Re: Mileage on 2003 Highlander
- From: "Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 15:05:49 GMT
"franz fripplfrappl" <bogus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:hfc0k.3446$co7.2066@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I've only had the 2003 Highlander for a month or so. Mileage has been
all over the place. The worst has been 16 while pulling a small
trailer. My best was 24 until yesterday's trip which was 30. I have
checked and rechecked my figures and calculations.
30 seems quite high. Yesterday's weather was rain. Roads were state
highways and a few small towns. I kept within 55 mph except for towns.
Did not use A/C. Windows were up. Did use circulating fan.
Why would you keep the windows up and recirculate the air inside the cabin? You should bring in fresh air from outside, especially in the rain. I'd go so far as to say you should run the AC when it is raining, just to prevent the windows from getting fogged up.
The trailer is weight and an adverse affect to the aerodynamics. You should through out the numbers you get while dragging it around.
You have only had the car for a month, you need more time to figure out what you are getting. Let's assume in a month that you drive 1200 miles, and only get 20MPG. This means you bought 60 gallons of gas, the car holds 20, so you filled it three times. This is not enough to figure out what you are really getting. If you drove a lot in the city pulling the trailer, and you press the gas with gusto, then your numbers for that tank will be way down. If you get on the interstate and drive for 300 miles and keep a reasonable speed, your numbers will be way up. It so happens that you gave both extremes in your question ...
I doubt the odometer is off, but you can check it against a measured mile with a stop watch and a constant speed. Measure the mile with the stop watch, divide 3600 by the measurement, the result will be your speed. This checks the speedometer.
You check the odometer by simply looking at it at the start of the measured mile, and again at the end of the mile, and make sure it has ticked off one.
A Measured Mile is one where the highway department installs a small placard on the shoulder of the highway (interstate, state highway, or county road) to notate the location. The highway people use these markers to note the location of maintenance that might be needed, or perhaps to log the location of an accident -- pot hole filed at marker 27.5, accident on NB I-45 at marker 67, that sort of thinig. As you are driving along the highway, take the opportunity to look at the many different kinds of sign posts along the shoulder. You will notice a pattern start to emerge. These signs, when posted, will be within a few feet of the right place. There will be some that are missing, but the ones that are there will be in the right place for your measurements. The signs on the freeway should be at half-mile intervals, and call boxes are generally installed where a mile marker would be expected. Since you will want to measure a mile, or several of them, at a constant speed, you probably want a freeway mile not a twisty mountain road mile -- which would preclude most county roads and some state highways.
.
- References:
- Mileage on 2003 Highlander
- From: franz fripplfrappl
- Mileage on 2003 Highlander
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