Fuel economy at 80-85 mph

[Chowdayer]

This weekend from LA to Bakersfield to Kettleman driving 80-90. 27 MPG average.

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[GreenLady]

My last road trip, mostly 80+mph. Oh yeah, mine is a hybrid, does that count? It messed up my mi to E and reduced my overall mpg to 39.2 so I might slow down a bit next week.

 

[sdr.speng]

If your driving that fast, then you don't need to worry about MPG - You need to worry about life insurance.

 

[James D]

When we go to our vacation home 650 miles away we drive at 80-85. That gets us there quite a bit quicker than running at 70mph.
So if you have done any driving at those speeds, what is your mpg?
Also list your engine and if the 2.0 AWD or not.

I have a Mav XLT turbo LUX 360 AWD 4K. We drove up the 15 from Vegas to Park City, a 6 hr drive. Most of Utah is 80 so I set my cruise at 84 in eco mode. My trip meter says 26.4 mpg. I am verry happy with that at those speeds.

 

[pxpaulx]

You’re the one doing 65 in the left lane yelling at everyone that they’re the one that’s in the wrong let me guess. I’m sure you’re a blast at parties

I didn't get that impression - just because someone makes a conscious decision to drive conservatively, does not indicate they are doing so in a manner that impacts other vehicles.

Now, the Fedex truck in the left lane yesterday afternoon driving the same speed as the slow vehicle on the right? @#$%ole!

 

[jewc75]

85+ and i got 27.9 bringing the truck home. AWD 2.0

 

[JASmith]

Suppose you've never been to Texas where the OP is from either. 60-70mph over there and they about run you off the road. 80-85 mph is nothing there, that's just keeping up with the flow of traffic.

From Texas, speed limits are just that, limits. You can comfortably cruise at 60mph all day on the highway, just don't hang in the left lanes.

Heck, we have Mexican convoys daily that consist of a barely road-worthy beater flat towing another even worse beater to Mexico, and they go particularly slow around 55mph usually. People just drive around.

 

[Bigbill27]

My 25 year old ranger gets 21 to 24 mpg at 80 miles an hour. Not much has changed.

 

[DavesMav]

Scenario #1: one fuel stop
Scenario #2: two fuel stops

Add 20 +/- minutes for the extra fuel stop in scenario #2

Excellent point I did not even consider!

D

 

[DavesMav]

From Texas, speed limits are just that, limits. You can comfortably cruise at 60mph all day on the highway, just don't hang in the left lanes.

Heck, we have Mexican convoys daily that consist of a barely road-worthy beater flat towing another even worse beater to Mexico, and they go particularly slow around 55mph usually. People just drive around.

Interesting, but I was more-or-less making a funny towards the person who refuses to run 80-85 mph in their Maverick. Which they later have said they drive the speed limit.. yet the speed limit is nearly those speeds in areas these days.

Dave

 

[Hack]

Just a fun math based on your 650 mile trip and my observed MPG.

650 miles @ 70 mph - 9.3 hours - say 26 mpg - 25 gal @ $4 = $100
650 miles @ 85 mph - 7.6 hours - say 18 mpg - 36 gal @ $4 = $144

I went with the lower end as my computer usually reads a little optimistically anyways. So for ~$40 you could shave 1.7 hours off.. I know it's not that simple but there's probably a nice middle ground somewhere in there to save a little time and not a lot of extra expense. Your results will vary of course.

Dave

Numbers! Nice! And pretty close to what one would expect. (I was an engineer in a previous life.)

 

[Rob Cactus Gray]

Scenario #1: one fuel stop
Scenario #2: two fuel stops

Add 20 +/- minutes for the extra fuel stop in scenario #2

20 minutes is a number 2 for sure.

 

[Philemon]

Interesting, but I was more-or-less making a funny towards the person who refuses to run 80-85 mph in their Maverick. Which they later have said they drive the speed limit.. yet the speed limit is nearly those speeds in areas these days.

Dave

Highway speed limit here is 75mph. Plenty of folks drive 70-75mph, but it's the UP so most people aren't in a big hurry to do anything. I set the cruise to 83mph going to work to avoid any unwanted police attention.

 

[Sk17kp36]

Interesting, but I was more-or-less making a funny towards the person who refuses to run 80-85 mph in their Maverick. Which they later have said they drive the speed limit.. yet the speed limit is nearly those speeds in areas these days.

Dave

East of the Mississippi River, where ~60% of the US population resides, the maximum speed limit is 65-70, except for Maine and Michigan where it's 75. Eighty to eighty-five is just a dream to many.

 

[rlhdweman]

Just say a news story last night, crash in Texas on a 2 LANE ROAD! with a 75mph limit, multiple casualties. More than likely both going even more, kind of like hitting a stopped vehicle at 160mph. I've seen videos of vehicles crashing at 80 or more, they just explode! engine over here, back half down the street, seats laying in the road. Why do we have to drive like our hair is on fire?

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