone else can back up and repeat Macgyver's finding?
I know, I'm considering changing my forum handle to "Captain Counterintuitive"- all I can say is that's what Torque is telling me as far as instant MPG, just like how 65mph is more efficient than 55, 70-73mph is the highest gearing (miles per piston bang) and thus the most efficient speed.
I'll try "2 bar accel" vs. 70-73mph to see which is more efficient, but I can't help thinking that load is not going to be as important as the final gearing and work accomplished (distance traveled) in relation to how much gas spent,
This convo has given me an idea; I'm going to activate a "fuel used" or "gas flow rate" on Torque to see what gas consumption is at 50% load, 75% etc, vs RPMs, speed, etc.
How steep is sherwin grade? Never mind, googled it; Old Sherwin climbs about 3,500' and has a few somewhat steep sections (up to 10%). another result says 6%, which I would say is a bit more than uphill to tujunga. Any grade like that is at least gonna cut MPG in half, for me, I just try to figure out what the most efficient speed is to miniimize that grade's impact on average MPG.
In other counterintuitive news, I finally had the air shield on the bottom of the car removed before a trip to vegas, (because it was partially causing an annoying vibration in the floorboard under my feet, which is still present though to a lesser degree due to the lightweight construction of the C-max I guess) and MPG seems to be the same or slightly improved.
See the mythbusters testing of "tailgate up or down for maximum MPG" for a more detailed explanation of why, but quickly; the air pocket/bubble created by the bottom of the car is as or more slippery than the air shield.
needs more testing, (wife drove part of the way, ruining mpg by driving like a maniac as if every second of vegas time were precious or maybe they're going to close vegas or something, so vegas trip average is not to be trusted as accurate,) but I've seen my average increase, and have not noticed a drop in MPG, though I have noticed less vibration.
Edited by MacGyver, 19 December 2013 - 09:34 PM.