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Jun. 5th, 2008 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI had a nice outing at Goodwill tonight with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
megmoves. I found two pairs of jeans (bought) one really hideously bad plaid shirt (shown to Meg and then put mercifully away) and one shirt that I was going to buy but it disappeared from my cart. Also picked up a bunch of books including one on how to solve a Rubik's cube that looks fascinating! I'm still stuck on them since spending some time playing with one that belonged to a friend of mocha_mephooki's in a mall in Milwaukee. Does anyone have one that they aren't using? I think I'd like one. Maybe I'll ask on Freecycle.
After that, she and I were joined bymoiracoon to hang out at Mo's and chat for a while. I borrowed a book to read and gave one of my thrift store finds away. Plus, I gave Andrea a copy of "The Oldest Profession: A History of Prostitution" from the thrift store. That was a cool find along with the Larry Niven and various other things.
Oh,posicat; I have a couple surprises for you too. I'll ask Andrea to give them to you tonight at the coffee meetup.
Ok: the moment you've all (and by you all I mean probably none) been waiting for! I filled up my gas tank today after spending my time behind the wheel carefully modulating my speed and doing a great deal of coasting with the engine on (that's N-ICE on coasting: Neutral-Internal Combustion Engine On as opposed to N-ICE off, which involves turning the engine off and coasting) down from the tops of hills and up to red lights and such (not to mention turning the engine off as well if I do get stuck at a red light). I've also been carefully parking at high points in parking lots to conserve potential energy as well as pulling through one parking space and into another to make sure no one can park in front of me and make me waste gas backing out. Speaking of that, I've found a way, both at home and at work, to use the contour of the driveway or parking lot to roll backwards into my parking space without ever having to shift to reverse and burn gas doing shifting.
The result? 338.5 miles on 9.225 gallons of gasoline. That's 36.694 miles per gallon during my normal, daily commute; up and down hills, through multiple stop signs, red lights, and rush hour jams. Not only is that my best score yet, but it beats the EPA combined rating for my Aveo by nearly 11 miles per gallon! And, it beats my score on my return trip from the Keweenau (36.574mpg) , which was 99% non-stop highway driving, by close to a quarter mile per gallon. That's around 140% of EPA spec; kick ass! I can't wait 'till I have a Scangauge; I'm sure I can get to 40! I'm getting in on the next group buy of them at www.cleanmpg.com.
Considering I was getting an average of around 30mpg on my commute when I first got the car, that's pretty compelling evidence to show that simple modification of habits can make a huge difference in your fuel efficiency. No complex mechanics involved; you just have to adjust the nut behind the wheel.
And now, to bed. Is late. Dog is tired.
megmoves. I found two pairs of jeans (bought) one really hideously bad plaid shirt (shown to Meg and then put mercifully away) and one shirt that I was going to buy but it disappeared from my cart. Also picked up a bunch of books including one on how to solve a Rubik's cube that looks fascinating! I'm still stuck on them since spending some time playing with one that belonged to a friend of mocha_mephooki's in a mall in Milwaukee. Does anyone have one that they aren't using? I think I'd like one. Maybe I'll ask on Freecycle.After that, she and I were joined by
moiracoon to hang out at Mo's and chat for a while. I borrowed a book to read and gave one of my thrift store finds away. Plus, I gave Andrea a copy of "The Oldest Profession: A History of Prostitution" from the thrift store. That was a cool find along with the Larry Niven and various other things.Oh,
posicat; I have a couple surprises for you too. I'll ask Andrea to give them to you tonight at the coffee meetup.Ok: the moment you've all (and by you all I mean probably none) been waiting for! I filled up my gas tank today after spending my time behind the wheel carefully modulating my speed and doing a great deal of coasting with the engine on (that's N-ICE on coasting: Neutral-Internal Combustion Engine On as opposed to N-ICE off, which involves turning the engine off and coasting) down from the tops of hills and up to red lights and such (not to mention turning the engine off as well if I do get stuck at a red light). I've also been carefully parking at high points in parking lots to conserve potential energy as well as pulling through one parking space and into another to make sure no one can park in front of me and make me waste gas backing out. Speaking of that, I've found a way, both at home and at work, to use the contour of the driveway or parking lot to roll backwards into my parking space without ever having to shift to reverse and burn gas doing shifting.
The result? 338.5 miles on 9.225 gallons of gasoline. That's 36.694 miles per gallon during my normal, daily commute; up and down hills, through multiple stop signs, red lights, and rush hour jams. Not only is that my best score yet, but it beats the EPA combined rating for my Aveo by nearly 11 miles per gallon! And, it beats my score on my return trip from the Keweenau (36.574mpg) , which was 99% non-stop highway driving, by close to a quarter mile per gallon. That's around 140% of EPA spec; kick ass! I can't wait 'till I have a Scangauge; I'm sure I can get to 40! I'm getting in on the next group buy of them at www.cleanmpg.com.
Considering I was getting an average of around 30mpg on my commute when I first got the car, that's pretty compelling evidence to show that simple modification of habits can make a huge difference in your fuel efficiency. No complex mechanics involved; you just have to adjust the nut behind the wheel.
And now, to bed. Is late. Dog is tired.
