Long vs. Really Long trips

04PDWagon · Nov 16, 2006

Just out of curiosity...or simply to stir the turds...

My typical work commute consists of about 5 miles of city driving where I warm up the car by shifting over 2500 til warm, then shifting @2200 for economy until i get on the T-Pike where I set the cruise at 65. After about another 5 miles I have to slow for a toll (coast in 5th to about 45MPH) then hit resume on the cruise and I'm back to 65. Fast Forward about 15 miles and I get off the T-Pike to drop off my wife...add a mile or so of city driving and I'm back on the T-Pike going 65 again...to go through another toll 4 miles later...back up to cruising speed for about another 15 miles...another toll...about 5 more miles then I'm off the T-Pike and go through 1 mile of city driving and I'm at work. Its about 51-52 miles total, but as you can see, there is alot of slowing and stopping along the way. This still gets me about a 41-45MPG average over an entire tank depending on my driving.

The question/curiosity is the following: I'm taking a 4 hour road trip over thanksgiving where I'll be able to set the Cruise and actually cruise for 150+ miles without having to stop. Now, what would have a worse effect on mileage, the above mentioned crappy trip to work or driving an extra 5 - 10 MPH on the extended road trip without stops? Would the decrease in mileage from any increased speed by offset by not varying vehicle speed for a prolonged period and not having any cold starts?

Fix_Until_Broke · Nov 16, 2006

My typical driving back & forth to work is 17 miles each way with 10-13 stops, corners, etc that require a slow down or stop and speed back up again. It takes me ~25 minutes so my average speed is ~40 MPH, I typically cruise at ~50 MPH indicated. My last two tanks of this have been at 60-65 MPG. My last road trip of 509 miles (100 miles @ 65, 125 miles at 55, 5 cold starts, each on ~10 mile trips, 225 miles @ 55) which averaged about 55 MPH I achieved 64.9 MPG. So, in my case, yes the increased steady state speeds countered the effect of a lower average speed but more starts/stops. I have another road trip coming up over thanksgiving by myself, maybe I'll try it at 50 MPH indicated and see what kind of mileage I can get.

I would expect that you would get ~ the same mileage on your trip as you do on your morning/afternoon commute if you drove 65-70 MPH. How long does it take you to drive your 52 mile commute? Can you determine your overall average speed?

Let us know how your trip goes - Post back with your results, speeds, etc.

daBooj · Nov 16, 2006

hard to say. There is a lot to be gained from the long drive at steady cruise. And I think you would surpass the 41-45 with only a 5mph increase in speed. I'm not as sure about the 10mph.

Why don't you go up at 70, fill up and record. Then down at 75, fill up and record.

Course I would suggest going up at 55 and down at 65 to compare, but... I'm patient

(I'll be doing a longer than that commute over thanksgiving, and will be forced to speed, I'm sure. My old man will be in the car. Those old people, always in a rush. Have to get where they're going in a hurry or they might just die along the way!)

04PDWagon · Nov 16, 2006

It takes me about 70 minutes...so @45MPH.

I think that my biggest problem on this road trip is that it is a route that I normally take on the way to autocrosses/track days in the Civic at an average speed of 90-95...driving it in the TDI is going to be painful at 70-75...but I'll have to continually remind myself of how much fuel I'll be saving!!! OR, I have to drive that slow because the baby is in the car on this road trip.

daBooj · Nov 16, 2006

Do you have an Ipod? Do you have a way to connect it to your car? NPR is now allowing you to download things like This American Life for free. That's an hour of amusement per show. If you like things like that. Keeps the mind from thinking about how slow you are going.

though is does work kinda like a cellphone for distracting the driver. Not as much, but...

04PDWagon · Nov 16, 2006

daBooj said:
Course I would suggest going up at 55 and down at 65 to compare, but... I'm patient

1. i don't quite think I'm THAT patient. I've done 60 a few times on the way to work and haven't felt like I was going to quite be killed by truckers.

2. Since the baby will be in the car I will be essentially traveling with a time bomb. Our plan is to feed him and hit the road. That means that we should be good for 3 hours before his next feeding...unless of course, he decides that its a good time for an explosive poop and all bets are off!

3. I think my wife would kill me if I went 55, as it is she asks why everyone is passing us when i'm doing 65 on the way to work.

I'll probably do 70 on the way up and if the mileage stays above 40 then I'll try 75 on the way back down.

daBooj · Nov 16, 2006

even at 75 I would think your mileage would stay over 40. But... what do I know. It just seems I can flog my car on a long trip and still get something like 49. I love this car.

