Did I speak too soon?
 

I was just talking with a friend who's driving his mom's spare car, an 02 (I think) Buick Park Avenue while his car is in the shop. Anyway he's thrilled he's getting 24 MPG as reported by the onboard trip computer. I told him I could probably do over 30 if I was driving. Well, he's going to make the same trip later this week and he's challenged me to do it. I'm thinking bring the SG with me, air the tires up to 40PSI, a duct tape grille block, keep the speed under 60 MPH and DFCO whenever possible.

Now I'm starting to second guess myself. I'm sure I can do better than he's getting, but can I really get a Park Avenue to turn over 30 on the highway? Has anyone here tried to hypermile a late model Park Avenue?

-Jay

I dunno, the new super pessimistic rating is 27 mpg hwy, the old was 29, so if he's not getting 27 hwy the car has something wrong that needs fixing first. Then it should be possible to get 30 with tires at factory pressure and non-agressive driving, and prolly 35 with 40 psi and some light hypermiling technique

He does drive fast, and with the a/c on all the time... that could make up for the shortfall in highway mileage he experienced.

-Jay

Oh, and I forgot to mention... He weighs ~450 pounds, but I thought we've already determined that would not make a noticeable difference in fuel economy.

Well as long as you don't make him sit in the back and put it nose high :D

It makes a big difference in aggressive and city driving but of course, "momentum economy" type techniques will nullify it.

you can totally get 30mpg if you go a reasonably low speed with tires near the max psi, rarely using the brakes, and keeping rpms extremely low.

I don't know about the trip computers in the Park Avenues. My mom has a 99 with 12,500 miles on it. I took it up on to I-75 and it was showing between 35 and 38 mpg at 65 mph with the cruise on. When I was down there two weeks ago I did notice something interesting while under the hood. GM tipped back the radiator about 15 to 20 degrees.

On a highway drive you should be able to get an easy 28 maybe a little better without hypermileing and just driving the speed limit. (flat highway)

I get an easy 28 highway with a very peppy 3.1 L v6 cutlass. I get an easy 28 highway with a 07 Impala 3.5L v6, which is a larger car (not mine). I will be taking the Impala to Boston tomorrow and will check it out of curiosity. For sure the Boston traffic will make a difference once I get there so I'll check it for both city and highway. But it is mostly a highway drive down the entire length of the Mass Pike. Also I will be going over the birkshire mountains. I always go 68-70 whenever I make that trip. Everything makes a difference.

I did get unbelievable 34 with the Impala once on a rural 50 mile strip of flat road at 60mph (cruise control on) and no stop lights and no traffic in the middle of the night, but that won't happen again. But it is possible.

Anyway, depending on motor/tranny you should be able to get 28 easy on flat highway and under the right circumstances, might even approach 30.

I once drove one from Florida to Mass. I averaged just over 31 MPG, and I wasn't driving slowly either.

-BC

They did that to get a bigger radiator into the car without making the nose taller. They did that on the Fiero too.

-Jay

the buick stands a good chance of beating 30 with some hypermiler techniques. heck my car is rated pretty bad too but I'm over 32mpg so far this tank. I think you made a fair bet and you will take home the cash or bragging rites or at least make a believer out of your friend