Quote:
Originally Posted by RedBarchetta
Just completed a round-trip jaunt from Orange County all the way up to San Jose and back. 780 miles round-trip and all on the freeway (mostly Interstate 5). Car = 2LT M6. Car had 800 miles on it before we began.
We used the cruise control virtually the entire duration and kept the car between 70-75 (mostly at 74 on I5). Only two of us in the car, with one overnight bag and a laptop for luggage.
The car's weight really hurts overall mileage, as we averaged around 22 miles per gallon. This is not a flat 780, as there are hills and mountains to work through as you leave L.A. and then enter the Bay area later on. I honestly expected better mileage, considering at 74mph and our M6 we were pulling 2,200rpms in 6th gear. We even hit sick L.A. traffic leaving on Friday but came home in the wee hours of Sunday morning without any stop and go, and the mileage was STILL reading the same on the DIC (22.9 mpg)! And this was after resetting it both ways (before we started and at the end of the initial leg up to San Jose).
I honestly expected better mileage, but the car's weight really hurts it overall. Maybe using cruise control at 65 would have lowered those R's enough to spit out 25-26mpg, but I can't drive that slow. Great handling car and beautiful lines, but still a pig (weight) if you ask me. My much lighter '02 Z06 (~3,400 lbs) blows any stock Camaro (V8, too) away in both performance and mileage. But this is my kid's car, so it's his to enjoy.
Some here say the mileage gets better with more break-in. We'll see...
-Dean
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Well, the EPA combined mileage rating for the V6 manual is 21 mpg.
Weight has minimal effect on highway fuel economy, aerodynamics and speed are much much
much more important. Weight hurts when trying to accelerate, but once its moving at a constant speed, it barely enters the equation. On the other hand, going at 75 mph vs 65 mph means that you have 54% more drag on your car. Around those speeds, even slowing down 5 mph is worth around 25% less drag.