A few weeks later, I would take the Elantra on another trip up to Redding and back in an attempt to hit the elusive 40 mpg. I knew I had to drive it in the most mind-numbingly painful way possible, as anything else would result in a low-to-mid-30 mpg figure at best. My test track would be I-5 south running from Redding, Calif. all the way to Los Angeles. I'd top off in Redding, and then hypermile my way home.
I didn't want to be a danger to myself or others, however, so the decision was made to travel at exactly the posted speed limit -- not faster, not slower -- and that I wouldn't be drafting big rigs. Mercifully, the limit was 70 mph for most of the drive. I was going to do it right -- not without gimmicks, but just without most of them. Cruise control would be on the whole entire time, the whole trip would be driven without the use of air conditioning, and the Elantra's "Eco" mode would be left on.
To increase the odds of hitting the big 4-0, I left Redding in the late afternoon to minimize the risk of traffic and to cut down on the time I'd spend in 80 degree heat with no A/C. As planned, I topped off in Redding, rolled the windows up, made sure the "Eco" light was on, and gingerly accelerated towards the freeway.
Once on the slab, I set the cruise control at the posted speed limit, which at that point was 55 mph. After a few miles, it went up to 65 mph and as I gently accelerated, the Elantra downshifted to the detriment of fuel economy. When the limit went up again to 70 mph a few more miles later, I switched into manual mode to make sure it stayed in sixth. The same "gentle throttle in sixth" approach would be taken for each passing maneuver as well.
At this point, all I could do was drive until I ran out of gas or spontaneously combusted due to boredom. (Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported.) In an effort to combat boredom, I spent my seven hours flipping through the satellite radio stations and watching the Elantra's average fuel economy meter. With around three-quarters of a tank left, the numbers peaked at 37.6 mpg and then slowly fell to 37.0 mpg. With about a half tank left, the number started dropping a lot more rapidly. By the time I stopped for gas 416.6 miles later with an estimated 30 miles of range left, the readout read 35.8 mpg.
Needless to say I was disappointed. With the clock rapidly approaching midnight and some 120 miles left before I was home, I accepted defeat. As it turns out, all was not lost. When I did the math the next morning, it turned out that on my miserable, awful, terribly boring fuel economy run, I used 10.473 gallons of gas while traveling 416.6 miles. Using simple divison, that provides a fuel economy figure of 39.77 mpg, which of course rounds up to 40 mpg!. Freakin' A.
