Date:         Thu, 4 Jun 2015 07:49:05 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Driving style as applied to fuel economy...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

   My inline ABA VW powered tin-top 84 5sp  has always given me excellent
gas mileage...Latest averages over ~20k miles is right at 25mpg as I have
recorded it using an android app called "Fuelly"
http://www.fuelly.com/dashboard      Not long ago I added an AWD van, GMC
Safari, to my fleet and began tracking that one with the Fuelly app also...

  When I began driving this 97 GM Van I'd not owned or operated an
automatic shifter for many years.   With time, I have 'learned' how to work
the auto tranny and my fuel economy has improved on the AWD auto
van...Simply learning how the shifting is programmed and driving with that
in mind to avoid needless shifting and kick-downs, etc...that has improved
my fuel consumption in that van a lot.

 The main gas mileage factor still remains 'vehicle speed', as I see it
after analyzing the data I have gathered recording all my fill ups on that
phone app.   The Safari, when driven like a Vanagon,  delivers good economy
now...18.8 mpg for an AWD capable of towing and hauling lots....But, for a
few fill-ups, I drove it without regard for economy....pushing down on the
gas without thought, cruising along with everyone else on the Interstate at
75-80mph, speeding up to every stop sign and passing without regard for
anything but a safe pass....Driven like that, the GM gives me about 5 mpg
less, and the VW goes from 25mpg to about 20mpg...

   That Fuelly app. quickly sends you a text, right at the pump even, after
you enter gassing statistics.  It also give you a cost per mile
breakdown...In my case the Vanagon currently costs me  $0.131 per mile and
the Safari (working man's Syncro) come in at $0.162 per mile..

   Now the editorial comment:  I still do not like driving an automatic
transmission vehicle.
 The GM van as compared to the Vanagon?...Different.    The Vanagon is
'funner'...I like it better, it's probably a better vehicle, it certainly
drives better....The Safari is like an AK 47....They are everywhere, they
do not break, you can abuse them to the max and they still go.   No finesse
with the Astro/Safari vans...they are Chevy trucks...