Fuelly Forums - My story

I suppose I should've posted here first, but it wouldn't be the first time I've started up an activity out of order.

I was born and raised in Michigan. My father worked as an engineer at the Milford Proving Grounds for GM for 43 years, starting in the Noise and Vibration Lab in `62 and later becoming a development engineer for Chevrolet in `68, starting with Camaros, later moving to Vans and Novas and finally to Corvette in the late 70s. He developed a factory quality audit ride for the Corvette and gradually moved from there to developing factory quality audit rides for many of the GM plants in North America. He was downsized a couple of years ago....GM's prorities apparently being elsewhere.

We bought my first car in `85, a `78 Malibu Classic coupe with a 305 V8. I mainly drove it at WOT back and forth to school a half-mile away and would typically warm it up for 15-30 minutes each day in the winter, so it typically only saw FEs in the single digits. The car otherwise could've been a good gas miser, all things considered...it had a 2.29 rear end and only spun about 2000 RPM at 60 MPH.

In `87, I moved to Massachusetts to attend MIT, and have lived here since. My car stayed in Michigan because of the high cost of insurance here, and I developed a penchant for the car-free lifestyle. I brought the car over in `91 but continued to walk, bike and use public transportation to get around locally, using the car only for longer trips.

In `92 I graduated, and in `94 I married my then-girlfriend of 4 years and we moved to the burbs. My commute suddenly jumped from 4 to 18 miles, but I continued to use a bicycle for my main transportation to work, rarely using the car. The longer commute got me in great shape, and I started to participate in endurance rides (brevets) in `95. I went on to ride Paris-Brest-Paris in 1999, a 1200km/750 mile bike ride that must be completed in 90 hours or less, finishing in 78 hours (total, including all stops.)

I changed jobs a few times in 1996 thru `98, but my commute length generally remained around 15-18 miles, and I contined to do it by bike. My first car died of rust in December `99. By then, I was using it so rarely we didn't bother replacing it.

In 2001, we started administering the local brevet series, and in 2002 I rode Boston-Montreal-Boston, another 1200km randonnee. I developed anemia that fall; to this day, nobody has correctly identified the cause. I continued to commute and participate in distance riding, but my capacity to do so gradually diminished. I qualified for, but didn't ride in, Paris-Brest-Paris again in 2003, and completed most of the qualifying rides in 2005. Last year, I rode the shortest of the qualifying rides, 200km/125 miles, and took it easy for the rest of the season.

I hit 100,000 lifetime miles by bike early last year. My lifetime driving miles are perhaps half as much.

By July last year, I'd tried many conventional and alternative therapies for the anemia and had run out of options. My only option left was to try complete rest, but it was the most expensive option, since it required getting a car.

I purchased a `99 Chevy Prizm on July 27, 2006. I picked it because I needed something reliable, with low overall cost of ownership and reasonable crashworthiness; something suitable for solo commuting. Although the gas mileage could be a lot better, I still believe it was a good choice. My parents have owned several with few problems.

I've been off the bike since I bought the car, and will be until at least late January. At that point, I'll play it by ear. Although the anemia isn't completely resolved at this point, it's much better and I feel a lot better as well.

First you make it work, then you make it work better. In my case, cheaper. I started looking around the Internet to find ways to improve my gas mileage, and happened across MetroMPG's site. While conversing with him via email about some ideas, he directed me toward CleanMPG and Gassavers, so here I am. I haven't joined CleanMPG yet.

My current goal is to maintain my current 35 MPG through the winter, which effectively means improving my efficiency to counter deteriorating conditions. If I'm able to do this, my mileage should be much better in the spring, but at that point I may well be back on the bike and not driving as much.

My main goal is reducing cost, so I probably won't be participating in any expensive modifications -- mainly the cheap stuff and altering my driving techniques.

Among other options, I've considered the possibility of a block heater to increase gas mileage in the winter, but it appears that the cost of electricity wouldn't be justified by the cost of the gas saved. In my case, if running a 60W dipstick heater overnight could reduce my fast-idle time to zero (an impossibly optimistic scenario), the electricity costs would be (13h)(60W)($.30/kWh)(1kW/1000W)=$.234, whereas the idle speed would be reduced by .4 GPH for 5 minutes at most, and even then only when gliding. That's (.4G/h)(5 min)(1h/60 min)($2.30/gal)=$.07, and that's neglecting the cost of the heater. Also, I wouldn't be able to use it in the evening, since there's no place to plug in at work.