Its official...

[YarisOwnersDad]

I drive 24.0 miles one way to work and back five days a week on rural two lane roads. There are hills and curves and two stop signs along this route, and I get between 37 and 38 MPG with the air conditioner running and while driving about 55 MPH.

My alternate route would keep me on parkways, but it would increase the distance of the trip to 27.0 miles each way. I just did the calculations and found that I would have to increase my MPG from 38 to 43 in order to break even on gas consumption, considering the extra three miles that I would have to drive.

I might give the parkways a try and keep my speed the same as I drive now, 55 MPH. That would mean that it would take a little over three extra minutes to get to work and to get home. That should not be a big deal.

The biggest problem with that plan is that the coal trucks would go zooming by me, and there is always something falling off from underneath those trucks and bouncing up into the path of the cars that they have passed. I may try it anyway. I just hate to get the front of my car all dinged up.

What should I expect to get for mileage on pretty level terrain driving a steady 55 MPH on the parkways with my 2009 Yaris Sedan with auto tranny and with the A/C running?

Tom

[talnlnky]

I haven't checked the distance on the two new routes, it won't be much different, and in fact, will probably be shorter as they appear to be more direct.

Old route was 11.5miles, the new routes are probably closer to 11miles. One of the routes I think takes about five minutes longer, and the other I think is about the same time. The route that takes the longest I think gets the best mileage, but is also probably the longest of the two new routes.... so probably a wash when it comes to total cost.

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by YarisOwnersDad

I drive 24.0 miles one way to work and back five days a week on rural two lane roads. There are hills and curves and two stop signs along this route, and I get between 37 and 38 MPG with the air conditioner running and while driving about 55 MPH.

My alternate route would keep me on parkways, but it would increase the distance of the trip to 27.0 miles each way. I just did the calculations and found that I would have to increase my MPG from 38 to 43 in order to break even on gas consumption, considering the extra three miles that I would have to drive.

I might give the parkways a try and keep my speed the same as I drive now, 55 MPH. That would mean that it would take a little over three extra minutes to get to work and to get home. That should not be a big deal.

The biggest problem with that plan is that the coal trucks would go zooming by me, and there is always something falling off from underneath those trucks and bouncing up into the path of the cars that they have passed. I may try it anyway. I just hate to get the front of my car all dinged up.

What should I expect to get for mileage on pretty level terrain driving a steady 55 MPH on the parkways with my 2009 Yaris Sedan with auto tranny and with the A/C running?

Tom

I think I have just about talked myself out of using the parkway and driving 55 MPH, like I was saying earlier that I was thinking about trying.

Because of the extra distance, I would have to see about a 13% MPG improvement just to break even on the amount of gas used per day. I don't think the MPG gain would be any more than 12% to 15%, considering that I am already getting between 37 and 38 MPG.

So, I would be exposing my car to the chunks of mud with embedded rocks that fall off the coal truck axles as they blow by me on the parkway without really gaining any savings on gas consumption.

Yeah, it would be nice to report higher MPG, but driving the extra distance would wipe out that savings, and I would be no better off.

Tomster