04PDWagon · Nov 16, 2006

daBooj said:
even at 75 I would think your mileage would stay over 40. But... what do I know. It just seems I can flog my car on a long trip and still get something like 49. I love this car.

I too have noticed that driving it hard doesn't drop the mileage that much either. On what tires? 505.01 or 506.01? I have been considering removing the roof rails from the wagon as well. 'Til now I've been running Motul Specific 505.01...just orderd Elf 506.01 from tdiparts for my 60K mile oil change...I'm at 57K now. 7K miles on the current oil change and only about a 1/8 of a quart has disappeared. I'm planning on making the oil changes with the 506.01 at 15K.

At 60K I'm also planning on cleaning the intake (never before done) and performing a snow screenectomy (never been cleaned).

04PDWagon · Nov 16, 2006

Don't forget that with our temps...AC use is mandatory...wishing for cooler weather!

vavet5308 · Nov 16, 2006

This seems ripe for a betting pool.
I say you'll need one stop for wife/baby going down and get 46.2 mpg.
Two stops coming back will get you 44.6 mpg!

daBooj · Nov 16, 2006

AC?! I've thought about having it removed from the car! So much useless weight I'm carrying around!

Anyhow, it's only supose to be 75 degrees as a high temperature in Miami on Thanksgiving.

oh, and I got excited a long while back and tried to find the snowscreen in my car, but it wasn't there. The CAI is there, but the screen was not.

The intake shouldn't be bad at all, either, since it's a PD. And since you know how to drive it.

But the 506.01 oil is a dream.

04PDWagon · Nov 16, 2006

vavet5308 said:
This seems ripe for a betting pool.
I say you'll need one stop for wife/baby going down and get 46.2 mpg.
Two stops coming back will get you 44.6 mpg!

I'm HOPING for one stop...46.2 I think is a pipe dream unless if I drive 65 the whole way.

daBooj, if it was me alone, I'd turn off recirc and crack the rear windows an inch and be fine...but with wife + baby + 90% humidity will make it tough. Plus I'll be driving East with the sun glaring through the windshield. If it was an evening drive, no AC for sure! I have pulled the pipe that goes from the intercooler to the intake manifold (out of curiosity) and it was pretty nasty. I bought this car from a friend with 42K on the clock 5 months ago. Trust me, it needs cleaning. Now with ULSD its a good time to clean and then not worry about it again.

You have a CAI???

and no one on this forum has shot you yet for not running the OEM air filter since nothing else will do? I imagine the CAI has a K&N at the end of it

the HORROR!!!

Ok, that's enough drama and sarcasm for one post.

daBooj · Nov 16, 2006

the car comes stock with a cold air intake. That's what the snorkel is. It pulls air from the front drivers side where the air is cool. People get shot for putting a oily K&N in, or for asking if they should put an aftermarket CAI in, but... they have a great setup from the factory.

but the snorkel that I have in the 04 looks identical to the one in the 03 (from what I remember), save the 04 doesn't have the screen.

I still need to do the EGR cooler recall on my car. When I'm in there for that I'll have a look at my intake as well. I hope it's not clogged. That was no fun on the 03.

scurvy · Nov 16, 2006

daBooj said:
even at 75 I would think your mileage would stay over 40. But... what do I know.

More than you give yourself credit for!

On long road trips in my 2006 Golf (BEW engine, 02J 5M transmission, tires at 44 psi cold), I consistently return at least 43 mpg with cruise set at 80 mph indicated.

Worry less, drive more.

scurvy

Ernie Rogers · Nov 16, 2006

Let me predict-- 75 mpg

Can you stay at 50 mpg? Good job! I believe you can do it!

Let me predict-- you will get 75 mpg. Maybe as high as 80 mpg if you are thoughtful and the wind is at your back.

If you have to go by any cities on a freeway, watch out for hostility from others. Watch out for clusters of semis going very fast, they may not be able to get out of your lane.

If it all works out and you get the 75 mpg, may I suggest that you call the newspaper and let them know about it? This is the kind of news people need to help them drive more sanely.

Ernie Rogers

Fix_Until_Broke said:
I have another road trip coming up over thanksgiving by myself, maybe I'll try it at 50 MPH indicated and see what kind of mileage I can get.

where2 · Nov 19, 2006

04PDWagon said:
I think that my biggest problem on this road trip is that it is a route that I normally take on the way to autocrosses/track days in the Civic at an average speed of 90-95...driving it in the TDI is going to be painful at 70-75...

