Tank #252 - 22 September 2K10

It's supposed to be like a thousand degrees outside today, so I sneaked
out of the office at 7:00 a.m. to refuel at the mighty Exxon of
Woodbridge. The car had gone 447.7 miles and I put in 11.345 gallons,
which made for a fuel economy of 39.46 miles per gallon, the highest so
far this year, and the first tank over 39 mpg since Labor Day weekend.

I believe this was due to several factors, someo fo which were byond my
control.

First, I checked the tire pressure and made sure they were all at 40
psi. They all were close to 40 but not quite. So harder tires = better
mileage. Second, I actively sought drafting and coasting opportunities,
and drove less than 70 mph on the highway. Third, traffic has been
surprisingly light over the past week, particularly on my way home.

There were two times (one on the way to and one on the way from fork)
that heave traffic caused me to drive slowly in stop-and-go conditions,
so I imagine that if those days had lighter traffic, my mileage would
have been even better.

This was my 34th tank this year. Last year, my 34th tank came on 2
November. But miles traveled over those 34 tanks is similar: 14,209 in
2009 and 14,394 this year. Cost is about 20% more.

Tank 251 - 14 September 2K10

Refilled yesterday afternoon at the Wawa in "Central Park" with 11.910
gallons of gas, after going 446.2 miles on this tank. This made for
fuel economy of 37.46 mpg. And at 14 days between tanks, this was the
longest I went between fillups since 13 July, although this was most
likely due to the timing of the Labor Day weekend.

I have spent $993.36 on gas so far this year. Last year I spent $979.15
over the entire year.

Last year gas averaged $2.189/gallon, and this year it's averaging
$2.630/gallon, about a 20% increase in price. But I guess since it's
still less than $3.00 people haven't really noticed or something.

Tanks 248 and 249 - August 2K10

Last week I managed a pitiful 36.66 mpg, so I made an effort to drive
closer to 65 than to 70 on my highway trips, and today I ended up
reaching 38.17 mpg, after going 447 miles on 11.711 gallons of gas.

It is a remarkable difference, driving just about 5 mph slower. I still
was with the flow of traffic, indeed I was passing a few cars throughout
the tank.

Also, it probably didn't hurt that for about 50 miles I was able to
draft behind tractor trailers.

This is the best mileage I have gotten since I took that class in
Maryland back in May.

For the year, my average fuel economy has been 36.97 miles per gallon on
422.2 miles per tank.

Tank 246 - 3 August 2K10

Yesterday I refueled at an Amoco station near Aquia Harbor, and put in
12.149 gallons of gasoline (10% ethanol, as always) after going 424.3
miles. This made for a fuel economy of 34.92 miles per gallon. Had I
not done the squeeze after the first shutoff click, I'd have been over
35 mpg. Still, it's lower than average.

However, due to a weeklong vacation, it made it 13 days between fillups.

Tank 245 - 21 July 2K10

I refueled today just before lunch at the 7-11 near where I work.
Sometimes I use the parking lot at this store as a cut-through bypass
around an exceptionally long red light on my way home. Instead of
waiting for the light in a long line of cars, I turn right, go about 30
feet, then turn left into this 7-11 and can cut through the parking lot
to exit and turn right to get back on the same road I was on, thus
bypassing all those suckers who wait.

So getting gas there, while perhaps a few pennies more per gallon, is a
fair price to pay for the convenience I sometimes wrench from its
parking lot.

Anyway, I went 415.3 miles and put in 11.309 gallons, making for fuel
economy of 36.72, which is okay, but I took this red car around town a
lot over this past weekend, with a lot of start/stop traffic.

Tank 244 - 13 July 2K10

Since the last tank, about 100 miles into this one, I replaced the spark
plugs and cleaned the air filter in the mighty Corolla. Since then, I
ended up going 456.2 miles (4th most for a tank ever!) and refueled this
morning at the Fredericksburg Wawa with 12.164 gallons of gas, making
for fuel economy of 37.50 mpg.

This is almost 9% better than my last tank's mileage, but probably the
improvement is not that dramatic, as I also was spending more time
trying to drive conservatively and coast more when I could.

So far this year, I have spent $781.39 on gasoline, and driven almost
11,000 miles. And July isn't even over yet.

I think traffic would flow more smoothly if, instead of posting signs
that said "left lane ends 1 mile merge right," the signs read "these two
lanes merge in 1 mile." Since nobody would know which lane would end,
each lane would be used until the merge point, and a "zipper merge"
could be more easily achieved.