Posted by andy the barber on July 18, 01 at 23:55:29:
Took a trip from Gardner KS, which is a suburb of Kansas City, to Estes Park CO last month. Not many people know it, but Gardner is very famous. (Attempt at humor) I kept close tabs on mileage, and here are the results.
1999 C1500 5.7, 3.72 diff, 2 adults (me, 220 lbs, the wife…well…her DL says 140 lbs) and two 50 lb kids on board, light to moderately loaded. A/C on 90% of the time. Drove very carefully, avoided hard acceleration, etc., specifically to see what kind of mileage it could get.
Leg #1
Filled up just outside Gardner and got on the interstate. Those of you not familiar with Kansas, it is flat. “How flat is it?” Why, if you were out camping in Kansas and had to take a leak, you’d need to walk until you were hidden by the curvature of the earth if you wanted to maintain your modesty. (More riotous humor.) Drove about 70-75 mph with cruise on to Limon CO. Had several pit stops on the way…our 6 year old twins have bladders the size of a walnut. It is uphill all the way, roughly a 3,000 foot difference in elevation. Mileage was 17.02
Leg #2
Filled up in Limon CO, and drove to Estes Park. Lots of mountains and curves, A/C on, average MPH dropped due to the terrain and roads. Also, the wife had us take a shortcut from Central City to Estes Park. It was barely a logging road! Went about 20 MPH for the jaunt. Mountain on one side of the road, only sky and air on the other. My Sub is a 2WD highway cruiser, not a HumVee! Got to Estes Park without driving off a cliff. Did fair amount of city driving, A/C on about half of the time. Four days later, left Estes Park and took PAVED HIGHWAYS back to Colby KS and filled up. Mileage was 18.2. How/why did I get better mileage with mountain and/or city driving?
Leg #3
Drove from Colby KS directly to Gardner. 70-75 mph, cruise and A/C all the way. Several more pit stops. Filled up at home and got 19.48 mpg. Good mileage must be because it was downhill this direction.
Average MPG for trip was 18.13. Average cost per gallon was 1.45, total cost of $120.08.
Thing ran like a champ the whole trip. It did drip some condensation from the A/C onto the passenger’s side under the dash, but that was here in humid Kansas.
Amaze your friends with this humidity statistic:
Yesterday (07-18-01) the Kansas City area had the highest dew point of anyplace on the planet. Dew point of 81 degrees. Even beat the Amazon rain forest that day! Seriously! I have a friend that is a weather nut, and he keeps track of important info like that and relays it all to me. He needs to get a life. Anyway, just another thing to make me proud to be a Kansan!!!