MPG on cruise control vs. without 2013 OB 2.5i

[hiker74]

Well even though after a 6 hr drive and a sore foot and ankle i can tell you that I averaged 29.4 MPG in our 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i going through the foothills of the Appalacians in Kentucky. I think this is really good considering climbing hills. Issue is that I tried the same route which is virtually the same up and down using primarily cruise control and it was 24.4 MPG. Is the CVT that bad at recovering an "optimal" hill climb and down hill coasting method? Sure I can anticipate the hills because I am seeing what is coming, but the difference is a little extreme. My foot and ankle would feel much better if I could havve used cruise and ended up with the same result.

Im not unhappy, just passing on my observations. Im sure on flat ground the CVT would do fine at optimizing the best MPG on cruise

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by hiker74

Well even though after a 6 hr drive and a sore foot and ankle i can tell you that I averaged 29.4 MPG in our 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i going through the foothills of the Appalacians in Kentucky. I think this is really good considering climbing hills. Issue is that I tried the same route which is virtually the same up and down using primarily cruise control and it was 24.4 MPG. Is the CVT that bad at recovering an "optimal" hill climb and down hill coasting method? Sure I can anticipate the hills because I am seeing what is coming, but the difference is a little extreme. My foot and ankle would feel much better if I could havve used cruise and ended up with the same result.

Im not unhappy, just passing on my observations. Im sure on flat ground the CVT would do fine at optimizing the best MPG on cruise

No the cruise control short of being 100% flat with no traffic to impede your speed etc will never be as efficient as a very aware and throttle soft driver. Even after hours of near stop and go traffic going to turkey day and getting home I found I could peg a tank average of 29-30mpg even with extended periods of time sitting in stopped traffic. There is a little tiny sweet spot where once your moving - you can let off the throttle all the way then give it just a tiny bit and the car will hum along at 25-30mph on the flat for miles with 30+mpg.

The issue with cruise control is that it accelerates fairly hard to retain or regain the set speed and in hills or traffic this just wipes out your mileage. Compared to you driving where you might gain added speed on a down hill and gradually loose speed on the up hill with smaller amounts of throttle being used vs the cruise control might poor on the power on the hills and keep your speed checked at 65 or whatever it was and not taking more advantage of the down hill run for the next up hill run etc.

[subiesailor]

As for the mountains my best all time average for the tank even with the bikes and roof box on the lid - was 31mpg. That was an hour of 50-60mph back up the mountain each morning to Yosemite from Groveland where we were staying. Then for the most part coasting in 3rd and 4th all the way back down every evening. When we were at the park we parked and took the bikes! I highly recommend taking bicycles to Yosemite we almost didn't do it and on a last minute whim I tossed them on the car. VERY glad we did!!!!

That tank by the way ran from South Lake Tahoe over Kingsbury Grade into NV - south on 395 then over the Tioga Pass into Yosemite then three days up and down to the Valley from Groveland. For a hand calculated 31mpg for the tank. Major reason for that was the lower speeds!!! We ran 60-65mph on 395 South - and lots of down hill where I simply used down shifting to keep speed in check etc. As a result we got a combined 31mpg for the tank. On the way home we bombed across the Central Valley at 70+ arrived home and ended up with a tank average for that part of the trip 25mpg speed vs bikes on the lid kills mileage!!!!


We didn't see the higher end mileage till we had 15,000 miles on the car by the way.

Our 4x6 900lb tent trailer in probably similar hills as to what you drove 101 Northern California 55-60mph speeds we run about 25mpg tank average. All with the older not as efficient 2.5 with CVT.

[tdelker]

As I understand it, accelerating doesn't kill gas mileage. Your car is almost as efficient at brisk acceleration as it is with light acceleration. This is based on Prius reading I did when I first got it and thought I should be doing really well by going light on the pedal. Turns out, it's better to accelerate briskly (but not overly) and then coast.

It's touch the brakes that steals the mpg first. 2nd is driving too fast (wind resistance increases with velocity^2).

I bet that the cruise control band of control isn't allowing as much coasting as your foot does.

[2013OB]

I just did a 1225 mile road trip from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas---mostly all Interstate. Averaged 26.7 mpg at 4800 ft (average elevation) and 75-85mph most of the trip. We have a few stretches of 75mph and 80mph on I15.

Around town driving, I get 24mpg. I dont think I will get 30mpg on the wide open roads in Utah based on the higher speed limits we have and elevation gains.

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by 2013OB

I just did a 1225 mile road trip from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas---mostly all Interstate. Averaged 26.7 mpg at 4800 ft (average elevation) and 75-85mph most of the trip. We have a few stretches of 75mph and 80mph on I15.

Around town driving, I get 24mpg. I dont think I will get 30mpg on the wide open roads in Utah based on the higher speed limits we have and elevation gains.

Nope thats pretty much what I get when I'm doing the hammer down I5 north drive at 75ish. Anything above about 68-70mph seems to drop the mileage down into the 26-27mpg range. Heck even a head wind at 70mph will knock your mileage down into the 23-25mpg range.

[limpwrist]

I just did a 1253 mile trip from SC to FL over Thanksgiving that included about 960 miles interstate with cruise set at 75-78 most of the time. The rest of the miles were around town. Manually calculating I came up with 27.8 mpg in my '12 2.5i Premium. I've made the same trip at least two times prior to this and was only able to get about 25.5-26 mpg. It seems my mileage has steadily increased since purchasing the car in Feb '12, which is what I had been told would happen after putting some miles on the car (currently about 13k on odometer).

[Latigo]

Heh. I just made the trek from Northwest Montana down to Cody, WY, for Thanksgiving. From about an hour out of Missoula all the **** way to the Wyoming border I was blasted by 60mph winds -switched around between head on and cross-winds. I went about 80mph on I-90 and I averaged 24.21 according to my fill-up math. Worst I've ever gotten since new. But hey, it's a big vehicle so any kind of wind is going to screw your mileage at those speeds.

However, on the calm way back, I averaged 33mpg on my journey between Cody and Billings. This isn't interstate though, this is rural hwy which is 65mph in WY and 70mph in MT. Between Billings and Missoula I got 29mpg on the interstate --though I wasn't going 80mph. I was in far less of a hurry going back haha.

[awd-gg]

rule of thumb.... Avoid using cruise control if you want to save gas!
Unless it super flat straight hwy with no traffic like someone mentioned earlier!

[awd-gg]

26.7 mpg(3.6R) over 35xx miles from Chicago to Yellowstone and back. Trip was in the summer. mostly Hwy(80+ mph) but also lots of parking lot idle and buffalo jams inside yellowstone.