well first of all let me confess that the main reason i drive a manual, whether its a work truck or an old bug or a ten speed bike from 1975 is so i can pretend in my juvenile mind that i am zipping through the dunlop tire at le mans in my ford gt40 - so if it turns out to be fuel efficient to have a rich fantasy life, i'm all for it - when you say coast, you mean coming down the mountain in gear but with foot lifted from accelerator, downshifting for curves rather than braking so that engine rpm stay road speed high (rather than idle) if so - sounds fun
On Apr 26, 2006, at 10:23 AM, Kim Brennan wrote: At least with the waterboxer (and possibly other engines), if you are coasting, the engine managment goes pretty lean and you use very little fuel. Best gas mileage I ever got with my stock 2.1 Syncro Camper was in Colorado. In the morning we start east and headed up to Monarch Pass (on US Route 50). I don't recall how far it was to the top. Not far (50-75 miles or so). On the east side, it was leave it in gear and go down the mountain. When I finally stopped for gas on the plains (after about 320 miles total on the tank) I end up getting around 20 mpg (and I sloshed some on the ground to be sure.) |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.