Planning my route to school for max mpg

[SVOboy]

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[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Now, dan is a master at this, but I want everyone's advice.



Blue/purple route: the one suggested by google maps, which I will not use because even though it's a big road with a speed limit of 50 I get stopped twice as much as normal and people are more violent about making me accelerate faster.

Yellow route: the route I use every day. I go through town for a few miles, hit about 4 stops until I'm out. Hit another stop then up to 45 mph. Prolly about 4 stops I'll hit in the 45-50 mph zone before I get into Moorestown. There I'll hit two stops in the 35 mph zone.

Red route: the same as previous in spirit but with no 25mph, just 40-50, hit about 4 stops getting to the interstate where I drive 55-60 depending on traffic volume. When I get off I only have two stops into school.

Green route: 50 mph but like 6-7 stops to get to 295, also noticably longer.

There's another in there also but meh for now on that.

Is this enough to make a sorta judgement or should I start measuring stuff like light probability and light duration and stuff?

I would probably choose the red route because of it having fewer stops. It's good to see you planning your route based on mpg. You don't see that very much. The green route looks pretty good but, as you said, it's quite a bit longer. Your mpg would have to increase up to the point where the extra miles driven would be overcome by the increased mpg otherwise you could end up getting better mpg and use more gas. When I was in college I was thinking along those same lines. I started going the most direct route at first but when Istarted going on a route that was a little longer but had no stop and go city driving, my mpg went up to the point that my fuel usage went down. Way to think ahead! Most all of the trips I take have an mpg consideration when it comes to the route I take. This includes going to work, to church, to the grocery store, and anywhere else I go.

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Now, dan is a master at this, but I want everyone's advice.

Blue/purple route: the one suggested by google maps, which I will not use because even though it's a big road with a speed limit of 50 I get stopped twice as much as normal and people are more violent about making me accelerate faster.

Yellow route: the route I use every day. I go through town for a few miles, hit about 4 stops until I'm out. Hit another stop then up to 45 mph. Prolly about 4 stops I'll hit in the 45-50 mph zone before I get into Moorestown. There I'll hit two stops in the 35 mph zone.

Red route: the same as previous in spirit but with no 25mph, just 40-50, hit about 4 stops getting to the interstate where I drive 55-60 depending on traffic volume. When I get off I only have two stops into school.

Green route: 50 mph but like 6-7 stops to get to 295, also noticably longer.

There's another in there also but meh for now on that.

Is this enough to make a sorta judgement or should I start measuring stuff like light probability and light duration and stuff?

I wouldn't write off the yellow route quite yet. It is definately the shortest. The red looks 20% longer and green looks 40% longer. Stops are not really that bad if you can time them. I assume these are stop lights not stop signs. For lights that are too long to time, I will shut down way before the light and coast to a stop. Sometimes you might get lucky and be able to bump start it the light turns green while you are still moving. Anothert thing to consider is the time of day. Traffic patterns change and sometimes leaving a few min utes earlier or later will make a huge difference. And lastly, your car might get super highway mileage but when you get your 5 speed, you can drop into 5th and cruise at 35-40 MPH at 70-80 MPG. If the del slow camino can do it, the HF will be able to do it even better.

Yo G. You need a SuperMID! Maybe when I come down to get my tranny, we can throw mine on REX and run each of the routes. The readings may be off but the relative readings are all you need to see. You will be amazed at the FE when cruising in 5th at 35-40MPH. :-)

[kickflipjr]

The red looks the best. Yellow looks good too. I would take the yellow late at night (You would hit more greens).

[MetroMPG]

are there any elevation changes you can use to your advantage in any of these options?

after making a "preferred" route selection, don't forget to factor in wind conditions on a day-to-day basis. e.g. all else being equal, you may want to choose a lower-speed route if the wind is honking in your face on a given day.

good thread - and props to krousdb for raising the profile of this topic in general!

[SVOboy]

are there any elevation changes you can use to your advantage in any of these options?

Nope, not at all.

after making a "preferred" route selection, don't forget to factor in wind conditions on a day-to-day basis. e.g. all else being equal, you may want to choose a lower-speed route if the wind is honking in your face on a given day.

Wind is never really a factor, I can't remember the last windy day we had around here.

[rh77]

I've driven that section, and I know that everyone drives 80+, but could you take Jersey Pike at 55-60? That might gain you the best mileage over that distance. Around here, I've taken up driving 57 in 65 and 70 zones and people just pass (mostly 3-lane), and I get the best highway mileage. I sometimes take the middle lane or the right lane, depending on the on-ramp traffic, but people don't seem to mind around town. When I tried it out on I-70 between St. Louis and KC, it's 2-lanes in each direction and pissed people off that they had to sequence into the passing lane.

RH77