Real world MPG?

[Ganthrithor]

I get low 30's on the highway (30-32) and low 20's when I thrash it around backroads. I think the onboard computer was saying 26.5 MPG average or something a few weeks back (I've done a lot of road-trip miles on this car though-- a thousand miles coming out from Colorado plus I've been up and down between SB and the bay area and SB and LA a bunch of times this summer). Highway mileage is pretty good for something NA and fun to drive IMHO. There are definitely more efficient engines out there, though. I think the N54 on my dad's 135 gets 28 highway or something if you drive it with a light foot, and that car makes about twice the power and almost 3x the torque of ours... Still, it's not bad. It still uses less gas than my GTI did.

Originally Posted by Marchy

what risk, rock chips?

Seriously?

[BoostinIX]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Yeah I average around 24...these kids are throttle shy.

Nah, just prefer a heavy wallet to an empty gas tank

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by kuhlka

If you're running boost on an inefficient map, goodbye fuel economy. My stock STI rarely gets better than 20 MPG.

3500+ lbs, AWD, boost and 3 differentials will do that.

[uEih]

Originally Posted by Marchy

a light foot, drafting a truck and a flat road will get you better than epa estimate.

Originally Posted by chrisl

Don't draft trucks - the risk isn't worth the extra efficiency.

Originally Posted by Marchy

what risk, rock chips? clear bra FTMFW, also there are some highways that have a high number of accidents related to animals crossing them, anytime i've driven down those highways i find a nice sized truck to be my fullback and plow those critters out of the way.

Clear bra isn't going to save you when something big gets knocked up or even save your windshield. I always get out of the way of big trucks whether it's the side or behind, I just don't feel safe around them with this small car. I understand driving behind a truck at a distance but if you're talking about drafting behind a truck that's pretty close.

Also a light foot isn't going to get you 42 MPG, that's impossible with this car, I don't know where people are pulling those numbers from. Unless they reset their average MPG while driving and let it run the average while they're cruising, then that's not accurate at all.

[hanabie]

retards sticking behind large trucks. You must have not watched Final Destination.

[hanabie]

I personally hate drafting behind the truck. It annoys the driver as well as slow me down. If I do really care about mpg, I would not buy this car in the first place.

Get real people!

[hanabie]

Id take the deer home.. sorry living in the city. Rarely see deers. nowdays

He was lucky. He should not hit the brake. Hell anyone would hit the brake for that kind of reaction.

deer meats are very delicious. Drool

[hanabie]

Originally Posted by Marchy

honestly of all the animals to hit, a deer, or any other woodland creature with long legs and a fat body, would be the worst as i just imagine we'd take out the legs and have a giant body coming through the windshield, that would seriously suck.

and if you want deer, come to the country, i have a doe eating grass in my front yard every night, and she's not afraid of my exhaust.

you are right tho. I've been living in my country, Indonesia, for years. We don't really sticking close to big trucks. It is scary to see those stuff falling off of the trucks and going straight through your windshield. My mom's friend was driving behind a truck, and yeah she was damn lucky. The pole just penetrated straight to the windshield and the passenger's seat.

I should say, "drafting behind a truck with container can be safe." I would not recommend anyone driving any trucks especially with stuff which seems not securely tightened.

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by Marchy

you don't need to be inches behind the truck to draft it, two car length back will still net you an increase in MPGs.

Two car lengths back is nowhere near far enough. That's only a third of a second back at 65mph, which is nowhere near enough time to react if something were to happen (for example, a blowout or loss of tread on one of the truck's tires).

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by hanabie

He was lucky. He should not hit the brake. Hell anyone would hit the brake for that kind of reaction.

Your best reaction is almost always to brake. Swerving risks loss of control, and might put you in a worse situation, but braking hard in a straight line is a fairly safe bet. If you can't avoid hitting the animal, it sucks, but you're best off hitting the animal as slowly as possible.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by chrisl

Your best reaction is almost always to brake. Swerving risks loss of control, and might put you in a worse situation, but braking hard in a straight line is a fairly safe bet. If you can't avoid hitting the animal, it sucks, but you're best off hitting the animal as slowly as possible.

Problem with that is your COG drops when you brake, raising the chance that the body enters through the windshield and DOES kill you. The better move is to accelerate and that's what any defensive driving course will teach you.

[tinma]

Mine is terrible... 10.5L/100km

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Problem with that is your COG drops when you brake, raising the chance that the body enters through the windshield and DOES kill you. The better move is to accelerate and that's what any defensive driving course will teach you.

Nope. The nose of the car drops slightly when braking, the CG remains at a nearly unchanged height, and at the end of the day, the biggest (by far) factor is that you hit going slower. Accelerating increases the risk, and increases the likely damage to your vehicle. If any defensive driving course teaches you to accelerate, I would seriously question the advice given in that course. All the actual advice I can find states exactly the opposite. For example:

Originally Posted by Minnesota DoT

"It's safer to hit a deer than to risk hitting another vehicle or a fixed object such as a tree," she said. "Apply your brakes firmly, hold onto the steering wheel and bring your vehicle to a controlled stop."

(http://www.dot.state.mn.us/newsrels/03/10/31deer.html)

You probably wouldn't want to panic brake, for the same reason that you wouldn't want to swerve: you want to minimize the chance of losing control and hitting something else. However, you do want to minimize your energy on impact as best you can, and this is ALWAYS achieved by hitting it at the lowest speed possible (assuming you can't avoid it entirely). Some sources also recommend releasing the brake just before impact, both due to the front end lift this will cause, and (again) to improve the chances you will maintain control throughout and after the impact, however this is very different than advising that you accelerate (which is pretty much never a good idea).

[OrbitalEllipses]

Forgive my terminology then, but if you brake and hood drops...the animal comes through the windshield. That was the main point, not some semantics argument. Your quote regarding letting off the brake addresses that concern to a degree, but I'm done with this conversation now.