Although my mileage didn't break 20 as I was hoping, at least 200 miles of the total was in strong headwinds and rain. None of the driving occurred with strong wailwinds, even on trips the same day. I'm sure that wind and rain hurt the average at least 1 mpg.
I'm not yet done with hypermiling AT OR NEAR POSTED SPEEDS, which is close to where most people drive. I want to be able to break 20 mpg highway routinely, so I'm planning more aero mods, like a fastback bed cap, baby moon wheel covers, wheel spats and the like.
I do a lot of driving to and from my camp in northern Maine, so I may repeat the contest later this year after more mods are in.
The last leg of the trip was from Boston to NYC for the Auto Show. I had hoped to get information about the new hybrid pickups and SUVs that GM is developing. They had a mockup of the transmission BUT the GM idiots manning the booths would say nothing about the expected EPA mileage ratings. They said fuel economy would improve "about 25%" over today's trucks. Hell, I got that much info on the web a year ago.
"25%" means nothing when GM offers its trucks with various engines and with or without Active Fuel Management and VVT. Pressing further, I wanted to know whether the hybrid would be available with the 4.3 V6, which is still in production. Again, no info was available. You'd think GM would be hyping this new tranny, but instead, nothing new
was to be had.
This is frustrating. I have a cash deposit in hand, and I'm ready to dump this P.O.S. Ford pickup if someone can build me a 25 mpg full size 4x4 SUV. I need a 6 passenger vehicle now that I have 3 grandchildren and another on the way.
The lights are on, but nobody's home in GM's marketing department.
And The Winner Is....................
Linear Mode
