40.5 mpg
 

So, the new to me 2001 SL1 is running a bit better than the old car that got wrecked back in May. Filled up in Columbus, IN Friday, took the two lane back to Lexington, KY through Madison, IN. If you are not familiar with this route, it is hilly and twisty. It has been mild here, so no a/c except for about 40 miles Sunday. So, 200 miles two lane, twisty and hilly, at anywhere from 35mph - 75mph and 40 miles with the cruise on the interstate at 80mph. Had half a tank left, filled it up. Held 5.919 gal and had 240.1 miles on the trip. Comes out to 40.564 mpg. I'll take it.


Rob

That's great. I wish my 99' SL2 got that. It had been getting about 30.5 mpg on my mostly interstate commute (it is a bad oil burner...I joke that it eats oil like a 2-stroke). I had to get my valves redone after burning 1 and losing a cylinder so I went ahead and got new piston rings too and now I am up to 33mpg. I hope it climbs a couple mpg when it breaks in and the rings fully seat.

As the wear surfaces match each other, friction should decrease, and economy and overall power should increase. If I drive mine all the time on the interstate and with the air on, I get 34-36 mpg.

That's good to hear. In my post I was implying the AC was also on. I'm interested to see how much a difference it makes when it is off...it sure does eat a considerable part of power to the wheels when trying to merge into rush hour traffic off of 25 mph ramp lol. Enough I turn it off for max power!

Hahaha, same here. I call it the turbo button.

Last summer I took a drive from Bowling Green through the back roads to Knoxville via the Cumberland Gap. And then on to Atlanta through The Tail of the Dragon. Great fun on those roads.

I seem to regularly get at least 36 in my SC without really trying (70MPH on highway). I wouldn't be surprised to see 38 if I concentrated a little.

On the 00-02 models, if you floor the gas pedal, the computer turns the AC off for you.

no way Keith---I'd heard that on earlier generations, the PCM might, under certain circumstances, cut out the A/C.

Did they actually make it a built in trigger in the logic?

oh my 95 and 97 SC2s get 35 on the highway w A/C on long distance driving. Speed in the low to mid 70's. MPG nosedives after that (for me anyway)

Yes way, it does cut off. Almost all cars do that today. BTW, I took my 02 SL(1) on many long distance road trips, typically cruising between the high 70's to mid 80's, sometimes with AC, sometimes not and always got over 40 mpg. My overall mileage over 275k was 37.85 mpg. I kept a spreadsheet on it for all costs and my amortized cost per mile came out to about $0.14/mile. That included all maintenance, tires, brakes, gas, initial purchase (new) and insurance and registration/taxes. Beat the heck out of the national average of over $0.60/mile (for cars purchased that year).