Steady state in the 70-75mph range seems to net 44mpg in my wife's 06 Jetta_TDI (5spd). I have a friend with an '04 Jetta_Wagon_TDI (5spd) who regularly pushes closer to 50mpg on highway trips. He hit 57mpg on one trip and emailed me to brag about it... He was running 55-60mph (which would get you killed in Florida!, but works fine for him in Virginia).

arvina · Nov 19, 2006

i get 40 mpg in the city driving semi hard all the time. io drive 4 miles a day with lots of stops. on the highway i got 47 mpg with a slight headwind on my last trip cruising at 75 or 80. guess i'm lucky?
heck, with no AC and a good tailwind and no stuff to haul on a non stop drive goin 75 i bet i could wasily get over 55.

04PDWagon · Nov 22, 2006

Well, I'm heading out in a few hours and things have already changed from the original plan. Since we'll be driving during daylight hours rather than at night as usual my wife wants to take the scenic route (had no idea that existed in Florida). It more of a rual route with posted speed limits of 45-65 which should make for some nice mileage driving if I can manage to get the few lights along the way green. Depending on how good (or bad) that route goes I might go back to the tried and true route on the way back home. I'll keep you guys posted...should be about 270-280 miles one way so it should be enough to drive there, fill up and get economy numbers and then do the same on the way back.

TurbineWhine · Nov 22, 2006

04PDWagon said:
Plus I'll be driving East with the sun glaring through the windshield.

You're in Miami, FL and you are going to drive East at 70 MPH with the wife and baby, for how long?????!!!!!!

TW

04PDWagon · Nov 24, 2006

TurbineWhine said:
04PDWagon said:

Plus I'll be driving East with the sun glaring through the windshield.

You're in Miami, FL and you are going to drive East at 70 MPH with the wife and baby, for how long?????!!!!!!

TW

Click to expand...

Errrr...Ummmm....yeah, West.

Well, the "scenic" route was more scenic but for all intents and purposes sucked. IT was shorter mileage wise but took the same amount of time due to some 35MPH speed zones through small cities and any possible traffic light along the was always red. Ended up doing 42.xxxmpg over the 260 mile drive + 30 or so in the city once I got here. I'll top off again before I go and will likely take the "non-scenic but don't have to stop once" route and compare mileage.

silverbox · Nov 24, 2006

I also drive a Jetta Wagon.
From what I've read in this forum, the roof rails actualy help with the aerodynamics, something about directing the air flow. I'm trying to find out about the effects of the OE spoiler available from World Impex.

04PDWagon · Nov 27, 2006

On the way back I was in a hurry (trying to make the trip without stopping) and ended up cruising at 80 and the mileage definitely suffered because of it. here's the breakdown:

Tank one...260 miles of road trip, mostly at 70 mph with a half dozen or so small cities that we had to pass through where the speed limit slowed to 35 and there were a few traffic lights. Only had to make one stop to feed the baby and it coincided with having to wait at a train crossing so it all worked out. Then about 45 miles of city driving. Figuring the city driving at 35MPG the 260 mile portion works out to about 44MPG which is on par with what I normally average.

Tank Two...270 miles of road trip...more miles due to a different route. Trip was done at 80MPH with no AC and no stops. The remainder of the tank was 80 miles of city driving. Figuring the city driving at 35MPG the interstate driving at 80 would work out to 37MPG which is what I normally get when I drive like an A$$. Pretty big hit for the increased speeds.

Take into account that there were strong winds all weekend long so I'm sure that played into the low numbers...temps were in the 50's and 60's.

cptmox · Nov 27, 2006

If I were to take a road trip, and did not get over 50 mpg, I would wonder what was wrong with my car. My optimum speed for mpg, safety, sanity, etc... is whatever the speed limit is.

You however should keep it around 70-75 mph. This will minimize diaper changing/spouse pee breaks, maintain your sanity, reduce the # of questions like "honey, when will we get there?" or "why are you driving so slow?"

Enjoy the trip.

04PDWagon · Nov 27, 2006

cptmox said:
If I were to take a road trip, and did not get over 50 mpg, I would wonder what was wrong with my car. My optimum speed for mpg, safety, sanity, etc... is whatever the speed limit is.

The beauty of a non-PD, non wagon.

cptmox said:
You however should keep it around 70-75 mph. This will minimize diaper changing/spouse pee breaks, maintain your sanity, reduce the # of questions like "honey, when will we get there?" or "why are you driving so slow?"

Enjoy the trip.

Trip is done...mileage was similar to what I normally get in like-driving situations. Luckily we only had one baby feeding stop on the way up and on the way back 80MPH + a sleepy baby made for a 3 hour 45 minute trip with no stops.

Long vs. Really Long trips

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