Official Thread for posting daily FE updates

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Hello -

NEW personal best today on the way to work. Here's the info :

MPG : 56.4 (old best was 53.8, so a 4.83% increase)
Route : 10 West -> 710 South -> 105 West -> 405 South -> Exit Freeway
Miles : 26.9
MPH Avg: 46
MPH Max : 65
RPM Max : 2738
Gallons : 0.5
IAT Reading : Hot Air Intake led to Input Air Temp readings of 130 to 140 degrees F.

Net Elevation Change : ~210 feet drop

Weather : 84.5 degrees F, clear, 12.5% Humidity, 27.5 degrees F Dew Point
Time : ~10:30 AM to ~11:00 AM, ~30 minutes

Recent Car Changes : Reduced tire pressure from 40 PSI to 37 PSI cold (need new tires soon, trying to increase traction for rain later in week). Hydrogen Booster NOT running because I want to make sure that a new hydrogen delivery line will not come loose or melt in the engine bay. I disabled my DRLs (Daytime Running Lights), which reduces my daytime electrical load by up to 10 Amps max (Saturn DRLs are the hi beams).

Question : Could reducing PSI increase my stated MPG? I can't get my head around this. Lower PSI implies smaller tires, which implies more revs per mile, which implies ... ?!?!?

Hypothesis : IMO two things led to this, the weather and the traffic. A nice hot/dry summery day and just the right flow to the traffic. An almost empty freeway is actually worse for MPG because you get more people "pushing" you to go faster than you want. Going South on the 710 probably helps me to get "drafting for free" in the sense that I am surrounded by trucks going to Long Beach Harbor. I don't make an attempt to draft, but when I don't time my pulse right, I can end up maybe 2 car lengths behind a truck for a short period of time before I lose enough MPH to fall back.

PS - I was listening to a Violent Femmes tape that I got in a Thrift shop for $2. Could that have something to do with it?

CarloSW2

Nice going, Carlo. Gives a little better attitude when things go right, doesn't it? It's good that you are analyzing and trying to explain it to yourself. Just put it in the bank.

I doubt that 3 psi would make a measurable MPG difference. Repeat your run a couple times before changing anything else. That way you will know for sure what you have. CO ZX2