Search the Community

My wife and I decided to go camping in the Santa Ynez valley with a group of friends. This is the 1st time we have taken Maxine (our CMax) to the camp ground. Prior to this, the Jaguar with the Yakima Box on the top had the job. Loading up Maxine, we found that it had a little less (about a large bag) smaller storage space than the 2007 Jaguar VandenPlas with the large Yakima box. While the wifey was clearly dissapointed she could not take that final kitchen sink ;) ...thank goodness she never reads my posts.... :dance: it was still amazing a wee car like the CMax has -jus about- as much room as a luxurious long wheel base limousine with an extra large storage box. So we packed Maxine to the hilt... The drive to the camp ground was freeway and highways. Maxine is a STELLAR city girl, her MPGs are high. However, its been a while (well, last winter really) that we really stressed Maxine with a full load and freeway conditions. Getting to the camp ground was about 100 miles one way. 118 freeway down to Simi, cut through the Los Angeles Highway along the agricultural farmlands to Ventura and then take the 101 Freewy north and then at Santa Barbara, cut north up through the San Marco Pass and down to the camp ground. I did pretty good MPGs (57.4MPGs over 87 miles) from our house to McDees at Santa Barbara, had a brief pitstop for the wifey and I got some McDee fries. Then the dreaded climb over the San Marcos Pass, got tailed by a CHP for a wee while and then CalTrans had road work where they made the road into a single lane. I hated this, as it was up hill and a ton of cars behind me - all eager to race up the hill...thank you CalTrans...and finally got to the camp ground with 51.1MPG over 101 miles. Burnt a ton of gas climbing. Luckily, the wifey managed to avoid pressing the all time MPG killer....the AC. Thank you weather for the cool mid morning drive. Got to the camp ground, and we unloaded and set up the Taj Mahal. Here are some pics of Maxine fully loaded: Parked in front of our Coleman Taj Mahal: Some fine Tri Tip for dinner with friends: What is camping without a nice log fire? We more or less stayed around the camp ground but I did get a chance to drive around the area with some horse failities and dirt road. Saw some NICE sunsets and cool mountains... The weekend, like all weekends, was jus WAY TOO SHORT and soon it was time to head home. This time, the temps were mid 80s and the AC was on all the way home...climb up San Marcos Pass again but thankfully, CalTrans was not there. This was the final MPG and miles when I pulled into the garage: I sux. ...but the sad part was that 1/3 of my tank was gone and all I had left was tbe boring drive to work. But as our CMax Hypermiling Family know, MPGs are fun...and my personal challenge this time was to see how much I could squeeze out of the remaining 2/3 tank which was all city driving and I finished with this: Ok...not quite 800 mile tank but thats almost impossible with 1/3 of the tank all gone. However, I was surprised by the 778 miles as my calculations predicted a 750-760 tank....but Maxine is full of suprises to finish at 778 to the Costco gas. Amazing how lil she drinks gas.... :victory: So, it is possible to go camping, drive the freeway, use AC, go climb Pass, back to the work driving and stil post a huge tank in a car rated as 40MPG combined. Would anyone like some jam with that Toast, anyone? :)