I went on a 150 mile round-trip drive this morning, I was in no hurry so I did a little experiment. No coasting or hypermiling, just cruise control and normal traffic adjustments, all mpg's are based on MFD not hand calculations. Terrain: rolling hills/6 traffic lights, didn't have to stop at all of them.... notes below. Oh yeah, cruise control speeds noted below were accurate based on GPS verification.( I had to set the cruise at 62 to go 65mph....and 67/68 to go 70-71,72mph)
**First 75 mile leg from my driveway to the exit on the highway. Cold engine(37 degrees when I left to 48 at destination) first 15 miles has some traffic lights on the highway, I hit two this time(reduces mpg's by 2-3mpg's) cruise set at 70-72mph....average at exit 50.6mpg's via the MFD which has always been within 1mpg of hand calculations.
**Return 75 mile leg from exit on highway to my driveway which included a stop for fuel and hitting 3 traffic lights, air temp 48 degrees. This time I reduced my speed to 65mph(slowest I have ever gone with this car on a long highway stretch
) the difference in mpg's was noticeable, I was very surprised, by the time I hit the first traffic light(3 total), the MFD read 58.2mpg's, pulled into the driveway MFD read 54.4 mpg's...... Whoa, looks like this car could get 60+mpg's with a little coasting/hypermiling and a reduction of speed to 60-62 mph......I don't think I have the patience to do 60mph, but 65mph was not too bad, I only got honked at once
I don't think 70mpg's are in the cards, but what do I know I'm not a hypermiling kind of guy, heck I was shocked to see what a reduction in speed to 65mph did to the fuel economy. If you are really going to drive 65-68mph then I'd say 50+mpg's is a reasonable expectation based on my drive this morning. As always.... your mileage may vary.