Cruiser

Umm,, no,, On some vehicles its more efficient under 55,, most cars/trucks are best around 65mph. as that is the average highway speed,, I found my wife's liberty is most efficient at 24oo rpm's and likes to be pushed a bit.. I get 23mpg on the highway in hers at that rpm at 80 mph.. at 55 I get 18 as the od goes in and out.. My jk seems best at 70 sitting just under 2k rpm's and the cruise is good on flat roads but in the hills it likes to hit the gas hard.. and pulls hard uphill.. I can control it better in the hills.. play with the cruise and remember to hit reset of your mileage reader, it will reset and give you true time readings as in how you are driving right now,, down hills I have hit in the 30's and up in the low teens.. I've learned a softer foot driving style but.. every vehicle has a different sweet spot due to ratios and fuel management systems,,, learn your vehicle.. Also yes top down on highway does drop your mpg.. but not under 50 mph.. and a/c doesn't put much drag on the engine.. The hard top is smoother than the soft top and even tho its heavier has less drag, more mpg on the highway..
Have fun.. every little bit helps.. If you get a used moped off CL for errands around the corner and such you'll have more gas to waste playing..

Desert Fox

Here in SoCal, folks are still running 80 mph on the freeways. This seems especially true for the larger SUVs. BTW, this morning I paid $4.63 for gas.
My wife and I have shifted our driving habits during the past month. About 95% of our driving is now in our Prius, 50+ mpg, and we seldom go out in the new JK, about 19 mpg. I have always been "OC" about vehicle maintenance and check everything weekly. The only thing I will do to get an extra mile or two out of a gallon of gas is switch to Mobil 1 at their next oil changes. I have already removed tools, spare parts etc from the JK and now only carry a first aid kit, flashlight and fire extinguisher. While many folks on this board are making mods to their Jeeps for better off road performance, each one has the potential of lowering their MPG which, in the long run, may limit the time they can afford to run off road. As a consumer group we need to pressure Jeep into a paradigm shift in future design that will result in a Wrangler that gets
25+ MPG on the road and still offers classic Jeep capabilities off road.

derff96963

I know the price of gas is ridiculously high and I really wish it wasn't so. However if you can't afford to pay for the gas then you probably should not have bought your JK to start with.

My Jk is my primary vehicle. My wife has a 99 escort Zx2 she drives to work. I do have an 82 CJ7 which I drive to work one day a week. It gets about 12 MPG .

I drive 35 miles each way to work. If I didn't drive my CJ at all it would be 350 miles a week at about 19 MPG. That's 18.4 Gallons at $4 a gallon that comes to about $74 a week or just under $300 a month. I know I hate that but I don't have much choice. If I traded it in on something smaller I would hate myself and loose my A@# on the deal. Taking several years to break even. And by driving slower I might get another MPG out of my jeep. That would save me a whopping $20 a month.

Now 10 MPH slower will take you an extra minute every 6 miles. That would take me an extra 11.6 minutes extra every day I go to work. That comes to 3.8 hours a month. Now that comes to $5 an hour to get that extra 3.8 hours with my wife and family. To me I doesn't make an sense to slow down.

If money was that tight that I couldn't spend the extra $20 a month to drive a "Normal" Speed then I should not have bought the JK to start with.

Take it or leave it the numbers don't Lie. Also if you don't drive as much as me it won't even cost you as much to drive faster.

jeepcanoe

I don't like the price of fuel. The extra cost is a burden on my wallet but I'm not getting rid of it and I'm not driving below 65mph on the highway. That's about it

FuLcRuM

Why not drive the Cooper-S like a penny pinching slow poke? I'm sure you could get into the mid to upper 20's. Or is it so modified it doesn't work for daily driving anymore?

We just got an 03 base Cooper for commuting, it gets about 33mpg @ 70 vs the JK's 17ish. Wife drives 120+ miles each day so no matter how slow she drove gas was killing her.

As for the speeding issue, I agree that everyone should slow down some to save overall consumption and those of you doing the speed limit are fine. However I also agree with those complaining about people doing excessivly slow speeds, that is (in my opinion) worse than speeding as far as general safety. Especially if some ignorant ass is doing it in the fast lane. That just pisses everyone off and then you start getting irrate drivers who are likly to do something drastic.

Everyone is entitled to drive how they wish as long as they consider other drivers, even if I'm doing 20 over in the fast lane I keep an eye out for someone behind me, if they want to go faster then fine, i'll move over before they even get close and let them be on there merry way. If I just want to lollygag down the freeway then I make sure im in the right lane but still watch to make sure i'm not causing a giant rolling roadblock by making sure there is a way to get around me if they wish.

Cruiser

Just remember the cars built today are not geared for the best mileage at 55,, more like 65-75.. and doing 55 in a 55 is just stupid and asking for trouble.. I drive 120 miles a day commuting.. In the wife's liberty at 65 I get 17-18 mpg, that's 6.6 gallons of fuel, at 4.10 a gallon, 27.06 per day, plus the 2.50 toll each way.. Now at 80 I get 23 mpg. 5.2 gallons, at 4.10, 21.32 per day. And I get to work about 10 minutes earlier.. but its all limited access toll highway,, I go three exits. And during the golfing season,, I usually drive a company service truck which gets 9 to the gallon,, worse the faster you go due to its shaped like a cinder block,, but they pay the fuel on that one..

RepressedSince15

I lost my company car 2 months ago. Then the gas prices spiked. Now I'm carpooling with another guy in the same situation. Just riding in his car 2 days a week (& vice/versa) will save each of us $2,000 a year, plus 10,000 miles of wear on each car. Yeah, it's a bit of a pain, but how can you not do it. And I don't drive my Jeep to work anymore - not enough MPG. It's strictly for around town and fun time.

derff96963

The new EPA mileage test includes a high speed test that goes up to 80 MPH.
Check the Info Here.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml



This has led auto makers to pay attention to a range of speeds nut just 55. I have been trying different things and noticed that driving slow does lower my gas mileage. The engine has less power for hills with the lower RPM. This causes it to have to downshift more often to maintane speed.

However what I have noticed is that I have been getting better mileage lately by just driving more smoothly. If you are seeing a differnce driving slower you are probably also driving smoother, you need to drive the same way just a little faster and see what you find. You will probably see the same gains if you live in a area with any amount of hills. If you live where its 100% flat you might get better driving slower I would just make sure its not just your driving style.