Well, we just got back from esconcing our daughter at Cal State in Monterey Bay, and driving back on the 101 I tried driving by use of the tach -- and keeping it between 2000 and 2500 rpm, which was roughly 65mph.
Well, we averaged 30.5mpg including the warmup cycle, the secondary roads to Salinas, and mucking about in Ventura and Santa Maria. Mostly highway, but a fair bit of stop and go.
More interesting was the "After Reset" counters which I typically don't reset so I can get a "long view". It apparently resets every 5000 or so miles, because 1/2 way down the 101 it decided to reset itself without any intervention on my part. Well this is interesting because I ended up with the counter reporting on a "slice" of the drive, almost all highway -- and this came back with 34.5mpg
Well, I can only wonder what I could do to improve this by shutting off the A/C compressor, hand-driving it without the CC ( but it's pretty flat) and shaving the rpm to under 2000 rpm
Not the most fun, but with gas pushing $3 and more it becomes another kind of high performance for MBZ...
This is a very interesting report/research. I'm always impressed by MB's fuel economy. Mine averages around 25 miles per gallon. The worst is the acura MDX that I have. It avarages 15.8 miles per gallon way lower than what it claims it can get on the window sticker.
I've got an '01 and average around 26 in mixed (mostly freeway) driving and knock on the door of 30 at sustained 70-ish speeds; I'm, very pleased with that. (A friend of mine and I laughingly comment that every time we see a Prius or Insight it's zooming down the freeway at 75-80 -- where it gets it's absolute worst mileage, not much more than my E at those speeds -- and which would you rather drive??)
The old tradeoff of speed and engine RPM is a trick here. Every internal combustion engine has an RPM at which they are most efficient and if you can find that, then you'll get your best mileage. I've not played with mine -- and without an instantaneous mileage readout, it's cumbersome to figure on your own -- but sometimes when you slow down just five miles an hour, your mileage may actually get worse. In some cars, driving slightly slower (less air drag) but in a lower gear (slightly higher RPM that moves into the engine's efficiency range) gives the best mileage.
That said, air drag is most often the biggest culprit at highway speeds -- and thus, most modern cars actually get better mileage on the freeway with the A/C running than with the windows open, since opening the windows disrupts the airflow over the car.
At any rate, congrats on the mileage: that's aweseome!
I can appreciate the report. I got 29.5 miles to a gallon with AC on and two in persons in car from Lake Forest, CA to Bakerfield, CA and back at speed of 70 to 75 miles per hour. This is on 2001 E320
I find that I've gotten the best mileage going 80ish on the highway for long periods of time with the AC on and the windows closed. I think the 4matic really uses more gas, because the best mileage I've gotten is around 25 and city driving is usually around 20.
if you are sick of paying 3+ a gallon get an older w123 or w126 mercedes and convert it to run off straight vegetable oil. I did this to my older w123 and its a great feeling to be driving on free fuel. I have so much of this waste vegetable oil, that I had to stop collecting it a couple months back. I still havent made a signficant dent in my waste vegetable oil supply. When I see people driving huge gas SUV's and cars that get 15mpg and complain about gas prices i just shake my head, its stupid to waste money on gas. People pay 60 bucks to fill up your tank a week later your tank is empty and your 60 bucks is gone. Last month I saved over 200 bucks on gas, since I parked my newer diesel and drove the w123 around.
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E300 Turbo Diesel; Level 2 Chip, AFE Air Filter, Multi-function Steering Wheel, Multifunction Display, Euro Comand 2.0, DVD in Motion, Argos Bluetooth, Comand Controllable DVD/MP3, Ashtray delete, XM Radio, Active Ventilated Front Seats, Parktronic, AutoMeter A pillar Boost Meter, H&R Springs, AMG Multi Spoke Wheels, LED Tail lights, Power Folding Blinking Mirrors, AMG Front Bumper, AMG Rear Bumper, Carlsson Side Skirts, Eisenmann Race Exhaust.
if you are sick of paying 3+ a gallon get an older w123 or w126 mercedes and convert it to run off straight vegetable oil. I did this to my older w123 and its a great feeling to be driving on free fuel. I have so much of this waste vegetable oil, that I had to stop collecting it a couple months back. I still havent made a signficant dent in my waste vegetable oil supply. When I see people driving huge gas SUV's and cars that get 15mpg and complain about gas prices i just shake my head, its stupid to waste money on gas. People pay 60 bucks to fill up your tank a week later your tank is empty and your 60 bucks is gone. Last month I saved over 200 bucks on gas, since I parked my newer diesel and drove the w123 around.
If you have the details on this project, there are probably quite a few members interested in the details, i.e. where to get any necessary parts, cost, etc. your basic show-n-tell with jpeg's and url links...[:)]
This past weekend, on a hundred mile drive, the best I did was 27.2, and that was when the average speed hit 50mph (I generally go 70 in the 65 zones and 60 in the 55s). The "Mendoza Line" for 27mpg was 48mph! This was with windows closed, a/c on and about 520 pounds of passengers. What was really odd, and something I've never ever seen before in my 38 years of driving: gas was exactly the same price ($2.99/gal.) all along that 100 mile route (and it was different on the return trip)! City, big town, samll town, burg, crossroads; national brand, regional brand - didn't matter. I'm not a conspiracy theory guy, but...
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"Someday you will die somehow and something's gonna steal your carbon."
mjhawkins2346,
30.5 mpg on Highway! I have no problem with that number. I got as much as 30.8mpg on 150 miles drive without airconditioner running and no passenger.
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