Best gas mileage on highway at what speed

[Gpp]

Say between 50 and 70 mph what speed gives you the best gas mileage?

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[GreatWhiteNorth]

Around 60 mph from what I've observed. Drag is your enemy, and it increases with speed.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Say between 50 and 70 mph what speed gives you the best gas mileage?

Mine seems to be at less than 66-67 with 50-66 depending on many things. Less than 50-55 can almost be in town driving. Gpsman has done tests and can answer best. He claims slippery mode is best due to further coasting etc.

 

[WannaMav]

So dependent on factors such as traffic density, topography, elevation, weather, leadfootiness, etc. that there is no one size fits all answer. Also need to factor in tire size, type and inflation (or lack thereof), not to mention payload.

 

[Mavapa]

Slower, up to a point, is always better. We had a 2005 Honda CR-V that got upper 20’s on the highway. When we vacationed at Yellowstone, we observed the park-wide maximum limit of 45 mph and got 33-34 mpg.

 

[CenTexMav]

I took a road trip yesterday through the Texas hill country .. averaged about 65 mph... I ended up right at 31 mpg. Not bad for an EB.

 

[mav_kev]

In a similar vein, I'm curious at what speed/rpm the Maverick is happiest (can maintain speed up hills without drama, reasonably fuel efficient, but still expedient). Maybe a bit subjective, but every car I've had has been different on the highway.

For example, my Crosstrek is happy at about 3k rpm, which is about 68mph. My gf's Civic is perfectly comfortable (and surprisingly efficient) at 80mph. I had an Xterra that really wasn't happy over 60mph and even at higher speeds would require downshifting for hills.

 

[UberGadgetFreak]

Tuesday, my brother drove me home from a procedure in the mav but was insistent on driving 'easy'. Mostly interstate driving (30 mi of a 37 mi trip). When we got to the house, it said 47.4 mpg for the trip. Not bad.

 

[Bushpilot]

From 50-70, I am fairly certain that 50 is your answer.

There was a thread quite some time ago, with a video where the driver repeatedly drove the same course at various speeds on the highway. Slower was better, to the tune of about 8 mpg / 10 mph on average.

My gut feeling is that the sweet spot would be at a constant speed of 45-50 mph. Fast enough to be "getting somewhere" and slow enough to not be hitting the rapid escalation of drag.

Best plan is to drive near the speed limit.

 

[Timothyd]

So dependent on factors such as traffic density, topography, elevation, weather, leadfootiness, etc. that there is no one size fits all answer. Also need to factor in tire size, type and inflation (or lack thereof), not to mention payload.

And design. A vehicle can be optimized for a particular use/speed.

 

[Gpp]

My ecoboost seems to like 55 mph on the highway .gets about 32 to 35 mpg.my daughter gets no where near this

 

[TheSEARCH]

There was this contest for charity they used The mitsubishi mirage car. I read one guys report he got best at 50 mph only going faster when on a downhill in neutral. So from that I best its right around 50 mph. Have to do a test BUT 50 is really to slow for most highway testing. Could be dangerous. Already seen enough mavs smashed up on this forum.

 

[Decayed]

The slowest speed you can get to top gear. The lower the rpms the higher the mileage.

 

[TedTX]

Stop and go rush hour….
2nd best a tad over 60mph seems to be best in my 3000 miles

 

[Tiger Dude]

And design. A vehicle can be optimized for a particular use/speed.

A vehicle cannot be optimized so that drag does not increase with speed. Maybe it could be made so poorly that lower speeds had bad mileage, but this just isn't a thing with 8 speed or cv transmissions. 50 will always be better than 70.

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