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NW KS/ SC ID | my obsession with fuel milage is due to a few factors:
1) I dont like spending money
2) I like to see how changes in driving style/ vehicle operation affect fuel economy
3) tracking fuel consumption over time is a great way to catch mechanical problems before they cost you more money. For example, if after a nice salty winter, your brake caliper sticks and holds a brake pad applied, you might catch a drop in MPG, inspect, free up, replace worn pad, go on your way. if ignored, you could be buying a rotor as well, etc. just a part of cost reducing preventative maintenance.
4) something to brag about. since when is a 3/4 ton pickup that gets 20+ MPG not worth bragging about? :)
5) I am aware that the newer pickups have awesome power, but it still irks me that the MPG is so poor. I wish we could at least have an option to trade off power for fuel economy, such as a 6.xL v-8 belting out 500 hp and gets 12 mpg, or a 4.xL v-6 that has 200 hp and can get 30 mpg. it seems like all engine choices get horrible MPG, with varying levels of power. and as far a low end torque? none of them seem to have it.
6) a constant reminder to the superiority of the manual transmission. :) dad has a knee that bothers him running the clutch on pickups (big truck and tractors, just fine, I think its the pushing "in" rather than "down" that bothers him) so his pickup buying patterns have shifted to the automatics, and they routinely get lousy mileage. his current DDer is a 98 K2500HD chevy, 6.5L auto 4wd, and it averages in the mid teens. My 6.5L 5spd 2wd gets over 20 empty, and I have to hook a gooseneck on to bring my MPG down to his. at this point in my life with good knees, I loathe and despise automatics. All gear ratios the same, you will never beat the efficiency of a few gears and shafts swimming in synthetic oil versus pumping oil to pressure to hydraulically engage a clutchpack.
7) feed back to see what your next vehicle should be. 12 mpg with 4.10s? lets try 3.73s or 3.42s next time and see if it meets my needs while getting better mpg. this is especially true with ford, who seems to offer plenty of gear ratio options behind the 6.7L PSD.
IMO completely ignoring fuel economy is not a smart business decision, if the vehicle is in fact related to the farm. Now for the Camaro or mustang in the garage? fry the tires and guzzle the fuel and give it hell. :) a personaly vehicle is a completely different thing, buy it for wants, rather than needs. I found a Chevy Caprice cop car with the factory option Corvette engine that I think I need to have, and i will tell you that fuel economy will be tracked out of curiousity, but probably wont affect the purchase. ;) | |
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What is our obsession with fuel mileage?
