2007-Zx5-Ses: Goes For Broke & Wins!

Naturally around the Holidays, which are great Budget-Busters, every day extending the fill-up was a bonus.

I drive an average 27 miles each way for work. Because my route crosses directions of the rest of the area's typical commutes, so I am usually ALWAYS doing 40% City/bumper-to-bumper and 60% highway @ 70+ mph. Cold weather & denser air work directly against hyper-mileage driving.

Once the light goes on I can usually expect a 12-gallon fill-up. which with the published capacity, I tend to figure I have more than 2-gallons left, and can manage a gallon for each leg of my commute.

Making sure I get to at least 42 mph to get the Torque-converter Lock-up to engage and keep the revs. down. (Yes, we opted for the auto for the sake of universal usability and occasional wrist & ankle injury tendencies.)

Maximizing the TC-Lk-up and coasting (I used to do Engine-Off Coasting, but my battery is at the end-of-life & it IS Winter) Looking far ahead and gauging the time to coast & time to tip-in to the throttle lightly is crucial.

My previous car was a Ford Festiva, so frugality is almost an art-form to me. An Automatic used to be an anchor, and my 4-spd version is like carrying another person along and not bothering to use top-gear. Newer cars can get better mileage with a 6-spd auto than a 6-spd manual, but just for the "Average Driver" vs. someone who's been driving manual transmissions (on 50cc mini-bikes & motorcycles, then plenty of other rides) for the past 40 years...)

But, combining the techniques of strategic driving, I managed to eek-out 105 miles AFTER the light came on... 2 days of commuting, plus lunch runs, and driving like an egg was under the gas-pedal, "paid"-off!

I am aiming for 125 after the light this Summer (as long as my wife isn't in the car, she doesn't like to go below 1/8th of a tank).

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