[obermd]

Sherri and I took a road trip from Denver to Creede, CO today. Prior to this trip I had been running in the low 40 MPGs on my daily commute. Today I recorded 49.5 MPG over 558.4 miles with an average speed of 54.8 MPH. (First picture).



I had to fill up the tank on the way back in Fairplay so I stopped at the Shell station and filled with 91 vPower where I reset Trip 1. At the top of Kenosha pass I was at 51 MPG. As I entered Bailey, CO I was at 80.1 MPG. (next, slightly fuzzy picture).



While the 80.1 MPG includes significant downhill, the overall 49.5 MPG is a 250 ft net altitude gain as it includes the 1 mile from the Safeway gas station to my house, which is about 250 feet lower altitude. I spent a lot of time in 3rd and 4th gears today both climbing and descending.

On CO 149 from Creede to Lake City I actually had to shift to 2nd a few times to handle the switch backs going up and to provide engine braking through them going down. I even shifted to 1st on the descent to avoid using my brakes through a very twisty stretch of road while following a pickup towing an ATV on a trailer.

Here's the elevation profile for my drive today. The two vertical red lines are Creede and Lake City, CO. Note the pass there. The peak at 400 miles is Monarch Pass on US 50.



And for waterfall fans. This is about 1000 ft off CO 149 in a Forest Service campground.

 

[Cruzator]

Those are great numbers! And a great waterfall pictures. You should of waited another week or two for the Quakies to be changing. See any in the early stages?

 

[obermd]

There were some early signs of Aspen changing. We also saw a Bald Eagle in Southpark west of Fairplay.

Oh, and don't speed in Southpark - Kenny will ticket you. I was passed by someone and State Patrol pulled him over for speeding.

 

[obermd]

Those are great numbers! And a great waterfall pictures. You should of waited another week or two for the Quakies to be changing. See any in the early stages?

This is September - the lowest stream flow month of the year. I'll have to see if I can get back down to that waterfall in early June, which should be close to peak run off at that altitude.

 

[boraz]

nice

like i said when i bought my diesel, had the eco come with leather and sunroof, wouldnt have even test drove the diesel

 

[6speed]

That is amazing MPG numbers in the hills. My ECO is so sensitive, a slight grade up will drop the DIC down 15-20 MPG, right away & hang there.

 

[obermd]

That is amazing MPG numbers in the hills. My ECO is so sensitive, a slight grade up will drop the DIC down 15-20 MPG, right away & hang there.

DFCO more than makes up for it. Keep you engine speed above 1500 RPM on the downhills and don't touch the gas. You'll coast down those hills with the fuel injectors turned off and wheel spin keeping the engine turning.

 

[beaurrr]

Nice to see those numbers on a gasser.
I'm planning a trip from Arizona to Washington this winter. I'm curious to know how my CTD will do on such a long drive.