New personal record: 53.69 MPG

[BailOut]

553.0 miles on 10.299 gallons of gas.

Mixed driving: Charity, carpooling, bicycle and recyclable hauling, one rare solo commute and one trip over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Sacramento. One thing that helped was all the construction on I-80 closing lanes and slowing things down in some areas (e.g. 45 MPH for a few miles instead of my usual 55 MPH).

This beats my old personal record, also set this summer, by more than 1 MPG.

[TheRealEnth]

jesus

[JBougie]

Dude ...... that's amazing.

[deerebilt]

awesome ive got close. 52.9

[eTiMaGo]

you're a mean, green (obviously!) hypermiling machine!

[roadrunner]

Nice going Brian, and many great tanks in your future.

[R2D2]

BailOut,

Congrats, that's awesome. Many thanks for the hypermiling tips you posted here-it's how I got interested in hypermiling and I'm getting a little better all the time (plus my car is breaking in). I'm pleased with my mileage given my driving conditions (lots of in town and short trips) and the tips really help.

I see in your fuel log you switched to 0W-20 oil-if you don't mind me asking I was curious what brand (or brands) you use? Also you noted using a grill block-any tips on what you use and/or how to construct one? With cooler weather approaching this has been something I've considered.

TIA

R2

[yaris-me]

Great!

[Kioshi]

omg....i really need to work around your schedule when you visit Sacramento from time to time... i really do apologize for not making it out during those couple times because of work and stuff.....

I will keep trying though :) Would like to learn from the master.

Congrats.

[BailOut]

Thanks for the kind words, all.

Originally Posted by R2D2

I see in your fuel log you switched to 0W-20 oil-if you don't mind me asking I was curious what brand (or brands) you use? Also you noted using a grill block-any tips on what you use and/or how to construct one? With cooler weather approaching this has been something I've considered.

0W-20 was a typo on my part (thanks for pointing it out - I've fixed it). It's actually 5W-20, of the Mobil1 Extended Performance synthetic variety, coupled with a K&N Gold oil filter. While synthetic is nice I enjoy the 15k mile drain interval even more as it saves both resources and money (it costs the equivalent of 2 "conventional" oil changes but has the longevity of 3 changes).

I use a grille block in the cold months in order to help the engine stay warmer without burning more fuel, and to help the engine burn fuel more completely. This is especially important as my area employs reformulated gasoline in the winter which burns a tiny bit more cleanly but puts a huge dent in fuel economy. I first did it by cutting foam pipe insulation in half and zip tying it in, but while this worked well it was time consuming and knuckle busting. Last season I simply cut 2 rectangular pieces from a roll of foil-based home insulation wrap and shoved them in behind the 2 grille openings. I put them in when daytime temps start peaking below 55F, and take them out when daytime temps start peaking above 55F.

[Woody_Woodchuck]

Congratulations Brian! Nothing like hitting a new record tank to make the day. Shooting for a 55 mpg tank now? You have the skills to do it!

My grill block hasn’t been in for months. I really think it adds a lot to aero as well as faster warm-up.

Keep up the great mileage!

[talnlnky]

dang.... I'm still battling to break 47mpg on a full tank. On September 3rd I'm supposed to drive the 470miles back home for a long 5 day weekend and go to a wedding... I've been flirting with the idea of actually rolling out of town the night before right when I get off work, and driving 55mph the whole way and just pulling over halfway home to sleep and then starting back up early in the morning. That way I'd get there sooner, and have probably a 5mpg bump in my gas efficiency. Not sure if even 55mph would get me over 47mpg.

Congrats again!

[ChinoCharles]

[47_MasoN_47]

Holy crap. You guys that get that kind of mileage are lucky...I barely get to do any highway driving and around town I get about 31 (31.53 on first tank, 31.16 on 2nd).

[ChinoCharles]

These guys do whatever they can to squeeze a mile. Google "hypermiling" or search for it on these forums and read about it. Its pretty remarkable.

[47_MasoN_47]

Yeah I've read a lot about it, one of my buddies drives an Aero and is pretty hardcore into hypermiling. My problem is that It's not too often I get to drive even 1 mile without having to stop 5 or 6 times in between :(

[jambo101]

My Scangauge reads an average of 5 Liters per hundred kilometers under normal driving conditions,scan gauge says that equates to 46.6MPG,math was never my forte so trying to convert everything from metric values then dealing with US and imperial gallons is very confusing..

[SpaceShot]

Brian,
Just when I think I am getting close to you with a single trip max of 54 Mpg, you go and pull that off for an entire tank!
My tank averages are up from 41 to 46, but you are still setting the mark. Good show!

R2D2,
I made a partial upper grille block from a magnetic door sign. (the kind you see on contractors trucks) The corner radius on the sign happened to match the radius of the Yaris grille. Magnetic side out is black and looks appropriate. A hole punch and some zip ties or screws and drywall toggle anchors mount it. Cutting the sign in half and trimming gave me 2 pieces the covered the upper grille leaving a bit in the center, under the Toyota emblem, open.