Is it normal to get below 20 mpg during nearly-constant urban driving?

If I go on a highway trip, it's not bad -- high 20's, sometimes over 30 mpg. But most of my driving is in short trips within downtown DC, and my gas mileage usually hovers around 20 mpg, sometimes less.

Could there possibly be anything wrong, or could it just be my lead foot? Since my highway mileage seems as high as expected, I'm guessing it's just me...

 

this mainly has to do with the fact that during these short trips your engine is not fully warmed up thus it never gets to run on a "closed-loop" this mean that your engine is making your car run richer than normal to heat it up thus causing you to get less that desirable mileage in town while still getting good mileage on the highway.

I have the same problem with my beater since i work just over 1 mile from work which is all i really do with it and when i do i get some crappy mileage, like 20 mpg, since it never really warms up completely. while with the same car i can get over 40mpg on the highway.

hope that makes sense.

 

Hmm... that's all?

Think that it would help to warm up for a few minutes before driving, or would the time spent warming up just eat up gas anyway?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BarracksSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmm... that's all?

Think that it would help to warm up for a few minutes before driving, or would the time spent warming up just eat up gas anyway?</TD></TR></TABLE>

not really worth the effort imo. just live with the fact that when you drive alot of short distances your mileage will suck.

 

lead foot.

i know what it's like driving in the loop around there. shift at about 3k and use a smoother throttle technique.

just a few more ideas: don't go anywhere until you have a few errands built up. i think it's called "chaining", sort of just like combining trips together into one. it's not always possible to do, but it helps.

i also tried an experiment where i drove really conservative, close or about 5 above the speed limit, coasting where i could, shifting sooner, fewer hard-acceleration starts, and i did notice an improvement of ~10-15% in fuel economy.

there was also an interesting side effect to driving like this: i was a lot more relaxed on my drives to and from work. i kept to the right, i didn't have to worry about running into a speed trap, i didn't have to keep looking behind me to see if cars were trying to pass me, no tension from tailgaters. i was really surprised. i also didn't notice any discernable increase of length of time in the commute.

 

That all makes sense (driving conservatively really is more relaxing, too). I probably should just walk to work more often, anyway -- 3 minute drive (without traffic, that is) vs. 20 minute walk.

 

do the walk. i walk to the gym now every other day. its about a mile up the road. honestly, you'll feel better doin it. Its not a long walk so itll get your blood flowin in the morning and it'll relax you from the stresses of the work place in the evening.

 

turning on ur engine turning off ur engine repeat the many times... gas go down? elementry kids answer status woot woot

 

wow. i would walk. my commute is about 30 mins mostly highway. i would love to be that close if my office wasn't centered in a crummy part of the city.

my wife and i discussed a few ways to save a little money if the gas climbs or stays over $3. we are considering carpooling ( she works about 10 miles from my office), or i may consider a motorcycle. fortunately, too, my company has considered allowing me to set up a VPN so i could work from home occassionally.