Left Indy for Pittsburgh on Thursday morning. Returned today. My C3 was awesome on the trip. Weather was fantastic both ways - sunny with temps upper 70s/lower 80s. Before heading out I was worried about the hills in West Virginia and Southwest Pennsylvania - my old Civic used to huff and puff on those. My C3 handled them great. I never felt underpowered or afraid that I wouldn't make it up the hills. MPGs averaged 48.4 both ways. An interesting (to me) observation: From Indy to Wheeling I had it on ECO mode with no air. After Wheeling I put it in normal mode (to handle the hills) and then turned on the A/C (it was getting hot). The MPGs on my display actually went UP with ECO mode off. By the time we got to Pittsburgh, trip mpg average was 48.4. From Indy to Pittsburgh, I kept ECO mode off the entire way (it's more "fun" for me to drive that way) with A/C on and when we got home, trip mpg average was 48.4.
In August I'll b driving from NJ to Indy, so nice to hear the C3 did great on 2/3 of the trip! Thanks for posting.
You should be able to get very close to 50mpg at least. Last year I got 49.9mpg out to Columbus & 52.3mpg back. Increase the tp, lower the mph & run the AC at the lowest fan speed. Try to crest the mountain with a discharged battery & let gravity fill it up. The car will sound a bit odd when the ICE spins up just to blow off the extra charge. Enjoy looking at the fully charged battery on the display. Gas is cheaper in OH than in IN. New Stanton, PA where I-70 & I-76 (the Turnpike) meet is the cheapest gas in PA. USA Steak Buffet, 1890 W Chestnut St, Washington PA 15301 is a good & inexpensive place to eat.
On Dec 31st I drove from Indy (Fishers) to several miles past Pittsburgh...on the one section of mountainous driving I hit my only traffic jam. A semi was broken down in the right lane and a Leaf was stuck next to it in the other E bound lane! The Leaf driver said that 4 miles ago he had about 20 miles left, but going up the mtns he just plain ran out of juice! HE WAS TICKED!
Mountains suck voltage. This is no different than those who run out of gas because the car idles too long in traffic.
On the gas powered cars the driver should have added more fuel....how dumb can a driver be to let his tank get so low that he'd run out of gas in traffic? As far as the Leaf, he had a full charge in the morning.
Hey ATaylor! What do you race? Was up in Indy for the NHRA event at the end of April. Husband races Super Street.
You would think you would get better gas mileage between Cambridge, Oh to the top of the hill west of Wheeling either way. The highway looks flatter right? But it's not really level. Those are some long shallow uphills. Every thing I drive gets better mileage over the short but steeper hills in Pa. Pilot Truck Stop in Cambridge has the lowest priced gas usually less or equal the Walmart gas. Great Chinese Buffet in the Walmart Plaza is good too. (Yes I have biased opinion). Not sure US Steak is still open in Washington, that stuff around Murtland is always changing. I wonder if in my lifetime there will ever not be a construction zone on I70/79?
